Tag Archives: Technology

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – October 11, 2024

The Guardian Weekly (October 12, 2024) – The new issue features ‘The Isolation of Israel’ – On a year of the Israel-Gaza War…

Hurricane Milton has left two worlds in its wake. Elon Musk lives in one of them. The other is called reality

Elon Musk at Donald Trump’s campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania on 5 October.

Remember when the existence of natural disasters wasn’t up for ‘debate’? It seems like a long time ago now

Preview: The New Atlantis Magazine – Fall 2024

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The New Atlantis Magazine (October 10, 2024) : The latest issue features ‘The Builder Issue’ – Why we don’t build…

Mass. Exodus

Massachusetts is one of the richest states in the country — because it’s pricing out its own middle class. Why did the state stop building enough to house them?

Will Anyone Vote for Abundance?

“Time to build” is a great idea. But it’s not clear that liberals or conservatives really want it.

If We Can Do It In Baltimore…

Why it takes a disaster to build fast

We Don’t Need This Much Permitting

What matters is whether building projects actually follow the law, not whether they promise to in advance.

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – Oct. 10, 2024

Volume 634 Issue 8033

Nature Magazine – October 9, 2024: The latest issue features ‘Cold Comfort’ – Permafrost helps protect rivers from errosian and migration..

Hundreds of methane super-sources pinpointed in satellite data

Algorithm homes in on wetlands and industrial sites linked to high emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas.

Baby sea turtles ‘swim’ up from buried nests to the open air

Turtle hatchlings, which can begin life up to a metre deep in sand, point their heads towards the surface and make their way out onto the beach.

How a potent immune therapy loses its punch against a blood cancer

Therapeutic T cells used to treat acute myeloid leukaemia secrete proteins that impair the cells’ own ability to attack cancer.

A ‘Swiss army knife’ microscope that doesn’t break the bank

The parts of a 3D-printed device can be changed out, allowing for versatility as well as ultrahigh resolution.

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