europeanspaceagency posted a photo:

A team of engineers is hands-on assembling Europe’s most complex robotic arm, preparing for future missions to the Moon and Mars.

The sophisticated robot, known as the Sample Transfer Arm (STA), can extend up to 2.4 metres and perform a large range of movements with seven degrees of freedom, assisted by two cameras and an array of sensors.

The arm’s configuration mimics a human arm, complete with a shoulder, elbow and wrist, along with its own built-in brain and eyes. Able to ‘see’, ‘feel’ and take autonomous decisions, the robotic arm also features a gripper – akin to a hand – capable of handling objects with millimetric precision.

A sophisticated force and torque sensor gives the robot a sense of touch, enabling it to pick up and transfer objects with high dexterity. This sensor ‘feels’ exactly how something is being pushed, pulled, and twisted in 3D space, all at once. Position sensors inside the joints help compute the exact location of the tip of the arm.

This precision will be key for complex space operations, from collecting geological samples to supporting astronaut activities.

The Sample Transfer Arm was originally developed in the context of the joint NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return campaign. For that mission, the task was to transfer precious martian soil samples from the Perseverance rover and help with the delivery back to Earth, but it can also serve a multitude of applications on the Moon and Mars.

The Sample Transfer Arm draws on decades of European expertise in space robotics. Teams at the Italian aerospace company Leonardo are currently busy completing the arm’s integration. Engineers will be testing its first moves in simulated space scenarios at Leonardo’s Nerviano plant, near Milan, in the coming weeks.

The key members of the STA industrial consortium led by Leonardo are GMV and AVS from Spain, Maxon from Switzerland, 3DPlus from France and COMOTI from the Czech Republic, together with suppliers from Denmark, Greece and Germany. This collaboration showcases Europe’s drive for autonomy in space.

Space robotic technologies are accelerating European autonomy and strategic independence for Moon and Mars exploration. Versatile by design, the Sample Transfer Arm could support future Moon missions.

Discover more images of the Sample Transfer Arm coming together on our Mars blog.

Credits: ESA/Leonardo/Human’s Point

mikeleonardvisualarts posted a photo:

De uiterst naakte dame in beeld bij een fragment uit een programma van wijlen Wim T. Schippers lokte op de WNL-redactie een flink debat tussen verschillende generaties uit: kon dat nog wel? Die annuleringsdrift bleef onze tv-recensent de hele avond achtervolgen.

Het kabinet was „laconiek” bij de bestrijding van het coronavirus toen de eerste golf voorbij was, zei microbioloog en veldepidemioloog Amrish Baidjoe tijdens zijn verhoor…

Net als aan andere nieuwe auto’s valt aan de Honda Prelude voor hobbyisten weinig meer te pimpen. Toch zou deze „waanzinnig rijdende sportwagen” bij voormalige ‘petjes’ in de smaak kunnen vallen, denkt Bas van Putten.

President Trump probeert het principeakkoord met Iran als een succes verkopen, maar de uitgelekte versie van het bestand wordt alom als een totale vernedering voor de VS gezien. Israël beschouwt het zélf als een capitulatie. Iran komt er juist sterker uit.

Het kabinet moet meer regie nemen om de vervuilende textielsector circulair te maken. Dat schrijft de sector in een gezamenlijk rapport. Een prijsprikkel zou kunnen helpen, maar daar zitten kledingmerken dan weer niet op te wachten.

The UK's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will draw on 40 million UK LinkedIn accounts to get a better understanding of local job markets. DWP said it plans to use anonymized data to help it find trends such as mismatches between local job ads and the skills possessed by local people. The department won't scrape the Microsoft-owned social network, instead relying on Redmond to analyze data and pass its findings to Skills England, a DWP agency whose officials are already working on the project. "This partnership with LinkedIn will give us a clearer understanding of the jobs market – what employers need, where opportunities are, and how people are building their careers, in order to boost economic growth," DWP minister Pat McFadden said in a canned statement. He added that more detailed insights into local workforces could particularly help young people. Skills England intends to use LinkedIn data to investigate how people move between jobs to help them develop new career options and support businesses in widening their recruitment nets. LinkedIn has nearly four million more UK-registered accounts than the 36.2 million adults who were working or looking for work in the first quarter of this year, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). However, the service is open to students and retirees, so perhaps that accounts for the discrepancy. The Reg knows some users have more than one account on the site as well. The UK government increasingly draws on commercial data to supplement its official statistics. For example, the ONS publishes "real-time indicators" that include monthly data on new online job adverts, based on Textkernel scraping information from 90,000 job board and recruitment pages. The ONS has suffered from falling response rates for official data-gathering exercises such as its Labour Force Survey, making commercial sources more attractive. A recent report from Germany-based digital policy group Interface suggests that other arms of government are also taking advantage of commercial data, with Hungary's intelligence services using location data gathered for mobile advertising and equivalent organizations in other countries likely to be doing similar. ®

