The proper use of science is not to conquer nature but to live in it. (Barry Commoner)
SUSTAINABILITY
Road transportation is responsible for a significant amount of global and urban greenhouse gas emissions. It is especially problematic at city intersections where pollution can be 29 times higher than on open roads. At intersections, half of these emissions come from traffic accelerating after stopping. While some amount of stop-and-go traffic is unavoidable, part of it is preventable through the optimization of traffic light timing configurations. To improve traffic light timing, cities need to either install costly hardware or run manual vehicle counts; both of these solutions are expensive and don’t provide all the necessary information. Google’s Green Light uses AI and Google Maps driving trends, with one of the strongest understandings of global road networks, to model traffic patterns and build intelligent recommendations for city traffic engineers to optimize traffic flow. As a result of the trials, unnecessary traffic stops were reduced by 30% and carbon emissions were reduced by 10%. DETAIL
Extreme heat, drought and wildfires caused forests and other land ecosystems to emit almost as much carbon dioxide as they removed from the atmosphere in 2023, nearly canceling out a major natural sink of the greenhouse gas. DETAIL
Compostable plastics that get broken down into microplastics appear to damage soil and affect plant growth more than conventional ones, at least over the short term. Plants grown in soil from a forested area in China grew less well if polyethylene microplastics were added to the substrate, but not as poorly as they grew if bio-microplastics were added. After 10 days, the bio-microplastics had significantly reduced key minerals such as nitrogen in the soil, lowered its microbial diversity and stunted plant growth. In summary, Biodegradable microplastics may actually be worse for soil and plants. DETAIL
The largest tree nursery in North America is helping scale up efforts to inoculate seedlings with native fungi and other soil microbes, a treatment that helps trees grow faster and capture more carbon. DETAIL
US treasury secretary Janet Yellen has said the world needs $3tn a year in financing every year to 2050 to hit global climate goals, Reuters reports, adding that she described filling this gap as "the single-greatest economic opportunity of the 21st century". DETAIL
Ocean Energy USA, a firm specializing in marine hydrokinetics, has deployed a utility-scale wave energy system at the US Navy's testing range in Hawaii. The company underlines that this new facility is the first grid-scale wave energy installation. DETAIL
In the association analysis conducted by World Weather Attribution (WWA), a group of international scientists, the relationship between the extreme heat wave that affected most of Europe and North Africa this month and climate change was examined. The study was carried out by scientists from universities and meteorological institutions in the UK, USA, Sweden and the Netherlands. Scientists have found that this month's extreme heat would be impossible without global warming caused by human activities such as deforestation and the use of fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal. DETAIL
Google has launched its forest fire tracking feature in Turkey, which allows tracking the location and current status of forest fires. DETAIL
HEALTH
A combined blood test for cognitive decline has a 90% accuracy rate in determining whether memory loss is due to Alzheimer’s disease, a new study found. DETAIL
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a blood test to be used for colorectal cancer screening among average-risk adults 45 and older. DETAIL
Two shots a year of a drug currently used to treat HIV infections were dramatically effective at preventing infections in a study among young women and adolescent girls in Africa. DETAIL
DIGITAL / TECHNOLOGY / SCIENCE / ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
NASA researchers recently tested their “space laser,” a laser-based communication device, by sending 4K video footage from an airplane to the International Space Station and back. The goal behind the project is to potentially provide live video of a Moon landing during the Artemis missions. It’s also the first step in creating a communications network that would allow people on Earth to communicate with humans on Mars and beyond, The Verge reports. DETAIL
Google's artificial intelligence research unit DeepMind introduced two new artificial intelligence models that can solve complex mathematical problems. DETAIL
Drivers on a busy US freeway have been controlled by an AI since March, as part of a study that has put a machine-learning system in charge of setting variable speed limits on the road. The impact on efficiency and driver safety is unclear, as researchers are still analysing the results. DETAIL
Fossils in rocks that are 3.8 billion years old have puzzled biologists as they look nothing like modern cells, but now it seems they may be an ancient precursor life form that was unable to control its structure. DETAIL
Google Maps' new augmented reality feature will provide a more immersive experience by overlaying interactive computer-generated images and sounds over actual views of historical buildings. For example; The user will be able to see what the Eiffel Tower looked like in the 1900s by pointing his phone at the environment and get more information about the Paris landmark with interactive flashcards. DETAIL
The European Union's law on artificial intelligence applications, known as the "EU Artificial Intelligence Law", has entered into force. DETAIL
A species of algae that was found in a pond at the University of California in San Diego has been transformed through selective breeding and genetic engineering to survive and produce fuel in environments that would kill most organisms. The research is a step towards using algae-based “biofactories” to make sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels. A company in Australia has already asked for the strain to be sent for commercial evaluation. DETAIL
ENERGY / TRANSPORTATION
Swiss technology developer ABB has signed a propulsion single source vendor contract with Washington State Ferries, the United States’ largest ferry system, for five new hybrid electric ferries. DETAIL
Wind and solar to surpass 40% of China’s power capacity by year-end. Wind and solar accounted for 38.4 per cent of overall installed capacity in the first half of the year, while coal-fired capacity fell to 38.1 per cent, a report shows. DETAIL
Michigan-based silicone anode material supplier Paraclete Energy has announced the launch of SILO Silicon, a “revolutionary silicon anode material that will transform the Li-ion battery market, particularly the EV battery sector,” offering “unprecedented energy density and cost efficiency.” DETAIL
As part of the Climate Impulse project, two pilots will steer the aircraft over 40,000 kilometres around the world in nine days in 2028 without stopping. The aircraft will be powered by two electric motors, each with an output of 200 kW, which will enable a cruising speed of around 180 kph. The necessary electricity is supplied by PEM fuel cell stacks from EKPO Fuel Cell Technologies. This is a joint venture between ElringKlinger and OPmobility (formerly Plastic Omnium). The green hydrogen is carried in liquid form in two tanks, each with a volume of around 11 cubic metres. DETAIL
Uber announced that it made an agreement to add 100 thousand electric vehicles produced by Chinese company BYD to its global vehicle fleet. DETAIL
CYBERSECURITY
A US security training company discovered it mistakenly hired a North Korean hacker to be a software engineer after the employee’s newly issued computer became infected with malware. DETAIL
Miami-based BangBros, a well-known adult film studio and platform, has exposed private user information that includes IPs, usernames, locations, feedback messages, and model performance statistics. Cybernews researchers found a large unsecured online database containing 12 million records. DETAIL