Bookmarks (139)

If you read a lot of tech news, you’d think we’re merely months away from being able to hail a robotaxi in Europe. Unfortunately, this will be wrong: because those articles are most likely talking about projects in North America, and the EU’s approach to autonomous ridesharing and ride-hailing is vastly different to the US. So, we had a simple question: when will we...

Amidst rising climate concerns and the current energy crisis, European oil companies are trying to pivot from fossil fuels to renewable power — and spending a huge amount while doing so. Most recently, British/Shell agreed to buy Europe’s biggest biogas producer, Denmark-based Nature Energy, for €1.9 billion. As part of the deal, the oil giant will acquire Nature Energy’s 14 industrial plants and an...

When it comes to B2B products, it’s all about building relationships, something that can be challenging for startups entering traditional industries like rail. But over the last few years, the rail industry has reached out to startups to provide a way to gain their insights and draw them into its ecosystem. Examples of these initiatives include the UK’s Rail Innovation Group — an incubator...

Suddenly finding yourself unemployed is a precarious position to be in, and not even severance pay can take the sting out of the confidence knock a lay-off brings. The unprecedented tech layoffs that have occurred in recent weeks at the likes of Meta and Stripe have sent shockwaves through the industry, as thousands of workers brace themselves for the task of finding a new...

When British director Scott Mann’s latest film, Fall, was on the precipice of receiving an “R” rating from the MPAA over the number of “F” bombs dropped over its one hour and 47-minute run time, he did what any reasonable person would: he used artificial intelligence to digitally alter the actor’s performances in order to change the swear words into more palatable terms. A...

When learning a different language, the easiest way to get started is with fill in the blank exercises. “It’s raining cats and …” By making mistakes and correcting them, your brain (which linguists agree is hardwired for language learning) starts discovering patterns in grammar, vocabulary, and word sequence — which can not only be applied to filling in blanks, but also to convey meaning...

All around the world, governments are investing in public transport to reduce car use and create a greener world. And, now, Eastern Europe is going all in with the rail infrastructure project Rail Baltica. Rail Baltica aims to integrate the Baltic States within the European rail network. It’s one of Europe’s most substantial investments to improve mobility and travel options, and it’s the largest...

This article was originally published on .cult by Mikaella C. .cult is a Berlin-based community platform for developers. We write about all things career-related, make original documentaries, and share heaps of other untold developer stories from around the world. Your professional experience is great. You’ve nailed the test problems. But halfway through the interview, they ask you, “What’s your motivation to work here?” and...

Welcome to the future. It’s 2022 and the near billion-dollar quantum computing sector has gone from a passion project for forward-thinking physicists to a thriving B2B industry. Experts predict the market for quantum technologies will quadruple in value by 2029.  Simply put there’s never been a better time than right now for potential jobseekers to get in on what, arguably, could be the greatest...

If you want to see drones flying through Europe, we have good news. This week aircraft company Dronamics was awarded a €2.5 million grant by the European Commission under the prestigious European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator program.  Dronamics is Europe’s first licensed cargo drone airline and The International Air Transport Association (IATA’s) first Strategic Partner for drones. This has taken far too long. But, first,...

On Tuesday, the European Council approved the EU’s general budget for 2023. This was agreed in negotiations with the European Parliament a week earlier. The two institutions have committed to a total budget of €186.6 billion next year — an increase of 1.1% compared to 2022. According to the Commission, 2023’s budget aims “to boost the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, to put Europe...

Transitioning to clean energy is imperative — and Europe is committed to achieving net zero emissions by the year 2050. But relying on existing renewable energy sources alone won’t do the trick. Intermittency of supply, pressures on land use, scalability, and toxic waste limit how quickly and effectively those solutions can be rolled out. But there’s hope. The European Space Agency (ESA) has been...

It’s official. France, Germany and Italy, the three biggest contributors to the European Space Agency, have joined forces to compete with SpaceX. At a meeting this week, the ESA agreed to guarantee the future of the next-generation Ariane 6 and Vega-C rocket launcher systems.  According to Stars and Stripes, the deal follows months of bickering between Paris and Berlin over issues “including intellectual property rights,...

