Telescope #93

To look beyond visual range…

“We have an obligation to remain friends with nature” Ali Nihat Gökyiğit

SUSTAINABILITY

• European judges have ruled that Switzerland has breached the human rights of its citizens by not doing enough to cut national greenhouse gas emissions, in a decision with wide implications for state action on climate change. DETAIL

• Climate change’s effects on ocean water temperatures and salinity could shrink sonar detection ranges underwater and make it more challenging to spot submarines. DETAIL

• Of all plastic waste pollution that can be traced back to its producer, almost a quarter can be traced back to just five major corporations, a new study has found. Soft drink manufacturers Coca Cola and PepsiCo were responsible for 11 and 5 percent respectively. This was followed up by multinational food and drink giants Nestlé and Danone, and one of the world's biggest producers of tobacco-related products, Altria. DETAIL

• The widespread adoption of returning and reusing plastic packaging could help to cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 69%, a study by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation showed on Wednesday. Such schemes not only lower companies' emissions but can also drive down costs for some items, according to the study covering over 60 organisations including national governments and consumer goods companies such as Danone, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Unilever. DETAIL

• Shading the planet by spraying aerosols into the stratosphere might stave off ice sheet collapse, modelling studies suggest, but we are running out of time. DETAIL

HEALTH

• Food and Drug Administration officials reported this week that lab tests have found genetic material from strains of H5N1 avian influenza in samples of store-bought pasteurized milk. Officials say these samples do not appear to contain live virus and that the commercial milk supply should still be safe. But the results suggest that the virus has spread further across dairy farms than previously indicated. DETAIL

• The diabetes drug Ozempic, its sister shot Wegovy, and their cousins Zepbound and Mounjaro [excellent phrasing imo] have all gained immense hype for being potent weight loss drugs — but interest is growing in their side effects as well. Case in point, in a new survey from the investment firm Morgan Stanley, which was shared with CNBC and Quartz, respondents on those drugs — collectively known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists — also reported lower rates of smoking and alcohol consumption, suggesting that these drugs' craving control mechanisms extend beyond food. DETAIL

• The European Union (EU) Commission launched an investigation into China's supply of medical devices to member countries.  Beijing, on the other hand, accused Brussels of resorting to "protectionist" measures in the economy in the face of this investigation. DETAIL

DIGITAL / TECHNOLOGY / SCIENCE / AI

• It's not every day the future arrives early.  Robot cars and personal jetpacks might still be some time off, but at least you can head over to the Kickstarter crowdfunding site right now and place an order for your very own invisibility shield. The Invisibility Shield 2.0 might not bestow true invisibility, but according to its makers it's a convincing gimmick. Someone viewing it from directly in front will get the illusion of seeing right through it no matter what the distance, though viewers may still see a faint outline and blurring. DETAIL

• Scientists at CERN are testing a new type of robot that detects potential radiation leaks in environments that are difficult for humans or other robots used at the research center to navigate.  The dog-like robot, called CERNquadbot, successfully passed the radiation protection test in the Northern Region, the facility's largest experimental area.  “There are large loose bundles of cables and pipes that slide and move around on the ground,” said CERN robotics engineer Chris McGreavy.  "That's why the region has difficult conditions for wheeled robots and even humans," he said.  In short, the robot seems to have the qualities to say, "I can work in any environment, bro."

• Any day now, people will look up and see a distant star exploding. Though Earthlings will be able to observe this celestial event as if it just happened, the cataclysmic blast occurred some 3,000 years ago, perhaps in the time of Solomon, the king who built the first temple in Jerusalem. Through the Iron Age, medieval times, and the Industrial Revolution, the explosion's light hurtled through space, only to reach this planet's doorstep now. DETAIL

• Some 200 million years ago, a single extraordinary supercontinent called Pangea dominated the Earth. Then, the landmasses broke apart, creating the world we know today. But the continents never stop drifting. Computer simulations suggest that a supercontinent may re-dominate in about 250 million years.

• Apple is developing a large language model that runs on the device for generative artificial intelligence features.  The large language model runs entirely on device, rather than running on the cloud like the vast majority of current AI. DETAIL

• An Australian bull ant is the first animal known to use the patterns produced by polarised moonlight to navigate its environment. DETAIL

• Natural diamonds take billions of years to form in the extreme pressures and temperatures deep underground. Synthetic forms can be produced far quicker, but they typically still require some intense squishing for up to several weeks. A new method based on a mix of liquid metals can pop out an artificial diamond in a matter of minutes, without the need for a giant squeeze. DETAIL

• A study recently published in the peer-reviewed American Psychologist journal claims that a combination of facial recognition and artificial intelligence technology can accurately assess a person’s political orientation by simply looking at that person’s blank, expressionless face. DETAIL

• Until now, AI-generated videos of people have tended to have some stiffness, glitchiness, or other unnatural elements that make them pretty easy to differentiate from reality. For the past several years, AI video startup Synthesia has produced these kinds of AI-generated avatars. But today it launches a new generation, its first to take advantage of the latest advancements in generative AI, and they are more realistic and expressive than anything we've seen before. DETAIL WATCH THE VIDEO

• TikTok's chief executive said on Wednesday the social media company expects to win a legal challenge to block legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden that he said would ban its popular short video app used by 170 million Americans. DETAIL

• Meta and Ray-Ban, who have been joining forces to develop smart glasses for a while, are now adding a multimodal artificial intelligence model to the glasses.  In this new version, in response to a voice command you give, the glasses take a photo, the artificial intelligence communicates with the cloud and the answer comes to your ear.  You can give commands to the glasses by speaking.  The primary command should be "Hey Meta, look and..."  You can continue the rest as you wish.  You can learn about a plant species, translate signs and menus in different languages, create post texts for Instagram, or get information about a monument through the commands you can give to the glasses. DETAIL

• China has reportedly developed a brain-computer interface chip called Neucyber that allows a monkey to control a robotic arm with only its thoughts. DETAIL

• A group of Chinese chip companies led by Huawei Technologies and backed by the country's government aims to produce high-bandwidth memory (HBM) semiconductors, a key component in AI chips by 2026, The Information reported on Thursday. DETAIL

ENERGY / TRANSPORTATION

• Researchers have found a way to reuse metal waste as an electrocatalyst that can split water (H2O) into hydrogen and oxygen, which could be help make hydrogen production more sustainable. DETAIL

• Developers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have unveiled a promising new type of sodium-ion battery that charges in just a few seconds - and could be used in electric vehicles in the future. DETAIL

• The Tesla Cybertruck was supposed to stop bullets. Turns out its owners should be more afraid of a bit of soap. An "unapproved lubricant" used on the Cybertruck's accelerator pad caused it to slip off and get trapped in a bit of trim above the pedal, according to a recall report [PDF] by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. DETAIL

• An expected sharp fall in battery costs for energy storage in coming years will accelerate the shift to renewable energy from fossil fuels, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday. DETAIL