August 5 Safe Tech International News and Notes
August 5 Safe Tech International News and Notes
KATIE SINGER, GARY MARCUS AI (changing by the minute), MINING Max Wilbert, ZAID
STANDING ON MY SOAPBOX; Yesterday I posted Increasing Cancers in Millennials & GenX? Olympic Bruises & the Need for EMF Science Diplomacy with China & Russia “The consequences are profound if the American Cancer Society and others are getting it wrong regarding the dramatic increase in cancer in young people.”
On Sunday Zaid K. Dahhaj from The Circadian Classroom posted “It’s Undeniable: Mitochondria Are Light-Sensing Organelles”
These two posts are related. We do not have one ‘clock’ in the body - the cells are telling time, everywhere, and your body will know by the time you reach the end of this email that its later in the day/night than when you started.
In addition to mitochondria, the functions of the electromagnetic fields (the 12 Meridians) manifest as an organized, coordinated, intelligent, health-sustaining manifestation of time.
Each meridian’s high tide and choreographed by a particular angle of the sun’s rays for 2 hours, including at night.
We know that we disturb this choreography we fly and experience jet lag.
We have not yet recognized our capacities to nurture these capacities naturally and without cost or resource demands, as well as the fact that we are polluting ourselves and others and the environment with seemingly insignificant exposures - (like when the industry promotes “low exposures,” ‘only a few minutes a day” or “shorter wavelengths” as if they are benign.)
We don’t have the capability or resources to attempt to replicate the Cosmos’s operating systems on other planets, especially if the military-industrial complex and consumer culture denies the paradigm to begin with.
From this current knowledge base, the so-called replication of Mars experiment conducted on Earth was ridiculous.
Even though time released medications can be created, it is not possible to replicate the operating system that harmonizes the entire organism with the entire planet. And AI is a force multiplier for outdated science, and excludes knowledge not reflected via the web. We don’t have the planetary resources to feed the hungry ghost.
We can recover our evolutionary capacities, but we need to come to terms with the frivolous uses of tech, and heed reported damage already unfolding. We can’t overcome the underlying pollution with more tech and more synthetic drugs.
“The sun, the moon, and the stars would have disappeared long ago... had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands.” — Havelock Ellis
Bless, bless and thanks for all you do. According to Substack this is post # 108.
FEATURED
Katie Singer If we depend on water Before we dismantle another farm, spend another dollar on solar PVs, or erect another data center, let’s start moving toward LOCAL. Educate ourselves about our bioregion’s water and minerals. Reduce our dependence on international supply chains. Start living within what our watershed offers.
AI: OpenAI’s Sam Altman is becoming one of the most powerful people on Earth. We should be very afraid "Furthermore, generative AI, made popular by OpenAI, is having a massive environmental impact, measured in terms of electricity usage, emissions and water usage. As Bloomberg recently put it: “AI is already wreaking havoc on global power systems.” That impact could grow, perhaps considerably, as models themselves get larger (the goal of all the bigger players). To a large extent, governments are going on Altman’s say-so that AI will pay off in the end (it certainly has not so far), justifying the environmental costs." OpenAI’s Sam Altman is becoming one of the most powerful people on Earth. We should be very afraid | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian
AI: Why the collapse of the Generative AI bubble may be imminent An update from the person who first called the bubble I just wrote a hard-hitting essay for WIRED predicting that the AI bubble will collapse in 2025 — and now I wish I hadn’t. Clearly, I got the year wrong. It’s going to be days or weeks from now, not months. HERE
AI: With the Market Tanking, the AI Industry May Be in Huge Trouble The free market has spoken. The red-hot AI industry may be headed for trouble, Bloomberg reports, after tepid earnings reports from tech companies dismayed Wall Street, which expected much bigger profits from the gargantuan infusion of cash into AI. HERE
AI: Gary Marcus August 5, 2024, a big day in tech? Big day. A lot of news, much to some degree anticipated in earlier, still-relevant essays here. HERE
AI: Many safety evaluations for AI models have significant limitations HERE
AIRLINES/SPACE: It's Sounding Like Boeing's Starliner May Have Completely Failed Sounds pretty bad up there. It looks like NASA officials might be seeing the writing on the wall for the very troubled Boeing Starliner, which has marooned two astronauts up in space for almost two months due to technical issues. An unnamed "informed" source told Ars Technica that there's a greater than 50 percent probability that the stranded astronauts will end up leaving the International Space Station on a SpaceX Dragon capsule, with another unnamed person telling the news outlet that the scenario is highly likely. HERE
AUTOMOTIVE: Small cars are hot again — because they're cheap Between the lines: The threat of inexpensive electric cars from China will also drive automakers to shift to smaller, more affordable vehicles.
