All posts tagged: Horizon

€411m investment backs 73 new Horizon Europe projects

€411m investment backs 73 new Horizon Europe projects

Published by skeptic

The European Union is investing €411m in 73 new Horizon Europe projects designed to give researchers and innovators better access to technologies, services and research infrastructure. The projects cover areas including health, climate resilience, agriculture, transport, and manufacturing. The funding was awarded through a competitive Horizon Europe call that attracted 159 applications between 16 May and 18 September 2025. The successful proposals received the highest scores following peer evaluation by independent experts selected and coordinated by the European Research Executive Agency (REA). The investment will strengthen research infrastructure across Europe while supporting training, mobility and new career opportunities for professionals working within the sector. The projects are expected to contribute to Mission Cancer and Destination Earth, support the green and digital transitions, and strengthen Europe’s research and innovation competitiveness. Four areas of research infrastructure The 73 Horizon Europe projects were selected across 18 topics and fall within four main research infrastructure destinations. The largest allocation, €154m, will support 12 projects under INFRASERV, which focuses on research infrastructure services for health research, the green transition, digital …

Jeremy Clarkson’s partner Lisa Hogan warns a beer shortage is on the horizon

Jeremy Clarkson’s partner Lisa Hogan warns a beer shortage is on the horizon

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Lisa Hogan, who helps her partner Jeremy Clarkson run their Diddly Squat farm, has warned that the UK could be facing beer shortages after a summer of drought. Hogan, an actor, former model and TV personality, said there would be “less beer all around” after extreme weather led to a poor barley harvest. “I think a lot of barley farmers suffered, so that’s less beer all around,” she told the Telegraph. “And funnily enough, last year our yields were terrible, but the quality was better. This year, after a second year of dry weather, both the harvest and its quality have suffered.” According to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), the barley harvest this year is expected to be the worst on record, as farmers struggle to get enough water on their land. Lisa Hogan and Jeremy Clarkson run their …

Deakin University expands global research through Horizon Europe partnerships

Deakin University expands global research through Horizon Europe partnerships

Published by skeptic

Deakin University is one of Australia’s most progressive universities, driven by innovation, excellence and real-world impact With Australia’s upcoming association with Horizon Europe, Deakin offers the ideal gateway into the region, opening up new opportunities to grow reach and impact. Deakin’s progressive approach to research and innovation sets us apart from other universities and makes us an ideal consortium partner for Horizon Europe projects. Deakin consistently ranks among the world’s leading institutions for research quality and impact. We have internationally recognised strengths in advanced manufacturing, materials science, engineering, medical research, sport science, artificial intelligence (AI), global security and development, agricultural sciences, ecology and marine biology. These areas closely align with Horizon Europe’s Pillar II clusters, ensuring that our research capabilities are well placed to meet the programme’s important missions. Deakin’s values of being inclusive, ethical and sustainable match Europe’s ideals of democracy and good governance, creating confidence in collaboration on sensitive research and technologies. Like Horizon Europe, Deakin’s priority impact areas are strongly connected with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Deakin contributes to the …

Little rain on the horizon as England and Wales experience driest July on record | UK weather

Little rain on the horizon as England and Wales experience driest July on record | UK weather

Published by Jenni Sidey

England has experienced its driest July since records began in 1836, receiving only 6.5mm of rainfall – 10% of the country’s long-term meteorological average for the month. Wales also experienced its driest-ever July, while Northern Ireland recorded its eighth driest. Scotland was the only country in the UK not to set new records but still received only 69% of its average rainfall for July compared with the long-term average. Southern England faced the worst of the dry conditions with some areas, including the Sussex coast, receiving less than 0.2mm of rain in July. This resulted in widespread low moisture content within the soil, enabling temperatures to reach the high 30s celsius. A pond in Falmer, East Sussex. Parts of Sussex received less than 0.2mm of rain in July. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Looking ahead, despite notable spells of rain in the north, parts of southern England may receive only the odd shower for the rest of August. Throughout the summer, forecast models have hinted at more unsettled weather reaching the south-east of England at a 10-day …

Japan officially joins Horizon Europe

Japan officially joins Horizon Europe

Published by skeptic

Japan brings a whole new research and innovation ecosystem to Europe’s network of scientific cooperation, with reduced barriers around participation and funding. The agreement allows Japanese researchers and organisations to take part in Horizon Europe on equal terms with those from EU Member States and other associated countries. They will be able to join and lead international research consortia, receive EU funding, and work alongside top research institutions to help address global challenges. Japanese research has been easing into Horizon Europe since January 2026 Negotiations on Japan’s accession were successfully concluded by the European Commission and the Government of Japan in December 2025. Since January 2026, transitional arrangements have already enabled Japanese entities to apply to Horizon Europe Pillar II calls and to be evaluated as prospective beneficiaries. Japan’s association marks an important step in the EU–Japan Strategic Partnership and underlines a shared commitment to scientific excellence, innovation, open and rules-based international research cooperation. Japan is the most populous of the 22 non-EU countries associated to the programme, with a 123 million people. Other associated members include …

Google’s Gemini 3.6 Flash model cuts AI agent token costs by up to 65% on long horizon engineering tasks —and 3.5 Pro is on the way

