By 2050, 70 per cent of the world's population will live in urban centres - that's just one reason why mayors will be essential to addressing the climate crisis, making vital adaptations to cities to make them more bearable in a warming world. DETAIL
President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Chris Wright, a prominent fracking magnate and outspoken climate change sceptic, to serve as energy secretary in his upcoming administration. DETAIL
A critical proposal for how much money developing countries should receive to help them tackle climate change after 2025 was met with disappointment and anger by those countries at COP29 on Friday afternoon. The new draft text for the new climate finance target (NCQG) proposes $250 billion a year in public financing by 2035, led by developed countries. This would be part of a broader target of $1.3 trillion a year for all public and private financing by the same date. A critical proposal for how much money developing countries should receive to help them tackle climate change after 2025 was met with disappointment and anger by those countries at COP29 on Friday afternoon. The new draft text for the new climate finance target (NCQG) proposes $250 billion a year in public financing by 2035, led by developed countries. This would be part of a broader target of $1.3 trillion a year for all public and private financing by the same date. Negative reactions to the $250 billion baseline target have flown thick and fast, ranging from “a joke” to “completely unacceptable” from African countries and “a shoddy placebo” from small island states. DETAIL
Climate lawsuits and negative court decisions can reduce the value of publicly listed companies, a Nature Sustainability study suggested. DETAIL
A new study finds that compound ocean extremes – marine heatwaves paired with severe acidification – can be accurately predicted up to one year in advance. DETAIL
A carbon offsetting project set up by Harvard University’s endowment fund has sold millions of junk credits to major international companies, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) can reveal. DETAIL
HEALTH
A recent study involving over 22,000 Italian adults suggests that eating a lot of ultra-processed foods is associated with faster biological aging. Biological aging gives a more accurate picture of our body’s health than just looking at age in years and can be affected by lifestyle choices, such as diet. DETAIL
MIT and Novo Nordisk researchers have developed an innovative ingestible capsule inspired by squid propulsion mechanisms. This capsule is designed to release drugs directly into the stomach wall or other organs in the digestive tract, offering a needle-free alternative for medications that usually require injections, such as insulin and large protein-based drugs, including antibodies. DETAIL
A little deep freeze just might help you get some deep sleep. Scientists in Canada and France have found evidence that regularly spending five minutes a day in extremely cold temperatures can noticeably improve people’s sleep. DETAIL
Drugs like Ozempic may have a shrinking effect on the heart. DETAIL
DIGITAL / TECHNOLOGY / SCIENCE / ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
The "Robotic System That Can Observe a Beehive" project, in which METU Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Technologies Research and Application Center (ROMER) researchers are involved, was featured on the cover of the "Science Robotics" magazine. This robotic system allowed for the first time to collect various data in the hive instantly and continuously, with high accuracy and for long periods of time. Thanks to the analysis of this data with artificial intelligence technologies, interesting results were reported regarding 23 different behavioral patterns of bees, which can also be described as "Basic Behavioral Measures". DETAIL
How would you like it if you could recharge just by sitting out in the Sun? The ability to use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) and water into oxygen and energy is traditionally the exclusive domain of plants and algae. Now, however, researchers in Japan have successfully created photosynthetic animal cells. DETAIL
Can't decide between one of the best smart rings and one of the best smartwatches? The new Casio CRW-001-1JR gives you both form factors in the same device – it's a smartwatch that fits around your finger rather than your wrist. DETAIL
A robot entered a robotics company's showroom in China and kidnapped 12 robots it had interacted with, convincing them to "quit their jobs." The robot's ability to persuade them drew a lot of attention on social media. Footage of the incident, which took place in August, went viral last week on the Douyin platform, known as China's TikTok. DETAIL
The world's first video game produced by artificial intelligence, OASIS, can be played online by anyone. The game has simple graphics and gameplay, and it looks like a copy of Minecraft. While the value of products produced by artificial intelligence is still being debated, the game developed by Decart has begun to be known as the artificial intelligence version of Minecraft. DETAIL
Astronomers have revealed that an asteroid caught in Earth's gravitational pull has turned into a mini-moon. Known as the 2024 PT5 asteroid and captured by our planet's gravity, this celestial body has created excitement in the scientific world. It was recorded that PT5, which is recorded as our planet's second satellite, belongs to the Arjuna asteroid belt, a group of space rocks that follow orbits similar to Earth's, approximately 149 million km from the Sun. On the other hand, it was reported that the asteroid is expected to leave Earth's orbit on November 25, 2024. DETAIL
Imagine sitting down with an AI model for a spoken two-hour interview. A friendly voice guides you through a conversation that ranges from your childhood, your formative memories, and your career to your thoughts on immigration policy. Not long after, a virtual replica of you is able to embody your values and preferences with stunning accuracy. That’s now possible… DETAIL
China has activated the world's most advanced hypergravity machine, aiming to deepen scientific understanding. The system, featuring the largest hypergravity centrifuge, will be able to produce forces thousands of times stronger than Earth's gravity. DETAIL
Microsoft wants to simplify communication across language barriers in its Teams meeting platform by introducing a unique AI feature: real-time translations that not only convey your words but also replicate your voice. Ahead of its Ignite conference, the company's annual event for developers and IT professionals, Microsoft announced a new "Interpreter" agent tool for Teams that provides real-time speech-to-speech interpretation during meetings. DETAIL
ENERGY / TRANSPORTATION
China Is Building 30,000 Miles of High-Speed Rail—That It Might Not Need. The train system is one of the biggest public works in history, and it’s becoming a giant money pit… DETAIL
CYBERSECURITY
The Personal Data Protection Authority (KVKK) determined that 35,274 people resident in Turkey were affected by the data leak on the interactive live broadcast platform Twitch. The platform was fined a total of 2 million TL. DETAIL
Elon Musk appears to have been artificially boosting his posts on X (formerly Twitter) since mid July in order to promote pro-Trump content, according to new research. DETAIL
HUMANITY / CURIOSITY
Following Trump’s victory in the presidential election, American women appear to be embracing the 4Bs, a movement that originally emerged in Korea. The 4Bs are the four “Bs,” or “Nos,” in Korean. They are “bisekseu” (no sex with men); “biyeonae” (no dating men); “bihon” (no marriage to men); and “bichulsan” (no children). Why? Because many saw the presidential election as a referendum on women’s rights. DETAIL
More celebrities and brands are announcing they are quitting X. These include the former X show host Don Lemon, The Guardian, Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia and German football club St Pauli. Trump's win and Elon / X's role in it seem to be the prompt of the latest exodus, as well as concerns over the new Terms of Service. DETAIL
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defense minister Yoav Gallant and the leader of the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, Mohammed Deif, charging those who crossed the NFC with "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity" over the war in Gaza and the October 2023 attacks that triggered Israel's offensive on the Palestinian territories. DETAIL
