July 18-19 Safe Tech International News and Notes
NATE AND MARTIN RE: AI & Oil, Military, and Banking; Dr Paul Heroux; Wind Turbine Fails,
I was with a group of friends recently, including a judge who is being trained to use AI and Chat GPT, and another who is on the front lines of climate policy in a New England state. I gently mentioned the energy demands for these technologies, and they had not heard anything about it. They were completely unaware.
Nate Hagen noted, “I have a pit in my stomach. I knew some of these things…….you and I scheduled this is because we believe that the environmental movement, the climate movement, is unaware of the magnitude of impact that AI will have on the issues we care about.” Daniel explains ubiquitous technological surveillance via wifi at 38 minutes, and later, the Jevons paradoxes.
I am concerned about the environmental movement’s choices, even without AI.
My prayer is for everyone talking AI benefits to listen to Nate and Daniel’s video below, and there is a written reference. Please help keep this conversation going “to scale growing awareness”
NEWS AND NOTES
AI: The ‘AI-in-everything’ era is here, and it’s giving us a lot of stuff we don’t need It’s not from a lack of trying. Generative AI is everywhere, from bank chatbots to fast food drive-thru screens, and a quarter of Americans have now used ChatGPT, according to the Pew Research Center. It’s less clear, though, whether people are actually finding the tech very useful. While one in four Americans have used ChatGPT ever, just one in five use it in the workforce. And Goldman Sachs, which 15 months ago forecast generative AI would boost global GDP and productivity enormously, is now winding back some of its bullishness on the tech. AI with everything doesn’t just affect the consumer experience; it’s likely having a meaningful effect on our climate. No one actually knows what impact it has—the companies involved won’t say—but third-party data suggests that it’s not good. One estimate pegged the environmental impact of training (not using) GPT-3 was around 500 tons of carbon dioxide (though that estimate is now quite out of date). In 2022, before the generative AI boom, Gartner forecast that AI tools would eventually use more energy than the entire human workforce. [] Mitchell, chief ethics scientist at Hugging Face, which makes open-source AI tools. “Outside of that bubble, the fact that—for example—crops are dying due to the most extreme heat waves on record is a tad more important. Ironically, stuffing AI into everything makes the global warming issue worse. But they have air-conditioning in that bubble.” Tech companies are playing with fire by putting such half-baked products out to the public, adds Flick, the Staffordshire ethicist. The ‘AI-in-everything’ era is here, and it’s giving us a lot of stuff we don’t need (msn.com)
LINKS TO: Gartner Unveils Top Predictions for IT Organizations and Users in 2023 and Beyond Analysts Explore How CIOs Can Seize Uncertainty at Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2022, October 17-20 in Orlando By 2025, without sustainable artificial intelligence (AI) practices, AI will consume more energy than the human workforce, significantly offsetting carbon zero gains. As AI becomes increasingly pervasive and requires more complex machine learning (ML) models, it consumes more data, compute resources and power. If current AI practices remain unchanged, the energy needed for ML training and associated data storage and processing may account for up to 3.5% of global electricity consumption by 2030. Gartner Unveils Top Predictions for IT Organizations and Users in 2023 and Beyond
AI: Sam Altman Desperate For Power For AI, Invests In Nuclear Mini-Reactors Sam Altman-backed nuclear company Oklo is “push[ing] towards its target of building its first small modular reactor by 2027 at the Idaho National Laboratory,” according to a new report from Reuters.
