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Digitalisierung und Nachhaltigkeit gehören zu den wichtigsten Herausforderungen dieses Jahrzehnts: Um unsere Lebensgrundlage zu bewahren, müssen beide Transformationsprozesse – die nachhaltige Entwicklung und der digitale Wandel – in Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft miteinander verknüpft werden. Zielgerichtet und ressourceneffizient eingesetzt, können uns digitale Schlüsseltechnologien wie die Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) wirkungsvoll dabei helfen, den Wandel erfolgreich und zugleich nachhaltig zu gestalten. Die Plattform Lernende Systeme stellt dazu in einer Praxisbroschüre eine Auswahl von Best-Practice-Beispielen vor, die zeigen, wie KI einen konkreten Beitrag zu einem ökologisch, ökonomisch und sozial nachhaltigen Wandel leisten kann. Die Einsatzfelder reichen von KI-basierten Monitoring-Verfahren zum Schutz der Artenvielfalt über die KI-gestützte Landwirtschaft bis hin zur KI-unterstützten Müll-Detektion für nachhaltigere Kreislaufprozesse. Die Broschüre zeigt zudem, welchen Beitrag KI für eine resilientere, nachhaltigere Wirtschaft leisten kann und wie KI-Technologien dafür konzipiert werden müssen. Die Vorstellung integrierter KI- und Nachhaltigkeitsstrategien aus Unternehmen verschiedener Branchen soll Impulse für die praktische Verknüpfung der beiden Handlungsfelder in der Praxis geben. Die Autorinnen und Autoren adressieren hierzu aktuelle Herausforderungen und zentrale Potenziale, so erlaubt KI als multifunktionales Werkzeug die intelligente Verknüpfung verschiedener gesellschaftspolitischer, ökonomischer und ökologischer Zielsetzungen und kann Effizienzgewinne freisetzen. Gleichzeitig müssen Nutzen und Kosten beim KI-Einsatz mit Blick auf Nachhaltigkeitsziele (z.B. Energie- und Ressourcenverbrauch) von Anfang an berücksichtigt werden.

About the Authors

About the Authors

About the Authors

About the Authors

Books reviewed: • Francisco Yus. Cyberpragmatics. Internet-mediated communication in context • Bruce, Ian. Theory and Concepts of English for Academic Purposes • Walsh, Steve. Exploring Classroom Discourse. Language in Action • Seidlhofer, Barbara. Understanding English as a Lingua Franca

Executive Summary: Return of samples from the surface of Mars has been a goal of the international Mars science community for many years. Affirmation by NASA and ESA of the importance of Mars exploration led the agencies to establish the international MSR Objectives and Samples Team (iMOST). The purpose of the team is to re-evaluate and update the sample-related science and engineering objectives of a Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign. The iMOST team has also undertaken to define the measurements and the types of samples that can best address the objectives. Seven objectives have been defined for MSR, traceable through two decades of previously published international priorities. The first two objectives are further divided into sub-objectives. Within the main part of the report, the importance to science and/or engineering of each objective is described, critical measurements that would address the objectives are specified, and the kinds of samples that would be most likely to carry key information are identified. These seven objectives provide a framework for demonstrating how the first set of returned martian samples would impact future martian science and exploration. They also have implications for how analogous investigations might be conducted for samples returned by future missions from other solar system bodies, especially those that may harbor biologically relevant or sensitive material, such as Ocean Worlds (Europa, Enceladus, Titan) and others.

Background High selection pressure on domestic cattle has led to an undesirable increase in inbreeding, as well as to the deterioration of some functional traits which are indirectly selected. Semen stored in a cryobank may be a useful way to redirect selection or limit the loss of genetic diversity in a selected breed. The purpose of this study was to analyse the efficiency of current cryobank sampling methods, by investigating the benefits of using cryopreserved semen in a selection scheme several generations after the semen was collected. Methods The theoretical impact of using cryopreserved semen in a selection scheme of a dairy cattle breed was investigated by simulating various scenarios involving two negatively correlated traits and a change in genetic variability of the breed. Results Our results indicate that using cryopreserved semen to redirect selection will have an impact on negatively selected traits only if it is combined with major changes in selection objectives or practices. If the purpose is to increase genetic diversity in the breed, it can be a viable option. Conclusions Using cryopreserved semen to redirect selection or to improve genetic diversity should be carried out with caution, by considering the pros and cons of prospective changes in genetic diversity and the value of the selected traits. However, the use of genomic information should lead to more interesting perspectives to choose which animals to store in a cryobank and to increase the value of cryobank collections for selected breeds.