00:02The EU has launched a call for tenders for the construction of up to 7 gigafactories of
00:09AI in Europe, as part of the latest major initiative to accelerate sovereignty
00:15European technological innovation and to strengthen the ambition of making it the continent of artificial intelligence.
00:22Led by industry and supported with €10 billion in European and national funding,
00:28The initiative should mobilise at least 20 billion euros of private investments in
00:33across the Union. AI gigafactories will offer startups, small and medium-sized enterprises, industry,
00:41academia and public authorities, access to training infrastructure, inference
00:47and the refinement of advanced frontier AI models. Gigafactories will integrate
00:54advanced processes for artificial intelligence, software and cloud technology stacks, connectivity
01:01high-speed and energy-efficient data centers.
01:07From Etna to the Moon, on the slopes of IDA, the volcano that dominates Catania, the Space Agency
01:13Italy has taken a step forward in developing technologies for lunar exploration
01:19with the success of the experimental campaign of the Etna rover, which in acronym stands for Exploration
01:25Technology for Navigation Autonomy. The development of increasingly autonomous robotic systems constitutes
01:32one of the key technologies for future lunar missions. The rovers will be called upon to carry
01:38scientific instruments, carry out inspection and construction activities, support astronauts
01:44and operate even in the absence of direct supervision. The same lava surfaces of Mount
01:50Etna, the irregular slopes, the non-compact material and the morphological complexity of the terrain
01:56constitute one of the most representative terrestrial analogues of the conditions that the rovers
02:02will have to face on the Moon. Photovoltaics produce more than double the energy per meter
02:10square of land occupied compared to concentrated solar power and it turns out to be the technology
02:16ideal for the entire national territory, thanks to its ability to exploit the different
02:21components of solar radiation, direct, diffuse and reflected, is what emerged from a study
02:27Enea published by the scientific magazine Energize, which compared the performances of the
02:33two technologies in four Italian locations. The study highlights that photovoltaic and solar
02:39concentration can be complementary in the energy transition, explained one
02:45of the authors of the study, Giampaolo Caputo, ENEA researcher at the Department of Technologies
02:51Energy and Renewable Sources. The former is more suitable for producing low-cost electricity.
02:57and on a large scale, while the second is more advantageous when programmability is a priority,
03:04accumulation, flexibility and integration with industrial processes.
03:10Near-real-time global data on emissions from biomass burning
03:16are now more accessible, thanks to the launch by the atmospheric monitoring service
03:21Copernicus Fire Emissions Watch, a new powerful and intuitive online application
03:28making it easier to examine, understand and share global emissions data
03:33from fires. The launch comes at a time when serious fires are devastating
03:38Western Europe, exposing millions of people to dangerous air pollution
03:44and forcing hundreds of thousands of citizens to evacuate. Copernicus data shows that
03:51Since the end of June, in some areas of Europe, 2026 is proving to be one of the most
03:57difficult ever recorded for fires.
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