SUSTAINABILITY
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published the findings of its 2024 Common Supervisory Action (CSA) on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures under the Benchmarks Regulation (BMR). This marks a pivotal step in ESMA’s role as a direct supervisor of benchmark administrators—its first coordinated review with National Competent Authorities (NCAs). The outcome includes a dual set of recommendations: To the European Commission (EC): ESMA proposes amending BMR Level 2 measures to reduce the regulatory burden on benchmark administrators. To benchmark administrators: ESMA urges clearer and more comparable ESG disclosures to better serve the needs of benchmark users. DETAIL
A new survey reveals that “very few” Africans place responsibility for climate action on “rich countries” – despite the long history of carbon emissions from the most developed nations. DETAIL
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to cut requirements for industrial facilities to collect and report their greenhouse gas emissions, ProPublica reports. Data from the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is used to guide policy decisions and constitutes a large part of the nation’s international emissions reporting, the article explains. DETAIL
Countries have agreed to a new set of policies to try to drive the global shipping sector to net-zero, including financial penalties for ships that fail to cut their emissions from 2028. The rules, agreed around midday today at the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) headquarters in London, represent the world’s first meaningful global carbon-pricing scheme on any industry polluter.
HEALTH
Regular exercise is a known modifiable risk factor for dementia. A new study suggests that weight training may help protect the brains of older adults from dementia. The benefits of weight training were also observed in those already showing signs of mild cognitive impairment. DETAIL
DIGITAL / TECHNOLOGY / SCIENCE / ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Robot technologies are developing rapidly, but there are still many problems to overcome, such as high costs and operational continuity. Quarero Robotics offers both a cost-effective and energy-effective solution with robots it has developed with a focus on security. Developed to assist security teams, the robots work with advanced sensors and artificial intelligence support and can perform patrol and monitoring services autonomously.
Trump administration officials have told some U.S. government employees that Elon Musk's DOGE team of technologists is using artificial intelligence to surveil at least one federal agency’s communications for hostility to President Donald Trump and his agenda, said two people with knowledge of the matter. DETAIL
A design change will allow SpaceX to send up more Starlink satellites per launch as the company races to add more network capacity. DETAIL
The mathematics of quantum bits hint that space may emerge from time. The finding suggests space and time may not be inextricably linked in the way Einstein’s special relativity implies. DETAIL
Beijing has postponed a half marathon scheduled for Sunday in which humanoid robots will compete with human runners, a milestone designed to showcase the country's advances in an industry it has championed to dominate. DETAIL
Microsoft has signed a milestone offtake agreement with CO280, committing to purchase 3.685 million tonnes of permanent carbon dioxide removal over 12 years. The carbon will be captured from boiler stack emissions at a U.S. pulp and paper mill and permanently sequestered underground—marking one of the largest engineered CDR deals on record. DETAIL
"Shahram Izadi, the head of Google's Android XR unit, introduced a demo version of the AI-powered smart glasses developed for daily use at the TED conference in Canada. Expected to rival Meta's Ray-Ban glasses, this product can perform real-time translation and analyze its surroundings via the camera thanks to Gemini integration. Compatible with Android devices, the glasses will be able to guide the user by remembering previously recorded images. DETAIL
The dire wolf that was the inspiration for the fearsome creatures in the “Game of Thrones” series once roamed North America. The real-life canine went extinct about 12,500 years ago — but scientists say they have resurrected the species through gene editing. Biotech company Colossal Biosciences, which also has “de-extinction” plans to bring back the woolly mammoth, shared footage of its healthy dire wolves, both as adorable pups (above) and as juveniles roaming a 2,000-acre site. “Our team took DNA from a 13,000 year old tooth and a 72,000 year old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies,” said Colossal CEO Ben Lamm in a news release. DETAIL
Some 22,500 miles above Earth, a spacecraft filled with thruster fuel will gas up two orbiting Space Force assets. The high-altitude endeavor, undertaken by the orbital servicing enterprise Astroscale U.S., is slated to occur in the summer of 2026, the company announced this week. DETAIL
When colossal asteroids rock Earth, it's not all doom and gloom. The menacing asteroid that wiped out non-avian dinosaurs left a colossal marine crater in what's now the Yucatan Peninsula. But after analyzing deeply drilled rock core from the impact site created by the six-mile-wide asteroid, geologists have found compelling evidence that life soon thrived in the basin following the seismic episode. DETAIL
By extensively researching the vocal communication of bonobos in their natural habitat, the Kokolopori Community Reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we found that vocal communication between bonobos – our closest living relatives, along with chimpanzees – relies extensively on compositionality, just like human language. DETAIL
Supersolids are strange materials that behave like both a solid and a fluid due to quantum effects – and now researchers have created an intriguing new type of supersolid from laser light. DETAIL
Hyundai to buy thousands of Atlas robots. The humanoid Atlas robot, which switched to an all-electric infrastructure last year, will be deployed in Hyundai factories and supported in its South Korea-based auto manufacturing operations. DETAIL
ENERGY / TRANSPORTATION
Zeekr has introduced its new 1.2 megawatt (MW) capacity charger for electric passenger vehicles. This liquid-cooled and ultra-fast charging unit, called Zeekr Power, is the most powerful charger ever developed for passenger cars. The device is planned to be released to the market in the second quarter of the year. On the other hand, BYD announced its 1 MW Megawatt Flash Charger last month. It was stated that this device, which can reach maximum power in 10 seconds, can provide a range of up to 400 kilometers with just 5 minutes of charging. DETAIL
CYBERSECURITY
Neptune RAT (Remote Access Trojan) is the latest nasty piece of code floating around the internet. It hijacks Windows devices, steals credentials, and does it all quietly without being noticed by security tools. CYFIRMA security researchers have traced the latest version of the threat, which has been spread on social platforms such as GitHub, Telegram, and YouTube. DETAIL
NexOpt, a vehicle tracking service provider, has leaked sensitive real-time and historic travel data from commercial and passenger vehicles from all over the world. The leak exposed millions of commercial and likely some noncommercial trip details. Based on VINs recorded within the system, it appears the affected data was generated by over 300,000 unique vehicles. DETAIL
Meta is adding more content restrictions to its Teen Safety accounts. By default, users under the age of 16 will now be blocked from going live and opening images containing suspected nudity. To lift these restrictions, teens will need to get parental approval. Updates will roll out in the next couple of months, Meta says. DETAIL
Adding to growing fears of digital surveillance under the Trump administration, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it will begin screening immigrants' social media accounts in an effort to uncover "antisemitic activity," the department explained. DETAIL
CURIOSITY
One of the largest coins from the reign of Roman Emperor Nero was discovered during construction work in Worcestershire, England. The rare treasure is worth over $126,000. The discovery, made at a construction site near the city of Worcester, includes a collection of 1,368 Roman and Iron Age coins. Archaeologists consider this find to be one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the century. DETAIL
