Tag Archives: Technology

World Economic Forum: Top Stories – Oct. 5, 2024

World Economic Forum (October 5, 2024) – The top stories of the week include:

0:15 What’s next for urgent climate action? – At the Sustainable Development Impact Meetings in New York, leaders discussed how to curb carbon emissions while building an inclusive economy. Regulations can be a lever for systemic change but local innovation is crucial, too.

3:09 Solar stoves reduce air pollution deaths – It cooks food while emitting hardly any smoke. It uses a hybrid system, powered by energy from solar panels and from fuel such as small sticks or crop waste. The ACE One was created by African Clean Energy which is a part of the World Economic Forum’s Equitable Transition Initiative.

5:08 Chief economists’ outlook for the rest of 2024 – Many chief economists polled by the World Economic Forum are optimistic about 2025. In the United States, nearly nine in ten chief economists anticipate moderate or strong growth in the coming year. Similarly, in South Asia, 71% predict strong or very strong growth.

9:33 Earth exceeds 6 of 9 planetary boundaries – In 2009, a team of scientists identified the 9 natural processes that regulate Earth’s biosphere and keep it stable. These include climate change, biodiversity, ocean acidification and freshwater. The team also defined the safe planetary boundary for each process. A safe and sustainable future for humanity lies within these boundaries.

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – October 4, 2024

The Guardian Weekly (October 2, 2024) – The new issue features ‘ 7 OCTOBER 2023’ – The day that changed the world. The Anniversary foreshadows a region on the brink. Plus: the shapeshifting Giorgia Meloni.

Events in the Middle East were moving so rapidly this week that the stunning assassination of the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last Friday, killed by an Israeli heavy bombing raid, already feels quite distant. By Tuesday morning Israeli forces had launched what was called a “limited, localised and targeted” ground operation against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Hours later, Iran responded with a barrage of ballistic missiles aimed at targets across Israel.

To put things in some kind of perspective, the coming week also marks the first anniversary of Hamas’s attack on Israel, setting in motion the brutal chain of events leading to the deaths of more than 41,000 Gazans by Israeli bombing, last week’s dramatic events in Lebanon and Iran’s military response which many now fear leaves the region close to full-blown war.

Five essential reads in this week’s edition

1

Spotlight | The ‘marriage competition’ that divided South Sudan
Underage marriage is illegal in South Sudan yet so commonplace it rarely attracts attention. But the case of Athiak Dau Riak, who her mother says is only 14, has gone viral, polarising her family and the country. From Juba, Florence Miettaux reports

2

Science | Telescopes that could save us from death by asteroids
The existential threat from a large meteor is real, but two next-generation telescopes are about to make us safer, writes Robin George Andrews

3

Feature | The shapeshifter: who is the real Giorgia Meloni?
She’s been called a neo-fascist and a danger to her country. But the Italian prime minister has won over many heads of Europe. Should we be worried? By Alexander Stille

4

Opinion | Trump v Harris and a battle between the sexes
There are clear reasons why women are running from Trump, but men are flocking to him – and it’s vital to understand why, argues Jonathan Freedland

5

Culture | Will Ferrell’s road trip of trans discovery
Saturday Night Live writer Harper Steele came out as a trans woman in 2022 at the age of 61. Her friend of 30 years Will Ferrell had questions. So what else to do but jump in a van, cross the US, and make a documentary about it? Guy Lodge reports

AI Technology: Are Tesla Robotaxis Ready To Roll?

CNBC (October 2, 2024): For a decade, Elon Musk has championed the idea that one day Tesla cars will drive themselves as robotaxis. On October 10, the company plans to reveal a “dedicated robotaxi” design at an invitation-only event in Los Angeles.

Chapters: 3:18 Ch 1 – Tesla’s vision for autonomy 6:33 Ch 2 – Full self-driving 10:13 Ch 3 – Realizing the robotaxi 15:34 Ch 4 – Sizing up the robotaxi competition

Despite years of bold predictions and missed deadlines, fans of the company are holding out hope that Musk will finally deliver. Regardless of what the company showcases at its robotaxi day, experts are skeptical of the company’s strategy, citing its Auotpilot and Full Self-Driving technology as a barometer for Tesla’s progress, or lack thereof.

While Tesla has been developing its autonomous vehicles, competitors like Google-owned Waymo and Chinese companies like Pony.ai and Baidu have already launched commercial robotaxi services. With U.S. EV sales growth slowing, there’s a lot riding on Tesla’s potential pivot to autonomy. CNBC explores whether the company is ready for robotaxis and if Musk’s vision for driverless Teslas will become a reality anytime soon.

