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The semiconductor crisis, which can briefly be described as a scarcity of chips, has caused an upheaval in numerous sectors of the economy — from consumer electronics to the automotive industry and domestic appliances —, to the point that large companies have had no option but to cease production. The best way to gain a better understanding of what has happened and why is to know exactly what semiconductors are and how they are made.
In a digital world, the number of cyber-attacks is on the rise. In fact, according to Kaspersky, a leading cybersecurity company, during the pandemic they increased by 25 %. As a consequence, so does concern and investment in protection systems. These attacks can compromise all kinds of information, putting companies and individuals at risk. Below, we review some of them and how to protect yourself against them.
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The progress of neuroscience and, in parallel, of neurotechnology is unstoppable. Over the coming decades we will see, even if it sounds like science fiction, devices capable of decoding information in our brains, amplifying our senses or modifying our memories. Which is where ethical boundaries come into play and, in this sense, neurorights are essential if we are to protect our mental privacy.
Spanish startup XmartSense won the Wind turbine monitoring challenge with a wireless, self-powered sensor capable of measuring temperature, moisture, pressure, etc, to improve systems monitoring on wind farms.
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Water is one of the most precious resources on the planet. According to the UN, its scarcity already affects more than 40 % of the world's population. A statistic that raises alarm bells and drives the search for solutions. One of these, and one that is not entirely new, is desalination, which consists of removing the minerals (mostly salt) from seawater through physical and chemical processes. The keys for the coming years are to increase the capacity of desalination plants while reducing their environmental impact.
The global lockdown due to COVID-19 has had a seismic effect on the economy. Some sectors have been particularly vulnerable, while others, such as streaming platforms and e-commerce which are linked to digitalisation have had a boost. The pandemic has also highlighted the need to maintain a healthy relationship with the environment. This scenario gives a glimpse of which sectors will dominate the economy of the future.
