🤖 Bio-based foam replaces petroleum-based materials—without changing production processes

The Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Circular Plastics Economy CCPE under the PBS Extrusion Foam (xPBS) project has successfully developed a bio-based foam made from polybutylene succinate. Thanks to its unique properties, it can replace conventional polyethylene (PE) foams in key applications — such as packaging, protective and transport solutions, and construction applications.

This approach simultaneously addresses CO₂ reduction, compliance with regulatory requirements, and economic efficiency. PBS is bio-based, biodegradable, and can be recycled due to its thermoplastic nature. The xPBS project demonstrates that sustainable plastic solutions are already economically and industrially viable today — and opens up concrete opportunities for companies to actively shape the transformation.

@QSIMedia

🇨🇷 Starlink Mobile will soon be available in Costa Rica with Liberty Latin America

From mountains to national parks and the ocean, customers will stay connected with data apps and messaging. 🏔🛰

@QSIMedia

🇩🇪 Germany's Merz says industrial AI needs less stringent EU regulation

Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that AI for industrial use will require ‌more regulatory freedom in the European Union than other AI areas such as consumer ​use to boost productivity. Last month, Berlin to encourage investments to ⁠boost ​AI data processing capacity ​at least fourfold by 2030.

"I will ​push to ease the regulatory burden ⁠in the EU on AI and, ​where possible, to exempt industrial AI ​from the current regulatory straightjacket that is too tight for AI within the European Union," — ​Merz said.

@QSIMedia

🇩🇪🇧🇷 Germany's Merz, Brazil's Lula stress close European-Brazilian cooperation

Both welcomed the entry into force of the EU-Mercosur free ​trade agreement on May 1. Lula also ⁠wanted to discuss the full range of economic cooperation with Merz, including AI, critical minerals and data centers.

"This shows that we ​are sticking to the multilateral order, that we ⁠want a rules-based economic system, and that we want ​this cooperation with as few tariffs as possible – ideally none at ​all," — Merz said. 🤝

@QSIMedia

🤖📈 Siemens AG will prioritize AI investments in the US and China if the EU doesn’t adapt its restrictive regulations

Most of the company’s €1 billion ($1.2 billion) investment in industrial AI will be directed to the US due to Europe’s regulatory burden, according to CEO Roland Busch. The EU’s AI Act and Data Act “miss the mark” by treating industrial AI like consumer applications, adding new layers of oversight to areas already subject to sector-specific rules, he added.

@QSIMedia

Hi everyone 👋

🤑 We’re excited to invite you to the next Q&A + Meet & Greet Call — our first online study hall session! 🎓🎉

This is more than just a session.🎲It’s your chance to:
➡️explore the QSI and the Stellar ecosystem absolutely for free✨
➡️connect with the growing community 📈
➡️get answers to your questions 🧩
➡️share your thoughts and ideas 🗣
➡️get involved and grow 🧠
➡️learn more about tokenization 🤪

The main mechanism of control is money. 💸
❤️ Tokenization provides major benefits to people as well in terms of costs, convenience, economic equality, new opportunities and many other things. Virtually anything can be tokenized!
🔄 It's the process of converting something into a digital token that can be used on a blockchain or another distributed ledger.

Tokenization has already begun worldwide! Stellar is where blockchain meets the real world 🌎✨

📚 How to prepare:
🟠 Watch the Mini Proofs video #1 on Tokenization in the QSI Training Q&A 💙
🟠 Take notes and reflect on key insights ✍️
🟠 Come ready with questions you want to explore deeper 🧠

Do your best, be active and get involved!
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn, connect and contribute. 🚀

🔘 Wednesday, April 22 @ 3pm CDT / 10pm CET / Midnight GST / 6am AEST 🌐

⚡️ For beginners: Access to the channel will be available only after completing the course and passing the test in → @QSITrainingBot. Here you will find a link to Q&A + Meet & Greet Call in Zoom.

See you soon — we’re looking forward to meeting all of you! 💙

#Stellar

@QSIMedia

🇺🇸 Trump Administration to Begin Refunding $166 Billion in Tariffs

The ​refund system set up to allow companies to recover illegally collected tariffs from the U.S. government went ‌live on Monday as thousands of companies rushed to file claims.

"We’ve got over 50% of our invoices loaded so far. We are hoping in the ​next few hours to have them all loaded. I’m very happy we got this process started early," — Foreman said.

@QSIMedia

🇨🇳🇪🇺 BYD has applied to become a member of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. The company is starting production at its new plant in Hungary, aiming to serve European customers from within the region. BYD pushes to be first Chinese member of Europe’s Car Lobby

#BRICS

@QSIMedia

🇮🇳🇰🇷 India and South Korea plan $50 billion trade push with new deals

India and South Korea would boost their economic ties by expanding cooperation in ‌energy, critical minerals, shipbuilding, semiconductors and steel as they seek to double their trade to $50 billion by 2030. It's the first South Korean presidential state visit to India ​in 8 years.

