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German startup Vay plans to expand its “teledriving” fleet in Las Vegas to 100 electric vehicles — and you could get a job steering the cars.    Vay first launched the service last year, with just two Kia eNiros. It’s fleet has since grown to 30 EVs, which have completed 6000 rides so far.  When you open the Vay app and request a ride, a remote operator drives an electric vehicle to collect you. You then get behind the empty driver’s seat and set off toward your destination.  Once you’re done using the EV, you apply the handbrake, get out, and leave it there in the street, no parking necessary. The teledriver regains control and drives on to the next client.   The 💜 of EU tech The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now! Teledrivers control the vehicles remotely from a purpose-built station equipped with a driver’s seat, steering wheel, pedals, and three monitors providing visibility in front of the car and to its side. The perfect job for gamers? Road traffic sounds, such as emergency vehicles and other warning signals, are transmitted via microphones to the teledriver’s headphones. This operator could technically be sitting on the other side of the world. Most will be nearby at one of Vay’s teledriving centres. As it expands, Vay is looking for more teledrivers to whisk empty cars around Sin City. According to a recent job listing on the company website, here’s how you could land the gig:     You like to drive (and consider yourself a safe and responsible driver). Safety first, second, and third! You are happy working late shifts (afternoons and evenings) as this is what we need for this role. You have a US driving license, clean driving record, and at least two years of driving experience with Uber, Lyft, taxi or similar. You can pass a drug test (including THC). You’re into gaming (or at least super familiar with technology). You are organised and well-structured. You are resilient and have a troubleshooting mindset. You have Google Workplace knowledge (e.g., G-Docs, Sheets, and/or Slides). You are interested in autonomous driving and mobility. If you get the job, you’ll have to pass through Vay’s Remote Driving Academy. The boot camp prepares remote drivers for professional teledriving on public streets and trains them in defensive driving techniques.    Vay bills teledriving as a midway point between conventional cars and autonomous vehicles, which are proving much more difficult to implement than first thought. The company is also making its first foray into remote-controlled trucking.   For drivers, sitting in an office behind a screen is perhaps more comfortable — and definitely safer — than sitting behind the wheel of an actual car or truck.  For customers, it could be a cheaper and more convenient alternative to traditional car-sharing. Vay says the service costs half as much as an Uber. Customers in Vegas pay $0.30 per minute when driving and $0.03 per minute for stopovers. There’s no minimum length or distance and rentals are available for up to 12 hours. For operators of short-term car rental or sharing services, Var claims it can double the amount of time vehicles are in use, boosting revenues.    Vay is the only company ever to have tested a driverless vehicle on public roads in both Europe and the US. Las Vegas was the first city to green-light commercial operations, and Vay hopes to use it as a springboard into the wider US market. Vay also has big plans for Europe — starting with its home country. The company is currently in discussions with German authorities about a domestic rollout.       source

Scientists in the UK have forged 5.5 tonnes of a new kind of steel capable of withstanding the searing heat and intense neutron radiation of nuclear fusion, the same reaction that powers the Sun and stars. The breakthrough is another boost to Europe’s growing flock of fusion energy startups. A UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) working group called NEURONE produced the reduced-activation ferritic-martensitic steel, or “RAFM” for short. It marks the first time that RAFM has been produced on an industrial scale in Britain. “This is really positive and potentially has relevance for all fusionenergy projects,” Ryan Ramsey, COO at British startup First Light Fusion, told TNW.    Fusion reactors superheat hydrogen atoms to extremely high temperatures, forming a charged gas called plasma. Using magnetic fields or lasers to compress the plasma, they force the atoms to fuse, releasing huge amounts of energy that can be used to generate electricity.  When running, the plasma inside a fusion energy machine reaches temperatures of 150 million°C — temporarily making them the hottest points in our solar system. Giant magnets suspend this plasma in mid-air — keeping it away from direct contact with the metal walls. The walls are also cooled to stop them from overheating. Nevertheless, no ordinary steel is up to the task.  The 💜 of EU tech The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now! “The biggest problem isn’t the heat, it’s neutron damage,” said Ramsey. Neutron radiation can quickly degrade the inner walls of a nuclear reactor. “If you don’t manage that, then you’ll be shutting down the fusion reactor regularly to replace the walls, which means you’re not producing power during that time frame,” he explained.    