Smart Rover Finds Critical Minerals & Retirees Explore Space in VR | WEF | Top Stories of the Week

This week's top stories of the week include:

0:15 Smart rover finds critical minerals – NOMAD is a semi-autonomous soil sampling robot designed to explore complex terrains and find elements needed in technologies critical to the energy transition such as batteries, solar panels and wind turbines. It was developed by Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) and based on Mars rover technology.

1:46 Factory powered by bitcoin mine – Both are in Virunga, Congo, Africa’s oldest national park. This 7,800 square km2 area is home to more than half of Africa’s terrestrial species and it’s the first national park in the world to own a bitcoin mine. The mine is powered by clean energy from Virunga’s 3 hydroelectric power plants. Its excess electricity is used by the factory to process cocoa beans. While the bitcoins it mines pay for salaries and infrastructure.

4:22 Brazil's breadbasket is under threat– The Cerrado in central Brazil is the most biodiverse savanna on Earth. It’s the size of England, France, Germany, Spain and Sweden combined and is the second-largest biome in South America, after the Amazon. The Cerrado is a base for 60% of Brazil’s agricultural production, making it key to both Brazil’s economy and the global food system.

6:29 Retirees explore space in VR – Stanford researchers worked with 245 people aged between 65 and 103, inviting them to choose from a range of VR experiences. Such as flying in a Navy fighter jet, playing with puppies and kittens or travelling the world, and even visiting the International Space Station. Almost 80% of older users reported a more positive attitude after a virtual reality (VR) session. While 60% said they felt less socially isolated.

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