That's the best way for automakers to compete with cheap Chinese EVs, Ford CEO Jim Farley said recently.
"We have to start to get back in love with smaller vehicles. It's super important for our society and for EV adoption," Farley told The Guardian. "We are just in love with these monster vehicles, and I love them, too, but it's a major issue with weight."
"These huge, enormous EVs are never going to make money: the battery is $50,000, even with low-nickel, LFP chemistry. They will never be affordable."
What to watch: Ford and Tesla both plan to introduce small, entry-level EVs priced under $30,000. The bottom line: Affordability is a real issue that pushes people away from the cars they really want to the ones they can afford. https://www.axios.com/2024/07/30/small-cars-are-hot-again-because-theyre-cheap
BROADBAND: Sen Hawley Introduces the Broadband Fairness Act Sen Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced new legislation to help deliver reliable internet to more rural Americans by returning dormant federal funding back to the state it was intended for. The Federal Communications Commission’s current funding structure favors large companies that reap billions in federal government contracts meant to provide high-speed internet access to rural communities. These companies, however, often fail to meet obligations, leaving federal funds in default and America’s rural communities without internet service. So far, the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund has seen more than $2.8 billion in defaulted funds. Senator Hawley’s Broadband Fairness Act would:
Allocate defaulted FCC funds to the state that originally received the award for broadband deployment;
Ensure that the geographic region where an award defaulted is eligible for other broadband funding opportunities; and
Allow states to supplement other grant funding to complete broadband projects. HERE
CELLPHONES: Cellphone Radiation Causes Cheek Cells to Die, Study Finds Exposure to 3G cellphone radiation caused cell damage and death in the user’s cheek tissue, which could lead to the development of cancer, according to a new peer-reviewed study. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/cellphone-radiofrequency-radiation-cheek-cells-death-cancer-study/
CENSORSHIP/Under the guise of PROTECTING CHILDREN: Censorship Bills under the guise of protecting children Two bills combined - the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) - have passed in the US Senate in a 91-3 vote, and will now be considered by the House. Criticism of the bills focuses mainly on the likelihood that, if and when they become law, they will help expand online digital ID verification, as well as around issues like censorship (removal and blocking of content). Senate Passes Kids' "Safety" Bills Despite Privacy, Digital ID, and Censorship Concerns (reclaimthenet.org) courtesy Jodi
CHILDREN: Excessive Internet Use Disrupts Key Parts of the Teenage Brain Internet addiction alters teenage brains in ways that encourage other addictive behaviors. Excessive Internet Use Disrupts Key Parts of the Teenage Brain | The Epoch Times
CHILDREN: Social media trend called 'sadfishing' can put young people at risk https://local12.com/health/health-updates/social-media-trend-called-sadfishing-can-put-young-people-at-risk
DATA CENTERS; Data Centers Demand a Massive Amount of Energy. Here’s How Some States Are Tackling the Industry’s Impact. As the draw on the grid from these computer warehouses undergoes explosive growth, states that offer tax exemptions to support the industry are considering whether their approach still makes sense. HERE
DATA CENTERS: How a Washington Tax Break for Data Centers Snowballed Into One of the State’s Biggest Corporate Giveaways HERE
EMF THE POWER COUPLE/INSPIRATION: Waiting for our real lives to begin Our interview with Bernadette Pajer | Children's Health Defense Last Friday Bohdanna Diduch and I had the privilege of being interviewed by Bernadette Pajer of Informed Life Radio, in collaboration with Informed Choice Washington and Children's Health Defense TV. We shared our stories of personal transformation, and how the struggles we braved as a couple forged our relationship with light.
