Top Stories of the Week: November 29 - December 3

                                     A roundup of this week's top stories:

• "Automate or evaporate": IE meets IFR's Dr Susanne Bieller at GMIS2021

  The future is automated. At least, that’s the direction of traffic and it looks like a one-way street. And while automation is bringing a host of benefits to humanity and manufacturing, there remains scepticism and concerns about the negative...

• Why Dubai is turning itself into a global tech hub

  The name Dubai conjures up images of glitzy hotels, glamorous nightlife, towering feats of architecture and gigantic shopping malls all to a backdrop of the baking desert heat. However, the city is more than just the playground for the super-rich...

• How a microsatellite could make conservation profitable

  A satellite developed by US company NanoAvionics has been given the monumental task of mapping a combined total of 51 billion hectares of the Earth's surface in what it claims is the world's first biodiversity observation performed...

• Serbia rocked by protests against pollution & Rio Tinto lithium mine

  Serbia has been rocked by nationwide protests over the past week with environmental activists and citizens taking to the streets to demonstrate against pollution and new legislation they claim was adopted to enable a Rio Tinto lithium mining...

• Nissan unveils "Ambition 2030" plans in electrification push

  Japanese automaker Nissan has revealed plans to invest around 2 trillion yen (€15.6 billion) into a new electrification drive that will see the company attempt to catch up with its peers in the industry...

• Airbus and Rolls-Royce SAF feasibility study shows early signs of promise

  A feasibility study into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) conducted by aerospace companies such as Rolls-Royce, Airbus, German research centre DLR and oil company Neste has shown early signs of promise, potentially paving the way for low-emission...

• Plastic could be even worse for the planet than we originally thought

  Plastic could be even worse for the environment than previously thought owing to processes such as the use of coal in production being greatly underestimated, researchers from ETH Zurich have suggested...