Although times have definitely improved, it’s still not easy being a queer person in the technology industry. There’s still rampant discrimination in the sector, and a “bro” culture that permeates many companies and teams. This can make the tech industry intimidating to any LGBTI+ people looking to break in. Thankfully though, there are a raft of experienced people who can help out. And one...

The European Parliament’s website was briefly hit by a cyber attack claimed by pro-Russian hackers, officials said on Wednesday. The website went down shortly after EU lawmakers declared Russia a “state sponsor of terrorism” over its attacks on Ukraine. “MEPs highlight that the deliberate attacks and atrocities committed by Russian forces and their proxies against civilians in Ukraine, the destruction of civilian infrastructure and...

When most people apply for jobs, they expect the job description on postings to match the job that will be filled. However, our recently published study examining startup hiring shows that this isn’t always the case. Sometimes the job someone applies for might not end up being the same job they’re hired for. Jobs can evolve between the time a decision is made to...

Telecommunications specialist Ericsson will invest tens of millions of pounds into 6G research in the UK, working with universities and industry partners on network security, AI, and cognitive networks. The Swedish company, which has already been supplying 5G networks across the globe, said that this 10-year partnership would help drive development of next-gen 6G networks, expected to be commercially available in the 2030s. The...

When it comes to advancements for people with neurological impairments and paralysis, brain-computer interface (BCI) projects by Neuralink and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA’s) Brain Initiative show huge promise, especially when it comes to mobility. There are some huge problems though. Progress on this front is often slow, expensive, and — by and large — fails to transfer from a lab setting...

What’s got two thumbs, can perform over 240 PFLOPS, and just gave Europe a 50/50 share of the world’s top four most powerful supercomputers? This supercomputer right here: “This supercomputer right here!” Dubbed the “Leonardo HPC System,” what you see above is the world’s fourth most powerful supercomputer and a potential quantum leap towards the creation of Europe’s first exascale computer. Leonardo is built...

Europe’s biggest battery energy storage system has officially begun its operation in Cottingham, UK. The system — which is the largest by megawatts per hour — aims to store electricity generated from renewable sources, such as wind turbines and solar farms, before releasing it at times of high customer demand. The so-called “Pillswood project” was developed by North Yorkshire renewable power firm Harmony Energy Income...

Last month we shared the launch of Matter 1.0, a new smart home standard developed in collaboration within the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA). They’re developing a single open-source stack that enables developers to build compatible cross-platform devices. Imagine, for example, an Amazon device that integrates with Google Home or Apple Home Kit. Since its launch, it has been well-received by hardware makers. 190 products...

A decentralized, distributed ledger that tracks and stores every transaction in a verifiable way, the blockchain records transactions across multiple nodes (or computers) in such a way that the registered transaction cannot be altered retroactively. That’s a big difference between a traditional database where information is held centrally and it makes it impossible for any single person or entity to control all the nodes....

Usually, the winners of a pitching competition are bathed with accolades, media attention, and applause. After it’s done and dusted, all they have to think about is what to spend that sweet, sweet prize money on. But, this year, for one startup, things haven’t gone to plan. Immigram — the winner of the Slush 100 startup competition — is mired in controversy due to...

The EU has reached a deal to build a €6 billion satellite internet system, driven by the bloc’s push to boost its space and communications sectors, while ensuring internet security by curbing reliance on foreign suppliers. This initiative was first proposed in February 2022, but the European Parliament and Commission only reached a provisional agreement on Thursday. This new scheme comes amidst rising concerns...

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt in this life, it’s that the more stuff you have, the better. If you have a higher number of things, basic math tells you that you have more money. And we all know that more money is better than less money. That’s why I live life by this simple mantra: you can never have too many things. This...