ENERGY: Desert Solar—A Spectacular Fiction, Not a Spectacular Future But although large-scale solar energy projects may seem like a move toward a greener energy future, celebratory images of solar power in the desert obscure the problems of utility-scale parks. From California to China, large-scale solar projects stress water supplies, divert resources from local communities and threaten local habitats. Energy megaprojects across the Middle East and Northern Africa offer some of the most poignant lessons about why desert solar is a spectacular fiction rather than a spectacular future. Reducing the desert to a barren and lifeless place is part of a process that historian Traci Voyles has called “wastelanding.”[3] Symbolically relabeling certain places as a waste rather than inherently valuable makes it easier to justify violence to physical landscapes and transforms the wasteland into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Wasteland stories also depopulate arid landscapes, erasing the human and nonhuman life that call the desert home. HERE
FCC: Perkins Coie Partner: Recent FCC Cases Likely Headed to Supreme Court
5G AI INDUSTRY: 8 ways AI and 5G are pushing the boundaries of innovation together It's all very symbiotic: 5G supports AI. AI supports 5G. From smart manufacturing to sports and entertainment, the opportunities seem limitless. 8 ways AI and 5G are pushing the boundaries of innovation together | ZDNET (OLDER ARTICLE COURTESY TOM)
5G; Military Struggles to Make Inroads With 5G Commercial Wireless Tech For the Defense Department, the vision is a combination of plug and play with equipment and open interfaces for which software can be developed, she said. “At a very, very high level, if you think of it as some kind of orchestration system that then enables you to develop software functions that can plug into it, that is the holy grail of what the DoD would like to have, to be able to answer their specific communications needs that are not addressed by commercial technology.” To arrive there, the Defense Department needs more funding for research, more field testing and a plan for spectrum sharing, Silbey said. Progress and investments are being made, she added. HERE
GOOGLE: Google pulls its terrible pro-AI “Dear Sydney” ad after backlash Taking the "human" out of "human communication." HERE
HEALTH: It’s Undeniable: Mitochondria Are Light-Sensing Organelles Mitochondria are the lifeblood of each cell, hence they make all the difference between health and disease, life and death. It ties in perfectly because of this fact: The entire electron transport chain is LOADED with chromophores which are critical to the function of these complexes. Cytochrome c has an absorption wavelength of ~ 550 nm (in reduced form) Now here’s the million dollar question. Why does the entire electron transport chain sense various wavelengths of light from the sun at extreme precision? I want to see the look on every physician, dermatologist, and ophthalmologist’s face when they’re shown this information.The overall absorption range of the chromophores within the electron transport chain is between ~ 200 nm to ~ 900 nm. From extremely low-frequency UV light (biophotons) to NIR light. Any argument against sunlight exposure or for the use of sunglasses, sunscreen, sun-avoidance is hereby deemed as idiotic knowing this information. This is especially the case because mitochondria control the health of every cell and are found everywhere in the body. I rest my case. Much love, Zaid
HEALTH: Pediatric Environmental Health Questionnaire Basic Lifestyle Recommendations to Reduce the Toxic Load Assessing the Top Ten Toxic Exposures in Children The Pediatric Environmental Health Questionnaire (PEHQ) is a tool for practitioners and parents to aid in assessing children at risk of harm due to environmental toxicants. It is not meant to be all-inclusive, but a screening aid to identify at-risk children and create awareness regarding a prominent and overlooked contributor to chronic health issues. The questions evaluate the ten most likely sources of childhood environmental toxicants and should be included as part of a complete intake in all children in clinical settings, as well as by parents at home. The primary goal in the management of childhood environmental toxicity is to reduce the toxic load from the main sources of exposure. Reducing toxicants allows the body to address stored toxins, and often restores balance innately. Thus, minimal interventions may be required, but this is determined on an individual basis.
