The Know Daily - Wednesday 19 March 2025

_{Read in 4m 36s ∙ Listening to The Cardigans ∙}

A new app is putting an end to mindless scrolling – by sending you outside first! Before unlocking your social media, users must ‘touch grass’ (literally) and snap a photo of it. The goal? To curb endless doomscrolling and get people to reconnect with the great outdoors.

🚖 Auto-pilot era

Up to 60% of all new vehicles could be fully autonomous by 2045 – here’s a breakdown of what more driverless cars could mean.

What’s the story?
Driverless taxis, buses and even tractors are starting to transform transportation and agriculture. In recent years, autonomous vehicles have sprung up in US states and China, with further testing being carried out in Japan and Europe. They aim to reduce traffic accidents, as well as vehicle emissions and fuel usage.

Beyond transportation, agriculture and wine-making landowners have turned towards autonomous tractors and associated artificial intelligence to improve the efficiency of everyday processes. Whilst these can help increase crop growth and financial rewards over time, the initial costs still make this expensive to adopt more widely. 

Why are we telling you this now?
Driverless taxis are set to expand to 10 more US cities this year, and could be on streets in Britain by 2026 after the Automated Vehicles Act became law in 2024. Trials of driverless trams will also begin this summer in England, with a rollout to town centres expected in 2027.

What’s the reaction been?
There’s concerns over ‘robovehicles’ replacing the livelihoods of taxi and bus drivers in particular, though at this stage they’re not cost-effective or widespread enough to do so. However, some countries are experiencing driver shortages, so this could be a way to help bridge the workforce gap.

What’s more, road safety must be at the heart of autonomous vehicles gaining ground, experts say. Addressing legal and public trust issues due to accidents, cybersecurity risks and safeguarding is key to making these projects sustainable into the future. This comes after a pilot project of driverless buses in Scotland was ultimately scrapped in 2024 after running for less than a year due to low passenger uptake. Yet, reports suggest that one-third of adults in the UK would use an automated passenger service today, increasing to 44% of Gen Z.

📝 Welfare shake-up: The government announced major changes to Britain’s benefits system, like stricter eligibility reassessments and reduced incapacity benefits – here are all the key takeaways.

• The bigger story: The move is intended to cut spending on welfare and save £5bn by 2030. While some measures were welcomed with proponents saying that the current system is unsustainable, the news has also been met with criticism from campaigners who say millions will lose their benefits.

🌕 Space sunset: NASA has released the first detailed images of a sunset on the moon, showing a spectacular lunar horizon glow.

🎶 Sustainable sounds: A music manufacturer has relaunched a recycling scheme for unplayable vinyls and CDs with UK indie record shops to support World Recycling Day yesterday.

🥡 Flying food: Dublin has launched the first drone food delivery service in Europe, to speed up orders.

📺 End of an era: This long-running BBC soap has been cancelled after 23 years.

🚄 Trailblazing trains: France is set to launch the ‘world’s first double-decker high speed trains’ with dine-in bistro for intercity journeys.

📖 Bookworm browsing: London’s Daunt Books has been voted the “most popular” bookstore in the world – check out which others made the list.

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Trivia answer: B) The Royal Mint is commemorating what would’ve been John Lennon’s 85th birthday with a new coin – see it here. 

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