Telescope #131

SUSTAINABILITY

• The first comprehensive assessment of the risk of extinction of freshwater species, now published in the journal Nature. The authors conclude that close to a quarter (24 percent) of freshwater species are threatened with extinction. That is, they have been officially assessed as vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered or extinct in the wild. DETAIL

• The Platform on Sustainable Finance (PSF) has launched a public consultation to gather feedback on updates to the EU Taxonomy, the EU’s classification system for defining sustainable economic activities. DETAIL
• BlackRock announced that it has decided to leave the Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative, a major multi-trillion dollar group of investment managers committed to supporting the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, marking a significant symbolic victory for anti-ESG politicians who had been threatening the investment giant over its participation in the coalition. DETAIL
• London’s Heathrow airport announced an increase in its Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) incentive scheme, with plans to make ￡86 million (USD$104 million) available to airlines to help cut the price gap between SAF and traditional jet fuel, and to scale the use of SAF at the airport to 3% in 2025. DETAIL
• A few days ago, AfD leader Alice Weidel, who participated in a live broadcast with Elon Musk on X and received his support, promised to dismantle all wind energy plants in Germany if they come to power. DETAIL

• Meta has ended programs designed to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) on its platforms, and Amazon also announced in a December notice to employees that it would end its outdated programs around representation and inclusion. DETAIL
• Genetic analysis of people buried in a 2000-year-old cemetery in southern England has bolstered the idea that Celtic communities in Britain placed women centre-stage, showing that women remained in their ancestral homes while men moved in from other communities – a practice that lasted centuries. The work supports growing archaeological evidence that women had high status within Celtic societies across Europe, including Britain, and gives credence to Roman written accounts that were often thought to be exaggerated for Mediterranean audiences when they described Celtic women as empowered. DETAIL

• The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has issued its largest-ever social bond—a $2 billion, three-year bond aimed at supporting low-income communities in emerging markets. This issuance also marks the largest US dollar-denominated social bond ever by a supranational, with a record $11 billion orderbook. DETAIL
• Google has partnered with Indian supplier Varaha to buy 100,000 tons of carbon credits through 2030. The credits come from biochar, a charcoal-like substance produced by converting agricultural waste into a CO2-sequestering material. DETAIL
• With Meta’s recent speech policy changes regarding immigration, in which the company will allow people to call immigrants pieces of trash, Mark Zuckerberg is laying the narrative groundwork for President-elect Trump’s planned mass deportations of people from the United States. DETAIL
• A “historic” drought in Suriname’s interior has dried up rivers, triggered food and water shortages, and disrupted communities’ access to transport, health care and education. DETAIL

HEALTH

• A new study from researchers at Tulane University for the first time shows the importance of coffee drinking time on health outcomes, rather than just the amount consumed. Scientists found those who drink coffee in the morning have a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared to those who drink throughout the day. DETAIL

• Regularly eating golden oyster mushrooms may be a way to stave off some signs of ageing, according to a study in mice. These mushrooms are one of the richest natural sources of an antioxidant called ergothioneine, which some scientists have labelled a ‘longevity vitamin’. Yuichi Oike at Kumamoto University in Japan and his colleagues fed powdered golden oyster mushrooms to 10 middle-aged mice and monitored their heart health. After a year, the mice had significantly better heart function than those that weren’t fed the mushrooms. They could also run faster and further, and they had lower levels of genetic markers associated with heart failure. DETAIL

• Genes play a role in our likelihood of developing depression, and one of the most extensive studies of its kind has now been able to link 293 previously unknown genetic variations to the devastating condition. DETAIL

DIGITAL / TECHNOLOGY / SCIENCE / ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

• Hyundai Mobis, a leading Korean car parts manufacturer affiliated with Hyundai Motor Group, unveiled the world’s first holographic windshield display at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, the US, marking a futuristic shift in passenger car cockpit design. According to Hyundai Mobis on Thursday, the new windshield, developed in collaboration with German optics giant Zeiss, displays high-definition images of a wide range of information, including speed, navigation maps and infotainment content such as videos and music playlists, without obstructing the driver's view. DETAIL

• Hundreds of mysterious engraved “sun stones” unearthed in Denmark may have been ceremonially buried because a volcanic eruption in about 2900 BC made the sun disappear. A total of 614 stone plaques and fragments of plaques engraved with decorative motifs of the sun or plants have been unearthed in recent years at the Vasag?rd West archaeological site on the Danish island of Bornholm. They were found in a layer that dates to some 4900 years ago, when Neolithic people were farming the area and building enclosures encircled by earthworks of banks and ditches. DETAIL

• The Associated Press (AP) and Google have reached an agreement on the delivery of real-time information analysis by the Gemini artificial intelligence model. DETAIL
• The training period has begun in the She Lab program, implemented in collaboration with Boyner Group and UNDP Turkey. 83 young women from 19 provinces of Turkey will take courses on personal development, Sustainable Development Goals and leadership for 3 months. DETAIL
• Following a series of blatantly false summaries of headlines and severe backlash from journalists and newsrooms, Apple has paused its AI-generated news summary push notifications... DETAIL
• The Andromeda galaxy is a colossal marvel in our sky, hosting over 1 trillion stars. Now, astronomers have used the Hubble Space Telescope to capture hundreds of detailed images of our vast galactic neighbor, creating the largest-ever photomosaic of the galaxy. It took over 10 years to create. DETAIL

ENERGY / TRANSPORTATION

• For the first time in Europe, a driverless shuttle service is starting to operate at an airport. This autonomous transportation solution, called "Robobus", will be used at Zurich Airport. Developed by Chinese WeRide and with a capacity of nine passengers, Robobus has become the first commercial autonomous shuttle bus project in Europe. DETAIL
• Toyota Motor unit Hino Motors on Wednesday was charged with fraud in U.S. District Court in Detroit for unlawfully selling 105,000 heavy-duty diesel engines in the United States that did not meet emissions standards. DETAIL

CYBERSECURITY

• Unfortunately, with the threat of cyberattacks growing, most organizations haven’t raised their security standards accordingly. Cybernews Business Digital Index shows that 84% of analyzed Fortune 500 companies scored a D or worse for their cybersecurity efforts. DETAIL

• The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on alleged hacker Yin Kechen and cybersecurity company Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology Co., accusing both of being involved in a series of hacks against American telecom companies. DETAIL