The Nobel Prize in Chemistry – for a breakthrough in the study of proteins

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

October 10, 2024

A discovery in the field of proteins earned the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The discovery solves one of the most difficult problems in biology and could be used to create drugs and vaccines. Honorees were David Baker and Demis Hassabis. Both work for London-based research lab Google DeepMind, a division of Google. Professor John Jumper also received part of the award.

KEY FACTS

David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper have been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their scientists’ research into the structure of proteins. The prize is worth SEK 11 million ($1.1 million).
Demis Hassabis is one of the founders of DeepMind. John Jumper led the development of the protein prediction software AlphaFold, and David Baker is a professor at the University of Washington.
Half of the prize was awarded to Baker “for computational protein design,” and the other half was split between Hassabis and Jumper “for protein structure prediction,” the academy said.
Proteins are the building blocks of life and are found in every cell of the human body. The discovery solves one of the most difficult problems in biology and could be used to create drugs and vaccines.
This is the third prize awarded this year. Yesterday, the Nobel laureates in physics were announced, and the day before that, discoveries in medicine were honored.

IMPORTANT QUOTE

“The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is dedicated to proteins – the ingenious chemical weapons of life. David Baker has achieved the almost impossible feat of creating entirely new types of proteins. Demis Hassabis and John Jumper have developed an artificial intelligence model to solve a 50-year-old problem: predicting the complex structures of proteins. These discoveries have enormous potential,” the Nobel Committee said.

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KEY STORY

The Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded on Monday. The prize went to the discoverers of micro RNA and its role in gene regulation. Yesterday, the distinction for physics went to scientists who made discoveries that give more opportunities to machine learning. John Hopfield of Princeton University and Geoffrey Hinton of the University of Toronto were honored for their pioneering work on artificial neural networks, which underpin much of modern artificial intelligence.

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Only 1% Of Cyprus Farms Use Precision Farming Technologies

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

July 24, 2026

Cyprus remains one of the European Union’s least digitised agricultural economies, with just 1% of farms using precision farming technologies in 2023, according to Eurostat.

The findings come as the EU continues to encourage the adoption of digital tools aimed at improving agricultural productivity, efficiency and sustainability.

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Internet Access Expands, But Digital Uptake Lags

Internet access has improved across the bloc, although adoption remains uneven. Eurostat found that 43% of EU farms had internet access in 2023, with northern and central European countries leading the way.

Denmark, Germany, Slovakia, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Austria all reported internet access rates above 90%.

Greater connectivity, however, has not translated into widespread digital adoption. Farm management information systems, which help farmers manage day-to-day operations, were used by only about 11% of EU farms. France was a notable exception, with around 60% of farms using the technology.

Precision Farming Concentrated In Larger Operations

Robotics adoption also remained relatively limited, with only about 7% of EU farms using robotic technologies. Overall, around 18% of farms with utilised agricultural area employed at least one precision farming technology or practice in 2023.

These included robotics for plant protection, band spraying, variable-rate application, precision crop monitoring and soil analysis. Despite representing fewer than one in five farms, these holdings accounted for around 44% of the EU’s utilised agricultural area.

The figures suggest that precision farming remains concentrated among larger agricultural businesses, where investment in digital technologies is typically easier to support.

Cyprus Lags Behind EU Leaders

Luxembourg, Finland and Estonia recorded the highest shares of utilised agricultural area managed by farms using precision farming technologies, each exceeding 75%.

At the other end of the ranking, Cyprus recorded just 1%, while Greece and Romania reported between 10% and 15%. The results indicate that Cyprus remains at an early stage of digital adoption in agriculture, even as precision farming becomes more widespread across parts of the European Union.

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