The inner walls of fusion reactors, like the retired JET tokamak machine pictured here, must withstand searing heat and intense radiation. Credit: EUROfusion NEURONE’s new steel can withstand high neutron loads and temperatures of up to 650°C, potentially improving the operational efficiency of future fusion powerplants.  For startups like Oxford University spinout First Light, the development marks another step towards the moonshot goal of building a commercially viable fusion reactor.   NEURONE forged the steel using an electric arc furnace, which runs on electricity instead of coal, housed at the Materials Processing Institute (MPI) in Middlesbrough. The UKAEA said that its new forging method could make producing RAFM up to 10 times cheaper than was previously possible.  “The production of 5.5 tonnes of fusion-grade RAFM steel lays the foundation for cost-effective manufacturing of these types of fusion steel for future commercial fusion programmes,” said David Bowden, who heads up the NEURONE programme.   Despite huge progress, fusion energy has always seemed to be that “20-years-away” technology. But the tides might be changing. According to a poll at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) forum in London last year, 65% of industry insiders think fusion will generate electricity for the grid at a viable cost by 2035, and 90% by 2040. source

In the 1977 Star Wars film A New Hope, there’s an iconic scene where the beloved droid R2-D2 casts a beam of light to create a hologram of Princess Leia pleading for the help of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Sadly, almost 50 years on, we’re not much closer to the true holograms science fiction promised us, let alone the teleportation devices and flying cars.  Yes, we have AR and VR headsets like Microsoft’s HoloLens or Apple’s Vision Pro, but those simply use transparent screens to give the effect of a hologram. Even Tupac’s famous “live” Coachella performance 16 years after his death was pulled off using a trick of light called Pepper’s ghost. Nope, not a real hologram folks.  Real holograms bend light to create 3D images that hover in the air and are visible from every angle — a bit like how Princess Leia was depicted all those years ago. Holography is a burgeoning field, and there are a few companies that have plans to commercialise the technology. One of them is Swave.  The 💜 of EU tech The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now! Swave spun out from Belgium’s Imec, one of the world’s foremost research facilities on nanoelectronics, in 2022. The company claims its Holographic eXtended Reality (HXR) display tech is the first to achieve true holography by sculpting lightwaves into 3D life-likeimages.     Swave recently secured €27mn in a funding round led by Belgian wealth fund SFPIM and imec.xpand, a deep tech-focused venture capital spinoff from Imec. The fresh capital follows a €10mn seed round in 2023, bringing the startup’s total raised to €37mn.    “This round will accelerate Swave’s product introductions as we continue to solve the challenges of today’s AR experiences through true holography,” said Mike Noonen, Swave’s CEO.   Swave’s first product is set to be a pair of lightweight smart glasses that could blow the current state-of-the-art out of the water. The glasses have a special display that uses phase-change materials to steer light and sculpt 3D images that you can see from all angles.  The company claims to have developed the world’s smallest pixels (less than 300nm) that help produce clear, high-quality images without straining the eyes. The founders’ ultimate goal is to create applications that can pass the visual Turing test, where virtual reality is indistinguishable from real-world images. To create full colour, the glasses use a spatial colour system. Instead of using multiple panels or fast switching, it arranges colour filters in a pattern on a single display panel. This system reduces visual artefacts and improves battery life, making the glasses more efficient, said Swave.   The company believes the smart glasses, which are still in testing, will deliver a better depth of field and wider field of view than equivalent headsets while being much smaller and lighter.   Swave’s glasses could also solve some common problems for AR and VR. Users could adjust holograms to their eyesight — without the need for bulky gear. They could also dynamically switch their focus and change the distances of digital objects, which would reduce side effects such as nausea, eye fatigue, and headaches. Fuelled by the fresh funding, Swave now has its sights set on a product launch.  “With Series A funding secured and silicon running at our partner fabs, we are on track to introduce product development kits and soon thereafter production devices,” said Dmitri Choutov, Swave’s co-founder and COO.  Swave is also working on Heads Up Displays (HUDs) for vehicles as well as a so-called spatial light modulator. This device would create holograms without the need for glasses at all. Now that’s something that might come close to R2-D2’s wizardry — or perhaps even better.       source

