| RACER: successful POWER ON

The Racer team recently celebrated a major milestone. The aircraft successfully completed its “POWER ON” test, firing up all systems to conduct initial functional checks.

The POWER ON test — which spoiler — was an overwhelming success, was conducted at the Airbus Helicopter facility in Marignane, France with the participation of all the teams involved in this key milestone.

« The RACER is a unique European concept, without equivalent in the world, being funded under the Horizon 2020 programme. It completely meets the Clean Sky 2 objectives to reduce CO₂ emissions and noise. This is a highly innovative compound helicopter, with more than 90 patented technologies developed, involving 40 companies across 13 EU countries ».

“A very nice example of collaboration requiring an open mindset that develops a European aeronautical industry rich in technological innovation. We congratulate all the participants who contributed to this important milestone on our route towards the maiden flight scheduled in the 2nd part of 2023.” Says Sébastien Dubois, Head of Programmes at Clean Aviation.

Developed by Airbus Helicopters in the frame of the Clean Sky 2 European research programme, the Racer demonstrator is being developed as a high-speed helicopter aiming to achieve optimal speed, cost efficiency, sustainability and performance. With a cruise speed that is double that of a conventional helicopter, Racer will be hugely advantageous for missions where time is of the essence such as search and rescue operations and emergency medical transport. The aircraft also has scope to boost efficiency for inter-city urban air mobility.

| WILL ALL THE THE PARTHENON MARBLES RETURN TO GREECE

Pope Francis has decided to return to the head of the Greek Orthodox Church the Archbishop of Athens Hieronymus II all of Greece three fragments of the Parthenon that have been on display in the Vatican since several decades.

The Greek government was hoping that the Parthenon Sculptures, in display at the British Museum, consisting of a collection of different types of marble architectural decoration from the temple of Athena (the Parthenon) on the Acropolis in Athens would also be returned to their homeland.

The Parthenon Sculptures are from Athens, Greece. When, in 1834, Athens was officially declared the capital of the newly established independent Greek State, most of the post-Roman period structures on the Acropolis were removed, to accommodate further archaeological exploration.

By the early 19th century, the Ottoman Empire had been the governing authority in Athens for 350 years. Lord Elgin was the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire and successfully petitioned the authorities to be able to draw, measure and remove figures.
He was granted a permit (firman), and between 1801 and 1805 acting under the oversight of the relevant authorities, Elgin removed about half of the remaining sculptures from the ruins of the Parthenon. He also obtained permission to have removed sculptural and architectural elements from other buildings on the Acropolis, namely the Erechtheion, the Temple of Athena Nike and the Propylaia.

All of Elgin’s collection of antiquities was then transported to Britain. His actions were thoroughly investigated by a Parliamentary Select Committee in 1816 and found to be entirely legal, prior to the sculptures entering the collection of the British Museum by Act of Parliament.

A formal request for the permanent return to Greece of all of the Parthenon Sculptures in the Museum’s collection was first made in 1983. There have been various meetings and discussions since then. Media coverage has referred to Greek government requests to settle the matter as soon as possible.

The British Museum does not seem to be inclined to transfer the ownership of the Elgin’s marbles to Greece but, as it has been reported, secret talks have been taken place without any formal agreement.

| NEW SCENES FOR CAREER GUIDANCE – A EUROPEAN LIFELONG GUIDANCE CONFERENCE

During the upcoming Swedish Presidency in 2023, Cedefop * is partnering with the Swedish Council for Higher Education, The National Agency for Education, and the Swedish Public Employment Service as well as the Swedish Association of Guidance Counsellors in organising an event to promote lifelong guidance in Europe: New Scenes for Career Guidance.
The conference aims to discuss the “new arenas for career guidance” – how the conditions for lifelong guidance have changed and how career guidance is being re-designed in new ways and for new target groups.The aim is also to investigate what these changes mean for the guidance profession, for policy development and for the content of guidance practices.

Save the date-invitation

Where: Stockholm
When: May 31-June 1 2023
Much has happened since the last Swedish EU presidency in 2009, not least when it comes to the education and labour market arenas and the relationship between them. We have a rapidly changing labour market due to technological developments, demographic trends, and a global energy crisis on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We also find ourselves in an educational world where the individual is expected to continuously learn new skills in a lifelong perspective. The greening of economies brings new career and skills needs to the table and an uncertain world has an impact on individual career decision-making.

