THE EUROPEAN DREAM Transporting goods throughout Europe by rail is fast, dependable and environmentally friendly. Yet different standards and gaps in the network still hamper cross-border rail traffic. This is about to change. READ NOW
OVER-THE-AIR OVERHAUL ——Just like magic: vehicles today can be equipped with new functions via over-the-air software updates, making visits to a mechanic or a dealership a thing of the past. However, before car manufacturers can fully exploit the future potential of these technologies, safety issues must first be resolved and suitable approval procedures established.
VISION: THE REINVENTION OF AUDIO ——Researchers and companies are working with new technologies to create a 3D experience for televisions, headphones—and even for cars. It could change our relationship to sound forever.
OVER THE CITY’S ROOFTOPS ——An aerial cableway across the city? The technology offers enormous possibilities for climate protection, mobility and society as a whole. A look at Bonn, where German politicians want to give it a try—and Mexico City, where people have already fallen in love with the aerial cableway.
THE LONG ROAD TO SUSTAINABILITY ——The European Union has issued a plethora of regulations and directives to ensure that the economy becomes more sustainable. This will prove challenging for companies, but also provides opportunities in the struggle against climate change.
WANDERING DESERTS ——Deserts such as the Sahara are continually expanding, and humankind is responsible for some of this desertification. Now there are large projects to help halt this expansion, but it isn’t easy to reclaim land from the desert.
VISION: TRANSFORMATION ARTIST ——Thanks to a new technology, cars in the future will be able to change color at the push of a button — and thus save energy on air conditioning. The tech behind this comes from e-book readers, of all things.
THE TRUE CRADLE OF THE ECONOMY ——The circular economy is considered the visionary idea to make our way of life more sustainable.
ICE, ICE, SAVE ME! ——Special airbags are designed to save the lives of winter sports enthusiasts caught in an avalanche. The technology is likely to become more and more important in light of the increasing popularity of ski mountaineering and backcountry tours. Here’s a look at how they work.
VISION: ZAPPED ——Lightning causes billions in damages worldwide every year. The technology company Trumpf hopes to remedy this situation using a laser cannon.
OUR CONTRIBUTION TO CLIMATE NEUTRALITY ——TÜV SÜD is leading by example and has set its own ambitious goals.
PICTURE THIS ——The world's largest seed vault currently stores around 1.2 million seed samples from more than 4,000 different plant species from 249 countries around the world.
VISION: POWER OF THE CROWD ——There are pressing environmental problems and technologies that could solve them. Conservation X Labs wants to build this bridge.
WHAT DO ROBOTS FEEL WHEN THEY ARE TURNED OFF? ——Intelligent robots can feel and sense just like we humans do: That's what some researchers claim when it comes to "emphatic machines." AI ethicist, Joanna Bryson, considers such a statement misleading.
CAN HACKERS BE WARDED OFF WITH CHAINS? ——Udo Schneider, security expert at Trend Micro, explains the advantages of blockchain and points out possible alternatives.
WHY DON’T WE HAVE NUCLEAR FUSION YET? ——Nuclear fusion has been talked about for decades as an inexhaustible and environmentally friendly energy source. What sounds so enticing in theory, however, has continued to fail in practice thus far. The following are five problems that nuclear fusion is still struggling with today.
VISION: WHAT IS MRNA AND HOW DOES IT HELP US? ——Vaccines based on mRNA are a ray of hope during the corona pandemic. In the future, the technology could be used to conquer completely different diseases.
VISION: GRASS PAPER ——Paper devours almost half of the world’s wood production. What if paper could be produced in a smarter and more ecological way?
ARTIFICIAL CREATIVITY ——Recommending products, taking care of office work, defeating human champions in games of strategy: these are all no problem for artificial intelligence these days. Now algorithms are also meant to penetrate the spheres of language, music and the fine arts. But how creative can a computer really be?
VISION: ENERGY FROM THE SEWERS ——In the search for new and sustainable energy sources, a research team in Clausthal, Germany, is getting down and dirty—and plans to transform sewage into a valuable raw material.
GROWN TOGETHER ——They say that every crisis contains opportunities. But does this also hold true for a crisis like the corona pandemic?
EVERYTHING’S RELATIVE ——Optical illusions trick our brains with the simplest of means. Why we see straight lines as crooked—and how our brain is tricked into seeing what isn’t there.