Dutch battery startups must innovate at “critical pinch points” in the supply chain to compete globally, says Kevin Brundish, CEO of Eindhoven-based battery company LionVolt. The comments come at a tough time for Europe’s battery sector, which has been left reeling following the recent collapse of Northvolt. The Swedish startup’s gigafactories were perhaps the continent’s greatest hope for a homegrown battery success story.  Northvolt’s failure serves as a cautionary tale of the immense challenges in scaling battery production, from securing supply chains to managing infrastructure costs and maintaining investor confidence. But building big and building fast isn’t the only way to cash in on the battery boom.  “While other European nations have focused on establishing gigafactories, with varying degrees of success, the Netherlands should leverage its historical strengths to support companies developing next-generation subcomponents,” said Brundish. The 💜 of EU tech The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now! ASML epitomises this strategy. The Netherlands-based firm is the sole producer of the advanced photolithography machines used by all the world’s biggest chipmakers. Without ASML’s machines, the entire chip supply chain would falter.  It’s an approach that deep and climate tech startups would do well to emulate, according to Brundish. “Focusing on pinch-points enables startups to minimise infrastructure costs while targeting areas with high innovation potential,” he said.   LionVolt spun out from TNO’s Holst Centre in Eindhoven, the Netherlands in 2020. The startup is working on a 3D lithium-metal anode that improves energy transfer in lithium-ion, sodium-ion and, in the future, solid-state batteries.  The anodes contain a film made up of billions of solid pillars, creating a patented 3D architecture with a large surface area. Compared to conventional anodes, the ions only have to travel a short distance, which makes charging and discharging much faster.   LionVolt’s anodes can be dropped into the manufacturing processes of existing gigafactories — reducing risk and lowering capital requirements. This may be key to survival for startups operating in a highly competitive global battery market. Lionvolt is one of several Dutch companies innovating new ways to build better batteries, triggered by surging demand for EVs and other electronic devices.   “In 2024, the Dutch ecosystem has shown remarkable progress, particularly in the lithium-ion battery market,” said Brundish. LeydenJar, another startup from Eindhoven, is working on silicon anodes that could make lithium-ion batteries hold more charge. Meanwhile, CarbonX, a spinout from TU Delft, has developed an alternative to graphite in batteries. It’s made from recycled materials and could help cut dependence on China, which has a chokehold on global supplies of graphite.  LionVolt’s first pilot production line is on track to open in early 2025, with construction well underway and key equipment ordered. The company told TNW that it is now embarking on a Series A funding round as it looks for fresh capital to fuel its expansion plans. While Brundish is optimistic about the trajectory of the Dutch deep tech ecosystem, he stressed the need for further government support and cross-border collaboration.  “Given the Netherlands’ relatively small size, establishing closer links with financial institutions, such as deep tech VCs, will enable the rapid focusing of government subsidies alongside VC funding,” he said.  Public funding must also be deployed more rapidly to nurture promising ecosystems before they lose momentum or migrate elsewhere, he added. source

London-headquartered biotech startup Verdiva has emerged from stealth with a whopping $410mn for a new range of drugs aimed at tackling the obesity epidemic. It’s one of Europe’s largest-ever biotech VC deals, signalling investor appetite for the booming weight loss market.  Verdiva looks to challenge the dominance of Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, the makers of the two most popular weight loss drugs, Wegovy and Ozempic. The company promises to offer less invasive pills, instead of injectables. Its most advanced product is an oral-based GLP-1, a drug that curbs hunger.  Verdiva was founded in July 2024 by executives of Aiolos Bio, the biotech sold to GSK last year for $1.4bn. The fledgling company is not developing its therapies from scratch. It has acquired the rights to a suite of weight loss drugs from Chinese firm Sciwind Biosciences.  Verdiva’s CEO Khurem Farooq, formerly the chief executive of Aiolos Bio, said that current weight loss drugs leave “significant medical needs” unmet.  “People living with obesity and its complications deserve better options at each stage of their treatment journey,” said Farooq. “Our most mature program has the potential to be a first-in-class, once-weekly oral treatment for obesity and weight loss maintenance that could dramatically improve patient access and affordability.” General Atlantic and Dutch biotech VC Forbion led the Series A round, which comes amid a surge in demand for anti-obesity meds. Global spending on these drugs surpassed $30bn for the first time in 2024. By one estimate, the GLP-1 drug market could reach more than $200bnin annual sales by 2031. The meteoric rise in weight loss drugs correlates with rising levels of obesity globally. In the US, where over 40% of the adult population is obese, one-in-eight people report having used a drug like Wegovy and Ozempic at least once. Even Elon Musk admitted to taking Ozempic. Usage is lower in Europe, which experiences lower rates of obesity, but sales, particularly of Wegovy, are skyrocketing. However, some patients have experienced worrying side effects.  