Category: Innovation

Why Louvre’s Mona Lisa keeps a smile: Paris’ cooling system

natixis-ezine

Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

A worker inspects machines at part of Fraicheur de Paris’ underground cooling system, in Paris, Tuesday, July 26, 2022. The system, which uses electricity generated by renewable sources, is the largest in Europe and goes unnoticed above ground. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

By THOMAS ADAMSON and NICO GARRIGA Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — The Mona Lisa may maintain her famously enigmatic smile because she benefits from one of Paris’ best-kept secrets: An underground cooling system that’s helped the Louvre cope with the sweltering heat that has broken temperature records across Europe.

The little-known “urban cold” network snakes unsuspecting beneath Parisians’ feet at a depth of up to 30 meters (98 feet), pumping out icy water through 89 kilometers (55 miles) of labyrinthine pipes, which is used to chill the air in over 700 sites. The system, which uses electricity generated by renewable sources, is the largest in Europe — and chugs on around the clock with a deafening noise totally inaudible above ground.

Paris City Hall has now signed an ambitious contract to triple the size of the network by 2042 to 252 kilometers (157 miles). It would make it the largest urban cooling system in the world. The new contract intends to help the city to both adapt to and combat the threat of global warming. Many parts of Europe hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in July. Continue reading

Some schools build affordable housing to retain teachers

natixis-ezine

Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

A view from the third floor of the courtyard, of a new housing complex for Jefferson Union High School District teachers and education staff, in Daly City, Calif., Friday, July 8, 2022. The school district in San Mateo County is among just a handful of places in the country with educator housing. But with a national teacher shortage and rapidly rising rents, the working class district could serve as a harbinger as schools across the U.S. seek to attract and retain educators. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

By JANIE HAR Associated Press

DALY CITY, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco Bay Area high school teacher Lisa Raskin moved out of a cramped apartment she was sharing with a roommate and into her own place this month, paying a deeply discounted $1,500 a month for a one-bedroom with expansive views within walking distance to work.

It was once an impossible dream in an exorbitantly priced region hostile to new housing. But her employer, a 4,000-student school district south of San Francisco, was the rare success story in the struggle to provide affordable housing and in May, it opened 122 apartments for teachers and staff.

“I have a sense of community, which I think is more valuable than anything else,” the 41-year-old San Francisco native said. “More districts really need to consider this model. I think it shows educators that they value them.”

The Jefferson Union High School District in San Mateo County’s Daly City is among just a handful of places in the country with educator housing. But with a national teacher shortage and rapidly rising rents, the working-class district could serve as a harbinger as schools across the U.S. seek to attract and retain educators. Continue reading

Will money-back guarantee win over wealthy donors?

natixis-ezine

Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

(Hailey Tucker/One Acre Fund via AP)

By DREW LINDSAY of The Chronicle of Philanthropy Chronicle of Philanthropy

A glossy book is arriving at the homes and offices of America’s wealthiest individuals. Inside is a charity pitch that aims to raise as much as $6 billion for nonprofits fighting global poverty.

The proposition? Donate and get results — or your money back.

The advocacy group Global Citizen and the finance firm NPX are engineering this campaign. It targets Forbes 400 billionaires, Giving Pledge members, and the wealthy generally — a group increasingly criticized for what is seen as tight purse strings. The drive launched recently with dinners, meetings, and a Wall Street Journal ad that asked: “Will you donate … if we achieve results?” Continue reading

Portable Device Creates Drinkable Ocean Water in Minutes

natixis-ezine

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

By Dane Dickerson

A crack team of research engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) develops a user-friendly and portable unit that removes salt and other particles from ocean water in a flash. It is roughly the size of a suitcase and incredibly easy to use.

The portable desalinization unit was born in MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE), the birthplace of Ion Concentration Polarization (ICP) which is the filtration process behind its compact design.

For over a decade, a team of five, including senior author Jongyoon Han, sculpted a revolutionary desalination device into existence. It is primarily envisioned to help communities without clean drinking water create their own, among other applications. Continue reading

DAVOS DIARY: Train, not plane means scenery & carbon cutting

natixis-ezine

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

(AP Photo/Kelvin Chan)

By KELVIN CHAN Associated Press

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — If you’re coming to Davos this year, try to take the train instead of flying, organizers of the World Economic Forum said.