Food
Water
Air
EMFs
House Dust
Shoes
Pets
HEALTH: Join Dr. Stillman and Jim Laird on Monday, August 5th, at 10am Eastern for a live webinar on Exploring the Connection Between Vitamin D and Magnesium. Click on the YouTube link on Monday to access the webinar. No need to sign up!
INDUSTRY: UScellular: It’s full-speed ahead on marketing tower portfolio courtesy Isis
INDUSTRY: Verizon Requests License to Operate Pacific Fiber Cable The proposed segment will link Makaha, Hawaii, to Morro Bay, California HERE
INSPIRATION PEERS: Make Our Communities Healthier Again—Inspiring Remedies to the Chronic Illness Crisis More than half of children in the US have a chronic illness, cancer rates are skyrocketing, and the loneliness epidemic carries health risks as deadly as smoking. Yet what if I told you that the negative news overload on America’s chronic illness crisis isn’t the full story? We have the solutions to make America healthier again. At PEERS and WantToKnow.info, we’ve documented countless stories and news articles that prove human creativity has already developed the tools necessary to transform our health for the better. Most importantly, these solutions can unite us across our differences in the face of the political polarization exacerbated by the upcoming election. When we can think and feel well together, that’s a double win for the common good. Let’s explore the possibilities already in motion! Social and Green Prescriptions HERE
INSPIRATION: How to Blunt the ‘New Climate Denial’ with Better Language A Q&A with Dr. Genevieve Guenther, author of a new book called The Language of Climate Politics. In an exclusive interview with DeSmog, Guenther explains how oil and gas companies weaponize the language of climate advocates, why it can be a waste of time trying to engage with Fox News viewers and what needs to happen to put truly transformative climate action at the top of political agendas everywhere. How to Blunt the ‘New Climate Denial’ with Better Language - DeSmog
INSPIRATION: Let's Live Life, Not Perform It The joy of not turning life into a photo shoot But from the moment we dipped our heads into the water near our Air BNB, I knew something was wrong. Instead of seeing a colorful world of coral with schools of fish, everything was brown and dead, with only a few solitary fish weaving their way between blades of dead sea grass.It was extremely upsetting, and I have subsequently learned that the reefs in the Caribbean are in a state of crisis due to some mysterious disease, no doubt helped by the increasingly warm water temperature, that is killing the coral.¹ []The resulting afternoon was not only deeply unenjoyable, but it also resulted in me witnessing a scene that was so absurd that I feel compelled to share with you, because I think it exemplifies why I think it’s so important for us to be considering the effects that our relationships with our smartphones—and, more specifically, social media—are having on us, as individuals and as a society. HERE
MINING: MAX WILBERT: study finds that increased mining for clean energy transition minerals puts more than 4,000 mammal, fish, bird, reptile, and amphibian species at risk of extinction. Global warming and fossil fuels are an ecological disaster. "Green" energy is more of the same. I've been warning people about this for years. We need to question so-called "green" technology. It's lower carbon, yes — but still incredibly polluting and ecologically destructive. And it's not working to solve global warming. Emissions are higher than ever & rising. One example: Tesla Corporation produced 50+ million tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2023. Their customers' EVs only reduced emissions by 20 million tons. This means Tesla is a disaster for the climate - just like ICE cars. As the climate crisis accelerates, every bit of carbon matters.This study ONLY looks at vertebrates. It doesn't include plants, fungi, insects, shellfish, etc. That means this is an underestimate of the number of species threatened with extinction, probably by several orders of magnitude. Vertebrates represent less than ~1% of species. Thacker Pass, Halmahera Island, Rhyolite Ridge, Haut-Katanga, Kennecott, Bayan Obo, Carajas: mines are among the worst ecological disasters on Earth. MAX NOTE
MINING ARTICLE: Increased demand for metals and minerals needed for clean energy transition puts 4,000+ species at risk, finds study (phys.org)