Whether Verdiva’s new treatments are a better alternative to the status quo remains to be seen. The company says its GLP-1 drug has completed phase one trials and is ready for phase two — where the drug is tested on a larger number of people. But it still has to go through phase three trials as well, which can take years. Only after completing all three trials can a drug hit the shelves. Most medications never make it out of the clinical testing stage. However, that uncertainty clearly isn’t deterring investors. Last year alone also saw a couple of big rounds in this space, including California-headquartered BioAge Labs’ $170mn Series D round and New York-based Metsera’s $350mn raise. In 2024, VCs invested more than $1.2bn in weight loss startups, the second-highest level ever. source

XOcean has secured $115mn to expand its fleet of uncrewed surface vessels. Founded in 2017 by James Ives, XOcean builds autonomous boats that zip around the ocean, using sensors to gather large amounts of data on everything from the subsurface structures to the temperature and clarity of the seawater.  The bots — which are about the size of a small car — then relay this information in real time to a ground team via satellite link. They then turn the numbers and measurements into surveys, maps, or reports. This data is especially helpful for ocean  research. It’s also of great value to companies in offshore wind, oil and gas, and carbon capture. XOcean’s funding round was led by Big Oil-backed Climate Investment and SGS, an American VC focused on clean energy. The other key investors were Morgan Stanley’s 1GT fund and an affiliate of the Crown Family’s CC Industries.  How Startup Amsterdam Boosts Innovation and Growth at TNW Conference Discover how the City of Amsterdam partnered with TNW to amplify its startup ecosystem, attract global talent, and foster innovation that drives economic impact. XOcean also raised $30mn back in June, bringing its total funding to date to $180mn. Although it has not publicly disclosed its valuation, Dealroom puts it north of $500mn. Whatever the precise figure, it’s certainly a lot of cash, especially for a company building tiny little boats that gather data that we’ve been able to collect through other methods for decades.  However, the real added value is that XOcean can gather this data in a way that’s “safer, cost-effective, and ultra-low-impact,” says Ives.  “Traditionally, mapping the ocean floor and collecting marine data requires a ship with a large crew working for extended periods at sea, Ives told TNW. “When a customer needs data, it can be months before a traditional supplier has availability and costs are uncontrolled.” Now, people who need this data can rely on a small, low-energy autonomous vessel to do the hard work.  XOcean also promises that its vessels are greener. The company estimates that a fleet of its drones emit just 0.1% of the CO2 of the equivalent surveying boats with a crew on board.  And it’s a pitch that seems to be paying off, not just in VC cash, but in real-world deployments. XOCEAN already works with offshore giants including SSE Renewables, Ørsted, BP, and Shell. The scaleup has delivered data solutions to commercial and government clients in over 23 territories, it said. As we build more and more infrastructures out at sea, it’s no surprise that we’re seeing new technology hopping on board. A second example comes from Zelim, based out of Edinburgh, which is developing AI-powered person-overboard detection that aims to increase survival rates. Meanwhile, another British company, Beam, has built an underwater robot for inspecting offshore wind farms.     source

The Dutch government has reached a deal with Nvidia to supply hardware and expertise for the construction of an AI facility in the Netherlands.  The facility will centre around an AI supercomputer aimed at accelerating research and development, as the country pushes to further digitalise its economy, according to a statement made Thursday.   The Dutch Minister for Economic Affairs Dirk Beljaarts is currently in Silicon Valley, where he is meeting with executives at Nvidia. The world’s second most valuable company, Nvidia is a world leader in graphics processing units (GPUs) for artificial intelligence applications.  “Before a shovel can go into the ground, we need to be sure that the required knowledge and hardware is available,” said Minister Beljaarts. “Today the Netherlands has taken an important step together with Nvidia. This brings the construction of a Dutch AI facility a lot closer.” How Startup Amsterdam Boosts Innovation and Growth at TNW Conference Discover how the City of Amsterdam partnered with TNW to amplify its startup ecosystem, attract global talent, and foster innovation that drives economic impact. The ministry didn’t provide a timeline or specific details for the AI facility. Nvidia declined our request for comment.  