Top 5 News & Events from Around the World

Here are today’s Top 5 News & Events from Around the World. Take a look!

#5. World’s First Flying Taxi Revealed, Could Be Launched by 2025

Germany-based startup Lilium is looking to set up a fleet of five-seat electric aircraft that can carry passengers in pilot or drone mode. These vehicles will be at least five times faster than standard cars and produce no emissions. The company, which has already secured $100 million in funding, said that it aims to launch the flying taxis by 2025.

#4. Solar Cells Could Become More Efficient and Affordable as Scientists Develop New Material

Solar cells, which are touted as major game changers in the energy space, could soon become more affordable and efficient as scientists explore the use of a new material called perovskite.

A professor at the University of Toledo, US, said that a team is working on producing new kinds of solar cells that could help solve the world’s energy crisis by offering an efficiency of 23%, compared to the 18% efficiency of today’s cells.

#3. You May Soon Translate Speech into Another Language as Google Develops New Feature

This Friday, Google unveiled “Translatotron,” its first speech-to-speech translation system, which can convert spoken content in one language into another without affecting the speaker’s voice or tempo.

Ron Weiss and Ye Jia, software engineers at the company’s Artificial Intelligence division, said that the system is based on a sequence-to-sequence network that takes the visual representation of frequencies as input and converts it into the target language.

#2. Fintech Startups and Nasscom Want Cryptocurrencies Under RBI’s Ambit

Startups and industry lobby groups have urged the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to include cryptocurrencies under the regulatory sandbox proposed by the central bank for the fintech industry.

Trade body Nasscom said that since virtual currencies and tokens play a key role in blockchain technology, the decision to keep them out of the “Draft Enabling Framework for Regulatory Sandbox” is unclear and should be reconsidered.

#1. VR Headset Oculus Quest to Receive YouTube VR at Launch

Top streaming platform YouTube said that its VR app would be one of the launch titles for the much-awaited VR headset Oculus Quest and that it plans to actively push content for the headset.

The product itself will be a first in the industry for being fully wireless while offering a high-quality experience, albeit at a price of $399.