GoKawiil
Tech News
Italian Institute of Technology's Barbara Mazzolai, known for bioinspired robots modeled on octopuses, plant roots and seeds, has co-authored a manifesto in Nature Machine Intelligence proposing a new discipline called sustainability robotics. The approach calls for embedding environmental impact reduction directly into how robots are designed, rather than treating it as an afterthought.
Rivian's newly released 2025 impact report shows the R2 Performance model produces roughly half the lifetime greenhouse gas emissions of its original 2022 R1 vehicles, hitting a target the company had set for 2030. Rivian credits the result to design choices around aerodynamics, vehicle weight, manufacturing efficiency, and unconventional materials like paper-waste-derived surfacing sourced from Nordic forests. The R2 also reportedly emits 58 percent less over its lifetime than a comparable gasoline vehicle.
Two recent reports—the World Inequality Lab's Global Justice Report and a UN High-Level Expert Group's Beyond GDP recommendations—have reignited debate over whether nations should deprioritize economic growth in favor of other measures of well-being. A commentary argues both reports miss the real issue: whether governments are leaving future generations richer or poorer, not simply how fast economies grow or how well-being is measured.
As Tim Cook departs as Apple CEO, he leaves a climate record widely seen as better than peers among major tech companies, having set a goal to cut emissions 75 percent by 2030 from 2015 levels and reaching 60 percent so far. Apple reported 15.3 million metric tons of gross emissions in 2025, even as it faced criticism over sustainability claims and now confronts growing energy demands from generative AI development.
Liux, a Spanish EV startup, is preparing to launch the Liux Big, a compact electric city car built at Spain's first new auto plant in three decades. The vehicle uses a novel linen-based biocomposite body designed for eventual material recovery and recycling, alongside batteries meant to be charged at home, including via solar power. Co-founders Antonio Espinosa de los Monteros and David Sancho say full supply-chain independence in Europe isn't realistic, so they're focusing instead on sustainability and repairability as differentiators.