Telescope #98

Weekly horizon scan…

SUSTAINABILITY

• South Africa is considering lodging a formal complaint at the World Trade Organization against the European Union's "protectionist" carbon border levy, Trade Minister Ebrahim Patel said on Wednesday. DETAIL

• The aim to limit global warming to 1.5°C is based on long-term average temperatures, but analysis shows that if three years cross the threshold, it is almost certain that the target has been missed. DETAIL

• The union representing thousands of workers working at global technology giant Samsung Electronics announced that they will go on strike for one day on June 7.  This was the first strike declaration in the 55-year-old company's history. DETAIL

• A sophisticated joint European-Japanese satellite has launched to measure how clouds influence the climate. Some low-level clouds are known to cool the planet, others at high altitude will act as a blanket. The Earthcare mission will use a laser and a radar to probe the atmosphere to see precisely where the balance lies. It's one of the great uncertainties in the computer models used to forecast how the climate will respond to increasing levels of greenhouse gases. DETAIL

• Severe heat wave prevails in some parts of northern and central India.  According to initial determinations, the temperature of 52.3 degrees was recorded in Delhi.  If confirmed, this will be the highest temperature ever recorded in India. DETAIL

• The first refugee athlete to join Nike's elite roster, Cindy Ngamba is a member of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team for the 2024 Paris Games. She fled her native Cameroon at age 11 and now resides in the UK, where she's a three-time national boxing champion and youth coach. In addition to signing Ngamba and sponsoring the official kit for the Refugee Olympic Team, Nike is collaborating with the Olympic Refuge Foundation's Terrains d'Avenir program in Paris to create more inclusive play environments and provide trauma-informed coaching. DETAIL

• Sustainable Australian fashion label Madre Natura recently broke from tradition by choosing not to debut a new collection at this year's Australian Fashion Week. Instead, the brand took a stance against wasteful practices by presenting The Last Season Collection — its previous line, which it is committed to selling out entirely before launching new designs. With Australians sending 500 million kilograms of clothing to landfills annually, Madre Natura declined to contribute further. DETAIL

• The International Aerospace Environmental Group (IAEG) recently formed a new consortium of leading aerospace companies to study the impact of 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on airplane and engine systems and evaluate technical issues. GE Aerospace is also takes place in the aforementioned consortium. DETAIL

HEALTH

• It might be possible to effectively cure the most common form of asthma by using genetically engineered cells to kill off the rogue immune cells that trigger asthma attacks, a study in mice suggests. DETAIL

• People who have had a recent vaccine against tetanus appear to be less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, suggesting that the bacterial infection is involved in the condition. DETAIL

• An ultra-rare disorder that causes muscle, tendons, and ligaments to irreversibly turn to bone, slowly forming a 'second skeleton' on top of the first, could soon be treatable at an earlier age than ever before. The condition is called fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP). A year after the US Food and Drug Agency (FDA) approved the first and only treatment for FOP, another novel drug has shown success in mouse models. It also had a good safety profile in its first human clinical trial. DETAIL

DIGITAL / TECHNOLOGY / SCIENCE / AI

• Dozens of plants on a small Japanese island may have shrunk themselves to avoid hungry deer – suggesting that persistent pruning by herbivores could drive the evolution of dwarf plants. DETAIL

• AI can predict the location of landmines with up to 92 per cent accuracy, making removal of the deadly devices faster and more efficient, say researchers. DETAIL

• Google has announced a landmark infrastructure project: Umoja, the first-ever fiber optic cable directly connecting Africa and Australia. Umoja, which means “unity” in Swahili, signifies a new era of digital connectivity for the continent. The cable stretches from Kenya, traversing Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe before reaching South Africa. DETAIL

• Meta this week appointed a group of outside advisors to provide guidance on its artificial   strategy. The four-person advisory group is composed entirely of White men. DETAIL

• A small study of children aged 12 to 17 suggests that using a smartphone slightly improves their mood, adding to the debate on whether teenagers should have access to the devices. Experts are split on the matter: some researchers, including Jonathan Haidt at New York University, claim that smartphones may be contributing to a mental health crisis, while others like Pete Etchells at Bath Spa University, UK, argue that there is a lack of evidence to prove such a link. DETAIL

• If images of the literal killing machines weren't troubling enough, a new video of the robots released yesterday by the state-owned broadcaster China Central Television shows the killing machine dutifully hopping and diving, leading teams in reconnaissance, and shooting its back-strapped machine gun at targets.

• The dream of producing a revolutionary new rotorcraft that can achieve maximum velocity with increased maneuverability, lower acoustics, and reduced emissions got a little closer to reality on April 25, when Airbus announced the first flight of RACER, a high-speed compound helicopter with a unique box-wing design that combines a traditional main rotor with two lateral rotors. DETAIL

• Switzerland-based startup FinalSpark claims to have built a unique computer processor made from 16 mini brains made from human brain tissue, Tom's Hardware reports — and they are positioning this "living computer" as an alternative to silicon-based computing. DETAIL

ENERGY / TRANSPORTATION

• In addition to its passenger car business, Japanese car manufacturer Nissan is also focussing on the future of fully electric micromobility. The division has now been strengthened with a new manager for the AMIEO region. DETAIL

• Lilium, developer of an electric vertical take-off aircraft, is partnering with vertical port operator UrbanV and airport operator Aéroports de la Côte d'Azur (ACA). They want to enable regional flights in the south of France from 2026. DETAIL

• A team of researchers at Graz University of Technology has analysed the potential dangers and damage caused by hydrogen vehicles in tunnels. The analysis shows that dangerous situations are unlikely to occur in principle, but the risk can be high in extreme cases. DETAIL

CYBERSECURITY

• It has been rumored for a while that OpenAI is working on a new artificial intelligence model that will replace GPT-4.  In parallel with this development, the company announced that it had created a new Security and Safety Committee to investigate how it should address the risks posed by the model and future technologies.  In the blog post they shared yesterday, it was announced that the committee will be managed by Bret Taylor, Adam D'Angelo, Nicole Seligman and Sam Altman. DETAIL

• Google, which came to the fore when more than 2,500 internal documents were leaked to the public, confirmed the authenticity of its documents. DETAIL

HUMAN, CURIOSITY

• United Public-Business Confederation, R&D unit KAMU-AR takes into account the expenses that a family of four needs to make in order to meet their other needs in a way that befits human dignity and without feeling of deprivation, in addition to the food they need to consume in order to have a balanced and healthy diet. announced the May 2024 results of the hunger-poverty line research calculated by taking  According to the research results, the hunger line increased by 36 liras to 19 thousand 926 liras in May, while the poverty line increased by 1148 liras to 59 thousand 353 liras.  In the first five months of the year, the hunger line increased by 3 thousand 443 liras and the poverty line increased by 12 thousand 368 liras. DETAIL