AI: NATE HAGENS The Great Simplification: The Wide Boundary Impacts of AI with Daniel Schmachtenberger | TGS 132 (Nate: “be warned the first 20 minutes are very intense) 1 3/4 hours video)
We encourage you to explore the resources and research from The Civilization Research Institute on artificial intelligence compiled in this document: 62 pages: AI, Climate and the Environment (squarespace.com)
AI; ChatGPT Isn’t ‘Hallucinating’—It’s Bullshitting! | Scientific American
AI: AI supercharges data center energy use – straining the grid and slowing sustainability efforts Published: July 11, 2024 8:26am EDT The artificial intelligence boom has had such a profound effect on big tech companies that their energy consumption, and with it their carbon emissions, have surged. The spectacular success of large language models such as ChatGPT has helped fuel this growth in energy demand. At 2.9 watt-hours per ChatGPT request, AI queries require about 10 times the electricity of traditional Google queries, according to the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit research firm. Emerging AI capabilities such as audio and video generation are likely to add to this energy demand. The energy needs of AI are shifting the calculus of energy companies. They’re now exploring previously untenable options, such as restarting a nuclear reactor at the Three Mile Island power plant, site of the infamous disaster in 1979, that has been dormant since 2019. Data centers have had continuous growth for decades, but the magnitude of growth in the still-young era of large language models has been exceptional. AI requires a lot more computational and data storage resources than the pre-AI rate of data center growth could provide. AI supercharges data center energy use – straining the grid and slowing sustainability efforts (theconversation.com)
AI: The Gold in AI Mass Surveillance Goes to … A legal scholar on the security boon and privacy nightmare of this summer's Paris Olympics. France is legally permitting and supporting these companies to test and train AI software on its citizens and visitors. Preparing for the Olympics, France in 2023 enacted Law No. 2023-380, a package of laws to provide a legal framework for the 2024 Olympics. It includes the controversial Article 7, a provision that allows French law enforcement and its tech contractors to experiment with intelligent video surveillance before, during and after the 2024 Olympics, and Article 10, which specifically permits the use of AI software to review video and camera feeds. These laws make France the first EU country to legalize such a wide-reaching AI-powered surveillance system. The Gold in AI Mass Surveillance Goes to … - Truthdig
AI: 1000s Of Marylanders Furious About Eminent Domain Risk For New Transmission Line Powering AI Data Centers Thousands of Marylanders are discovering firsthand the dark side of ‘The Next AI Trade,’ in which power grids must be upgraded and expanded to handle increased load demand from AI data centers and other electrification trends. This expansion involves eminent domain and the destruction of farmland and forests. 1000s Of Marylanders Furious About Eminent Domain Risk For New Transmission Line Powering AI Data Centers | ZeroHedge
AI: Bye-bye bitcoin, hello AI: Texas miners leave crypto for next new wave Lancium and Crusoe join a long list of miners looking to trade bitcoin for artificial intelligence, and so far, the strategy appears to be working. The combined market capitalization of the 14 major U.S.-listed bitcoin miners tracked by JPMorgan hit a record high of $22.8 billion on June 15 — adding $4.4 billion in just two weeks, according to a June 17 research note from the bank. Bit Digital, a bitcoin miner that now derives an estimated 27% of its revenue from AI, said in June that it had entered into an agreement with a customer to supply Nvidia GPUs over three years at a data center in Iceland, in a deal that is expected to generate $92 million in annual revenue. It’s paying for the general processing units, in part, by liquidating some of its crypto holdings. For years, Crusoe’s work has been virtually synonymous with the bitcoin mining industry. [] Crusoe’s technology helps oil companies to turn wasted energy, or flare gas, into a useful resource. Many bitcoin miners, with the help of Crusoe, have set up machines adjacent to these sites in order to capitalize on this cheaper power source. Starting in 2021, for example, Exxon Mobil began working with Crusoe to mine bitcoin in North Dakota. But Crusoe’s Lochmiller told CNBC that AI infrastructure has actually been part of the vision since the company’s founding six years ago. [] One of bitcoin’s greatest features is that it is totally location agnostic. Miners only require a power source and an internet connection, unlike other industries that must be relatively close to their end users. In some cases, the built-in proceeds from minting cryptocurrency have