Category Archives: Technology

World Economic Forum: Top Stories- June 24, 2023

World Economic Forum (June 24, 2023) – This week’s top stories of the week include:

0:15 Can granny flats solve the housing crisis? – Granny flats are an extra residential unit beside a main house. They’re known by many names, including backyard homes and in-law suites. They’re often small but have their own kitchen, bathroom and entry. Their official title is accessory dwelling units, or ADUs. ADUs are more sustainable because they increase housing density without demolishing existing neighbourhoods to construct new homes.

1:54 This educator is changing the way Palestinian kids learn – Aref Husseini founded Al-Nayzak, an educational charity, in 2003. He believes the traditional Palestinian education model is broken. It’s based, he says, on memorizing facts and passing exams and it’s no longer fit for purpose “So all the skills needed for analyzing this content, for critical thinking, for innovation, for creativity, unfortunately, it’s still missing in the general educational system. There are many initiatives, informal initiatives here and there, but still the system is not producing what we need for flourishing our economy.”

5:34 5 Things to know about the energy transition – Bringing green rail freight one step closer. The zero-emission trains can reach 90km per hour and the hydrogen tanks hold enough for 24 hours of shunting operations.

7:12 IKEA is retraining its call centre staff as interior designers – An AI chatbot answers nearly half of customer inquiries. But rather than losing their jobs, call-handlers are reskilling to offer advice as part of IKEA’s interior design service. Customers pay for a video call with a design adviser who can order floorplans and other design tools to help them. 8,500 call-handlers have made the leap to design advisers since 2021.

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The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.

World Economic Forum: Top Stories- June 17, 2023

World Economic Forum (June 17, 2023) – This week’s top stories of the week include:

0:15 How to solve the global rice shortage – Every day, more than half the world sits down to a plate of rice. A shortage could harm the food security of billions of the poorest people. But if scientists and farmers can solve this problem it would be great news for the climate, too

2:24 How El Niño will affect your weather – El Niño is a climate pattern in the Pacific Ocean and a new phase of it has just begun. Normally, Pacific ‘trade winds’ blow from east to west, pushing warm water away from South America towards Asia. Cold water rises in its place, regulating temperatures and drawing up nutrients for marine life from the ocean depths.

4:17 This fabric blocks mosquito bites – Researchers at Auburn University used a programmable 3D-knitting robot to create a weave that has a ‘chainmail effect’ at the microscopic level and which does not create openings as it bends. It also has enough holes for air flow to keep wearers cool in hot countries.

5:56 Indonesian poachers restore coral reefs – Marine scientist Syafyudin Yusuf is leading the efforts. Together, his team has restored 12 hectares of corals . Just 15 years ago, only 2% of the region’s original reefs remained undamaged. Local fishers used explosives and chemicals to stun or kill fish, making them easier to catch. “We needed to live and survive, but the chances of getting a decent job aren’t good, and the only job we knew of was that, that’s how we began bombing the reefs.”

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The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.

ChatGPT: Is Society Really At Risk With Generative AI?

euronews (June 15, 2023) – What does it mean to be human? An age-old philosophical question, thrown into the spotlight by the rise of #AI, which has managed to pass the sentience test created by Alan Turing.

In this first episode of Euronews Tech Talks, an Italian programmer delegates code-writing, a French artist reinvents her practice, a Cypriot student brainstorms, and a German teacher ignites minds.

Released a mere six months ago in November, ChatGPT has already become the fastest-growing consumer application. With this rapid growth, how is AI affecting life across Europe?

The education system is scrambling to catch up with #AI, but it’s not all doom and gloom for teachers. Dr. @sabinehauert and Dr. Matthew Glanville tell us about the benefits of this technology in the classroom, and how it can help diverse learners achieve their goals

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Green Energy: Potential & Economics Of Hydrogen

Financial Times (June 13, 2023) – In this film, the FT’s Simon Mundy explores how hydrogen – the lightest, most abundant element in the universe – could play a crucial role in the global push for net zero carbon emissions.

Video timeline: 00:00 What is Hydrogen 00:50 Green Hydrogen 02:50 Current uses of hydrogen 04:10 The concerns 05:00 The Hydrogen rainbow 05:51 Emerald Hydrogen 07.35 The investors 10:50 The policymakers 13:40 Green steel 17:35 Cleaning up aviation 22:15 The hydrogen economy of the future

From southern Spain to Swedish Lapland, we meet those at the forefront of this fast-growing space – all seeking a share of the billions to be made in the emerging hydrogen economy.

#hydrogen #greenhydrogen #EmeraldHydrogen #steel #hydrogeneconomy #zerocarbon #emission

Climate Change: A Review Of High-Tech Solutions

DW Documentary (June 13, 2023) – Can high-tech solutions help protect the climate? What would be the side effects of further human intervention in nature?

