From Ukraine to global power shifts, the certainties that once shaped our world have collapsed, forcing Europe to rethink what is still achievable in a rapidly changing reality.
Tag: future
Space research is becoming a laboratory for technologies that return to Earth as concrete advances for industry, science and daily life.
Argentine family farms are turning to robotic milking to modernize operations, ease the daily grind, and secure their future for the next generation.
For €50 a month, some people are buying into cryogenic preservation, hoping the future holds the key to immortality. With investors pouring millions into Tomorrow Biostasis, the once-fantastical idea is edging into the mainstream. But critics warn that what’s being sold isn’t science — it’s hope on ice.
Architecture is a form of soft power, a symbolic language through which Gulf states tell stories about themselves to the world and to their own citizens — and ultimately, to exercise control.
Gathered in London alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, top European leaders set forth the goal to keep the U.S. engaged, even if it means swallowing their pride in the face of the disgraceful behavior of America’s top leaders.
Both pessimism and optimism are stored in our genes: They helped us be watchful, while giving us the possibility to hope for a better future. But which one helps us lead a better life? For Die Zeit, Harald Martenstein, a self-declared pessimist, looks at the benefits of both.
The crisis with Algeria, the forced departure of French troops from Africa, the weakening of Europe against the Trump-Musk juggernaut… and finally, the political crisis at home. France is on the defensive in a shifting world — and that’s bad for both France and the world.
As Spain prepares to mark the 50th anniversary of dictator Francisco Franco’s death and the return of democracy, fascism is returning around the world. It’s proof, as philosopher Walter Benjamin said, that nothing that has once happened should be considered lost to history.
Funeral undertakers belong to one of the oldest professions in the world. But now, startups want to disrupt old-fashioned funeral homes. Unafraid to tackle taboos, new services offer ways to live on digitally after death.
In Oulu, Finland, near the Arctic Circle, 500 researchers at the 6G Flagship laboratory are already outlining the next generation of mobile technology, due to arrive by 2030. Nokia’s homeland wants to turn the page on 5G, which failed to win over the industry.
Putting the latest AI breakthroughs at the service of national security raises major practical and ethical questions for the Pentagon.
July 3 – July 9, 2023
The inventor of ChatGPT is in Europe to try to force leaders on the Continent to face hard questions about what artificial intelligence is bringing to our world, whether they like it or not.
A bit like the playwright Fernando Arrabal who launched an artistic project of decades after spotting a several disjointed phrases, our columnist reflects on the anodyne coincidences that led him to write these words.
Why has Russia invaded Ukraine? Internet readers want to know. What will Ukraine be like after the war? That’s a question to start answering, even if the battle is far from over.
The war in Ukraine is not just being fought on the ground. The battle for dominance increasingly happens on the digital field, where a worldwide network of cyber-soldiers conduct attacks to disrupt Russia’s war effort, from the outside and inside too.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, journalists and citizens have used open source online intelligence to help the war effort and fight disinformation. NGOs and amateur investigators are even using it to look for evidence of human rights abuses.
? Bonjour!* Welcome to Friday, where several European countries see record daily COVID cases, South Korea pardons Park Geun-hye, and Taste-the-TV is a thing. We also look at a familiar story unfolding in Ukraine, where former president Petro Poroshenko has been accused of being in cahoots with Russia. As mentioned yesterday, the Worldcrunch Today crew […]
? سلام* Welcome to Thursday, where overnight clashes are reported at Poland’s border with Belarus, South Africa’s last white president died and history links Yuri Gagarin and Elon Musk. We also look at how COVID may be the tipping point to push cities into a bicycle-centric future. [*Salam – Arabic] SIGN UP This is our […]
PARIS — In 1919, the International Labor Organization adopted the first conventions on women in the workplace. In 2019, the women who won the World Cup earned $850,000 less than their male counterparts. Three waves of feminism have transformed sexual and interpersonal dynamics. Still, the #MeToo movement reminded us of entrenched power-and-sexual dynamics in the […]
Mechanization is bound to destroy jobs, which not surprisingly provokes fear. But trying to delay the inevitable only makes matters worse and prepares neither society nor laborer for the future.
Germany’s Bosch and Daimler are teaming up to achieve a high level of success in autonomous parking, becoming the first to have a marketable system far from Silicon Valley.