offered enough of a financial incentive to make it worth it to build the infrastructure necessary to harness previously untapped sources of power — especially in Texas, which is known for being a mecca for renewable energy sources like wind and solar. Bitcoin miners are also flexible electricity consumers — essentially, they function as buyers who will take as much power as they’re given, whatever the time of day, and are just as willing to power down with a few seconds’ notice. [] In the next one to two years, Needham analysts estimate that large publicly traded bitcoin miners are expected to more than double power capacity, including both their mining and HPC business expansion plans. The Electric Power Research Institute estimates that data centers could take up to 9% of the country’s total electricity consumption by 2030, up from around 4% in 2023. Tapping into nuclear energy is seen by many as the answer to meeting that demand. TeraWulf powers its mining sites with nuclear energy, and is looking to get into machine learning. So far, the firm has 2 megawatts dedicated to high-performance computing capacity, though it has plans to transition its energy infrastructure toward AI and HPC. Bye-bye bitcoin, hello AI: Texas miners leave crypto for next new wave (cnbc.com)
AI Here lies the internet, murdered by generative AI (theintrinsicperspective.com) Corruption everywhere, even in YouTube's kids content The amount of AI-generated content is beginning to overwhelm the internet. Or maybe a better term is pollute. Pollute its searches, its pages, its feeds, everywhere you look. I’ve been predicting that generative AI would have pernicious effects on our culture since 2019, but now everyone can feel it. Back then I called it the coming “semantic apocalypse.” Well, the semantic apocalypse is here, and you’re being affected by it, even if you don’t know it. Now that generative AI has dropped the cost of producing bullshit to near zero, we see clearly the future of the internet: a garbage dump. Google search? They often lead with fake AI-generated images amid the real things. Post on Twitter? Get replies from bots selling porn. But that’s just the obvious stuff. Look closely at the replies to any trending tweet and you’ll find dozens of AI-written summaries in response, cheery Wikipedia-style repeats of the original post, all just to farm engagement. AI models on Instagram accumulate hundreds of thousands of subscribers and people openly shill their services for creating them. AI musicians fill up YouTube and Spotify. Scientific papers are being AI-generated. AI images mix into historical research. This isn’t mentioning the personal impact too: from now on, every single woman who is a public figure will have to deal with the fact that deepfake porn of her is likely to be made. That’s insane. [] We are currently fouling our own nests. Since the internet economy runs on eyeballs and clicks the new ability of anyone, anywhere, to easily generate infinite low-quality content via AI is now remorselessly generating tragedy. The solution, as Hardin noted, isn’t technical. You can’t detect AI outputs reliably anyway (another initial promise that OpenAI abandoned). The companies won’t self regulate, given their massive financial incentives. We need the equivalent of a Clean Air Act: a Clean Internet Act. We can’t just sit by and let human culture end up buried. Here lies the internet, murdered by generative AI (theintrinsicperspective.com)
BITCOIN: Worst Kind of Mining for the Environment? It Might Be Bitcoin. It turns out that these days, one type of mining might be the worst for Earth's environment: bitcoins. Yes, the "mining" of virtual currency makes its mark on the our planet. The unequal distribution of Bitcoin mining across the globe means that some countries are making a much large dent into the planet's climate and environment than others ... all for a "resource" that is far from necessary for our society. Bitcoin mining using a lot of computing power to solve the crypographic puzzles that lie at the heart of the industry. As of today (October 30, 2023), each Bitcoin is worth over $34,000 and with the multitude of other cryptocoins out there, using computers to unlock more can be a profitable endeavor. Almost half a trillion dollars of the global economy runs on these "virtual currencies". [] A new study by Sanaz Chamanara and others in Earth's Future, a journal from the American Geophysical Union, lays out some of the startling numbers that come from Bitcoin mining. Here are some of the most eye-popping:
In 2020-21, Bitcoin mining consumed more electrical power than the country of Pakistan (population: 230 million).
The sources of this electrical power released over 85 megatons of carbon dioxide. That's the same as 190 natural gas power plants or ~5 Yellowstone calderas. This is based on the actual carbon dioxide emitted by the different styles of generation, so this isn't a maximum value.