Er zijn warme dagen op komst, met vooral op vrijdag tropische temperaturen van dik boven de 30 graden. Het gaat dan waarschijnlijk ook stevig onweren, zoals regelmatig gebeurt na een bloedhete dag. Hoe komt dat? Weerman Ed Aldus legt uit.

STRAATSBURG (ANP) - Het Europees Parlement heeft, zoals verwacht, woensdag ingestemd met de strengere regels voor het terugsturen van afgewezen asielzoekers. Van de 666 aanwezige parlementariërs stemden er 418 voor en 218 tegen. Hiermee wordt het voor lidstaten onder meer mogelijk terugkeercentra buiten de grenzen van de EU te realiseren, waar afgewezen asielzoekers op terugkeer naar hun thuisland moeten wachten. Nederland wil graag zo'n centrum.

De Nederlandse Europarlementariër Malik Azmani (VVD, Renew) leidde de onderhandelingen over de nieuwe terugkeerregels binnen het parlement en met de lidstaten. Hij reageert verheugd op het besluit. "Het migratiepact regelt de voordeur, vandaag hebben we ook de achterdeur geregeld. Wie geen recht heeft om te blijven, moet terug."

"Zolang terugkeer niet geregeld wordt, blijft het systeem lek", vervolgt Azmani. "Een terugkeerbesluit moet echt iets betekenen. Wie weigert mee te werken, krijgt te maken met een inreisverbod, detentie of een terugkeerhub."

BRUSSEL (ANP) - De Europese Unie draagt met 493 miljoen euro bij aan de bestrijding van de uitbraak van het ebolavirus in Afrika. Het geld gaat naar onder meer directe medische noodhulp en onderzoek naar vaccins en behandelingen, aldus de Europese Commissie.

Voorzitter Ursula von der Leyen stelt dat landen hun burgers beter tegen een "gezamenlijke dreiging" kunnen beschermen door samen te werken. De EU maakte vorige week al 16,5 miljoen euro vrij voor het tegengaan van de uitbraak.

De Commissie zegt de uitbraak nauwlettend te blijven volgen in samenwerking met haar partners. Het Europees Centrum voor ziektepreventie en -bestrijding (ECDC) beoordeelt het risico voor mensen in Europa momenteel als zeer laag.

De uitbraak heeft de Democratische Republiek Congo en Oeganda getroffen. In Congo, waar de eerste infecties plaatsvonden, zijn zeker 837 personen besmet geraakt. Het dodental ligt er op 196. In buurland Oeganda gaat het om 19 besmettingen, inclusief 2 doden.

PARIJS (ANP/AFP) - Het Franse warenhuis BHV Marais beëindigt de samenwerking met de Chinese webwinkel Shein. De nieuwe eigenaren van het warenhuis vertellen aan persbureau AFP dat Shein de winkel in hartje Parijs "idealiter" nog voor Kerstmis moet sluiten.

De opening van de eerste Europese fysieke winkel van de Chinese webwinkel afgelopen november kwam het warenhuis op veel kritiek te staan. Het bedrijf stuitte bij zijn komst naar Frankrijk op tegenstand van politici, vakbonden en topmodemerken. Tijdens de fysieke opening kwamen daar ook nog activisten bij die voor de winkel stonden met spandoeken en de weg blokkeerden.

BHV Marais komt nu in handen van het huidige managementteam met Karl-Stephane Cottendin als topman van het bedrijf. Hij noemt de beslissing om Shein te laten openen in het warenhuis een strategische fout.

Een woordvoerder van Shein laat aan AFP weten de beslissing van BHV te respecteren.

