Telescope #90

To look beyond visual range…

“The future will be green or not at all.” — Jonathon Porritt

SUSTAINABILITY

• T.R.  The Climate Change Presidency has accelerated its work on the establishment of the National Emission Trading System.  For this purpose, it receives support from The World Bank and has started to open tenders for service procurement. DETAIL

• The United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative announced the launch of the 2024 SDG Pioneers campaign. The SDG Pioneers is designed to honor exceptional individuals within the business community who are leading the way in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). DETAIL

• More than 30 counties in Georgia have been designated as “primary natural disaster areas” by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), in the wake of severe droughts across the state. DETAIL

• Rare storms with typhoon-like winds have killed at least seven people in China's southern Jiangxi province since the weekend, three of them blown out of their high-rise apartments in their sleep. DETAIL

• The world added less than half of the new renewable energy capacity needed to meet its climate goals last year, with rising energy demand and weak grid infrastructure slowing the shift from fossil fuels, a leading think tank said on Thursday. DETAIL

• European Union's carbon emissions fell by a record 15.5% in 2023 as renewable power output soared, the European Commission said on Wednesday. DETAIL

• Weather forecasters at Colorado State University (CSU) predicted an "extremely active" 2024 Atlantic hurricane season because of warm sea surface temperatures and less wind shear to break up storms in the summer and fall. DETAIL

• The vast majority of planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions since 2016 can be traced to a group of 57 fossil fuel and cement producers, researchers said. From 2016 to 2022, the 57 entities including nation-states, state-owned firms and investor-owned companies produced 80% of the world's CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and cement production, said the Carbon Majors report by non-profit think tank InfluenceMap. DETAIL

HEALTH

• Health officials are alerting doctors to be on the lookout for certain types of rare, serious meningococcal infections that are on the rise in the United States. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a new health alert that these infections, which are caused by a certain strain of Neisseria meningitidis bacteria, may present with unusual symptoms. In the cases identified so far this year, about 1 in 6 people have died, a higher fatality rate than they typically see with meningococcal infections. DETAIL

• Mpox cases in the United States are twice as high as they were at this time last year, and experts are stressing the importance of improving vaccination coverage as transmission risks rise. DETAIL

• A drug used to treat diabetes slowed the progression of motor issues associated with Parkinson's disease, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine said Wednesday. DETAIL

• Scientists have discovered a remarkable new way to destroy cancer cells. Stimulating aminocyanine molecules with near-infrared light caused them to vibrate in sync, enough to break apart the membranes of cancer cells. DETAIL

DIGITAL / TECHNOLOGY / SCIENCE / AI

• A quantum computer built by Quantinuum uses “logical quantum bits” designed by Microsoft to run simple computational routines with an unprecedented level of reliability. Microsoft and Quantinuum’s quantum computer may be the most reliable yet. DETAIL

• From steam engines to conveyor-belt assembly lines and robots on the factory floor, the manufacturing industry has long been a pioneer of new technologies. Artificial intelligence now looks set to become the next and, perhaps, biggest leap forward. DETAIL

• Sora, OpenAI's text-to-video creation tool, has created its first music video.  The video prepared for August Kamp's song Worldweight consists of short images of different environments in 8:3 width.  The video includes images of a cloudy day at the beach or a temple in the middle of the forest.  When these images are combined with music, an impressive experience emerges.

• A major current of circulating air called the Arctic polar vortex has completely reversed course and is now spinning 'backwards'. With winds now blowing easterly, scientists are trying to predict what effect this might have on weather systems in the coming months. DETAIL

• The world's most powerful MRI scanner has delivered its first images of human brains, reaching a new level of precision that is hoped will shed more light on our mysterious minds – and the illnesses that haunt them. DETAIL

• A newly developed silicon material covered with tiny nanospikes is capable of taking out 96 percent of the virus particles unfortunate enough to touch its surface in tests. It could find a use in hospitals, science labs, and anywhere surfaces need to be as sterile as possible. DETAIL

ENERGY / TRANSPORTATION

• The solid-state battery specialist and Volkswagen partner QuantumScape has begun delivering advanced prototypes of its cells to customers. Known as "Alpha-2", the prototypes have six instead of 24 layers compared to the previous "A0" prototypes delivered to customers and offer a higher energy density. DETAIL

• Chinese commercial vehicle manufacturer Yutong and its battery partner CATL have presented a battery pack that offers a service life of up to 15 years or 1.5 million kilometres. The battery is also said to maintain capacity within the first 1,000 cycles. DETAIL

• Chinese solid-state battery startup Talent New Energy has presented a prototype battery cell with an energy density that would enable cars a range of around 2,000 kilometres. Whether the cell is suitable for mass production remains to be seen. DETAIL

• Israeli battery developer StoreDot has completed over 2,000 consecutive charging cycles with its fast-charging XFC battery cells, which retained more than 80 per cent of their original capacity. The cells were charged consecutively. DETAIL

CYBERSECURITY

• Deepfakes have long raised concern in social media, elections and the public sector. But now with technology advances making artificial intelligence-enabled voice and images more lifelike than ever, bad actors armed with deepfakes are coming for the enterprise. Banks and financial services are being targeted by deep fakes. DETAIL

• A vast amount of sensitive data of unsuspecting shoppers was exposed to threat actors by the e-commerce giant Shopify’s plugin developer, with millions of orders being leaked. DETAIL