If your power comes from hydropower, the loss of water from evaporation and other means led to Bitcoin mining consuming 1.65 cubic kilometers of fresh water. That's more than the domestic water use of over 330 million people in the rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa.
If your power comes from biofuels, it takes almost 1,900 square kilometers of land to produce the source crops. That's the bigger than the state of Rhode Island.
The biggest culprit for energy use for Bitcoin mining are not shocking: China and the United States. However, some of the other top ten power users are more of a surprise to many people: Kazakhstan, Russia, Malaysia, Iran, Ireland, Singapore. This means that 45% of all the power used to mine Bitcoins comes from the worst carbon dioxide emitted for energy generation, coal. HERE
CELLPHONES: EMR, Cell Phones, and Cancer with Dr Paul Heroux RFK Jr Podcast Jul 15, 2024 EMR, Cell Phones, and Cancer with Dr Paul Heroux by RFK Jr Podcast (spotify.com) 56 MINUTES PODCAST
CHILDREN: Modern Luddites: On Being a Digital Minimalist Family in a Tech-Saturated World Since the publication of The Anxious Generation, we have been seeking out stories from parents who have avoided giving their children phone-based childhoods. How did they do it? How did they find the strength, especially those who did not have any like-minded families nearby? A few months ago we started following a superb Substack, The Analog Family, written by Canadian author and journalist Katherine Martinko. Katherine is the author of Childhood Unplugged: Practical Advice to Get Kids Off Screens and Find Balance (2023), with a foreword written by Lenore Skenazy. She also spent over a decade as a journalist at Treehugger. Katherine has been raising her three children (ages 9, 12, and 14) without smartphones, social media, or even television. She believes it is her responsibility to provide her children with memories of an independent, play-based childhood full of adventures and in-person social interactions.[]KATHERINE: I call myself a “digital minimalist” parent, inspired by Cal Newport’s term. I fall into a small yet growing category of parents committed to reducing the amount of time kids spend on devices. I do it because I have concerns about screen time getting in the way of real life. []Plus, it’s a basic math problem. There are limited hours in a day, and every hour spent scrolling on social media or watching YouTube videos takes time away from what I see as more valuable activities, even if it is just sitting alone with one’s thoughts. [] I’m not anti-tech. My entire career as a writer and editor has been enabled by the Internet, and I wouldn’t want to go back to a time without it. But great tools don’t automatically make great toys, and I want my kids to learn the difference. [] If you want to embrace digital minimalism, it doesn’t matter where you live. This philosophy transcends geographical boundaries. [] Looking ahead, I believe children will thrive if we teach them the life skills that set them apart from machines. I do not buy the argument that kids need to be exposed to tech from a young age in order to be professionally successful. https://substack.com/home/post/p-146725196 KATHERINE’S SUBSTACK: The Analog Family | Katherine Johnson Martinko | Substack
CHILDREN EDUCATION 2 REOURCES FROM THE INTERNATIONAL WALDORF COMMUNITY: Fine Motor Skills and Subtle Thinking - Findings from kindergarten and primary school Sebastian Suggate. Both the progressive educator Maria Montessori and the German philosopher Martin Heidegger saw the hand as an instrument of intelligence. This thought, that movement is essential to the thinking also plays an important role in the education of Rudolf Steiner. Recently numerous empirical findings have also supported this fascinating idea. [] Cognitive control processes are thus closely connected with motor development from the beginning. It is therefore perhaps no great surprise that research findings both in empirical and experimental psychology as well as in brain research attribute a significant role to finger and hand dexterity (i.e. fine motor skills) and activity in thinking. Children who spent a lot of time at home making things (painting, drawing, gluing) possessed measurably better fine motor skills. [] HERE 5 PAGES AND