So I did.

That meant a 12-hour journey from London to the exclusive gathering in the Swiss Alps, which I’m helping cover for The Associated Press.

Taking a train is much less convenient than a plane, but the scenery made up for it — the rolling farm fields of England and France gave way to Switzerland’s towering mountains and idyllic valleys dotted with chalets. And my carbon footprint will be a lot lower than a flight.

To many, Davos conjures up images of government leaders, billionaire elites and corporate titans jetting in on carbon-spewing private planes even as the meeting increasingly focuses on climate change. Continue reading

Europe’s farmers stir up biogas to offset Russian energy

natixis-ezine

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

(AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

By JOHN LEICESTER and FRANK JORDANS Associated Press

SONCHAMP, France (AP) — In lush fields southwest of Paris, farmers are joining Europe’s fight to free itself from Russian gas.

They’ll soon turn on the tap of a new facility where crops and agricultural waste are mashed up and fermented to produce “biogas.” It’s among energy solutions being promoted on the continent that wants to choke off funding for Russia’s war in Ukraine by no longer paying billions for Russian fossil fuels.

Small rural gas plants that provide energy for hundreds or thousands of nearby homes aren’t — at least anytime soon — going to supplant the huge flows to Europe of Russian gas that powers economies, factories, business and homes. And critics of using crops to make gas argue that farmers should be concentrating on growing food — especially when prices are soaring amid the fallout of the war in Ukraine, one of the world’s breadbaskets.

Still, biogas is part of the puzzle of how to reduce Europe’s energy dependence. Continue reading

EU agrees on new digital rules to rein in Big Tech dominance

natixis-ezine

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

By KELVIN CHAN and SAM PETREQUIN Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union set the stage for a stepped-up crackdown on big tech companies with an agreement on landmark digital rules to rein in online “gatekeepers” such as Google and Facebook parent Meta.

EU officials agreed late Thursday on wording for the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, part of a long-awaited overhaul of its digital rulebook. The act, which still needs other approvals, seeks to prevent tech giants from dominating digital markets, with the threat of whopping fines or even the possibility of a company breakup. Continue reading

Amazon’s voice assistant Alexa to start seeking doctor help

natixis-ezine

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

By TOM MURPHY and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO Associated Press

If there is no doctor in the house, Amazon’s Alexa will soon be able to summon one.

Amazon and telemedicine provider Teladoc Health are starting a voice-activated virtual care program that lets customers get medical help without picking up their phones.

The service, for health issues that aren’t emergencies, will be available around the clock on Amazon’s Echo devices. Customers can tell the voice assistant Alexa that they want to talk to a doctor, and that will prompt a call back on the device from a Teladoc physician.

The program, announced Monday, marks Amazon’s latest expansion into health care and another push by the retail giant into a form of care that grew rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Continue reading

Trump’s social media app launches year after Twitter ban

natixis-ezine

Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

By BERNARD CONDON Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s social media app that he hopes will rival Twitter launched Monday as he seeks a new digital stage to rally his supporters and fight Big Tech limits on speech a year after he was banned from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

His Truth Social app was offered for download from the Apple App Store to a limited number of subscribers who had preordered, with others added to a waiting list to be given access over the next 10 days.

The site encountered technical glitches shortly after launch, with reports that subscribers were shut out for hours. Others had trouble signing on. The site is not expected to be open to anyone who wants to download it until next month.
Continue reading

In quiet debut, Alzheimer’s drug finds questions, skepticism

natixis-ezine

Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer

The first new Alzheimer’s treatment in more than 20 years was hailed as a breakthrough when regulators approved it more than four months ago, but its rollout has been slowed by questions about its price and how well it works.

Several major medical centers remain undecided on whether to use Biogen’s Aduhelm, which is recommended for early stages of the disease. Big names like the Cleveland Clinic and Mass General Brigham in Boston say they’ll pass on it for now.

One neurology practice has even banned the company’s sales reps from its offices, citing concerns about the drug and its price, which can climb past $50,000 annually. Continue reading