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AUTOMOTIVE Renault breaks frontiers with new Alaskan pickup truck  After showing the sleek Alaskan concept pickup last September, Renault has launched the production version. Renault's first global 1-tonne pickup truck loses the icy look and concept-only accessories of the concept version, but maintains the rugged-but-shapely build. Read more CHILDREN Review: Osmo Coding makes learning coding skills fun for kids Osmo Coding is a game which combines an iPad with physical play pieces to help teach kids logic and problem solving skills. With the help of a young tester, we recently took the game for a spin to see what it’s like.Read more ENVIRONMENT Ozone hole on the mend 30 years after global pact In the 1980s, pretty much every country in the world agreed to ban the use of CFCs, a decision that is now paying big dividends with scientists reporting significant shrinkage of the hole in the ozone layer and evidence of what looks to be a path to recovery.  Read more TELECOMMUNICATIONS Netherlands rolls out world-first nationwide Internet of Things network South Korea recently claimed it was rolling out the world's first nationwide IoT network, but the Netherlands has beaten it to the punch. Dutch telecomms company KPN has switched on its own system this week, which reportedly covers the entire country and will be used to connect millions of devices.Read more MEDICAL Electrical current through the brain jolts vision into sharper focus Scientists have found that by delivering a mild electrical current to a certain part of the brain they can affect how it processes visual information, leading not only to sharpened focus for the subject, but new understanding of our sense of sight. Read more AUTOMOTIVE Elio edges closer to production with E1A test vehicle Elio Motors is an enigma of the motoring world, promising plenty but failing to deliver thus far. Every time the launch of its cars is pushed back, the screams of naysayers grow louder and louder, but Elio is looking to silence the doubters with the completion of its first E-Series test car.Read more ENVIRONMENT Emerging strain of honeybee virus proves even more deadly Viral infections have been identified as a major factor​ in the continued decline of honeybee populations, including Deformed Wing Virus (DWV). Now, European researchers have shown that DWV is composed of two different strains, and the second is even more virulent than the established type.Read more MATERIALS New material switches from water-repelling to water-loving with electric current Generally, water repellent objects and those that attract or absorb water have very different microscopic-level attributes. Now researchers have discovered a way to use a single type of material to perform both functions, switching between the two simply by applying electric current.Read more AUTOMOTIVE Tesla being investigated after driver dies in Autopilot-related accident  Tesla Autopilot has won plenty of fans since it was first installed, but it's not perfect. The system's youth has been brought into sharp focus by an accident in Florida, where a driver using Autopilot was killed when his Model S hit a white tractor-trailer as it crossed the highway.Read more SCIENCE Scientists play high-tech "tag" with great whites The White Shark Cafe is an area of the Pacific Ocean where male great white sharks make deep dives up to 150 times a day. Why do they do it? No one knows, which is why scientists fare developing a "shark-cam" tag to stick on their dorsal fins.​Read more MARINE Folding boat changes from rolling suitcase to canoe in 10 minutes The Belgian-designed Onak canoe follows in much the same form as the Oru folding kayak, but it offers room for three plus gear. Because you don't always want to paddle alone. Read more MILITARY One-way shields give riot police the edge To provide riot police with a psychological advantage, Nottingham Trent University has come up with a new riot shield that allows the police to see the rioters clearly, but not vice versa.​Read more BIOLOGY Fuel for brain tumors different than thought, could improve treatment options A new study from Newcastle University shows that a common form of cancerous brain tumor uses fats to gain energy and grow, contradicting a long-held theory that glucose consumption is the main culprit.Read more SPACE ESA sets date for dramatic end to Rosetta's mission ​​ESA has announced the date upon which mission operators will crash the Rosetta spacecraft into the surface of the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.Read more BIOLOGY Flipping a genetic switch erases mouse memories A new technique tested in mice shows promise in turning off associative memories by preventing a gene from expressing itself.​​Read more MUSIC Wireless earphones transform their sound to suit what surrounds Bang & Olufsen has expanded its ever-growing Beoplay range with a new set of thoughtfully designed earphones. The Beoplay H5 wireless earphones pack a Bluetooth 4.2 chip with Digital Sound Processing, which the company says opens to the door to more dynamic tuning of sound.Read more AUTOMOTIVE Nissan rolls recycled EV battery storage out in French data center Nissan has made a big environmental push recently, investigating ways to repurpose used EV batteries. The automotive giant has teamed up with Eaton on an energy storage system for Webaxys, giving Leaf batteries a new life as energy storage in data centers. Read more TELECOMMUNICATIONS Google-backed cable delivers blazing bandwidth under the Pacific A new trans-Pacific submarine cable built by NEC with the backing of a consortium of telecom companies and Google came online Thursday. The FASTER cable connects the U.S. west coast with Japan via a six-fiber pair cable bringing 60 Terabits per second (Tbps) of bandwidth under the Pacific.Read more MOBILE TECHNOLOGY Data usage at UK's Glastonbury Festival smashes expectations For the uninitiated, the UK's Glastonbury Festival is one of the largest music festivals in the world, which nowadays means it is one of the most data-hungry festivals too. Even with that in mind, this year's event, which ran for five days last week, was something of a data blowout.Read more SPECIAL PROMOTION FOR GIZMAG READERS Become a Pro Developer in 12 Weeks with the Interactive Coding Bootcamp Become a job-ready developer by building a portfolio of real-world apps and interacting 1-on-1 with the best mentors in the field. This training is as robust as it gets, including live instruction and job-hunting assistance, on top of 33+ hours of top-notch video courses from such prestigious institutions as Stanford and Harvard. 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