Google’s Gemini 3.6 Flash model cuts AI agent token costs by up to 65% on long horizon engineering tasks —and 3.5 Pro is on the way

Published by skeptic

Google DeepMind today released three new proprietary AI models it says are among its most token-efficient yet: Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite, and Gemini 3.5 Flash Cyber. The models aim to make AI agents faster, smarter, and cheaper at scale. Google is pricing Gemini 3.6 Flash at $1.50 per one million input tokens and $7.50 per one million output tokens through its application programming interface (API), while Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite costs a staggeringly cheap $0.30/$2.50 per million tokens in/out. Compare that to the $1.50/$9.00 per 1M tokens for Gemini 3.5 Flash, and the $2/$12 for Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview, and the savings are considerable. However, Google’s prior generation Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite still remains the search giant’s “most cost-efficient” model at $0.25/$1.50 per 1M tokens. Yet, it remains 2X slower than the new, more expensive Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite, giving those enterprises who value speed more “bang” for their buck. VB Frontier AI Model API Pricing Comparison Chart (Late July 2026 Shortlist) Model Input ($/1M) Output ($/1M) Total ($/1M) Source MiMo-V2.5 Flash $0.10 $0.30 $0.40 Xiaomi …

Wildfire technology: The burning horizon

Wildfire technology: The burning horizon

Published by skeptic

RSS-Hydro explains why democratic access to wildfire technology is a necessity, not a luxury As of mid-July 2026, the images flickering across news screens are painfully familiar, yet growing in intensity: Mediterranean landscapes in Spain, Portugal, Greece, and France are once again battling aggressive wildfire fronts. Following a record-breaking heatwave in June, southern Europe is facing its fire season weeks earlier than historical averages. Thousands have been evacuated, air quality in major urban centres has plummeted to hazardous levels, and exhausted emergency crews are stretched to their breaking point. This is not a regional problem; it is a global one. From the parched landscapes of the Mediterranean to remote forest regions across the globe, wildfires are becoming more frequent, larger, and faster-moving. While climate change provides the backdrop – drought, extreme temperatures, and shifting wind patterns – the operational reality on the ground is that our current systems of detection, alerting, and response are struggling to keep pace with the scale of the threat. This is despite obvious advances in sensing technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), …

Scientists Say: Event horizon

Scientists Say: Event horizon

Published by skeptic

black hole: A region of space having a gravitational field so intense that no matter or radiation (including light) can escape. disk: A round, flat and usually fairly thin object. (in astronomy) A rotating cloudlike collection of gases, dust or both from which planets may form. Or the structure of certain large rotating bodies in the cosmos, including spiral galaxies. event horizon: An imaginary sphere that surrounds a black hole. The more massive the black hole, the bigger the sphere. Anything that happens inside the event horizon is invisible, because gravity is so strong that under normal circumstances even light can’t escape. But according to some theories of physics, in certain situations small amounts of radiation can escape. galaxy: A group of stars — and usually invisible, mysterious dark matter — all held together by gravity. Giant galaxies, such as the Milky Way, often have more than 100 billion stars. The dimmest galaxies may have just a few thousand. Some galaxies also have gas and dust from which they make new stars. gravity: The force …

Black hole collision lets scientists probe the event horizon for the first time

Black hole collision lets scientists probe the event horizon for the first time

Published by Jenni Sidey

Black holes do their most important work in hiding. The boundary that defines them, the event horizon, seals off anything that crosses it from the rest of the universe. Yet in a violent collision recorded last year, astronomers say they have finally caught a signal from the brink of that boundary itself. It came just before it vanished for good. Using the loudest black hole merger ever detected, a team led by researchers at the Australian National University pulled out what they describe as the last part of the crash still able to reach distant observers. The signal came from two black holes that spiraled together, merged, and formed a larger remnant. Hidden inside the gravitational-wave data was a faint component the team calls a direct wave. Notably, this feature appears to carry information from extremely close to the newly formed black hole’s horizon. That matters because the event horizon is one of the hardest places in the universe to study. Light cannot escape from inside it, and even the familiar images of black holes, …

Gaming Without a GPU: Forza Horizon 6 on AMD and Intel

Gaming Without a GPU: Forza Horizon 6 on AMD and Intel

Published by skeptic

Integrated graphics have come a long way and the latest offerings from AMD and Intel highlight just how capable they’ve become for modern gaming. In this overview, ETA Prime evaluates AMD’s Radeon 860S iGPU, built on the RDNA 3.5 architecture, against Intel’s Arc B390 iGPU, powered by the XE3 architecture, using Forza Horizon 6 as a benchmark. Paired with the Ryzen AI Max Plus 395 CPU, AMD’s iGPU features 40 compute units and clock speeds up to 2,900 MHz, while Intel’s Arc B390, combined with the Core Ultra 388H CPU, emphasizes efficiency with its hybrid core design. These configurations are tested across various power levels and resolutions to assess their performance in real-world gaming scenarios. Explore how AMD’s Radeon 860S delivers superior frame rates at higher power levels, excelling in 1080p and 1440p gaming, while Intel’s Arc B390 demonstrates its strength in low-power configurations, offering smoother gameplay in energy-efficient setups. You’ll gain insight into how each iGPU handles demanding workloads, the trade-offs between performance and efficiency and which setup might better suit your gaming or …