Attempts are being made to reduce the CO2 in the atmosphere with technical solutions. For example, new carbon capture technology that can extract CO2 from air and water, even if the amount currently captured is minimal and not enough to prevent the climate crisis and its consequences. Still, there is no shortage of ideas. Adding basalt rock dust to agricultural fields not only binds carbon dioxide but keeps the soil fertile.

Biochar, made from organic waste, has a similar effect. Some ideas are bolder: A protective screen of particles in the upper layers of the atmosphere could filter sunlight, as seen with the eruption of the Pinatubo volcano in the Philippines in 1991. The millions of tons of sulfur dioxide spewed into the stratosphere cooled the earth significantly.

Theoretically, aircraft could be used to deliver the particles. But experts warn that the consequences for humans and the weather would be felt worldwide and could never be fully controlled.

#documentary #dwdocumentary #climatechange

Harvard Business Review – July/August 2023 Issue

Harvard Business Review (June 12, 2023) – Gen AI and the New Age of Human Creativity: How revolutionary technology can enhance, rather than replace, our powers of imagination.

How Generative AI Can Augment Human Creativity

Use it to promote divergent thinking. 

There is tremendous apprehension about the potential of generative AI—technologies that can create new content such as audio, text, images, and video—to replace people in many jobs. But one of the biggest opportunities generative AI offers to businesses and governments is to augment human creativity and overcome the challenges of democratizing innovation.

The TV You Watch When You’re Young Can Make You More Entrepreneurial

Having studied TV signals in East Germany from the 1960s to 1989 and rates of entrepreneurship there after German reunification, the researchers found that people in households with access to West German broadcasts were more likely than other East Germans to launch companies later in life.

Tech Products: Noise-Cancelling Headphones

Wall Street Journal (June 10, 2023) – Noise canceling is a hallmark feature of top headphones across brands, from Apple and Beats to Sony and Bose. Behind the simplicity of the technology from a user perspective, though, is cutting-edge hardware running sophisticated algorithms.

Video timeline: 0:00 A sound wave and its inverse 0:32 Destructive interference 1:30 Noise-canceling headphones’ origins 3:17 What background noise to remove 4:46 Transparency modes or aware modes

What kind of audio processing is necessary to eliminate background noise when listening to music or watching a movie? WSJ dives into how noise canceling works, how the technology has changed and where things are headed.

#NoiseCanceling #Headphones #WSJ

Business Analysis: Electric Vehicle Conversions Rise

CNBC (June 10, 2023) – Interest in electric vehicles is at an all time high, with sales of new EVs up 55 percent in 2022 compared to the year prior. But there are still a lot of gas cars on the road today and there will be for a long time. EV conversions are becoming a bigger trend that could help.

Chapters: 00:00 — Introduction 02:40 — EV conversions 04:12 — Conversion shops 06:45 — DIY community 11:16 — Challenges

Both the shops and aftermarket community are growing substantially to meet the new demand. CNBC explores what it takes to convert a gas-powered car to an electric vehicle and whether it could go mainstream.

World Economic Forum: Top Stories- June 10, 2023

World Economic Forum (June 10, 2023) – This week’s top stories of the week include:

0:15 Finland’s electricity fell below €0 – It happened twice during one week in May caused by a glut of hydroelectric capacity as a result of heavier-than-usual spring meltwater. This meant the supply of electricity exceeded demand and this, in turn, led to a negative price for electricity.

1:30 NYC gives new mothers $1000 – The no-strings cash payments last for 18 months. Then for the following 18 months, low-income mothers receive $500 a month, covering the first 3 years of their baby’s life. The scheme – known as the Bridge Project – aims to fight child poverty in New York as well as reducing inequality and stress for new parents.

3:19 NASA will send your name to space – It’s asking people to sign a poem written by Ada Limón, the US Poet Laureate. Limón’s poem will be engraved on NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft. While signatories’ names will be etched on microchips mounted on the craft.

5:11 Implants help this paralysed man walk – It creates a ‘digital bridge’ between his brain and his spinal cord, Bypassing sections that were damaged in an accident. The implant lets him stand, walk and even climb stairs.

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The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.

Tech: Inside Samsung’s Growing Chip Business

CNBC (June 8, 2023) – Samsung may be known for android phones, TVs and appliances, but it’s also been the undisputed leader in memory for more than three decades. Now, as memory prices continue to fall, it’s doubling down on manufacturing chips for outside customers, with a $17 billion new chip fab in Texas and new $228 billion cluster in South Korea.

Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction 02:31 — From fish to microchips 06:10 — Making more chips in the U.S. 11:17 — Concerns and controversy 14:40 — Ambitious road map ahead

CNBC got a rare look inside Samsung’s chip business to bring you the untold story of how it became the world’s second biggest advanced chipmaker, just as it makes plans to catch the industry leader TSMC.