Joint vision, joint arrangement

Investing in Career Guidance (Cedefop; European Commission; the ETF; ILO; OECD, UNESCO 2019; revised in 2021) serves as an umbrella advocacy tool for the conference. Here, the Inter-Agency Career Guidance Working Group (CGWG) share their joint vision of the strategic role of career guidance in our changing world. The basic hallmarks of an effective and efficient career guidance system are listed. The Erasmus+ programme, with its support for inclusion, constitutes another important frame for the conference.
The conference is jointly arranged by:
• The Swedish Council for Higher Education
• The National Agency for Education
• The National Public Employment Service.
Cedefop and the Swedish Association of Guidance Counsellors are partners.
The conference dates have been decided to coincide with the annual network meetings of both the Euroguidance Network (29-30 May) and Cedefop’s CareersNet (afternoon of 1 June).

Target groups

Invited national, European, and international stakeholders – policymakers, researchers, trainers, practitioners, and others operating in the field of lifelong guidance in Europe will be welcomed to Stockholm in the Scandinavian early summer for fruitful discussions and the exchange of ideas and experiences.
Places are limited to 3-4 persons from each country.
• Cedefop, The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training is an agency of the European Union

For further details : https://www.uhr.se/om-uhr/Konferenser/scences-for-careers-guidance/

| CERN AND AIRBUS PARTNERSHIP ON FUTURE CLEAN AVIATION

CERN and Airbus UpNext sign a collaboration agreement to assess the use of superconducting technologies for future zero-emission aeroplanes

CERN’s High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) rare-earth barium copper oxide (also referred to as REBCO) power transmission cable used to study the feasibility of superconductivity for aircraft. ©  CERN

CERN and Airbus UpNext, a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus, have launched an innovative collaboration to explore the potential use of superconducting technologies developed by CERN for particle accelerators in the electrical distribution systems of future hydrogen-powered aircraft.

Superconducting technologies could drastically reduce the weight of next-generation aircraft and increase their efficiency.

The partnership focuses on the development of a demonstrator known as SCALE (Super-Conductors for Aviation with Low Emissions), bringing together CERN’s expertise in superconducting technologies with Airbus UpNext’s capabilities in innovative aircraft design and manufacturing.

If the expected performances and reliability objectives are achieved, the collaboration could reach the ambitious target of flying a fully integrated prototype within the next decade.

“In its research, CERN pushes back the limits of science and engineering, and partners with industry to enable innovation, with a positive impact on the environment,” said Raphaël Bello, CERN’s Director of Finance and Human Resources. “Our technologies have the potential to be adapted to the needs of future clean transportation and mobility solutions, as this agreement with Airbus demonstrates. This partnership is only a first step in our journey with the European leader in aviation, and shows how much we value the excellence of our Member States’ industry.”

“Our role at Airbus UpNext is to explore the full potential of technologies for future aircraft and to partner with the world’s leaders to prepare for this future. Partnering with a leading research institute like CERN, which has brought the world some of the most important findings in fundamental physics, will help to push the boundaries of research in clean aerospace as we work to make sustainable aviation a reality”, said Sandra Bour-Schaeffer, CEO of Airbus UpNext. “We are already developing a superconductivity demonstrator called ASCEND (Advanced Superconducting and Cryogenic Experimental powertraiN Demonstrator) to study the feasibility of this technology for electrically powered and hybrid aircraft. Combining knowledge obtained from our demonstrator and CERN’s unique capabilities in the field of superconductors makes for a natural partnership.”

“Superconducting technologies have fuelled some of the greatest discoveries in high-energy physics and, if applied to aircraft power distribution systems, would drastically reduce their weight and increase their efficiency. CERN has over 40 years of expertise in building world-record superconducting systems that are at the core of existing and next-generation particle accelerators. Such systems present negligible resistance to the flow of current, thus transmitting much higher intensities than traditional, heavier, non-superconducting cables,” said José Miguel Jimenez, Head of the Technology department at CERN.

| BULGARIA-BORN COMPANY DRONAMICS AWARDED GRANT FROM THE EUROPEAN INNOVATION COUNCIL

Dronamics, the world’s first cargo drone airline with license to operate in Europe, announced that it has been awarded a €2.5 million grant by the European Commission under the prestigious European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator program. The EIC has also expressed a material commitment to support Dronamics’ upcoming Series A round.