-OpEd- PARIS — We live in a society that changes rapidly, and we wish for schools that reassure us. Schools that are forward-looking, perhaps. Even our schools in the Third Republic that we refer to so often were anything but retrograde. On the contrary! The school believed in the ability of its Black Hussars — […]
Democratic systems offer little incentive for long-term thinking. But unless we can implement true, forward-looking policies, problems like climate change will only multiply.
Access to safe water is a universal right. Yet, it is far from being a reality. As part of the United Nations’ World Water Day on March 22, UNICEF France created with the French Swimming Federation “La Nuit de l’Eau” (Water Night): 230 swimming pools nationwide are holding water sports events and other fun activities Saturday in an effort to raise awareness (and funds) for water access programs in Haiti. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/embed/V_7J6vD45O8 expand=1] UNICEF France’s 2019 Nuit de l’Eau for children in Haiti — ©Marco Dormino/UNICEF/OneShot OneShot is a new digital format to tell the story of a single photograph […]
Part of our fear around AI comes from its misleading moniker. It’s a momentous innovation, sure. But it isn’t really intelligent at all.
UNICEF marks the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers on Feb. 12. Also known as Red Hand Day, it calls for urgent action to end the recruitment of children by armed groups. Youth are increasingly vulnerable as conflicts around the world become more brutal, intense and widespread. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/embed/3vZmtWQyE1w expand=1] UNICEF for International Day Against The Use Of Child Soldiers — Stevie Mann/UNICEF/OneShot This image comes during a demobilization ceremony near the town of Rumbek, in central South Sudan, as the photographer, Stevie Mann, captured the moment that adolescent boys walk away from the weapons they’d carried. The […]
UNICEF France is ringing in 2019 with their greatest mission of all: ensuring every child grows up in the best conditions and has all the tools needed to build a future. And first on the list is “Hope.” Discover their animated Greeting Card — and New Year’s resolution — with this OneShot: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/embed/0WYMdqgKiJQ expand=1] UNICEF France Welcomes 2019 — Jiro Ose/UNICEF/OneShot OneShot is a new digital format to tell the story of a single photograph in an immersive one-minute video. Follow OneShot:
GENEVA — One day last October, during the morning talk show on Swiss state broadcaster RTS, still groggy viewers were brutally awakened by a sentence dropped live on-air: “Schools train children who will be decimated by artificial intelligence.” The voice that dragged them out of their reverie belonged to a French doctor and entrepreneur named […]
The world has mostly embraced technological advances. But as fallout over the Facebook data-breach scandal suggests, the reaction could get nasty.
The Colombian government’s fondness for ‘happiness’ polls may be an attempt ot distract people from poor basic services that are a public responsibility.
Many have hailed the innovations of Songdo, a planned community near the South Korean capital of Seoul. But the city, which once served as a set for the “Gangnam Style” music video, also has its critics.
There is no contradiction between feeling French (or Catalan, or Berliner) and becoming a European citizen. But it is time for that citizenship to have real civic meaning.
-OpEd- WASHINGTON — Late last summer, my wife and I took a ferry from Doolin, on the West coast of Ireland, to Inishmore, the smallest of the three Aran Islands. The tiny ferry, with perhaps no more than 30 or 40 people aboard, was filled with mostly European passengers.The ocean was rough; a short trip […]
PARIS — The victory of the Russians, Iranians and of the Syrian regime in Aleppo is a strategic turning point in the organization of international relations. It marks the West’s fading out and the return of power politics in the Middle East. But it doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the war. Here are four […]
-Essay- PARIS — Will reality become a rare commodity? The digital revolution has given humans the greatest power — that of creating and manipulating reality. We make machines and algorithms that can imitate our world so well that they manage to deceive our brains. For example, Applied VR, a U.S. startup, offers a therapy based […]
Yuri Gagarin was the first to prove that humans can survive in outer space. For 55 years since, humanity has been striving to adapt to life in space, but the questions of exploring our galaxy and taking a journey to other planets still remain open-ended. Can technology help our bodies withstand prolonged spatial voyages? Running […]
Both President Erdogan and top opposition parties are focused on national reconciliation. But Erdogan’s plans will ultimately exclude democracy.
Technology is bringing us closer to Artificial Intelligence, which will undeniably wreak havoc with employment for millions worldwide. Smart solutions are needed now.