World Economic Forum: Top Stories – Sept. 28, 2024

World Economic Forum (September 28, 2024) – The top stories of the week include:

0:15 How investment advice is changing – ‘The film is a rollercoaster ride into the last few years of how technology is changing our relationship to money’, says Chris Temple, director of This Is Not Financial Advice, a documentary that follows four online investors, including one who made – and lost – millions in crypto.

5:56 New tech reveals the impacts of climate change – Using AI, we can process Earth Observation (EO) data faster. Helping us monitor disaster impact in hours, not days. AI is also improving climate and weather forecast models. Through AR and VR, engineers are transforming these complex datasets into interactive, intuitive experiences that can help leaders make climate decisions.

7:39 This debt plan can save coral reefs – The deal reduces Indonesia’s debt repayments to the US by $35 million over the next 9 years and redirects those payments towards reef conservation instead. Indonesia is home to 16% of the world’s coral reefs and around 60% of the world’s coral species. Its reefs generate around $1.6 billion in value every year through fisheries, coastline protection and tourism. But Indonesia’s reefs face a range of threats.

9:21 Ray Dalio on funding climate action – By 2050, climate damage could cost between $1.7 trillion and $3.1 trillion per year. However, the costs of inaction could be even greater, says Ray Dalio, the founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates. Right now, climate action is hugely under-financed.

Politics: The Guardian Weekly-September 27, 2024

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The Guardian Weekly (September 12, 2024) – The new issue features ‘The Long Shadow’ – Are Israel and Hezbollah headed for all-out war?…

In the space of a few days, the focus of Israeli military operations appears to have shifted decisively from Gaza in the south to Lebanon in the north.

A dizzying escalation between Israel and Hezbollah began last week with exploding pagers and walkie-talkies and culminated in a ferocious Israeli bombardment of alleged Hezbollah military targets, killing hundreds of people.

With Iran’s support, the Lebanon-based Shia militia has conducted a background conflict with Israel since the 1980s. Is this the intensification that finally signals all-out war?

Five essential reads in this week’s edition

1

Spotlight | The brutal truth behind Italy’s migrant reduction
A Guardian investigation reveals EU money goes to forces involved in abuse, leaving people to die in the desert and colluding with smugglers

2

Technology | Why aren’t humanoids in our homes yet?
The development of robots is dogged by technical and safety challenges. But the dream of a multipurpose domestic droid lives on, writes Victoria Turk

3

Feature | An Israeli and a Palestinian discuss 7 October, Gaza – and the future
Could Couples Therapy’s Orna Guralnik and former participant Christine try to understand one another without the conversation breaking down?

4

Opinion | Zelenskyy needs Biden to back his plan to win peace
In besieged Kharkiv, Timothy Garton Ash saw how Ukraine is approaching a perilous moment. To turn the tide, it needs to decisively knock back Russia

5

Culture | Chappell Roan on sexuality, superstardom and the joy of drag
She’s gone from obscurity to the A-list, but not without struggle. Kate Solomon talks to the singer about teenage angst and her queer inspirations

Politics: The Guardian Weekly-September 20, 2024

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The Guardian Weekly (September 12, 2024) – The new issue features ‘The Hunt For Yahya Sinwar’ – Julian Borger On Israel’s Elusive Prime Target…

The last sighting of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who is widely accused of unleashing the Gaza war, was from a retrieved Hamas security video that was apparently recorded three days after the 7 October attack on Israel.

Since then an estimated 41,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in a furious and devastating Israeli bombing response. Yet the prime target Sinwar has remained at large and apparently unscathed.

1

Spotlight | Another apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump
Violence and instability have become a feature, not a bug, of US political life, writes Washington DC bureau chief David Smith

2

Environment | Darién Gap migration rush creates a pollution crisis
Isolated communities on the Colombia-Panama border are sounding the alarm over poisoned rivers and cultural erosion after a surge in migrants crossing their ancestral lands, finds Luke Taylor

3

Feature | The age of rage
Anger has come to def ine the public mood – felt in the posts of social media warriors and harnessed by populist agitators. Psychoanalyst Josh Cohen asks why are we so mad, and how can we navigate to calmer waters

4

Opinion | The return of border checks in Germany
The German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s border clampdown threatens the entire European project, argues Maurice Stierl – no wonder the continent’s rightwing populists are cheering

5

Culture | Michael Kiwanuka on faith, family and fulfilment
The Mercury prize-winning musician explains to Alexis Petridis how he went from being a ‘slight weirdo’ to wowing Glastonbury – and why he thinks more people are turning to religion

