On the hills above Cornol in the canton of Jura, scientists are testing unusual new defences in the fight against the invasive Asian hornet (Vespa velutina): electric harps and hive “muzzles.”

The Asian hornet first arrived in southwestern France in 2004 and has since spread across much of Europe, including Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the UK, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

The species is feared to pose a major threat to honey production, pollination services, biodiversity, and native hornet, bee, and wasp populations.

Texas A&M University engineers have created a “robot in an airbag" they call "RoboBall." This technology is built with plans to carry payloads such as sensors, cameras or sampling tools, for real-world missions.

Many dams in Georgia are more than 50 years old and are inspected only once a year. Kennesaw State University researchers are working to build a low-cost wireless system to detect problems in aging dams.

Researchers at Berkeley Lab used the Frontier supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to develop the most advanced simulations to date for studying earthquake dynamics. The simulations reveal in stunning new detail how geological conditions influence earthquake intensity — and, in turn, how those complex ground motions directly impact buildings and infrastructure. The data is already being shared with the broader earthquake science and engineering communities to deepen understanding of seismic behavior and to guide the designs of earthquake-resistant infrastructure and improved emergency response.

Within the next 25 years, China may become the first country in the world to build a nationwide genomic database covering its entire population, as futurist and Wired founding executive editor Kevin Kelly predicts. As one of the main participants in the HGP, China has accelerated the integration of genomics into national proactive health management in the last two decades. This success was driven by advanced genetic technologies, supportive policies, and pressing public health needs.

New technology for safe self-driving: using artificial intelligence to predict pedestrian behaviour and prevent accidents

Recipient of Paderborn University Research Award

A ball rolls into the road, there is a child on the pavement – which would immediately set alarm bells ringing for drivers. The result: they brake because they assume that the child will run into the road. Drivers are similarly able to guess how pedestrians will behave in other potentially dangerous situations. Self-driving vehicles, which will be increasingly dominating our streets, cannot do this. Although current technologies are able to react to critical situations, they do not have the ability to predict behaviour. A new research project is beginning at Paderborn University seeking to fill this gap and enable self-driving vehicles to identify pedestrians’ intentions before they act.