By Siôn Geschwindt

Oxford PV has built the most efficient solar panel ever made. The solar cell can convert 25% of the sun’s energy it receives into electricity, compared to an industry average of between 15-20%.  The Oxford University spinout credits the breakthrough to its perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar cells. Perovskite, a calcium titanium oxide mineral, is better at absorbing light than the crystalline silicon used exclusively in most panels and could revolutionise the industry.  Designed in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Germany, the panels have a theoretical efficiency of 43%, although this has yet to be achieved in…

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By Partner Content

The ubiquitous PDF lurks in your folders, holding everything from contracts to recipes, invoices to research papers. It can be a friend, a collaborator, or even a frustrating wall in the way of productivity. But what if there was a tool that could tame the wild beast of PDFs, transforming it from a static document…

The post SwifDoo PDF: Mastering the Maze of PDFs with One Powerful Tool appeared first on Fossbytes.

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By Siôn Geschwindt

Last week, explicit, non-consensual deepfake images of Taylor Swift flooded X, formerly Twitter — one of the videos racked up 47 million views before it was removed 17 hours later.  In an attempt to stop the distribution of the images, X banned searches like “Taylor Swift” or “Taylor Swift AI”. However, simply rearranging the search from “Taylor Swift AI” to “Taylor AI Swift” yielded results.  The social media platform has come under fire for its sluggish response, which many blame on Elon Musk, who has cut 80% of the company’s content moderation team since taking over in 2022.      The deluge…

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By Ioanna Lykiardopoulou

The world’s first metal 3D printer for space is on its way to the International Space Station (ISS), where it will be installed in ESA’s Columbus module. Its mission is to demonstrate the validity of the technology in orbit and pave the way for future use on Mars and the Moon. Developed by Airbus, the 180kg printer will be used to repair or manufacture tools, mounting interfaces, and mechanical parts. It can print parts with a volume of nine centimetres high and five centimetres wide, with the process lasting about 40 hours. Once installed at the ISS, the 3D printer…

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By Hisan Kidwai

When it comes to the sub-25K INR price segment, we all expect brands to prioritize performance and cut back on areas such as the camera. However, Realme, with its new 12 Pro, has managed to strike a balance like no other brand has until now. But this might lead you to think, where has Realme…

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By .cult

This article was originally published on .cult by Melina Zacharia. .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. Honeypot presents the story of Ruby on Rails. Hear the origin story from the engineers who worked on the project from day one. And if you don’t have time to watch the whole thing, we also made it into a neat little article for you. The ‘meet cute’ The year was 1999 (or 2000, Jason isn’t quite sure about that) when…

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By Ioanna Lykiardopoulou

The Amsterdam Center for Entrepreneurship (ACE) is planning to launch a €150mn fund later this year to further expand its support to startups spinning out of academia. Established in 2008, ACE is the city’s university incubator with four academic stakeholders: the University of Amsterdam, the Vrije Universiteit, the University of Applied Sciences, and Amsterdam UMC. Its mission is to help students and academics build a company. For this reason, ACE offers two types of programmes: the Explore Programme, which provides the business and entrepreneurship fundamentals; and the Incubator Programme, which targets early-stage startups that are ready to grow their businesses…

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By Linnea Ahlgren

US-based VCs are holding tight to a large amount of cash as they navigate a capricious startup environment and investment landscape. While deemed an important enough technology to warrant export restrictions, quantum computing is not high on the list of safe investment bets, and has also suffered from the drop in funding activity. However, across the pond, things are looking brighter for the European quantum ecosystem. That is according to a report released today by Finnish quantum hardware company IQM, along with VCs OpenOcean and Lakestar. The report analyses VC investment, government funding, as well as national quantum strategies. Globally,…

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By Siôn Geschwindt

Dutch challenger bank bunq has reported its first full year of profit, a welcome cash cushion as the company plans its UK relaunch. Bunq, which is Europe’s second largest neobank, said it made €53.1mn in net profit in 2023, a dramatic jump from the €16.5mn loss it incurred the year previous. Riding this momentum, bunq has now submitted its application for an E-Money Institution (EMI) licence in the UK, three years since Brexit invalidated the one it had.  “The UK is home to the second-highest number of digital nomads globally, so naturally, we want to be there,” said bunq founder…

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By Siôn Geschwindt

Nuclear energy is making a comeback. Across Europe, governments are pouring huge amounts of money into new power plants while startups are busily working on smaller, modular alternatives.  Most of these plants rely on uranium, the radioactive metal that fuelled the atomic age (and contributed to a couple of catastrophic meltdowns). However, Swiss startup Transmutex wants to reinvent nuclear energy using a lesser-known element called thorium.  Uranium’s forgotten cousin Thorium is a lead-like metal that is mildly reactive, but four times more abundant than uranium and a lot safer to handle. However, thorium not a fissile material, meaning it cannot undergo…

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By Ioanna Lykiardopoulou

Research has shown that local dialects play an important role in self, in-group, and cultural identity. But can they also impact our interaction with robots? This question is particularly relevant for social robots — the ones designed to interact with humans, such as classroom assistants or even the famous Sophia humanoid. To facilitate their relationship with people, these robots feature many anthropomorphic characteristics, including human-like appearance and voice. However, studies have so far been divided on whether the use of local dialects or standard language has a stronger effect on the perception of their trustworthiness and competence. To further shed…

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By Siôn Geschwindt

The European Space Agency (ESA) has approved the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission, the first scientific endeavour to detect and study cosmic ripples from space.  The launch of LISA is planned for 2035, on an Ariane 6 rocket. The project is expected to be the most expensive and complex the agency has ever undertaken.  Cosmic ripples, also known as gravitational waves, are created during some of the most dramatic events in the Universe, such as when black holes collide.  By measuring them, LISA will probe the entire history of the Universe, going back long before stars and galaxies formed.…

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By Siôn Geschwindt

Apple will allow EU-based users of its devices to download apps without going through its app store, as the tech giant reluctantly moves to comply with the bloc’s incoming Digital Markets Act (DMA).  Apple will also give iPhone and iPad users a range of browsers to choose from as their default and allow the use of alternative payment systems to Apple Pay. The sweeping changes will come into effect for all new Apple devices purchased in the EU from March of this year.  In theory, this could see major competitors like Google’s Play Store becoming available on Apple devices.  Pro-competition…

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By Hisan Kidwai

It’s no secret that generative AI has a lot of use cases, from creating new art to solving complex problems. However, one of its most significant applications lies in the ability to convey ideas to other people, particularly in interior design. This is an area where ensuring your client is on the same page is…

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By Thomas Macaulay

Britain’s aviation regulator is investigating “vertiport” designs as part of plans to bring flying taxis to the UK. The new consultation will lay the foundations for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said on Wednesday. To fly them between land and sky, the CAA wants to install vertical airports — aka vertiports — at existing aerodromes.  By adapting existing infrastructure, the CAA plans to abridge the path to lift-off.  The regulator notes that there are already hundreds of airfields spread across the UK. Equipping them with vertiports could create a domestic transport network for VTOLs. It’s an…

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