Technology

Scientists Propose Creating Mechanical Trees to Suck Up Evil Carbon Dioxide

From futurism.com
2022-01-23 18:52:32
Abby Lee Hood
Excerpt:

If it’s a mechanical tree, does the Lorax still speak for it? Sure, the mechanical trees we’re talking about don’t have a disco mode like the Oak-amatic in the 2012 “Lorax” film, but they do have a big job — soaking up rogue carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

In a new interview published yesterday in Inverse, Arizona State University professor Klaus Lackner, a pioneer in direct air capture and carbon storage, explained his mechanical trees and the future of capturing CO2 directly from the air to stave off climate change.

“They’re tall vertical columns of discs coated with a chemical resin, about five feet in diameter, with the discs about two inches apart, like a stack of records,” Lackner told Inverse. “As the air blows through, the surfaces of the discs absorb CO2. After 20 minutes or so, the discs are full, and they sink into a barrel below. We send in water and steam to release the CO2 into a closed environment.”

Back in July of 2021, ASU announced that Lackner received $2.5 million in Department of Energy funding to work on his CO2 capture devices. At the time, Lackner was planning three farms that could soak up 1,000 tons of CO2 per day. According to Inverse, the first of these farms will open for business in April this year.

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Biden Administration to Release Executive Order on Crypto as Early as February: Report

From Yahoo Finance

Excerpt:

 

The Biden administration is readying an executive order for release as early as next month that will outline a comprehensive government strategy on cryptocurrencies and ask federal agencies to determine their risks and opportunities, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources.

• The directive would place the White House in a central role overseeing efforts to set policies and regulate digital assets, Bloomberg reported.

 

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Once billed as a revolution in medicine, IBM’s Watson Health is sold off in parts

From statenews.com

Excerpt:

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The Utopian Experiment of Plato Farm: Simulating Social Activity With a Game

From bitcoinist.com
2022-01-17 09:13:29

Excerpt:

 

A multiplayer online game is the best mapping of reality, which makes it the best experimental place: Players control their virtual characters to perform various actions and activities, a mapping of the real world at a very low cost. Playing games is a very efficient way of learning, some games can even guide social development.

In ancient war games, players can learn the combat theories of various armies and understand the huge cost and impact of war. In shooting games, players can know all kinds of weapons. In racing games, players can turn into a racer. In Plato Farm, players can witness how Plato’s utopia come true!

The utopian experiment of Plato Farm

Plato Farm is a metaverse business game. Users can build a civilization from scratch with their wisdom in a brand new virtual world, and accumulate wealth, contacts, and prestige, develop social groups, build organizations, form a larger, more efficient social system, and earn a generous return at…

 

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AI-generative art predicted to be next trend for NFT sector

From cointelegraph.com
2022-01-16 15:34:01

Excerpt:

 

Sales of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, reached $25 billion in 2021, demonstrating that the sector is one of the most sought-after markets in crypto. Art NFTs, in particular, made a big impact last year with Christie’s reporting over $93 million in nonfungible token sales during its fourth annual Art+Tech Summit that took place this past August.

While notable, much of the crypto art scene appears to be dominated by cartoons and memes, as projects like CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club have taken center stage. Although these projects are some of the most successful to date, a new subset of NFTs is emerging based on advanced technologies and the human imagination.

AI-generative NFTs become a new art genre

Known as “AI-generative NFTs,” these nonfungible tokens are becoming increasingly popular within the art community, along with those interested in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain and the Metaverse. In order to create AI-generative NFTs, one would typically use generative adversarial networks, or GANs. These are algorithms that leverage computers to use data to train models to produce machine-made images resembling art.

Claire Silver, an AI-collaborative artist, told Cointelegraph that AI-generative NFT art is a relatively new genre, noting that the basic principle is that art is created in tandem with some semblance of artificial intelligence, like GAN:

“There are code-heavy options and completely code-free tools that anyone can work with. I use the latter in my work. Being able to work with an AI to bring your ideas to life is an experience like no other, it augments creativity in a way that feels like freedom, a type of play you haven’t experienced since you were a child.”

 

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Israeli physicists create thought-provoking model for material that never melts – Haaretz

From www.haaretz.com
2022-01-16 10:21:00

Excerpt:

The accepted science is that the more (almost) any given matter is heated, the more disrupted its internal order becomes. It melts, or evaporates. Now a model developed by researchers from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the University of Kentucky contradicts that notion, and may have implications for the development of superconductors that will help to create green energy

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Russia Demands Facebook Unblock Foreign Ministry-Linked Page

From www.themoscowtimes.com
2022-01-17 08:43:17

Excerpt:

 

Russia’s media regulator has demanded that Facebook “immediately” lift all restrictions on the official page of the country’s delegation for arms control talks in Vienna.

The Facebook page, which is affiliated to Russia’s Foreign Ministry, was taken down on Friday for publishing “illegal content,” according to delegation head Konstantin Gavrilov.

Media watchdog Roskomnadzor said Sunday evening that it has sent a letter to Meta, Facebook’s parent company, “with the demand to immediately lift all restrictions” from the Facebook page and “explain the reasons for introducing them.”

“Such actions of the administration of the Facebook social network violate the key principles of free distribution of information,” Roskomnadzor said.

 

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Why mastering smart machines could unlock the next programmatic evolution | LoopMe | Open Mic

From www.thedrum.com
2022-01-17 09:10:56

Excerpt:

 

Applications typically function within narrow parameters. Producing outputs determined by the data feeding them, as well as particular objectives. All too often, their advantages have been overshadowed by speculation that dependence on variable input is among the main reasons behind continuing mistrust in AI. But it’s also vital to recognize the potential current operating dynamics provide for marketers to retain a firm grip on programmatic efforts.

Harnessing built-in controls, they can keep campaigns on track by setting specific rules for algorithms to follow. In fact, the concept of closely managed optimization is already gaining traction on multiple fronts, including instructing systems to direct bids at the audiences and inventory likely to fuel performance against core goals. While implementations so far have tended to focus on metrics that don’t give much insight into true ad effectiveness or drive informed choices — such as click-through rates — they are an encouraging start.

Leveraging emerging tools will help marketers take this approach further: adjusting media buying in line with outcome-based measures of precise impact on areas such as awareness and brand favourability. For instance, platforms supported by reinforced learning are making it possible to pre-emptively pinpoint which impressions will offer the best chance of delivering goal actions in different contexts, be that brochure downloads or social media interaction.

Armed with this ability, marketers can tell algorithms to only place bids in situations where users have a high probability of taking specified steps, ensuring AI plays by their preferred rules and maximising results at the same time.

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