Paleontologists have identified a previously unknown species of amphicyonid -- the extinct family of carnivorous mammals popularly known as bear-dogs -- from two specimens unearthed at a rich fossil site in the Vallès-Penedès Basin near Barcelona, Spain.
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MILAN — Etlaq Spaceport, Oman’s commercial spaceport, and German-based small launch provider HyImpulse have signed a letter of intent to explore future launch-related activities and a potential operational presence in […]
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Standards body ETSI proclaimed European digital identity infrastructure as being on the brink of a major transformation due to the release of its first specifications for a regional virtual ID set-up.
ETSI stated 450 million European Union (EU) citizens stand to benefit from the standards for the European Digital Identity Wallet programme, an initiative ultimately intended to act as identity verification and a means of securely sharing a variety of details about a person and their qualifications.
There are more than 24 specifications in ETSI’s first release for the programme and the body stated its technical groups would work on more over the next 18 months.
“Our goal is to make digital interactions across Europe as easy and trustworthy as possible,” Nick Pope, chair of ETSI’s Electronic Signatures and trust infrastructures committee said.
He explained ETSI has a “long expertise in electronic signatures, cybersecurity and trust data management”.
ETSI explained the EU is working to simplify access to online services by enabling single sign-on in place of multiple passwords. People will be able to “store and manage official digital documents, share verified information such as diplomas or licenses and sign documents with legally binding electronic signatures”.
As such, it’s initial batch of standards cover attestation profiles, policies for certification and so-called “trust list formats”.
Protocols for remote signatures, proving identity and data storage are also included.
The EU hopes the digital wallet system will simplify access to government services, healthcare, banking, travel and education.
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The extinct Eurasian cave lion (Panthera spelaea) and today’s African and Asian lions (Panthera leo) belong to separate evolutionary lineages that diverged roughly 1.7 million years ago -- far earlier than previously thought, according to an analysis of 12 cave lion genomes spanning more than 100,000 years.
The post Study: Cave Lions were Distinct Species that Occasionally Bred with Ancestors of Today’s Lions appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
Satellites have become essential infrastructure. Financial markets rely on their timing signals. Military operations depend on their communications and surveillance. Navigation, disaster response, logistics, climate monitoring, most systems that underpin […]
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Vodafone Greece commenced early-stage talks about going Dutch on a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) venture with utility PPC Group, a combination with the potential to pass almost 2.5 million homes.
The head of terms discussion over the 50:50 joint venture also involves the companies’ respective wholesale fibre operations. Vodafone explained any combined business would provide open access to ISPs.
PPC stated the FTTH network of the subsidiary in line for the combination currently passes 1.9 million households and Vodafone’s 550,000.
Alexandros Paterakis, vice chair of the PPC FiberGrid unit and deputy CEO for digital services at the group, said any tie-up would create a “leading digital network infrastructure in Greece”, along with advancing various of the company’s strategic goals.
For Vodafone, any agreement would “substantially accelerate the development of our fibre network” CEO Achilleas Kanaris said.
He added Greece is strategically important to Vodafone Group as a whole and explained the unit is focused on expanding its footprint, shifting from “copper to fibre” and contributing to “national digital coverage objectives”.
The companies emphasised no binding commitments had been made and they are yet to embark on due diligence processes, though indicated intentions to do so with a view to signing binding agreements.
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New radiocarbon dates from Sala Keimada, a hard-to-reach chamber of Cueva Palomera in the province of Burgos, northern Spain, suggest that generations of people returned to the sacred space from the end of the Ice Age through the Iron Age, leaving behind art, structures and offerings.
The post Spanish Cave Sanctuary Reveals More Than 11,500 Years of Activity appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
Denmark has provisionally approved Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” (Supervised) system, making it the fourth European country to clear the software in roughly eight weeks.
The Danish Road Traffic Authority, Færdselsstyrelsen, confirmed the decision today — notably after Denmark had previously raised concerns about the technology at the EU level.
SK Telecom declared itself the first private company based in Asia to be picked to contribute to European Union (EU) work to develop next-generation quantum cryptography technology to boost the security of communications.
The South Korean operator was picked to help develop a quantum key distribution (QKD) system using Quantum Photonic Integrated Circuit-AI as part of the EU’s €95.5 billion Horizon Europe science and technology research financing programme.
SKT staff are to work with researchers in Greece, Austria and Germany, focusing on reducing the bulk, weight and cost of QKD equipment.
The theory is access to QKD-based security would be boosted if the equipment is easier to deploy: SKT stated current systems are unwieldy because “precision optical components…must be individually assembled and aligned in the form of discrete equipment”.
SKT believes optical elements can be combined into a single chip using Photonic Integrated Circuit semiconductor process technology, an approach it likened to producing smartphone camera modules.
The operator expects real-time optical calibration to be possible by embedding AI into the system to boost “overall QKD system stability”.
Project coordination is to be handled by the National Centre of Scientific Research Demokritos in Greece, which is also tasked with developing the AI.
The Austrian Institute of Technology is to develop the key management system and German semiconductor start-up Synogate the functional logic.
SKT highlighted a side mission to help harmonise European and South Korean quantum cryptography standards by identifying differences in respective current approaches. The work could ultimately help develop a global approach, it stated.