The grant will support the development and roll-out of Dronamics’ cargo drone fleet, the deployment of the first droneports in its network as well as operations in Europe.

« The European Union is home to millions of people who live in territories that often take days to reach by traditional freight. Dronamics aims to democratize air freight, by enabling affordable, and sustainable same day delivery for businesses and communities everywhere, especially remote and under-served ones » says Dronamics.

Dronamics was selected as one of the few companies to have been awarded funding by the EIC Accelerator program, which had nearly 1,000 candidates.

The Black Swan

The Black Swan is a new type of cargo drone, remotely-piloted and fuel-efficient, suitable for a longer range and higher load factor than electric solutions.

Built specifically for cargo, unlike other aircraft, the Black Swan can carry the same load as a small cargo van at a distance of up to 2,500 km, resulting in cost, time, and carbon emission savings.

About Dronamics

Dronamics is the world’s first cargo drone airline. Аs a leading developer and operator of large, long-range drones built specifically for cargo, its flagship Black Swan is able to carry 350 kg (770 lb) at a distance of up to 2,500 km (1,550 mi) up to 80% faster, 50% cheaper and with up to 60% lower emissions than alternative modes of transport, including airfreight. This enables same-day shipping over very long distances for a variety of industries: from pharma to food, from e-commerce to spare parts. The company’s fast-growing team includes some of the most experienced aerospace and logistics experts. Dronamics is Europe’s first licensed cargo drone airline and IATA’s first Strategic Partner for drones worldwide.

About the European Innovation Council

The European Innovation Council (EIC) was established by the European Commission in 2021 following a three year successful pilot phase. It has a mission to identify, develop and scale up breakthrough technologies and disruptive innovation. It has a budget of over €10 billion for the period 2021-2027

James Lookwood

| NEW WEBSITE FOR THE EUROPEAN HYDROGEN REFUELING STATION AVAILABILITY SYSTEM

The recently launched website (https://h2-stations.eu/) includes a real-time information system on the availability of hydrogen refuelling stations in Europe and a common data repository framework for static information, such as addresses, dispensing capabilities and means of payment. All this data can be shared through an open-source export API to any third party who requests access to support the development of the sector.
The website was commissioned by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership as part of the new European Hydrogen Refuelling Station Availability System to help HRS Owners and Operators to connect to the system and share real-time availability of their stations with customers across Europe.
“The HRS availability system is a unique service that provide users with updates regarding the status of the stations in Europe. It is the only real time availability system collecting data across Europe. Being an open source, the information is available for further uses and developments for free. We believe that it will help eliminate potential anxieties over a lack of infrastructure and will enable more drivers to opt for fuel cell vehicles. We encourage all operators to submit their data regularly and be part of this ambitious project, for the benefit of the citizens and the industry”. Bart Biebuyck, Executive Director, Clean Hydrogen Partnership
The system is solely funded by the European Union. The aim of the initiative spearheaded by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership is to assemble a reliable database on the state of the hydrogen refuelling infrastructure in the Union and share it for free. To that effect, the platform centralizes information from operators all over Europe and issues tokens to users interested in the data to assess non confidential data. By disseminating this crucial information at no cost, the E-HRS-AS helps foster the rise of a credible, easy-to-use component of the zero-emission transport revolution.
There are a variety of applications already using E-HRS-AS data, such as the TENtec Interactive Map Viewer, European Alternative Fuels Observatory, FillNDrive, h2.live & Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Observatory.
Visit the new website to learn more about: Where to fuel? How to add a station? How to receive data?
The development, implementation and operation of the E-HRS-AS was subcontracted to Spilett, Element Energy (an ERM group company) and ENDA. They conduct the day-to-day operations of the system in close coordination with the Clean Hydrogen Partnership.

| GERMANY TAKES THE LEAD FOR NATO’S HIGH READINESS FORCE

Germany has taken the lead of NATO’s highest-readiness military force, placing thousands of troops on standby and ready to deploy within days.

NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) was created in 2014 at the core of a strengthened NATO Response Force, following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and crises in the Middle East. Germany takes over from France, which led the force in 2022. In response to Russia’s full-fledged invasion of Ukraine in February this year, NATO deployed elements of the VJTF to Romania on the unit’s first ever collective-defence mission

“Germany is an important Ally and we thank Germany for leading the VJTF in 2023”, said NATO Spokesperson Oana Lungescu. “As Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine continues to threaten peace and security in Europe, there must be no doubt about NATO’s resolve to protect and defend every inch of Allied territory. The VJTF is NATO’s first responder and a key part of our collective defence. Germany’s leadership is a strong display of its commitment and capabilities,” Ms Lungescu said.

The VJTF is the highest-readiness element of NATO’s Response Force. VJTF leadership and membership rotate annually among Allies. In 2023, VJTF land forces will comprise around 11,500 thousand troops, with the Panzergrenadierbrigade 37 at its core. In total, nine NATO Allies (Belgium, Czechia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia) will contribute. Among the major units are Germany’s Panzerbataillon 393, Artillerielehrbataillon 345, Versorgungsbataillon 131 and Transporthubschrauberregiment 30. For the first time, Germany also leads the VJTF’s designated Special Forces command.

| THE TALIBAN’S MINISTER FOR HIGHER EDUCATION, ABDUL BAQI HAQQANI UNVEILED THE MADA 9 PROTOTYPE SUPERCAR

Taliban officials have unveiled what they call the first sports ‘supercar’ designed and built in Afghanistan. The ‘Mada 9’ prototype is said to be the result of five years of work by some 30 engineers from ENTOP and the Kabul Technical Institute.

Presenting the car to the media, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid proudly announced that “the construction is an honour for the whole country”.

The body of the the ‘Mada 9’ is comparable with a Bugatti luxury car. Under the hood, is the engine of a Toyota Corolla.

The ‘Mada 9’ is set to be presented in other countries at a later date and Muhammad Raza Ahmadi, CEO of ENTOP, promised to unveil more specifications.

| THALES AND NUKKAI TO DEVELOP AI-BASED DATA FUSION SOLUTION FOR MILITARY APPLICATIONS

Military analysts in operations centres face significant challenges in extracting relevant information from the huge volumes of data generated by multiple sources such as video and audio streams, websites, Twitter feeds, satellite imagery, social media and telephone conversations. Real-time data analytics will enable them to develop advanced military strategies with greater efficiency.
Thales, an expert in artificial intelligence, plans to implement NukkAI’s solution in a number of its military data processing programmes. When operators are swamped by information, the solution will use real-time data exploitation and fusion methods to automatically review the knowledge available so that analysts can focus on elements of interest.
The explainable AI technology developed by NukkAI was put to the test during the world bridge tournament in March 2022, successfully beating eight human world champions at the well-known card game. The demonstration confirmed the potential of this approach for the development of innovative applications in various sectors of industry.

David Sadek, Vice President for Research, Technology & Innovation, who is in charge of AI projects at Thales, said:

“This pilot project represents a real technological milestone for military applications of AI, enabling analysts to focus on the tasks where human beings can provide the most added value. The partnership with NukkAI is fully in line with our Thales TrUE AI approach, which favours the use of AI solutions that are trusted, safe, secure, explainable and responsible.”

Jean-Baptiste Fantun, co-founder and CEO of NukkAI, added:

“There are multiple use cases for our solution in cybersecurity, education, industry, banking and insurance and in any other area where data from multiple sources needs to be combined, where outcomes need to be explainable and where human operators need to retain control at all times.”

New-generation AI

NukkAI’s solution relies on the use of hybrid, explainable, collaborative and energy-efficient artificial intelligence methods, unlike the “black box” algorithms in widespread use today, which lack transparency and raise issues of human-machine interaction and high energy consumption.

Hybrid: NukkAI’s AI uses a combination of modules relying on different paradigms of artificial intelligence, symbolic AI and digital intelligence.

Explainability: For the bridge tournament, NukkAI developed a tool to analyse game play and explain the strategy used, making it possible to transfer the robot’s skills to the human or show human how their strategy was inferior to that of the robot.

Collaboration: While “black box” AI is not designed for human-machine interaction, NukkAI’s solution can interact with humans and explain the reasons behind its choices and decisions. And it is the human who makes the decision, following suggestions made by the machine.

