Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Get the latest international news and world events from around the world.

Log in for authorized contributors

29 Countries Sign Agreement Establishing World AI Cooperation Organization

Shanghai, July 16 (QNA) – A total of 29 countries signed today an agreement in Shanghai establishing the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization.

Under the terms of the agreement, the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization will be an independent intergovernmental international organization headquartered in Shanghai.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and the High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance in China.

Updates on nature, land and biodiversity

Nature is humanity’s lifeline. Human health, food, economies and well-being depend on nature. Yet nature is in crisis. One million of the world’s estimated 8 million species of plants and animals are threatened with extinction. Meanwhile, ecosystem degradation is affecting the well-being of 40 per cent of the global population.

The spotlight on nature and biodiversity highlights updates from around the UN System, from partners and others, helping to call attention to the need for a just, prosperous and sustainable future for all.

Nature Ecology & Evolution divergence

Yellow-eyed penguins, also known as hoiho or takaraka (Megadyptes antipodes, pictured), are an endangered species endemic to Aotearoa (New Zealand) with only around 3,000 individuals left in the wild, and the only living member of the genus Megadyptes. In collaboration with Ngāi Tahu iwi (tribe) of the South Island of Aotearoa, whole-genome sequencing of 249 individuals that span the entire species range has identified 3 phylogenetically distinct lineages, which suggests that they exist as 3 subspecies that have been isolated from each other for several thousand years. Genome scans also reveal candidate gene variants associated with differential susceptibility to neonatal respiratory distress syndrome.

New study defines conditions for successful long-term biodiversity net gain

A new study identifying the ecological conditions needed for biodiversity offsetting to achieve conservation goals could provide important guidance for governments and industries as they expand biodiversity net gain (BNG) and nature restoration policies. The research is published in the journal Conservation Biology.

Biodiversity offsetting is increasingly used to compensate for environmental damage caused by development. It sees habitat loss in one location compensated through habitat restoration or protection elsewhere, with the aim of achieving no net loss of biodiversity.

The latest research, led by Swansea University in collaboration with the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and Forest Research, shows that biodiversity offsets are far more likely to succeed when restoration areas are larger than impacted habitats, are protected over long timescales and are designed around how ecosystems recover over time.

Neuroscientists find a teamwork paradox: highly synchronized brains perform worse at complex tasks

A recent study published in NeuroImage reveals that while human brains naturally synchronize during cooperative video games, this mental alignment does not guarantee success. High neural synchrony was actually linked to worse strategic performance.

Beyond lithium: how sodiumion batteries could change the world

The lithium-ion battery is the beating heart of the modern world. It powers eight billion mobile phones, hundreds of millions of laptops and rapidly growing fleets of electric cars and energy-storage banks. But there’s a new contender breaking into the battery market.

Batteries based on sodium promise to be cheaper, safer and much more environmentally friendly than lithium-ion cells. And this year could mark the start of the sodium era.

In April, Chinese firm CATL — the world’s largest battery producer — announced that it will start mass-producing sodium-ion batteries before the end of 2026. CATL, which is headquartered in Ningde, added that it had signed deals to sell the batteries both to a car manufacturer and to a provider of energy-storage stations for electricity grids.

Which genes make people more susceptible to depression and other psychiatric disorders?

A study by the University of Barcelona has identified nearly 20 genes that could contribute to some people being more susceptible to depression, anxiety and traits such as irritability and neuroticism. These genes are regulated by the RBFOX1 gene, which acts as the central hub of a genetic network linked to several key processes in brain function. According to the researchers, this genetic overlap between different disorders and traits could help explain why they often appear together in the same person.

“These results provide a new insight into the biological mechanisms shared by depression and various associated disorders, and could contribute in the future to the development of more personalized biomarkers and treatments,” explain the researchers who coordinated the study, Bru Cormand and Noèlia Fernández, from the Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics at the Faculty of Biology and the Institute of Biomedicine of the UB (IBUB), the Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute (IRSJD) and the CIBER Area for Rare Diseases (CIBERER).

The study, published in the journal Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, also involved researchers from Goethe University Frankfurt (Germany).

Why the actual fuel consumption of plug-in hybrids is often higher

Vehicles with plug-in hybrid drives are intended to facilitate the transition to electric mobility. They can cover shorter distances purely on electric power and offer a combustion engine as a backup for longer trips. According to Empa studies funded by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), the actual proportion of purely electric driving depends heavily on usage—and, in particular, charging behavior. “If someone owns a plug-in hybrid and does not charge the vehicle regularly, that person is effectively driving a heavier vehicle with a combustion engine. Due to the additional weight of the battery and electric motor, consumption can even be higher than with a comparable conventional gasoline engine,” explains study author Miriam Elser.

Vehicle design is also crucial: Vehicle weight, drive design and battery size influence how efficiently a plug-in hybrid performs on the road.

Analysis hidden rules behind AI. Then use them to rewrite this article

Chatbots like ChatGPT are powerful because of their simplicity: Ask just about anything and you’ll get an answer. But the answer you get depends on a lot more than what you type.

Behind the scenes, artificial intelligence companies invisibly add thousands of words of instructions to every conversation you have with a chatbot to steer its behavior. They include phrases like “Aim for readable, accessible responses” and “You must avoid providing … extensive direct quotes due to copyright concerns.” Some can appear bizarre. The system prompt in OpenAI’s Codex coding assistant includes the command: “Never talk about goblins, gremlins, raccoons, trolls, ogres, pigeons, or other animals or creatures unless it is absolutely and unambiguously relevant to the user’s query.”

Those secret commands guide chatbots to behave as their makers intended, even if it conflicts with your own preferences. Understanding how these hidden instructions work — and how to add your own instructions into the system — can help you get more out of your chatbot.

/* */