21st Century Innovative Technologies and Developments as also discoveries, curiosity ( insolite)...

When we think about clothing, we usually think of it as something we wear to cover our body, convey our style and protect us from the environment. What if the cloth changes its visual appearance when you stretch your hand?... such mechanoresponsive material has enormous potential in a large range of transformative applications in the beauty and health industry.

Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Elastomer (CLCE) is a structurally coloured polymer system capable of changing its colour by mechanical deformation, due to the coupling of colour of helically aligned liquid crystal molecules and the viscoelasticity of rubber. Prof. Jan Lagerwall, Dr. Yong Geng and Rijeesh Kizhakidathazhath at the University of Luxembourg created colour-changing CLCE fibres that can be easily sewn into the fabric.

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It’s a warm afternoon in late spring and before us rows of strawberry plants rustle in the breeze as the scent of fragrant herbs wafts across the air. Nearby, a bee buzzes lazily past. Contrary to appearances, however, we are not in an idyllic corner of the countryside but standing on the top of a six-storey building in the heart of the French capital.

Welcome to the future of farming in Paris – where a whole host of rooftop plantations, such as this one on the edge of the Marais, have been springing up of late. Yet this thriving operation is just a drop in the ocean compared to its new sister site. When that one opens, in the spring of 2020, it will be the largest rooftop farm in the world.

Currently under construction in the south-west of the city, this urban oasis will span approximately 14,000 sq metres (150695 sq feet) – also making it the largest urban farm in Europe. With the plan to grow more than 30 different plant species, the site will produce around 1,000kg of fruit and vegetables every day in high season. Tended by around 20 gardeners, they will also be using entirely organic methods.

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Italian scientists are developing humanoid robots that can observe and learn from human behaviour. Those robots can then collaborate with humans across a range of sectors.

euronews knowledge brings you a fresh mix of the world's most interesting know-hows, directly from space and sci-tech experts.

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Parkinson’s disease is an insidious disease: by the time it manifests as the typical motor dysfunctions such as tremors or muscle rigidity, portions of the brain have already been irreversibly destroyed. By this stage, the disease will have often begun already decades earlier.

In search of an early portent of the disease, researchers led by Prof. Paul Wilmes, head of the Eco-Systems Biology Group at the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg, may now have found one in the gut: they have shown that the bacterial community in the gut of Parkinson’s patients differs from that of healthy people even at a very early stage of the disease. The researchers present their results in the scientific journal “Movement Disorders”.

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Researchers are using low-cost drones and artificial intelligence to test water quality in some of Europe's most important rivers and lakes in one of the sector's most ambitious projects this year.

Funded with €8.7m ($9.1m) from the EU as part of the Horizon 2020 program, the project is known as the "development and application of novel, integrated tools for monitoring and managing catchments", or IntCatch for short.

It will focus on analyzing the health and quality of four strategic reservoirs of drinking water: the Garda and Yliki lakes in Italy and Greece respectively, the river Thames in the UK, and the river Ter, which provides water to Barcelona, Spain.

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The European Union is considering new legally binding requirements for developers of artificial intelligence in an effort to ensure modern technology is developed and used in an ethical way.

The EU’s executive arm is set to propose the new rules apply to “high-risk sectors,” such as healthcare and transport, and suggest the bloc updates safety and liability laws, according to a draft of a so-called “white paper” on artificial intelligence obtained by Bloomberg. The European Commission is due to unveil the paper in mid-February and the final version is likely to change.

The paper is part of the EU’s broader effort to catch up to the U.S. and China on advancements in AI, but in a way that promotes European values such as user privacy. While some critics have long argued that stringent data protection laws like the EU’s could hinder innovation around AI, EU officials say harmonizing rules across the region will boost development.

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In a country that has more bikes than people and where cycling is seen as a human right, some people are about to have a nasty shock.

From Monday, anyone using a handheld mobile device while on the road in the Netherlands will be given a €95 (£85) fine.

The new rules for cyclists are part of a law to ensure road users watch the traffic rather than their cameras, tablets, and smartphones.

Vehicle and tram drivers risk a €240 fine, the penalty is €160 for motorbikes and scooters and powered wheelchair users are not exempt either.

“In the traffic, an accident is just around the corner and this is why it’s important for all road users – including cyclists – to keep their eyes and minds on the road and not on their telephone screen,” said transport minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, launching an awareness campaign on Friday.

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Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands have announced their plan to build a large artificial island in the North Sea along with 7,000 wind turbines

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Check it out and be astonished...

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