Weer voor Rotterdam ☁️ - 17-06-2026 13:16 CEST

In één oogopslag:
• 21.7°C · Bewolkt ☁️ | Min 17.1°C / Max 23.7°C | Kans op neerslag 16%

Verwachting voor vandaag:
• Min 17.1°C, Max 23.7°C (Zware motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 1.6 mm, Kans op neerslag 16%, 🧭 1018.3 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 20.9 km/u (5.8 m/s), richting: ↗ 237°

Uurlijkse voorspelling voor de komende 12 uur:

• 14:00: 22.1°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 25%, 🧭 1018.6 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 19.4 km/u (5.4 m/s), richting: → 248°
• 15:00: 21.6°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 17%, 🧭 1018.3 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 20.9 km/u (5.8 m/s), richting: → 251°
• 16:00: 21.7°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 12%, 🧭 1018.4 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 18.7 km/u (5.2 m/s), richting: ↗ 247°
• 17:00: 23.0°C (Gedeeltelijk bewolkt) ⛅, Kans op neerslag 8%, 🧭 1018.2 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 19.1 km/u (5.3 m/s), richting: → 250°
• 18:00: 23.7°C (Licht bewolkt) 🌤️, Kans op neerslag 4%, 🧭 1018.0 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 20.9 km/u (5.8 m/s), richting: → 254°
• 19:00: 22.9°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 2%, 🧭 1018.1 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 20.9 km/u (5.8 m/s), richting: → 262°
• 20:00: 22.4°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1018.0 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 17.3 km/u (4.8 m/s), richting: → 259°
• 21:00: 21.5°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1018.0 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 14.8 km/u (4.1 m/s), richting: → 249°
• 22:00: 20.8°C (Licht bewolkt) 🌤️, 🧭 1018.5 hPa ↗️ +0.5 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 12.6 km/u (3.5 m/s), richting: → 249°
• 23:00: 20.4°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1018.8 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 9.7 km/u (2.7 m/s), richting: ↗ 245°
• 00:00: 20.3°C (Gedeeltelijk bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1019.0 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 9.0 km/u (2.5 m/s), richting: ↗ 227°
• 01:00: 19.7°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1019.0 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 9.7 km/u (2.7 m/s), richting: ↗ 222°

Voorspelling voor de komende dagen:

• donderdag 18 juni: Min 18.5°C, Max 30.0°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 11%, 🧭 1018.2 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 13.3 km/u (3.7 m/s), richting: ↗ 226°
• vrijdag 19 juni: Min 21.7°C, Max 33.0°C (Matige motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 0.5 mm, Kans op neerslag 32%, 🧭 1014.4 hPa ↘️ -3.8 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 19.1 km/u (5.3 m/s), richting: ↖ 152°
• zaterdag 20 juni: Min 19.1°C, Max 25.5°C (Licht bewolkt) 🌤️, Kans op neerslag 2%, 🧭 1018.1 hPa ↗️ +3.7 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 9.6 km/u (2.7 m/s), richting: → 282°
• zondag 21 juni: Min 17.6°C, Max 26.6°C (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 1.5 mm, Kans op neerslag 7%, 🧭 1025.7 hPa ↗️ +7.6 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 11.9 km/u (3.3 m/s), richting: ↙ 65°
• maandag 22 juni: Min 18.0°C, Max 28.5°C (Lichte onweersbui) ⛈️, Neerslag 0.4 mm, Kans op neerslag 3%, 🧭 1023.2 hPa ↘️ -2.5 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 11.5 km/u (3.2 m/s), richting: ← 83°
• dinsdag 23 juni: Min 17.3°C, Max 24.2°C (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 2.6 mm, Kans op neerslag 14%, 🧭 1015.5 hPa ↘️ -7.7 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 15.4 km/u (4.3 m/s), richting: ↘ 299°

Details:
• 🌡️ Huidige temperatuur (om 13:15): 21.7°C (Bewolkt)
• 🤚 Gevoelstemperatuur: 21.5°C (-0.2°C)
• 💨 Windsnelheid: 17.6 km/u (4.9 m/s), richting: ↗ 245°
• 🌬️ Windstoten: 37.8 km/h (10.5 m/s)
• 💧 Luchtvochtigheid: 70%
• 🧭 Luchtdruk: 1018.6 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/3h
• 👁️ Zichtbaarheid: 19.7 km
• ☀️ UV-index: 6.8
• 🌅 Zonsopgang: 05:21 · 🌇 Zonsondergang: 22:04

Luchtkwaliteit:
• AQI: 65 🟡 (Matig)
• PM2.5: 4.6 μg/m³
• PM10: 8.6 μg/m³

Gegevens geleverd door Open-Meteo

#Rotterdam #Meteo #MeteoBot #MeteoNetherlands #OpenMeteo #FediMeteo

Annual update of key indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence [PDF] "...This has served to highlight that many components of the observing system are under considerable threat, including key aspects such as measurements of the top-of-atmosphere radiation budget and ocean heat content that are critical to continued monitoring of the indicators presented herein."

