Science and Technology

Customers in one Paris arrondissement will have help taking their shopping home, as stores trial robot deliveries

French scientists watching approach of Nasa probe nervously as they hope it survives dangerous landing procedure so it can conduct their experiments

New products, designs and ideas from around France

France was one of the first countries to sign up to World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee’s Contract for the Web pledge to protect online freedoms and rights.

I am aware that France is in the middle of a major investment in its telecommunication network. How soon will this affect the average customer like me?

A French start-up has a fresh idea – to design a lightweight and thus fuel-efficient car which can easily be converted into an electric version and then to sell complete factories to make the cars to countries with no motor factories.

My broadband is slower than my neighbour’s, particularly having a weaker wifi signal. We use the same supplier. What can I do?

CONNECtivity is a big buzzword in business - and now it is bees that are benefiting.

A robot, intelligent rubbish bin that sorts and crushes cans, bottles and throwaway cups could help businesses and cafeterias clean up after customers – and boost recycling.

Dreary hours of motorway driving could be a thing of the past once autonomous vehicles start to be widely used but a group of friends are developing a solution for before that – with a robot car transporter.

Police will be able to track drivers who are on the road without insurance from the beginning of next year thanks to a new database of insured vehicles being created as a safety measure.

Telecoms firm Orange is raising Zen mobile tariffs by €2/month from October 1 but has been criticised for disguising the rise as a download quota increase from 2Gb to 10Gb. 

Telecoms firm Orange is to switch users from the analogue copper wire telephone network – réseau téléphonique commuté (RTC) – and turn to an all-digital system to update and improve the telecoms network.

Transpod has set up a test track for its Hyperloop project in Limousin. But Yves Crozet, of Sciences Po Lyon’s LAET Transport, Urban Planning and Economics Laboratory, says speed-of-sound ‘train’ travel is a long way from reality.

As worse weather approaches, are there any steps we should take to avoid problems with our broadband internet?  J.I.

Lightning and power surges during storms damaged my modem and phone this summer as well as my line which needed repairs. What can I do to avoid this?