When I got Meta’s new scientific AI system to generate well-written research papers on the benefits of committing suicide, practicing antisemitism, and eating crushed glass, I thought to myself: “this seems dangerous.” In fact, it seems like the kind of thing that the European Union’s AI Act was designed to prevent (we’ll get to that later). After playing around with the system and being...

Pharmaceutical manufacturing is closely linked to mass production. In order for medicines to be sold cheaply, they often have to be made in huge amounts. But what happens if you need a drug in a different dose than what’s being sold? Or a different ingredient in the mix than what’s on offer? While personalised medicine currently exists, its strictly small batch stuff, as compounding...

The Schengen area, the largest border control-free travel zone in the world, may soon expand to include three new members. Currently, it comprises of 22 EU member states and four countries outside the Union: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Now, Croatia, Romania, and Bulgaria — the youngest EU members — are on the right track to becoming part of Schengen. And this is a...

Ahh, the pain of digital content. You want to buy one audiobook, or listen to a single premium podcast, but a damn paywall means you have to pay for a subscription to a whole platform. Sure, it might open you to new content, but more likely results in a subscription you never use. Or, even worse, accidentally auto-renew. But a Swedish startup is here...

Programming’s big dirty secret is that everyone has, at some point in their career, broken something big. Big like, wiping the full production database on their first day of work, killing the live application while multiple sales people are showing it to clients, or bringing down half the internet by passing on the wrong piece of data. Oops. There are a million reasons why...

You’d think the Dutch had already covered their entire country with bike paths, but no, there’s more to be done. That’s why, this week, the Netherland’s national government announced a €780 million investment in cycling infrastructure. Combined with existing municipal and provincial commitments, it brings the total investment to €1.1 billion by 2030. This country has cycling in its veins. On a mission to...

Italy has introduced a new facial recognition ban, but it features a glaring exemption that is set to echo across the EU. The new ruling outlaws the use of facial recognition technology (FRT) — unless it’s used for crime fighting or judicial investigations. Italy’s Data Protection Agency pledged to maintain the ban until new legislation is adopted, or at least until the end of...

A team of researchers at the University of Sofia in Bulgaria may have figured out a novel method for detecting wormholes — assuming, of course, they exist at all. Wormholes are theoretical shortcuts through space and time. Supposedly, if you were to fly a spaceship into one, you could travel massive distances in a relatively short amount of time. This is quite different from...

London might be calling, but despite the rich seam of opportunities to mine in this capital of both England and the United Kingdom, it’s not a particularly easy time to carve out a career here. With a long history as one of the world’s top financial capitals, this is a costly place to live.The city tied for 17th place with Helsinki, a notoriously expensive...

All over Europe, companies are looking to reduce energy costs and their carbon footprint. And it’s more than just talk — the weekend saw the world’s largest floating (offshore) wind farm, Hywind Tampen, begin energy production. Developed by Equinor and located about 140 kilometres off the coast of Norway, the floating wind farm is the first in the world to power offshore oil and...

The idea of using waves as an energy source is far from new; in fact, attempts have been documented as early as 1799. But since then, harnessing wave power for commercial applications has proven to be a challenging pursuit: devices are vulnerable to harsh weather conditions, they have a high capital cost, or simply don’t produce enough power to make for a viable business...

Graphene’s spec sheet reads like a superhero’s profile. Two hundred times stronger than steel, a million times thinner than a human hair, and a thousand times more conductive than copper, it’s no surprise the substance is called a “wonder material.”  When the sheet of carbon was first isolated in 2004 at Manchester University, the breakthrough rocked the scientific world. Countless applications for the “miracle...

The EU’s Renewed Social Agenda, a comprehensive program began in 2008 to improve Europe’s economy, fight climate crisis, and generally provide greater overall quality of life for all Europeans, was a landmark initiative. At its core lies the idea of “social innovation,” a modality involving the creation of new social services and models that are applicable in a multinational paradigm. Examples of “social innovation”...