Technology Quarterly: ‘Chipmaking & AI’ (Fall 2024)

Technology Quarterly: Silicon returns to Silicon Valley

The Economist (September 19, 2024): The latest issue of TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY is focused on:

Silicon returns to Silicon Valley

AI has returned chipmaking to the heart of computer technology, says Shailesh Chitnis

The semiconductor industry faces its biggest technical challenge yet

Node names do not reflect actual transistor sizes

How to build more powerful chips without frying the data centre

AI has propelled chip architecture towards a tighter bond with software

Researchers are looking beyond digital computing

The end of Moore’s law will not slow the pace of change

Commentary Magazine – October 2024 Preview

Commentary Magazine – A Jewish magazine of politics, high culture, cultural  and literary criticism, American and Israeli campaigns and elections, and  world affairs.

Commentary Magazine (March 15, 2024) The latest issue features “Israel And Ukraine” – Why won’t we let them win?

Why Won’t We Let Ukraine Win?

by Abe Greenwald

…the U.S. has been too slow in arming its ally, too restrictive in setting conditions on the use of weapons, and generally too fearful of Vladimir Putin’s threats. The result is that Ukraine, for all its unfathomable courage and boundless ingenuity, has been permitted to fight, but not win, the war. If this keeps up, Ukraine could actually lose. 

Mark Zuckerberg Is Just So Very Sorry, You Guys

by James B. Meigs

When I step back a bit, I can see that Zuckerberg isn’t just haplessly begging our forgiveness. He’s trying to save his business. Meta Platforms, the company he controls, contains some of the world’s most widely used and profitable digital brands, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Meta appears to be thriving, with its stock price more than quadrupling since a rocky 2022. But Zuckerberg knows that his company’s brands are built on foundations of sand. Just as a sandbar will move with tides, the user base of any social platform can drift away in a surprisingly short time.

The Harris Shuffle

by Matthew Continetti

This is Harris’s challenge: She’s the incumbent vice president running for higher office in a change election. She’s an undefined candidate whose positions and job performance are vulnerable to attack. She wants to be seen as a disruptor while remaining loyal to President Biden. And she wants to move away from the far-left views she held as a senator while she continues to proclaim that her values have stayed the same.

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – Sept. 13, 2024

The Guardian Weekly (September 12, 2024) – The new issue features ‘Two Faces’ – Why the historical divide between Germany’s east and west could halt the rise of the AFD (Alternative for Germany)…

1
Spotlight | After the Grenfell Tower inquiry
Seven years after 72 people died in a tower block fire in west London, Robert Booth and Emine Sinmaz report on the damning public investigation into a wholly preventable tragedy.

2
Environment | The deep secrets of a Greenland glacier
Damian Carrington reports from Kangerlussuup glacier, where scientists are discovering new things about sediment banks that could slow the rate of rising seas.

3
Feature | The big click-off: how to win at Fantasy Premier League
With 10 million players, the virtual football game has become a global phenomenon. Tom Lamont gets the lowdown from the world’s best armchair managers.

4
Opinion | Why I’d pay to see Ticketmaster getting rinsed
After the Oasis ticket debacle, this much is clear, writes Marina Hyde: the “fan experience” is an excuse to be exploited while having to look grateful.

5
Culture | James McAvoy on class, comfort and carnage
The Scottish actor talks to Zoe Williams about marriage, therapy – and why Ken Loach would never cast him.

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – September 6, 2024

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The Guardian Weekly (September 5, 2024) – The new issue features Telegram’s collision course – The legal showdown between social networks and nation states. Plus: Tony Blair’s top leadership tips

1
Spotlight | Ukraine’s troops on their audacious incursion into Russia
Soldiers say they had no warning of what they were undertaking before the morale-boosting attack began, finds Shaun Walker in Sumy.

2
Science | The flying scientists showing migrating birds the way home
Extinct in central Europe for 300 years, a flock of northern bald ibis is following a light aircraft on a migration route from Austria to Spain, reports Phoebe Weston.

3
Feature | Tony Blair on the art of leadership
The former UK prime minister speaks to Andrew Rawnsley about relinquishing power, why he wouldn’t be fazed by a second Trump term – and why he’s an AI evangelist.

4
Opinion | Why does Macron insist on playing king?
The French president’s refusal to appoint a new PM from the left displays breathtaking arrogance – and undermines democracy, argues Rokhaya Diallo.

5
Culture | Look who’s back in anger
Will an Oasis reunion be a success? Definitely. Will it be worth it? Maybe, say Guardian arts writers.