IASWECE Newsletter May 2024 The Challenges of Using Technology for Human Development, L.H. Tannuri Lameirão In the face of the immense universe of information, there is a fine and subtle line between the human and the non-human; there is a situation that leads to human passivity in the face of this flood of information, which can lead to paralysis, preventing integration between the human being and the world. The media act in the opposite direction to stimulate the individual to achieve his or her own orientation. Communication has become a one-sided process, in which the amount of information input is much greater than the opposite. The multiple media are indispensable resources in today's society but require reflection on the consequences of their use in the education of children and young people. []When these four areas of human identity - memory, imagination, expressiveness and creativity - are manipulated by external elements, such as overwhelming natural phenomena - earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, fires - we are faced with the absence of the true human task, which is the ideal of Waldorf education, freedom. When the invasion of digital media prevents the strengthening of memory, the human soul faces an earthquake, because it lacks the possibility to consider what was relevant in the past. [] . A child who in his development has been prevented from creating real receptacles for his individual memory, who has not had opportunities to exercise, to practice, to muscle his imagination, and who has not been able to acquire forms of expression, will have innumerable challenges, impediments, real obstacles to becoming creative in life. I understand creativity here not only as that which is present in the great artists when they express the issues of their time, but creativity in the art of living; in the art of being the true author of one's own life, with autonomy to discover and create one's own paths. When the above three conditions are hindered, it becomes very difficult for the individual to be the author of his own life. HERE 5 PAGES
CHILDREN PARENTS: Phones Make Us Worse Parents Ever heard of "technoference"? Kids’ behaviour deteriorates when parents use phones. Researchers have found that young children are more inclined to act silly, raise their voices, and show more impulsive behaviours “when their caregivers’ attention was attuned to a mobile device during fast food meals.” They’re making bids for attention, and not getting it, which causes them to scale up their efforts. Another study of family phone use habits found that “children are often frustrated by the sudden withdrawal of parental attention when responding to a notification on a mobile device, especially if the reason for device use is unclear.” Phones Make Us Worse Parents (substack.com)
ECONOMICS POLITICO: How software is eating the world Now in a new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research, economists Sangmin Aum and Yongseok Shin take a deep look at the real economic impact of software and make an equally provocative point: that how software eats the world is what really matters. They argue that software works differently from other big economic disruptors. In this case, it really does replace humans — or, in economic terms, it directly allocates income away from workers to the corporations buying software en masse. “Technological advances are on the surface a good thing,” Shin said. “But at this level they have a very disruptive effect and very big distributional consequences … some people are fortunate enough to take advantage of it, and others see their career opportunities dwindle.” The researchers wanted to solve a puzzle: why workers’ share of total income in the economy has been steadily declining since the 1980s. While the economy has grown to once-unthinkable proportions since then, workers’ earning power has not. That gap has had profound political consequences, inspiring critiques from Bernie Sanders on the left to JD Vance on the right. Shin and Aum’s paper argues that software is directly responsible. Their findings are stark, especially for white-collar workers: In economic terms, old-school machines actually improved productivity for workers. Software, however, flat-out replaces them. [] AI will only accelerate this phenomenon, he says. While the paper’s data predates the current boom in generative AI, the authors point to another recent NBER paper that shows that it serves a similar function as a “substitute” for labor in the economy. “It will be very high-skilled workers, a much smaller segment of workers who can really take full advantage of generative AI,” Shin said. HERE
ED TECH LEARNING; Smartphone reminders found to have negative impact on learning times []special learning planning apps can certainly help to organize everyday life and learning. According to DIPF researcher Nobbe, it makes a difference whether it is a simple reminder, such as a push message, or whether the students develop individual learning plans or self-commitments for themselves in a suitable app and reinforce them with reminders. "Overall, learning should be a habit and not be determined by reminders," says the psychologist. "The aim should be for students to develop the ability to find and apply learning strategies that suit them. Reminders can play a role in this, but should actually become superfluous over time because the learning process takes on a life of its own." More information: Lea Nobbe et al, Smartphone-based study reminders can be a double-edged sword, npj Science of Learning (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41539-024-00253-7 Provided by Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsforschung und Bildungsinformation Smartphone reminders found to have negative impact on learning times (phys.org)
