University of Maribor

Kourou/Maribor – Trisat-R, a nanosatellite developed at Slovenia’s University of Maribor, was launched in space just after 3pm in French Guiana. It was carried into space aboard Vega-C, a new European launch vehicle, as the third Slovenian satellite to date. Stakeholders watched the launch at an event the university organised in Maribor.

Ljubljana – The 20th Summer Museum Night will take place on Saturday, yet again with an expanded list of museums, galleries and other institutions joining the initiative.

Between 6pm and midnight, 80 institutions in 62 locations across Slovenia will open their doors wide, providing free special guided tours, exhibitions, workshops, concerts and other events.

Ljubljana – Interior Minister Aleš Hojs addressed the National Security Day event on Tuesday to note that Slovenia was somewhere between the fifth and eight place on lists of safest countries. He credited the security system and education from the earliest age for this, as well as people who steer activities and planning in this field.

Ljubljana- The Youth 2020 survey into the youth in Slovenia shows that, compared to ten years ago, they are noticeably more active, responsible and independent, while on the other hand they face greater housing problems and more precarious work in the labour, with their mental health also having deteriorated.

Maribor – Supercomputer Vega was formally launched in Maribor on Tuesday, putting Slovenia on the global map of computer super powers. It is the first in a series of eight planned high-performance computing (HPC) centres in the EU.

Vega is a 6.9 petaflops supercomputer, which means it can do 6.9 million billion computing operations per second, and it cost EUR 17.2 million.

Ljubljana – The Constitutional Court has annulled in an unanimous decision the implementation of a provision from one of the legislative packages for mitigating the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic that extends accreditations to higher education institutions.

The provision was stayed in late January, and the country’s top court announced the final ruling on Tuesday.

Ljubljana – Slovenia is looking to better utilise its geothermal energy potential, not only for tourism, but also in seeking innovative solutions in many other fields, including food production and district heating. There are already some good examples in this respect, heard an online event held to present the GEOFOOD project.

Ljubljana – The government has not yet okayed this year’s call for applications to enrol in university courses in what the Slovenian Student Organisation (ŠOS) sees as an encroachment upon tertiary education autonomy. The University of Ljubljana management thinks the procedure could be jeopardised, a risk Prime Minister Janez Janša dismissed.

Ljubljana – Half of Slovenians taking part in an online survey are willing to be vaccinated against Covid-19 when this becomes possible, while another poll showed that a third of the respondents intend to get vaccinated.

Ajdovščina – A hydrogen-powered hybrid-electric four-seater aircraft, developed in a project headed by the Slovenian ultralight aircraft maker Pipistrel, has made a successful virgin flight.

Announcing the news, Pipistrel Vertical Solutions called the Hy4’s flight a “landmark milestone for the MAHEPA project and for the future of clean aviation”.