Abstract: In a rapidly changing climate, evidence-based decision-making benefits from up-to-date and timely information. We track twelve key sets of indicators of the state of the climate system, closely following Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment report (AR6) methods, to produce our fourth annual publication. One of the indicators, the Earth's energy imbalance (EEI) provides a crucial integrative measure of the overall heating of the planet and the pace of climate change – this has more than doubled since the 1976–1995 period. A newly added indicator of temperature extremes, the number of days experiencing marine heatwaves, has more than tripled between 1991 and 2025. For the 2016–2025 decade average, observed warming relative to 1850–1900 was 1.26 [1.13 to 1.36] °C, of which 1.24 [1.0 to 1.5] °C was human-induced. Human-induced warming reached 1.37 °C relative to 1850–1900 in the year 2025, increasing at a rate of 0.27 [0.2–0.4] °C per decade over 2016–2025. This high rate of warming, which matches the all-time high seen last year in the instrumental record, was caused by a combination of greenhouse gas emissions being at an all-time high of 54.6 ± 5.5 GtCO2e yr−1 over the last decade (2015–2024), as well as reductions in the strength of aerosol cooling. Despite this, there is evidence that CO2 emission growth is slowing. The continuation of these annual updates could track decreases or increases in the rate of human influence and climatic changes presented here, reflecting the outcomes of societal choices during the critical The data presented herein can provide a useful reference point for the drafting of the IPCC seventh assessment report. In total, we employ analysis from over 40 global datasets (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20499280, Smith et al., 2026a). Future monitoring of these indicators, such as ocean and satellite measurements of the Earth's energy imbalance, are threatened by geopolitical and public funding decisions. Our ability to consistently track many of the indicators requires the continuity of observation programs and coordination mechanisms, including the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) program, that enable their effective integration and use.

The US president drew laughs from his fellow G7 leaders for his quip as he walked into a meeting on the last day of the their summit

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Broadcast channels under review and 10% of senior leaders to go as part of drive to cut £500m in costs

Entire BBC programmes will be scrapped and compulsory redundancies will be necessary as part of sweeping cuts at the corporation, the new director general, Matt Brittin, has told staff.

The former Google executive also announced he was reviewing the BBC’s broadcast TV channels and radio network, as audiences continue to switch to online content.

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Russian authorities said a woman was killed and six people, including children, were hospitalized following the attack.

Hiro_A has added a photo to the pool:

On 14 April, the Trump administration quietly acknowledged the widespread use of AI to automate government processes. The office of management and budget (OMB) disclosed a staggering 3,611 active or planned use cases for AI across the federal government. The list has ballooned by 70% from the one published in the final year of the Biden administration, and includes many disturbing-seeming plans to hand over sensitive governmental functions to AI.

Scanning this list, many readers may find many causes for alarm. It represents a transfer of decision processes from human to machine on a massive scale over matters of individual freedom, public health and well-being, nuclear reactor safety and more.

Consider these examples. The Health and Human Services’ (HHS) office of administration for children and families hired the world’s “scariest AI company,” Palantir—notorious for its work on behalf of the military, the CIA and ICE—to scan all grant applications to flag those not ideologically aligned with the administration’s dictates. The Federal Bureau of Prisons is developing an AI system to assess the “potential for misconduct for newly admitted inmates,” routing people into high-security confinement before they have actually done anything wrong in their custody. These read like programs fit for a Philip K Dick or George Orwell novel.

Other use cases insert AI into life-and-death decision making. The Department of Veterans Affairs is developing an AI that will listen in on calls to the veterans crisis line, and then gather information from external databases to assess the mental state and suicide risk of the caller.

