Lifeboat Foundation

A study, published in One Earth, is the first to analyze the interplay of electrification and hydrogen in EU climate neutrality scenarios at greater sectoral detail. The analysis shows higher potential for electrification and identifies a more confined deployment range for hydrogen-based energy than earlier studies.

“Previous research has shown that our power system can be transformed to renewable sources like wind and solar at low cost and low environmental impact. However, the next question is how this renewable electricity can be used to substitute fossil fuel use in the buildings, industry and transport sectors. Our analysis shows that the direct use of electricity, for example, via electric cars and heat pumps, is critical for a broad range of sectors, while the conversion of electricity to hydrogen is important only for few applications,” says Felix Schreyer, PIK scientist and lead author of the study.

Using the energy-economy model REMIND, PIK-scientists investigated plausible combinations of both strategies in EU energy system transformation pathways under different scenario assumptions.

ChatGPT maker OpenAI stepped up the race in generative artificial intelligence Thursday when it unveiled its text-to-video generation tool, Sora, viewed as an impressive but potentially dangerous step in the booming AI economy amid concerns about disinformation spread.

“Game on,” said the CEO and cofounder of rival video generator Runway after OpenAI teased content from its latest AI tool.

A research has identified and analyzed potential areas which can give a country comparative advantage and expansion in economic activities.

The findings indicates that developing countries can leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to achieve a faster and more sustainable growth. This has led to countries worldwide racing to harness AI to make their industries more competitive and helping to diversify economies.

About AI

No American spacecraft has made a soft landing on the Moon since NASA’s Apollo 17 in 1972, but that could change soon as the Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander launched from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 1:05 am EST (10:05 pm PST) last night. With a currently scheduled landing date of February 22, Nova-C (also called IM-1 Odysseus) is slated to land in Malapert-A crater, which is approximately 190 miles (300 kilometers) from the Moon’s south pole. This landing will also mark the first time a private company will perform a soft landing on the Moon and holds the potential to test technologies that could be used on future human missions with NASA’s Artemis program.

“NASA scientific instruments are on their way to the Moon – a giant leap for humanity as we prepare to return to the lunar surface for the first time in more than half a century,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. “These daring Moon deliveries will not only conduct new science at the Moon, but they are supporting a growing commercial space economy while showing the strength of American technology and innovation. We have so much to learn through CLPS flights that will help us shape the future of human exploration for the Artemis Generation.”

The science instruments that will be traveling with Nova-C include the Lunar Node 1 Navigation Demonstrator, Laser Retroreflector Array, Navigation Doppler Lidar for Precise Velocity and Range Sensing, Radio Frequency Mass Gauge, Radio-wave Observations at the Lunar Surface of the Photoelectron Sheath, and Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies. All these instruments are designed to investigate how spacecraft can both land and operate on the lunar surface, specifically near the south pole of the Moon.

Earlier this week I went to a roundtable in London hosted by the UK government’s Office for Quantum to gather views from industry and academia about adapting the UK workforce to quantum technologies. The Quantum Skills Taskforce Workshop was co-hosted with techUK, a UK-based trade organization for the technology sector. Featuring 60 participants from academia and industry, the day featured lively discussion and debate about what the next decade has in store for the UK quantum sector.

All major economies around the world now seem to have their own quantum plan and the UK is no exception. In fact, the UK is onto its second National Quantum Strategy, which was launched in March 2023 by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). Setting goals for the UK to become a “quantum-enabled economy” by 2033, it also established an Office for Quantum within the DSIT.

The need to quash outbreaks, quickly create medicines, stress-proof crops and fend off other 21st century threats is providing a lucrative arena for biotech companies to sell their services.

Why it matters: But the infrastructure to support such ambitions is increasingly recognized by the U.S., China and other countries as a linchpin of national security and economic strategy, putting it at the center of geopolitics.

How can back-to-back atmospheric rivers impact the economy? This is what a recent study published in Science Advances hopes to address as a team of researchers led by Stanford University investigates the economic toll of back-to-back atmospheric rivers compared to single events. This study holds the potential to help scientists, the public, and city planners better prepare for atmospheric rivers, as they can cause widespread flooding in short periods of time.

For the study, the researchers analyzed data from the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2, (MERRA-2) between 1981 and 2021 and computer algorithms to ascertain the economic impact of atmospheric rivers throughout California. The goal was to ascertain how much worse back-to-back atmospheric rivers were compared to single events. The study’s findings discovered that back-to-back atmospheric rivers caused three times greater economic damage than single events, which is also higher when the first atmospheric river exhibits greater strength.

“Our work really shows that we need to consider the likelihood for multiple, back-to-back events for predicting damages, because damage from multiple events could be far worse than from one event alone,” said Dr. Katy Serafin, who is a coastal scientists and assistant professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Florida and a co-author on the study.

Brandon Clement is not afraid of a little headwind.

From Taylor Swift deepfakes to systematic theft of copyrighted content, social platforms are being overwhelmed by AI-driven bad actors.

Kenya has announced that the precious coltan mineral, which is used in the manufacture of cell phones, laptops and other communication gadgets has been found in the country.

Mining and Blue Economy Cabinet Secretary (CS) Salim Mvurya said on Wednesday that adequate deposits of coltan have been found in six counties.

The rare metallic mineral, mostly found in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is mainly used for the production of electronic goods of mass consumption, such as mobile phones, laptops and videogame consoles, and its discovery in Kenya is set to raise the country’s profile as a mineral exporter.