"We decided to upgrade the framework of economic ⁠cooperation between the two countries to create a new engine for shared growth," — South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said. 🤝

The ​two countries created a ministerial-level economic cooperation committee for the first time, and they would also strengthen cooperation in areas such as nuclear ​power plants, clean energy as well as trade and investment.

#BRICS

@QSIMedia

🇨🇳🇻🇳 Huawei signs deal with Vietnamese bank SHB to expand Vietnam footprint 🤝

Vietnamese lender SHB and China's Huawei Technologies Group signed a ​strategic cooperation agreement, a move that will allow the Chinese technology giant to expand its presence ​in Vietnam. Under the agreement, Huawei will ​support SHB in designing technology architectures ⁠and building data platforms. It will also support the ​bank in ensuring stable and safe operations.

#BRICS

@QSIMedia

🍏 Tim Cook to become Apple Executive Chairman. John Ternus to become Apple CEO

Apple announced that Tim Cook will become executive chairman of Apple’s board of directors and John Ternus, senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, will become Apple’s next chief executive officer effective on September 1, 2026. The transition, which was approved unanimously by the Board of Directors, follows a thoughtful, long-term succession planning process.

Tim Cook joined Apple in 1998. He became CEO in 2011 and has overseen the introduction of numerous products and services, including new categories like Apple Watch, AirPods, and Apple Vision Pro, and services ranging from iCloud and Apple Pay to Apple TV and Apple Music.

@QSIMedia

🇧🇬 Bulgaria's Kremlin-friendly ex-president wins election in landslide

Pro-Russian former President ​Rumen Radev has won Bulgaria's parliamentary election by a landslide, crushing long-dominant political forces and possibly pushing the ‌EU and NATO member state closer to Moscow. Radev's Progressive Bulgaria party had 44.6% of the vote after all ballots were counted, suggesting it could rule alone.

Both the EU and Russia welcomed Radev's victory. The Kremlin said it was encouraged by Radev's desire to resolve issues with Russia through pragmatic talks.

@QSIMedia

🇬🇧 UK gas-investment firm weighs bitcoin mining

Reabold Resources, an investment company focused on developing European gas projects, said it is considering establishing a gas-powered bitcoin mining station in northern England. The London-based company is exploring the potential to deploy a small power plant as a pilot for future data-center developments that are “crucial to the future U.K. economy.”

@QSIMedia

🤑 Ripple is introducing a multi-phase roadmap to prepare the XRP Ledger (XRPL) for a post-quantum future, with a target for full readiness by 2028.

The cryptography most blockchains rely on today can be broken by sufficiently advanced quantum computers, including the algorithms that secure wallets, sign transactions, and protect digital assets. At RippleX, the team has been working ahead of this curve, and here's what that means for XRPL.

🛡 Where XRPL already has an advantage:

🟠At the account level, XRPL supports native key rotation, which means users can move away from potentially vulnerable keys over time without needing to change their underlying accounts.🔣That gives account owners a practical path to respond as risk evolves, rather than value being locked to a single key pair.

🟠XRPL’s seed-based key generation enables deterministic derivation of new keys.🔣This allows users to securely generate and manage new key material, which is essential for any coordinated upgrade or transition.

📌 Ripple's multi-phased roadmap in four phases:

➡️Phase 1: Post-quantum recovery (Q-Day readiness). If classical cryptography breaks at any point, Ripple will activate the contingency plan to allow for safe migration to PQC.🔣XRPL would enforce a hard shift: classical public-key signature standards are no longer accepted by the network, and funds must move to post-quantum secure accounts.

➡️Phase 2: Proactive planning and experimentation (1st half of 2026). Assessing the full impact of post-quantum cryptography (PQC) on XRPL and expanding experimentation with industry-standard, NIST-recommended algorithms, a de facto global standards body for cryptography and cybersecurity.

🤝 The collaboration with Project Eleven to accelerate early experimentation. They are building a proof-of-concept hybrid post-quantum signing implementation (including validator-level testing, Devnet benchmarking, and a post-quantum custody wallet prototype) to harden XRPL infrastructure against future quantum threats.

➡️Phase 3: Exploration of post-quantum primitives (2nd half of 2026). The integration of candidate post-quantum signature schemes alongside existing elliptic curve signatures, starting on Devnet for application developer testing.🔣Running these in parallel allows developers to evaluate performance, usability, and system impact without disrupting the current network.

➡️Phase 4: Full transition for PQ signatures (targeting 2028). A new amendment to the XRPL ecosystem for native post-quantum cryptography and transitioning the network to PQC-based signatures at scale.🔣The focus here is making PQC production-ready, tightening performance, throughput, minimizing overhead, and ensuring validator operators are able to meet XRPL’s bar for reliability and fast deterministic settlement.

❗️Every decision is being evaluated against XRPL's real-world performance requirements, because quantum-resistant cryptography only matters if the network stays fast and reliable. Ripple is building this transition to be as seamless as possible for every holder, institution, and developer who depends on XRPL.

XRPL isn't starting from zero. The architectural foundations are already in place, the cryptographic expertise is already at work, and the roadmap is already in motion. 🤪

#Stellar

@QSIMedia