The Netherlands, which ranked in the top 10 most digitised countries globally last year, is pushing to position itself as a leader in AI. In January last year, the government ringfenced over €200mn to boost local investment in the technology.  “Asia and the US have taken the lead [in AI] and Europe will have to catch up,” said the former economic affairs minister Micky Adriaansens at the time.  Key priorities of the government’s strategy include fostering AI talent, building infrastructure, ensuring safe applications, and enabling cooperation through entities like the Dutch AI Coalition. Last year, the Benelux nation also embarked on building its own “safer” large language model (LLM), called GPT-NL. To execute its plans, the Netherlands is going to need more computing power to train AI machines. Aside from Nvidia, Beljaarts is also meeting with chipmaker AMD. The Minister is also in California to “strengthen relations” between Dutch and American technology companies more broadly, the government said.   source

Hollywood is infamous for celebrity excess, but Tinseltown strictly controls one scandalous indulgence: swearing. Director Scott Mann encountered these constraints after shooting the thriller Fall. Movie giant Lionsgate — best-known for the John Wick, Saw, and Hunger Games franchises — wanted to release the film in the US. But the studio had big problems. Thirty-six of them, to be precise.  “They said it had too many f*cks,” Mann tells TNW on a video call from LA.  All those f-bombs were pushing Fall towards an R rating, which would slash the potential audience. To secure the PG-13 needed to extend the reach, those profanities had to go. How Startup Amsterdam Boosts Innovation and Growth at TNW Conference Discover how the City of Amsterdam partnered with TNW to amplify its startup ecosystem, attract global talent, and foster innovation that drives economic impact. Easier said than done. Reshoots would cost a bomb and post-production magic couldn’t scrub the dirty words. Thankfully, Mann had another trick up his sleeve. Quietly, the British filmmaker had been building a startup — called Flawless — that develops AI video editing tools. Fall provided a new field test: swapping f-bombs for gentler epithets. Mann asked the cast to record cleaner verbiage. Once the audio was ready, the Flawless system went to work. The software first converted the actors’ faces into 3D models. Neural networks then analysed and reconstructed the performances. Facial expressions and lip movements were synchronised with the new dialogue. The experiment proved successful. All 36 f-bombs were replaced without a trace. Well, nearly all of them. “I did one f*ck in the end,” Mann says. “I’m allowed one f*ck, apparently.” Satisfied by his restraint, the ratings board gave Fall the coveted PG-13. The film became a sleeper hit, grossing a reported $21 million against a budget of just $3 million. A sequel is now shooting in Thailand. Buoyed by his success, Mann began commercialising the software. The latest iteration is DeepEditor, an AI tool that refines dialogue and performances. The studio system DeepEditor can trim lines, insert pauses, or re-time delivery. It can even copy and paste performances from one shot to another. All the outputs offer Hollywood-grade 4K resolution, 16-bit colour depth, and ACES colour spaces. Early access applications for the tool are now open. A full product release is slated for the first half of this year. “It’s already altering where people are shooting,” says Mann. “And as it extends out, I think it’s going to completely transform how we make movies.” It’s also not the only tool that Mann wants to transform movies. Around a decade ago, he began developing another AI system for filmmaking. Like DeepEditor, it began life on a Hollywood set. The big break After progressing through film school, British TV, and short films, Mann got his big Hollywood break in 2014. Lionsgate had offered him the director’s chair for the crime thriller Heist. An all-star cast led by Robert De Niro was also on board. Mann relished the experience. “It was a complete privilege. We were very close on the movie and really happy with the English language version. But then I saw a foreign translation of the movie.”  Mann was “horrified” by the dubbing. His script had been rewritten and the actors’ gestures had mutated. The culprit, he discovered, pervaded across the industry. The problem stemmed from Hollywood’s established translation process. When films are dubbed, the scripts are typically rewritten to fit the original mouth movements. If the new lines still don’t match the old gestures, voice actors try to synchronise the two by twisting their delivery in unnatural directions. The results range from amusing to infuriating. “It’s really bad for the filmmakers and the actors, because it’s not the authentic representation of their work,” Mann says. “And as an experience, you’re not immersed if it’s not in synchronicity.” Mann began investigating novel dubbing techniques. He explored head scans, but the rendering lacked realism. The dubbing merely moved from one uncanny valley to another.  Losing faith in established VFX, Mann started searching beyond the film industry. He soon stumbled upon a promising alternative: Deep Video Portraits. Hollywood meets GenAI Unveiled in 2018, Deep Video Portraits was a big breakthrough for the nascent generative AI sector. The technique enables photo-realistic reanimation of faces using just an input video. Each facial gesture and lip movement can then be synchronised with speech.  