Consumption Week 33
My notes from some of the media I consumed this week.
Contents
Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2023
https://www.weforum.org/reports/top-10-emerging-technologies-of-2023/
- Flexible batteries
- Generative artificial intelligence
- Sustainable aviation fuel
- Designer phages
- Metaverse for mental health
- Wearable plant sensors
- Spatial omics
- Flexible neural electronics
- Sustainable computing
- AI-facilitated healthcare
Tags: Innovation, Future, Technology, Batteries, AI, Air Travel, Medicine, Healthcare, Agriculture
How Do We Inventory the Materials Needed To Build Wind and Solar Farms?
Tags: Renewable Energy, Wind, Solar, Resources, Materials
Australian company secures $700,000 deal for carbon capture and storage machine
- A sponge-like material developed at the University of Sydney holds on to CO2 molecules as air passes through it. Fans draw air into canisters containing the sponges, and then heat is used to extract the pure CO2 that can be pumped and stored underground. All power comes from the solar panels that cover the units like an A-frame tent.
Tags: CCUS, Solar
The farmers boosting crops with electricity
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230816-the-farmers-boosting-crops-with-electricity
- In his experiments, Volkov saw increases in harvest of 20-75%, depending on the plant. Treating seeds in plasma for less than a minute led to a 40% increase in potato harvests. “One cabbage farm let us experiment, to get statistics,” says Volkov. “We increased cabbage production by 75%. It also tasted better.” The flavour, he said, was sweeter.
Tags: Farming, Food, Agriculture
[The Jordan Harbinger Show] 875: Jonathan Kennedy | How Pathogens Have Shaped Our World
- Viral DNA possibly gave us the ability the remember (by changing our brains) and give birth to live young (by changing our autoimmune response)
- The Plague of Cyprian possibly caused the popularity of Christianity through the ideas of suffering (disease) and good deeds (helping those who are sick) in this life being rewarded in afterlife.
- The Black Death caused capitalism by reducing labour supply and increasing land supply, therefore increasing peasant power versus the nobility.
- Smallpox (and others) conquered Latin America, not the Spanish. Given how deadly the diseases was, the natives believed it was due to the enemy’s god, which is why Christianity is so pervasive to this day in LatAm.
Tags: Disease, Evolution, Religion
F1 Animated! The 2023 Season So Far
Tags: Sports, Motorsport, F1, Funny
Biggest Little Farm
- Take a step back and watch the process, see the connections and cycles. Don’t try to control everything; see unexpected positive externalities.
- Cow poop breeds flies → chicken food
- Trees encourage snails → duck food
- Regenerative farming handles droughts better
Tags: Agriculture, Farming, Sustainability