ENERGY MA: My Turn: We’re directly in path of green energy ‘steamroller’ As the Healey administration and state Legislature are going full speed ahead for carbon-free “green energy,” the details for how to get this done are emerging. The Senate bill S. 2838, voted on a couple of weeks ago, assigns the details of energy generation siting to the Department of Energy Resources for “small” projects under 24 megawatts. Given that almost all solar and onshore wind projects are “small,” if some version of this bill passes, pretty much any solar or land-based wind project would have to be given the state-determined rubber stamp by the towns. Larger projects would get permitted directly by the state. Why is this even happening? Because our local town boards, following the guidance of citizen-supported bylaws, try to protect our towns from inappropriate proposed energy projects. We don’t think chopping down forests in the name of protecting the planet makes sense, like in Shutesbury. We don’t think our rural and forested areas should host huge storage batteries in towns with no water supplies to put out battery fires if they start burning, like in Wendell. Why have such huge batteries to begin with, that don’t generate energy? And we think we need more local food production, rather than rent-a-sheep schemes on our prime farmland, to “qualify” for your ratepayer subsidies, while wrecking the most fertile agricultural soil along the Connecticut River for solar panels, like in Northfield. [] Our resources should not be exploited for an ever-increasing demand for consumption. Leave control of energy siting that we now have with us. Greenfield Recorder - My Turn: We’re directly in path of green energy ‘steamroller’
(See also: Nantucket Closes Beaches After Wind Turbine Breaks []A wind turbine blade has broken off the coast of Nantucket. The cause isn’t clear, but the effect is: Debris has been washing up on the shores of the island, and federal authorities say operations at the Vineyard Wind project “are shut down until further notice,” the Nantucket Current reports. Beaches on the island’s south shore were closed to swimmers Tuesday morning after residents reported seeing fiberglass and pieces of green and white foam. “You can walk on the beaches; however, we strongly recommend you wear footwear due to sharp, fiberglass shards and debris,” said Harbormaster Sheila Lucey. [] The rep said the turbine “was in its commissioning phase and was still undergoing testing.” The company described the debris as “non-toxic fiberglass fragments.” It said they are “not hazardous to people or the environment,” but people should let its recovery team handle the fragments instead of picking them up themselves. The company said GE, the blade maker and installation contractor, is investigating the cause of the incident. When completed, the project will have 62 turbines, each of them 853 feet high. So far, 19 have been completed and 10 are operational. Nantucket Closes Beaches After Wind Turbine Breaks - Activist Post AND Martha’s Vineyard Vacationers Hit With Blow From Clean Energy Blade The success of the largest offshore wind farm in the country was blowing other clean energy companies out the water just a few weeks ago—but now its crumbling infrastructure is ruining tourism at Martha’s Vineyard. Over the weekend, one of Vineyard Wind’s 107-meter blades suffered damage that sent bits of white and green fiberglass flying into the ocean. The wind farm’s sudden shut down could be a devastating blow to the fledgling clean energy industry, which is facing criticisms from fossil fuel supporters like Donald Trump and financial headwinds in America’s stormy economy. The original cause of the blade’s damage is unknown, and the destruction is limited to a single turbine on the southernmost edge of the wind farms’ 167,000 acres. The turbine is located as far from the vineyard as possible while remaining on the massive offshore lease, but authorities closed the south beaches of the vacation spot to swimmers anyway. Martha’s Vineyard Vacationers Hit With Blow From Clean Energy Blade (thedailybeast.com) AND
Two years ago, a 160 ft blade fell off of the 400-foot land-based wind turbine in Gloucester MA HERE
