First commercial crew of all-European astronauts launches to International Space Station


A private space mission launched four European astronauts to the International Space Station on Thursday, in a milestone for a region desperate to boost its space credentials following a series of setbacks.   A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted the astronauts i

This ‘digital twin’ of the planet could rival Google Earth — here’s how you can try it


French startup Kermap has developed a ‘digital twin’ of the Earth that claims to offer the most up-to-date views of our home planet.  The programme is called Nimbo Earth Online and it is the only platform providing new satellite views of the world every month, without

Brain training: A new frontier for football — and VR


On a cold winter’s night in London, Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard stood alone on the pitch. As football fans flocked into the 60,000-seat stadium, his teammates warmed up for the match by blasting shots against the goal. Odegaard had another plan. The 25-year-old w

Startup behind world’s first hydrogen eVTOL eyes 2025 takeoff


Swiss startup Sirius Aviation has unveiled designs for the world’s first hydrogen-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.  The jet, which kind of looks like Night Fury from How to Train Your Dragon, is billed to travel 1,851 km at speeds up

These AI binoculars just made birdwatching a whole lot easier — and more expensive


As a kid, perhaps unsurprisingly, I was the only person I knew interested in birdwatching. Nevertheless, I regularly went out in nature armed with my binoculars, bird book, and camera, ready to document as many species as I could.  The process was largely

Domestic humanoid backed by OpenAI closer to market after $100M raise


A humanoid just has taken a step towards consumer households after robot maker 1x raised a cool $100mn. The Norwegian startup will spend the funds on bringing an android named Neo to the market. The bipedal is designed for everyday domestic tasks, from laundr

ESA’s annual budget hits record €7.8B, with biggest chunk for Earth observation


The European Space Agency’s budget for 2024 has hit a record €7.79bn — 10% more than last year. The largest portion of the funds will go to Earth observation (EO), which is allocated almost €2.4bn — around 30.5% of the total. It’s a share that reflects growing

TNW Podcast: Boris comes over to co-host; Slack’s Cal Henderson talks European tech


Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry. In today’s episode, Andrii is joined by Bor

How old Tesla batteries are turning into into smart energy storage units


Old Tesla batteries can look forward to new lives thanks to new funding for an energy system built from the ageing power units. The concept is the brainchild of Cactos, a startup based in Finland. Cactos converts the batteries into smart electricity storage uni

Dutch startup battles energy grid congestion with digital twins


Europe is electrifying — literally. From EVs to heat pumps, more and more of our critical technologies need to get plugged in. This is a positive step toward net zero, but it is also putting a massive strain on the electricity grid.  Grid congestion is


Search