~the-next-web | Bookmarks (223)

Imagine you’re moving to the destination of your dreams. A tropical paradise by the sea? An enchanting mountain village? A sun-kissed chateau surrounded by vineyards? Take your pick. All you need to do is pack a smartphone. You catch a cab to the station, scan a turnstile, and board a train to the airport. On arrival, you stroll through a biometric corridor and straight...

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have used ESA’s metal 3D printer to forge the first-ever metal part made entirely in space.  The achievement was part of a collaboration between ESA and Airbus that looks to develop Europe’s capabilities in space manufacturing. It could mark a step toward greater autonomy for long-term missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. “Creating spare parts, construction...

Berlin-based renewable energy firm Q Energy has secured €50mn in debt finance to complete work on Europe’s largest floating solar farm, set to power up next year. The plant is already under construction at the site of a former quarry in the Haute-Marne region of France. Once finished, the farm will comprise 134,649 floating solar panels covering an area equivalent to 180 football pitches....

Europe’s first-generation Vega rocket has blasted a payload into space for the last time.  Vega lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana in the early hours of this morning. It was carrying Sentinel-2C, an Earth observation platform that will now join Europe’s fleet of Copernicus satellites. LIFTOFF of #Sentinel2 C on the last Vega rocket from @EuropeSpacePort in Kourou, French Guiana on...

Reports that the Netherlands plans to implement (under US pressure) new export restrictions of ASML equipment to China are increasing. In the name of national security, the US chip war against China has been escalating since 2022, when Washington took the first decisive steps to curb the Asian country’s semiconductor ambitions. Part of the US strategy has been applying pressure to ally countries such...

US startup Aeromine has installed the UK’s first “motionless” wind turbine atop BMW’s Mini factory in Oxford. The 3-metre-tall, box-shaped device captures wind flowing up and over the building. Specially designed wing-like airfoils create a vacuum behind the unit which forces air up through a chamber where it turns a fan inside, generating power.  Aeromine’s device has no visible moving parts. The bladeless design...

The advertising exodus from X is set to accelerate. In 2025, almost half of marketers in Europe and North America plan to cut their spending on the platform. That’s according to a new study from Kantar, a market research firm based in the UK. The company found that trust in ads on X is now “historically low.” Unsurprisingly, the company’s reputation has plummeted under...

Belgian ebike maker Cowboy has bagged €5mn as it looks to achieve full-year profitability next year — and not suffer the same fate as VanMoof.  The funding round was led by Cypress Capital, a Hong Kong-based VC with strong ties to Taiwan, the global hub of bicycle manufacturing. “Cypress Capital is not just a financial investor — which is great to have as well,...

Stability AI has added three new image generators to Amazon Bedrock, a platform for building apps. Stable Image Ultra, Stable Diffusion 3 Large, and Stable Image Core are all now live on the service. The trio are Stability’s “top three text-to-image models,” the company said. By adding them to Bedrock, the London startup hopes to reach new audiences — and customers. Scott Trowbridge, VP...

With the EU lagging behind the US and China on artificial intelligence, the idea of a CERN for AI has been gaining traction — even reaching the high ranks of the European Commission. “I will propose to set up a European AI Research Council where we can pool all of our resources, similar to the approach taken with CERN,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said...

 Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry. In today’s episode, Linnea and Andrii talk about the Barbie phone, Telegram’s future in the EU, running blades for the Paralympics, the end of AnandTech, and more....

The UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) is allocating £81mn to a new programme that aims to create early warning systems for climate tipping points. These are thresholds within the Earth’s climate ecosystem, which — if crossed — can trigger devastating and often irreversible changes. As no early warning mechanisms currently exist, ARIA is hoping for a scientific first. It has opened calls...

Spotify boss Daniel Ek has invited the good folk of London to step inside his body scanners. Upon entry, the futuristic machines will analyse their health. As they stand under a cold, white light, dozens of scanners will track millions of anatomical data points. Their blood, heart, and skin will all be examined. Algorithms will then asses the risks of strokes, heart disease, cancer,...

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee is the stuff of computation legend. From playing a central part in the Manhattan Project and the development of the first nuclear bomb, to housing the world’s first exascale supercomputer, it sits at the very edge of what is possible given the extent of our scientific knowledge to date. Now, ORNL has chosen to partner with...

Any startup is looking to solve a problem. Sometimes, it is not the one you first envisioned when you set up the company, as Mari-Ann Meigo Fonseca, co-founder of Tallin-based Gelatex can attest. Gelatex manufactures 3D nanofibrous scaffolds for various applications, ranging from cell culture to tissue engineering. “But we started the company with a completely different business idea in mind,” Meigo Fonseca tells...

Iceland has a proud tradition in acoustics. The island has given birth to some of the most mesmerising soundscapes from artists over the past decades.  Björk, Sigur Ròs, Ólafur Arnalds — all have been inspired by the otherworldly settings of their home country’s ambience to create their own sublime sonic landscapes.  Keeping up the acoustic adventures where the Atlantic and Arctic oceans meet is...

GDPR fines keep amassing for Clearview AI — a US-based startup known for its thorough (and potentially perilous) facial recognition services. Following similar measures by data protection authorities in France, Italy, and Greece, the Netherlands’ DPA today hit Clearview with a €30.5mn fine for its “illegal” database of photos. This brings the company’s total fines in the EU to €90.5mn. Clearview offers its facial...

Only two weeks after Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah died in a superyacht accident off the coast of Sicily, Hewlett Packard Enterprises has vowed to press ahead with a high court lawsuit against the family of the late British tech entrepreneur. The Silicon Valley giant said in a statement it would follow the legal proceedings “through to their conclusion.” The firm is seeking...

ESIA, the association representing Europe’s semiconductor industry, has called for an “immediate Chips Act 2.0” — if the bloc is to maintain momentum in the global race for technological leadership. The group comprises major chipmakers such as NXP and Infineon as well as research organisations including imec and Fraunhofer. The EU’s Chips Act entered into force in September 2023. It aims to mobilise €43bn...

It takes a special kind of person to decide to found a startup. The long hours require energy, devotion, and continuous motivation. In the beginning, you need to be a jack of all trades, able to understand and jump on parts of the business you may not be familiar with, until you have the capital to hire people who are better at those tasks....

Swedish startup Enerpoly has opened the world’s first zinc-ion battery megafactory. Its vision is to scale a better alternative to lithium-ion for storing renewable energy over longer periods of time. The Enerpoly Production Innovation Center (EPIC) facility is located north of Stockholm. Commissioning has already begun and the plant is expected to make the first zinc-ion batteries next year. The company aims to reach...

The recent CrowdStrike crash took place at the intersection of bad cybersecurity and bad cloud computing. The headlines showed the world what many of us have long warned about — that concentrating power with a handful of tech titans is dangerous and can have devastating real-world consequences.  It didn’t take a cyberattack to cause this global crisis — just a simple mistake. One faulty...

Samsung Medison, a medical equipment unit of Samsung Electronics, has completed its acquisition of French AI-powered ultrasound startup Sonio in a deal worth 126.5bn Won (€86mn).  Founded in 2020, Sonio has developed an AI assistant that helps doctors conduct ultrasound exams faster and more accurately. The French startup recently received FDA approval for Sonio Detect, a product that uses deep learning algorithms to improve...

In Barcelona, digital nomads risk being attacked by angry water pistol-wielding locals. But other parts of sun-soaked Spain are welcoming remote workers with open arms — and wads of cash. This week, the local government of Extremadura announced it is offering digital nomads and remote workers up to €15,000 to move to the rural region. The grants are for “available housing, arable land, and...