MINING STUDY: Increased demand for metals and minerals needed for clean energy transition puts 4,000+ species at risk, finds study More information: Global threats of extractive industries to vertebrate biodiversity, Current Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.06.077. www.cell.com/current-biology/f … 0960-9822(24)00895-9 Journal information: Current Biology Global threats of extractive industries to vertebrate biodiversity: Current Biology (cell.com)
NATURE: Where have all the wasps gone? "There has been a decline in insect numbers around the globe, and in the UK there is evidence of severe declines in some flying insects." Electrosmog anyone??https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c134621devzo COURTESY TANJA
NATURE/INSPIRATION BIOCENTRIC: "One shouldn't differentiate between all that breathes" Birds as our teachers HERE
POLITICS DISCONNECT: Roundup: How tech is trying to shape the Kamala Harris agenda Harris’ vice-presidential pick, which will be announced in the coming days, might further suggest which direction she’s heading. https://disconnect.blog/roundup-how-tech-is-trying-to-shape-the-kamala-harris-agenda/
POLITICS: It Was Supposed to Be Trump’s Administration in Waiting. But Project 2025 Was a Mirage All Along. The inside story of how Project 2025 fell apart. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/08/02/project-2025-trump-inside-story-00172299
POLITICS: Justice Department Sues TikTok and Parent Company ByteDance for Widespread Violations of Children’s Privacy Laws HERE
POLITICS/AI/VOTING: How to stop Musk's disinfo on X? Try begging On Monday, five secretaries of state — who act as the chief election officers for Minnesota, Michigan, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Washington — pushed Elon Musk in an open letter to course-correct after Grok, X’s AI search assistant, produced false information for more than a week. Grok erroneously told users that the ballot deadlines for several states, including theirs, had already passed. HERE
SPACE: There are 2,000-plus dead rockets in orbit—here’s a rare view of one A Japanese company becomes the first to approach a piece of space junk in low-Earth orbit US Space Command said in December that the population of space debris in orbit has increased by 76 percent since 2019 to 44,600 objects. The uptick in space junk is primarily due to debris-generating events, such as anti-satellite tests or occasional explosions. The number of active satellites has also increased to more than 7,000, driven by launches of mega-constellations like SpaceX's Starlink Internet network. The European Space Agency breaks down the different types of space debris. As of June, ESA reported more than 2,000 intact rocket bodies were orbiting Earth, along with thousands more rocket-related debris fragments. Nearly half of these are in low-Earth orbit, flying at altitudes up to 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers), where most active satellites are located. Experts have ranked these spent rocket stages as the most dangerous type of space debris because they are large and sometimes retain propellants and electrical energy that can cause explosions well after their missions are complete. At orbital velocity, even a small fragment of debris can cause catastrophic damage to an active satellite. And these collisions beget more debris, escalating the overall problem. The good news is launch companies are now deorbiting more of their upper stages after deploying their payloads in space. So, the number of rocket stages left behind in orbit isn't rising as quickly as the global launch rate. But the danger from stuff already up there isn't going away soon. An H-IIA upper stage similar to the one visited by Astroscale's demo mission broke apart in 2019, creating more than 70 new debris fragments in low-Earth orbit. A predicted close flyby by one of the pieces from the H-IIA upper stage prompted the International Space Station to fire its engines to move out of its path in 2020. HERE
SURVEILLANCE: CovertAction Bulletin: The U.S. Government is Spying on Your Mail https://covertactionmagazine.com/2024/07/03/covertaction-bulletin-the-u-s-government-is-spying-on-your-mail/
TOWERS AND ANTENNAS SCOTLAND: Vandalism or the community’s future? Crofters feel ‘helpless’ in face of spaceport radar station An antenna park has divided the community living beside a world heritage site in the Scottish Highlands https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/04/vandalism-or-the-communitys-future-crofters-feel-helpless-in-face-of-spaceport-radar-station
EVENTS:
August 10th – August 19th, 2024 BrightU is delighted to host the 2024 EMF Hazards Summit with Nick Pineault HERE