The life-like results stunned observers — including Mann. “It blew my mind,” he says.  Mann reached out to the research team. They agreed to collaborate on a new technical test: making De Niro’s character speak German. The transformation, Mann says, was “like magic.”  “It was really understanding how a certain actor might say a certain line… You retain the performance, but you can alter the synchronicity.”  Expressions are digitally transferred from one person to another. Credit: Kim et al. Mann believed the technique was ideal for Hollywood. To build the idea into a business, he sought advice from Nick Lynes, a tech industry veteran. Together, the duo co-founded Flawless in 2018.  The startup’s first product was TrueSync, a dubbing tool that studios are applying to Hollywood movies. Among them is Venom: The Last Dance, a Marvel blockbuster released last year. Flawless also showcased a sizzle reel of AI-translated trailers at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Still, not every client is ready to brag about the results. Threatening acts As the premiere of Fall approached, Lionsgate became anxious. GenAI was still a novel term back then, but unions were already concerned about the threats to performers. The studio feared the film’s visual dubbing would spark a backlash.  “They were going to pull the release if this wasn’t cleared up with Screen Actors Guild and there were mega nerves,” Mann recalls. “But luckily, we had planned for the consent workflows and [rights protections] early on.” Flawless built the plan on several pillars. All the data would be legitimately sourced — rather than scraped without permission like so many GenAI firms do. Every output

Our growing reliance on technology at home and in the workplace has raised the profile of e-waste. This consists of discarded electrical devices including laptops, smartphones, televisions, computer servers, washing machines, medical equipment, games consoles and much more. The amount of e-waste produced this decade could reach as much as 5 million metric tonnes, according to recent research published in Nature. This is around 1,000 times more e-waste than was produced in 2023. According to the study, the boom in artificial intelligence will significantly contribute to this e-waste problem, because AI requires lots of computing power and storage. It will, among other things, lead to more turnover of computer servers used in the data centres that support the extra computational needs of AI systems. This rising tide of e-waste, coupled with the limited lifetimes of hi-tech devices, could affect global sustainability goals. E-waste contain toxic and hazardous substances such as mercury, which can pose serious risks to human health and the environment. E-waste is among the fastest-growing types of solid waste globally: more than 5 billion mobile phones are thrown away each year, according to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment forum. In 2022, e-waste reached a record 62 million tonnes – an 82% increase since 2010 – and accounted for 70% of total global waste. However, less than 20% is formally recycled. Data centres and transmission networks are responsible for more than 1% of global energy use, and 0.6% of global carbon emissions. According to a recent McKinsey report, by 2030, the power consumption of AI applications in the US will rise from 4% to 12% of the total power demand today. Meeting these demands could require investments exceeding US$500 billion (£395 billion) for data centre infrastructure. It is already forcing big tech companies to find novel solutions to satisfy this hunger for energy, such as purchasing electricity from nuclear power providers. The environmental impacts of e-waste are considerable. The toxic chemicals in electronic and electrical hardware can contaminate soil and water. In some parts of the world, e-waste is burned to extract valuable materials, generating air pollution. Even the processes to formally recycle materials pose challenges because of the hazardous materials in waste. Processing e-waste in India. PradeepGaurs / Shutterstock Some factors underlying the rise in e-waste, such as growing energy consumption in data centres, could also hamper efforts to reduce carbon emissions. The rising tide of waste itself could set back progress on sustainability goals, especially those seeking to balance economic development with protecting the environment. There’s particular concern over the effects of e-waste on human health. Discarded devices can contain cancer-causing chemicals such as PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). Exposure to e-waste has also been linked to low birthweight and reproductive problems in adults. Children are particularly vulnerable, because their development can be affected by toxic substances in the environment. The economic impacts of e-waste are also significant. The costs of cleaning it up will rise, and because comparatively little e-waste undergoes formal recycling, it can lead to the loss of economically valuable resources such as gold, platinum and other critical materials used in technology. Sources and trends The Nature study on the effects of AI on e-waste used “material flow analysis” to project the growth in demand for hardware. The researchers came up with four scenarios to predict the future growth of e-waste: “limited”, “conservative”, “moderate” and “aggressive”. A three-year lifespan was assumed for computer servers in data centres, based on historical information. The amount of e-waste was calculated by estimating the numbers of servers being discarded each year. This enabled the projection of cumulative volumes of e-waste for each scenario up to 2030. The results suggest that between 1.2 and 5.0 million tonnes of waste will have been produced between 2020 and 2030. The substantial increase in waste technology underscores the need for intervention strategies. The study backs circular economy approaches to tackle the problem – a model of production and consumption that keeps materials and products in use, preventing them turning into waste. This could involve extending server lifespans, re-using components, optimising AI operations through advanced algorithms (to reduce the computational power needed), and improving the efficiency of computer chips. The study estimates such solutions could reduce e-waste by between 16% and 86%, depending on how they are applied. Integrating green design into electronic products could also benefit the environment. This could include installing more biodegradable parts into hardware, substituting toxic components with less harmful ones, and improving the lifespans of products. Raising awareness among the public is also vital. We will need to switch from a culture of “use it and throw it away” to one where we think twice about whether we actually need new technology. Donating devices to others when we are finished with them, and encouraging the use of certified e-waste recycling centres, where this technology should be disposed, can also help. Local and national governments play essential roles in managing e-waste by creating policies, regulations and strategies to reduce its environmental impact and promote sustainable practices. Governments are tasked with setting standards for e-waste collection and recycling. These help ensure that e-waste is disposed of safely and efficiently. The development of recycling technologies is an area where government investment is crucial, as innovative solutions can improve safety and efficiency. Some e-waste will always exist, as technological advancement is crucial to improving our quality of life. But doing everything possible to reduce how much we generate, and mitigating the impact of the e-waste that is produced, will be vital for protecting the environment, the economy and our health. source

Scientists in the UK have successfully created the world’s first carbon-14 diamond battery, which could power low-energy devices like satellite communication equipment for over 5,000 years. The battery is made of the radioactive isotope carbon-14, encased in a thin layer of synthetic diamond. As the carbon-14 decays it emits electrons. The diamond acts like a semiconductor, converting these electrons into electricity. Since carbon-14 has a half-life of 5,700 years, scientists expect the battery to last for millennia.  The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and the University of Bristol led the development, partly due to the former’s work on fusion energy. However, the potential applications are wide-ranging.  Diamond batteries could power pacemakers, hearing aids, watches, computer chips — any low-power device in environments where frequent battery replacement isn’t feasible. The 💜 of EU tech The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now! Engineers could also use the batteries to power the communication equipment of spacecraft like Voyager 1, the farthest human-made object in space. NASA launched the satellite in 1977 and it is still sending data back to Earth. However, its power is expected to last only until 2036. The computer aboard Voyager 1 is also nuclear-powered, except its battery uses the isotope Plutonium-238, which has a half-life of only 87.7 years. If equipped with a carbon-14 diamond battery, the probe could have communicated its findings back home for thousands of years. Voyager 1 is currently floating in space 15 billion miles away from Earth. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech “Diamond batteries offer a safe, sustainable way to provide continuous microwatt levels of power,” said the UKAEA’s Sarah Clark. Shortwave radiation from the decaying carbon-14 doesn’t pose a risk — it is fully absorbed by the diamond casing, the researchers said. The battery can also be recycled at the end of its life — if anyone is still around by then!   The diamond part of the battery was grown at UKAEA’s Culham Campus near Oxford, using a purpose-built plasma deposition rig. The carbon-14 was extracted from graphite blocks, a readily available byproduct of nuclear fission reactors.  While still early days, Tom Scott, Materials Prof at the University of Bristol, said they were exploring industrial partnerships for potential commercialisation in the future. Scott led the team that began the first diamond battery experiments back in 2016. He even spun out a company, Arkenlight, off the back of this research.     “The decade ahead is about improving power performance and upscaling production,” said Scott. source