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The Chinese company MizarVision recently gained attention with its open source Earth observation data analysis over the Middle East which showed images of F-35s gathering 24 hours before Operation Epic […]
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The UK government gave technology companies three months to switch on device-level tools blocking children from taking, sending or viewing nude images, warning action will be taken if they fail to do so.
The UK Home Office said companies including Apple and Google must implement built-in protections across smartphones and tablets used by children in a move it claimed would make Britain “the first country in the world where it is impossible for children to take, share or view naked pictures on their devices”
If tech companies do not act within the deadline, the government plans to enforce legislation mandating the activation of the technology. Proposed penalties could include fines, with criminal liability for tech bosses under consideration “as a last resort”.
On privacy, the government framed the proposal as on-device blocking, stating there would be “no data collection, no monitoring and no reporting”. Users over the age of 18 would still be able to access adult content by providing proof of age.
The initiative aims to stop predators from exploiting underage victims through their devices and limiting children’s access to pornography. The Home Office noted 91% of online child sexual abuse reports recorded in 2024 contained self-generated content, adding children as young as five were being groomed or coerced into creating explicit images.
Speaking at London Tech Week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer (pictured) said the industry must address the issue as a matter of urgency. “If we are serious about unlocking the opportunities that tech can bring, then we must also be serious about preventing our children from those who look to abuse it – the online predators,” he explained, arguing technology should “adapt to the needs of society, not the other way round”.
Starmer warned if technology players “choose not, then we will act and we will change the law”.
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© Jes Aznar for The New York Times
The Norwegian Competition Authority cleared Telenor to buy fibre company GlobalConnect’s domestic consumer business, subject to a handful of conditions including offloading some assets.
Telenor is required to divest fibre infrastructure at addresses both companies already serve. This will impact approximately 6,000 customers.
Around 9,000 GlobalConnect customers using Telenor’s network through resale agreements are also set to be transferred to another provider.
The competition authority’s third requirement involves giving rivals access to the fibre network being acquired, as is the case with Telenor’s existing network.
Telenor president and CEO Benedicte Schilbred Fasmer highlighted the deal strengthens its position in the market and “is good for customers and for market development”.
“Whilst we disagree that remedies were necessary, we are pleased to have reached a resolution,” the executive added, noting the transaction would bolster its customer numbers by 125,000 and take its market share in Norway’s consumer fibre market from 22% to 29%.
The deal is expected to complete in the second-half of the year, with a gradual customer transition afterwards.
Telenor noted the initial NOK6 billion ($634 million) purchase price would be adjusted after it meets the remedies and disclosed at that time.
GlobalConnect plans to continue to serve its base of 12,000 business customers in Norway, spanning enterprises of various sizes, the public sector and global cloud companies.
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AMD unveiled plans to invest up to £2 billion over five years to accelerate AI innovation and research across the UK, using the opening of London Tech Week to spotlight a push on sovereign infrastructure and research partnerships.
The US-based chip company said the commitment aims to support advanced computing, scientific research and workforce development, while expanding access to the infrastructure needed for AI-led discovery and public sector innovation.
AMD CEO Lisa Su said the UK has “the talent, research excellence and ambition to help lead the next era of AI,” adding the company would work with government, academia and industry to expand access to compute infrastructure needed to “advance sovereign AI, accelerate discovery and drive long-term economic growth”.
As part of the plan, AMD announced a slew of AI-focused partnerships. The company teamed with Imperial College London to advance computational science and research spanning areas including healthcare innovation, climate modelling and AI optimisation.
AMD and Dell Technologies will also work with the University of Cambridge on national AI infrastructure projects, including the Zenith AI supercomputer and Sunrise fusion AI system to support AI-driven scientific work across areas including healthcare research, materials science and fusion research.
In addition, the chipmaker will work with photonic networking company Oriole Networks on the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) Scaling Inference Lab, a national testbed for AI hardware focused on targeting infrastructure bottlenecks.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves called AMD’s investment “a major vote of confidence in Britain’s place as a global AI superpower”, while technology secretary Liz Kendall added it reflected “the strength of Britain’s talent, research and ambition in AI”.
London Tech Week starts today (8 June) and runs until 12 June, bringing together technology companies, investors and policymakers to discuss digital innovation across the UK.
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Luxembourg’s OQ Technology plans to test direct-to-smartphone satellite connectivity next year in Germany using a local telco’s cellular spectrum, setting up a challenge to U.S.-led services in the emerging market.
The post OQ Technology plans direct-to-smartphone demo with cellular spectrum appeared first on SpaceNews.
MILAN – Italian ground segment operator Leaf Space unveiled a new space connectivity service May 27. The technology, named TreeNet, aims to make space communications more seamless by treating individual […]
The post Leaf Space partners with D-Orbit and EnduroSat to test connectivity service appeared first on SpaceNews.
Near-complete bovine skeletons unearthed the Early Pliocene site of Camp dels Ninots in northeastern Spain reveal that the ancestors of today’s buffalo and cattle were already growing to impressive sizes long before humans arrived on the continent.
The post Half-Ton Cattle Relatives Roamed Europe 4 Million Years Ago appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
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