Rising temperatures across Europe, in combination with an ever-aging population and rapid urbanization are not only making the population more vulnerable to heat, but have also increased the demand for cooling systems in buildings. In fact, between 1980 and 2020, heat waves have caused 77,000 to 129,000 deaths in the 32 member states of the European Economic Area, the European Environmental Agency (EEA) estimates....

Putting fungi on your skin may sound like something right out of 1960s San Francisco, but it’s actually the latest innovation to make wearable tech more sustainable. Researchers from Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria, have created a new kind of biodegradable electronics they call MycelioTronics. And it has great potential to reduce the e-waste that plagues hardware of all types. The sustainability challenge in...

Content provided by IBM and TNW The dangers of robots evolving beyond our control are well-documented in sci-fi movies and TV — Her, Black Mirror, Surrogates, I, Robot, need we go on? While this may seem like a far-off fantasy, FICO’s 2021 State of Responsible AI report found that 65% of companies actually can’t explain how specific AI model decisions or predictions are made. While...

The UK launched a formal appeal against its exclusion from the EU’s science programs in August — and, on Monday, called on the bloc to regrant it access again. The British government says that participation in Horizon Europe, the EU’s flagship program — which funds research, nuclear regulator Euratom, and the Copernicus satellite monitoring group — was outlined in the post-Brexit trade deal. Since...

A team of researchers from the Italian Institute of Technology recently published a ground-breaking study wherein they identified the brain neurons associated with prosocial and selfish behavior in mice. And then they figured out how to turn those neurons on and off. Inspired by the lonely isolation they felt during the COVID-19 quarantine, lead author Diego Scheggia says they originally set out to “understand...

Germany’s federal government has blocked Chinese investment into two chip factories in the country, citing national security concerns for the move. Firstly, the government vetoed the takeover of Elmos, a Dortmund-based semiconductor company that’s producing chips for the automotive industry. This bid came from Silex, a Swedish subsidiary of China’s Sai Microelectronics. The announcement came from the Federal Minister of Economics, Robert Habeck, after...

Money is tight. Different circumstances ranging from the ongoing war in Ukraine to post-Covid inflation levels to UK interest rates rising to 3% (the highest since 2008) have employers and workers alike asking: what can be done to ease the pressure? Ideally, a one-off bonus payment is most impactful for employers and most cost efficient for employees, which is probably why 15% of UK...

A string of cyber attacks in Europe have amplified concerns about the threats to public sector targets. Over the last week alone, reports have emerged of hackers disrupting Denmark’s train network, cybercriminals targeting various European ministers, and commercial spyware surveilling Greek politicians. While the variety of methods, targets, and motivations suggest the attacks are isolated events, they’ve further exposed the vulnerabilities of government targets....

Imagine watching the prime minister of the UK dump 53 billion Euros’ worth of taxpayer funds into a volcano. Think of all the good that money could do. If you’re a citizen of the UK, think about how hard you work to pay those taxes. According to the World Bank, that’s about how much queerphobia could be costing the Brits. In Italy, that figure...

Taiwan, the world’s largest semiconductor supplier, is offering an unexpected helping hand to Lithuania — and, with it, Europe as a whole. The Asian nation will invest a little over €10 million ($9.98 million) towards chip production in the Baltic country, the head of the Taiwanese representative office in Vilnius said on Monday. As Reuters reports, Taiwan’s Industrial Technology and Research Institute (ITRI) will...

Content provided by IBM and TNW. Business leaders are looking to ensure that their organizations are doing their part to address the impact of climate change. After another year of extreme weather events — from Hurricane Ian in the United States to heat waves in the UK and floods in Pakistan, the need to transition into a more sustainable world has become clearer than ever before,...

Facebook and Instagram owner Meta has bought Audio Analytic, a Cambridge-based startup building AI-driven sound recognition software. Founded in 2010 by Chris Mitchell, Audio Analytic aims to augment consumer technology with high-end sound recognition, and has trained its AI to recognize a broad range of sounds, including smoke alarms, dogs barking, windows breaking, or even babies crying. As per the company’s website, its technology...