In today’s Bulldog wrapup of technology and life science news:

  • Ikea launches “smart” furniture
  • Aerie Pharmaceuticals reports a loss
  • EU gives members power to crack down on genetically modified crops
  • Freescale Semiconductor is sold for $11.8 billion
  • New technology will track jetliners.

The details:

  • Ikea Launches Furniture with Inbuilt Wireless Chargers 

Lost that charger again for your cellphone or tablet? Hate sorting heaps of wires to charge various devices?

Swedish retailer IKEA might just have the answer — furniture with built-in charging spots, including in bedside tables, lamps and desks.

The new collection will be available in Europe and North America from next month, followed by global distribution.

Jeanette Skjelmose, manager of the lighting and wireless charging sector, said MondayIkea aims to make life at home simpler because “we know that people hate cable mess.”

The new furniture uses the Qi wireless charging standard, found in some Windows and Android phones, including the new Samsung Galaxy S6 expected to be launched soon.

Ikea said it will also provide special charging covers for iPhones and older Samsung Galaxies.

  • Aerie Reports Loss

Aerie Pharmaceuticals, which is focusing on drugs to treat eye disease, reported Monday a loss of $16.5 million or 69 cents per share for the fourth quarter.

That’s up from $10.3 million on 62 cents per share a year earlier.

Aerie went public in October 2013.

  • EU Nations Get Power to Ban Genetically Modified Crops

The European Union is giving member states the power to ban the cultivation of genetically-modified crops even if they have been approved by the bloc’s food safety authority.

The 28 EU member states on Monday approved the rule that national governments can have the final say in the matter — a move that goes counter to many EU initiatives, which traditionally seek a common stance on EU policies.

Mute Schimpf of Friends of the Earth Europe says the new law “is a massive opportunity for national governments to shut the door on biotech crops in Europe.”

Only one GM crop — corn — is planted in the EU so far, predominantly in Spain. Under the rules, governments would still have to consult biotech companies when banning a crop.

  • Freescale Semiconductor Sold

Dutch chipmaker NXP Semiconductors N.V. said Sunday it had agreed to buy its smaller rival Freescale Semiconductor Ltd. for $11.8 billion in a deal that will make it the biggest supplier of microchips to the automotive industry.

The deal pays Freescale shareholders only a small premium over Freescale’s $11.1 billion market value, based on Friday’s closing share price.

The companies said NXP will assume Freescale’s debt, pushing the total value of the deal to $16.7 billion.

Freescale, based in Austin, Texas, is a former division of Motorola that makes microprocessors and microcontrollers for cars and industrial equipment.

NXP, based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, also makes chips for cars but has benefited recently from selling chips that help smartphones communicate with other devices nearby, allowing for increasingly popular mobile payments.

  • New Plane Tracking to be Tested

Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia will lead a trial of an enhanced method of tracking aircraft over remote oceans to allow planes to be more easily found should they vanish like Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Australia’s transport minister said Sunday.

The announcement comes one week ahead of the anniversary of the disappearance of Flight 370, which vanished last year during a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing with 239 people on board. No trace of the plane has been found.

Airservices Australia, a government-owned agency that manages the country’s airspace, will work with its Malaysian and Indonesian counterparts to test the new method, which would enable planes to be tracked every 15 minutes, rather than the previous rate of 30 to 40 minutes, Australian Transport Minister Warren Truss said. The tracking would increase to 5 minutes or less if there is a deviation in the plane’s movements.

The trial is expected to use satellite-based positioning technology already on board 90 percent of long-haul aircraft that transmits the plane’s current position and its next two planned positions, said Airservices Australia chairman Angus Houston, who helped lead the search for Flight 370.