Energy efficiency: Developed with the support of the CNRS, which provided access to the Jean Zay – the most powerful supercomputer in France – the NukkAI solution that won the bridge tournament in March 2022 consumed 200,000 times less energy than the AI used to beat the world Go champion.

| WI-FI COULD HELP IDENTIFY WHEN YOU’RE STRUGGLING TO BREATHE

Wi-Fi routers continuously broadcast radio frequencies that your phones, tablets and computers pick up and use to get you online. As the invisible frequencies travel, they bounce off or pass through everything around them — the walls, the furniture and even you. Your movements, even breathing, slightly alter the signal’s path from the router to your device.

Those interactions don’t interrupt your internet connection, but they could signal when someone is in trouble. NIST has developed a deep learning algorithm, called BreatheSmart, that can analyze those minuscule changes to help determine whether someone in the room is struggling to breathe. And it can do so with already available Wi-Fi routers and devices. This work was recently published in IEEE Access.

In 2020 NIST scientists wanted to help doctors fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients were isolated; ventilators were scarce. Previous research had explored using Wi-Fi signals to sense people or movement, but these setups often required custom sensing devices, and data from these studies were very limited.

“As everybody’s world was turned upside down, several of us at NIST were thinking about what we could do to help out,” says Jason Coder, who leads NIST’s research in shared spectrum metrology. “We didn’t have time to develop a new device, so how can we use what we already have?”

Working with colleagues at the Office of Science and Engineering Labs (OSEL) in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Coder and research associate Susanna Mosleh advanced a new way to use existing Wi-Fi routers to measure the breathing rate of a person in the room. In Wi-Fi, the “channel state information,” or CSI, is a set of signals sent from the client (such as a cellphone or laptop) to the access point (such as the router). The CSI signal sent by the client device is always the same, and the access point receiving the CSI signals knows what it should look like. But as the CSI signals travel through the environment, they get distorted as they bounce off things or lose strength. The access point analyzes the amount of distortion to adjust and optimize the link.

These CSI streams are small, less than a kilobyte, so it doesn’t interfere with the flow of data over the channel. The team modified the firmware on the router to ask for these CSI streams more frequently, up to 10 times per second, to get a detailed picture of how the signal was changing.

Complete setup for the experiment using an off-the-shelf Wi-Fi router and receiving device. Using these commercial devices, NIST and its FDA collaborators were able to measure the manikin’s simulated “breathing,” differentiating between troubled and normal respiration.

Credit: S. Mosleh/NIST

They set up a manikin used to train medical professionals in an anechoic chamber with a commercial off-the-shelf Wi-Fi router and receiver. This manikin is designed to replicate several breathing conditions, from normal respiration to abnormally slow breathing (called bradypnea), abnormally rapid breathing (tachypnea), asthma, pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, or COPD.

What alters the Wi-Fi signal is the way the body moves as we breathe. Think of how your chest moves differently when you are wheezing or coughing, compared with breathing normally. As the manikin “breathed,” the movement of its chest altered the path traveled by the Wi-Fi signal. The team members recorded the data provided by the CSI streams. Although they collected a wealth of data, they still needed help to make sense of what they had gathered.

“This is where we can leverage deep learning,” Coder said.

Deep learning is a subset of artificial intelligence, a type of machine learning that mimics humans’ ability to learn from their past actions and improves the machine’s ability to recognize patterns and analyze new data.

Mosleh worked on a deep learning algorithm to comb through the CSI data, understand it, and recognize patterns that indicated different breathing problems. The algorithm, which they named BreatheSmart, successfully classified a variety of respiratory patterns simulated with the manikin 99.54% of the time.

“Most of the work that’s been done before was working with very limited data,” Mosleh says. “We were able to collect data with a lot of simulated respiratory scenarios, which contributes to the diversity of the training set that was available to the algorithm.”

There has been a lot of interest in using Wi-Fi signals for sensing applications, Coder says. He and Mosleh hope that app and software developers can use the process presented in the work as a framework to create programs to remotely monitor breathing.

“All the ways we’re gathering the data is done on software on the access point (in this case, the router), which could be done by an app on a phone,” Coder says. “This work tries to lay out how somebody can develop and test their own algorithm. This is a framework to help them get relevant information.”

Source : Nist