Scientific breakthroughs, successful start-ups and a Google victory are just some of the stories making the news this week.
10 major Irish breakthroughs of the year so far worth celebrating
It’s already been a jam-packed year for Irish science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) discoveries, so to honour them, here are 10 of the biggest that have made headlines.
Oscar-nominated Brown Bag Films opens new Dublin office, 70 jobs promised
Brown Bag Films is looking to increase its overall workforce to 255 on the back of the creation of a new 30,000sq ft animation studio in Smithfield, Dublin.
Marea, you gotta see her: New cable links US with Spain
Microsoft and Facebook are teaming up to build a 160tbps transatlantic cable, strengthening the cable ties between the US and Europe.
First US antibiotic-resistant superbug prompts global response at G7
US health officials have confirmed that the country has its first confirmed case of a superbug resistant to every antibiotic – including colistin, our last-resort antibiotic.
Google strikes major blow in Oracle court battle over Java APIs
Google has struck a major blow in the ongoing battle between itself and Oracle after a California court ruled in Google’s favour regarding the challenge that its use of Java in Android was a copyright infringement.
Cork scientists win funding from Bill Gates’ foundation for Africa study
University College Cork (UCC) has been named a ‘Grand Challenges Explorations’ winner, with $100,000 funding awarded to scientists at APC Microbiome Institute to investigate infant death in developing countries.
Diverse viewpoints on fintech and blockchain at Inspirefest 2016
Fintech, financial innovation and the ethics and business potential of cryptocurrencies and blockchain represent a key theme at Inspirefest 2016, with the line-up including Lloyds Banking Group’s Claire Calmejane.
15 Irish businesses make it through to Voom 2016 pitchathon
15 Irish businesses that entered the Virgin Media Voom 2016 competition have made it past the first hurdle and into the pitchathon part of the competition, which takes place on 1 and 2 June, where they’ll compete against 145 other companies.
India’s mini space shuttle returns to Earth after successful test
India’s burgeoning space programme had another major achievement this week, with the successful launch of its first miniaturised space shuttle, with hopes of sending astronauts into space using a bigger, reusable craft.
Failure is not cool: start-up founders reveal their hardest lessons
Six Irish founders were asked three questions: who they were, where they came from and what was their worst failure. The founders were John Joyce of Yvolution, Claire McHugh of Axonista, John Dennehy from Zartis, Sean Blanchfield from PageFair, Deirdre Smith from Zandar and David Coallier from Barricade.
Brunch image via Shutterstock