The Department of Energy is testing the use of AI to control nuclear reactors, targeting a way to autonomously respond to potential nuclear safety incidents. Here’s one that’s disturbing for its retirement, rather than its deployment: the state department has ended a program to use AI to forecast mass civilian killings, which had been intended to aid conflict prevention.

While it’s easy to raise questions about these and similar uses of AI, the reality is that any of these programs could be implemented responsibly. In some cases, like the HHS system, the AI might be enforcing alignment to a policy prescription that opponents abhor. But that concern is more about the policy itself rather than the idea that agencies should comply with executive orders.

In other cases, there may even be bipartisan agreement on the goal, like taking urgent action to help veterans at risk of self-harm. Lots of work and validation is needed to prove AI safe and effective for these use cases and convince the public it is appropriate, but the idea is plausible.

In other cases, a scary-sounding AI use may not even be new. The use of predictive methods and statistics to assign prisoner security classifications goes back decades, even if such systems are often biased and ineffective.

Using autonomous systems for model predictive control (MPC) of nuclear reactors is a well studied, and a widely applied aspect of nuclear plant management. And the recently disclosed addition of AI was initiated under the Biden administration.

But anyone reviewing the 2025 inventory could be forgiven for leaping to severe conclusions. What matters are the details of how the AI system is used, and here the inventory is severely lacking.

The disclosures carry minimal information, and lack the context necessary to understand their purpose and approach. The descriptions are typically just a sentence, and rarely more than a paragraph.

And while the process theoretically involves some form of public consultation, in reality there is generally none. It would take an eagle-eyed citizen to even come across this disclosure. Unless you read FedScoop regularly, or watch the OMB’s federal chief information officer’s GitHub account, you probably missed it.

Only one of the examples cited above (the DoJ) even proposes to involve the public. Under the administration’s policy, it’s not required for the rest because they are not classified as “high impact” use cases—a label that is applied inconsistently across agencies.

We wrote a book surveying applications of AI to democratic processes worldwide, including executive agencies as well as the courts, legislatures and politics. Our conclusion was that, while there are inappropriate applications of AI in governance that should be resisted, an urgent need to reform the economics of AI, and an imperative for renovating the democratic systems it is being unleashed on, there are also valuable and beneficial use cases for AI in government.

Machine translation is a good example. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has deployed an AI translation system to help officers when human interpreters are not available. The idea that CBP, an agency under heavy scrutiny for reported abuses of human rights, would direct people to talk to a machine instead of a person may strike many as inhumane.

It’s true that human interpreters have very real advantages when it comes to understanding nuance from physical cues and social context. But an officer with a competent AI translator available immediately is better than one who cannot communicate with the person in front of them.

The Trump administration’s AI use case inventory has 70 such translation use cases, up from 58 in the Biden administration’s 2024 disclosure.

Disclosure of AI use cases could be a means to build public confidence and trust, but only if paired with consistent, meaningful public consultation. Washington DC and California are actively engaging the public to determine where and how it’s appropriate to use AI in government processes, or for government to regulate AI use in society.

Both have held public deliberations on this topic at a wide scale, using AI platforms. These examples demonstrate the potential for capturing broad-based public input to steer AI policy.

The international gold standard was arguably set by the French in 2016, via their Digital Republic Act. The law, itself informed by an online citizen consultation, requires all algorithms used to automate government administrative decisions to be subject to public records requests, to be appealable to a human reviewer, and to have mandatory notification of the use of automation to those affected by the decisions.

Canada offers another example of what more rigorous and participatory disclosure might look like. In 2025, they launched an AI use case registry, not unlike the US inventory. However, Canada also has a federal directive mandating a transparent risk-scoring and impact assessment process for automated systems that make administrative decisions about citizens.

That longstanding directive requires a detailed explanation of risks and benefits as well as consultation with certain stakeholders from the conception of the AI use case. The Canadian system could be improved; it could require a public comment period and an obligation for agencies to respond substantively to feedback before engaging in sensitive uses of AI.

AI offers real potential to improve the efficacy, efficiency and accessibility of government. But, equally, there is legitimate reason for public concern and distrust that can only be addressed through transparency and dialog. The US should adopt, at the federal and state level, algorithmic impact risk assessment procedures and public comment processes to facilitate a safe, trusted, equitable transformation of government agencies to take advantage of modern technology.

This essay was written with Nathan E. Sanders, and originally appeared in The Guardian.