5G: Nokia sees double-digit fall in Q2 profit, sales in weak 5G market but sees improved 2nd half Wireless and fixed-network equipment maker Nokia has reported a double-digit fall in profit and sales in the second quarter due to a continuing weak market as clients are holding off investments in 5G technology [] Similarly to its Nordic rival Ericsson of Sweden, Nokia has suffered in the past year from operators cutting back on investments into 5G and other telecom technology because of economic uncertainty and high financing costs. Nokia sees double-digit fall in Q2 profit, sales in weak 5G market but sees improved 2nd half - ABC News (go.com)
HACKING: UnitedHealth Projects Cyberattack to Cost $2.45 Billion in 2024A hacking incident earlier this year had targeted the company’s Change Healthcare unit that handles 15 billion health care transactions annually. https://www.theepochtimes.com/business/unitedhealth-projects-cyberattack-to-cost-2-45-billion-in-2024-post-5689123
HEALTH: Brain Tumor Rates Are Rising in the US: The Role of Cell Phone & Cordless Phone Use Head and neck tumors associated with cell phone use have increased in the U.S. since 2000 Electromagnetic Radiation Safety: Brain Tumor Rates Are Rising in the US: The Role of Cell Phone & Cordless Phone Use (saferemr.com)
INSPIRATION Semantic mountains, mind communion, and building your book monastery A Guide to Booklegging: How (and why) to collect, preserve, and read the printed word [] When we read AI-produced content, we are not communing with a person, not even a machine. There is no communion at all. [] Add to this the poisoning of the internet groundwater by what Erik Hoel termed “AI pollution” and the time begins to appear ripe to take the collection and preservation of physical books seriously. One of the vital powers of good books is that they can dislodge us from our own perspectives, and situate us within the perspectives of others. We may enter the mind of an author who inhabits a world very different from our own. A Guide to Booklegging: How (and why) to collect, preserve, and read the printed word (substack.com)
LANDLINES: Home Landline Phones Are Still Around, Here's Why You Might Need One [] For many customers, the outage was also a reminder of the perils of relying only on mobile phones, and it may have made some people rethink the place of a home device that used to be standard issue but is now nearly obsolete: the landline telephone. A 2022 survey by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that only about 29% of US adults lived in a house with a landline phone, down from more than 90% in 2004. The crossover happened around 2015, which was also when smartphone sales entered a boom period that reshaped the tech industry and helped turn iPhone maker Apple into one of the world's most highly valued companies. What makes landlines more reliable? Landline phones operate on a separate infrastructure, built from copper phone lines that are inexpensive to build and rather reliable. They also don't have the drawbacks of cellular networks, like dropped calls, poor and distorted quality or weak reception. A key reason people keep landlines around is that they tend to work even during power outages, which is a big plus for folks whose work involves emergency services, business or health care. Analog fax machines are also built around landline phone systems, which means most hospitals and doctor's offices, as well as policy and law offices, need to keep a landline connection running. The US Federal Communications Commission is phasing out requirements for phone companies to provide landline services (called Plain Old Telephone Service, or POTS) across the country. As a result, more homes and business offices are being built with ethernet jacks rather than phone jacks. Landline phone connections aren't cheap, either. Home Landline Phones Are Still Around, Here's Why You Might Need One (msn.com)
NATURE: How to solve a mass stranding: what caused 77 healthy whales to die on a Scottish beach? A team of scientists are trying to find the cause of what is becoming an increasingly common event – and the answer may be hidden deep in the whales’ skulls Amass stranding last week that led to the deaths of 77 pilot whales on the Orkney island of Sanday was the largest ever recorded of the species on British shores. Initially, 12 of the animals at Tresness beach were still alive – but sadly did not survive. The event occurred almost exactly a year after the stranding of 55 pilot whales on Tolsta beach on the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides on 16 July 2023. All but one of those whales died. According to Dr Andrew Brownlow, director of the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) at Glasgow University, this may not be a coincidence. Brownlow’s research proposes a drastic scenario: that mass strandings are increasing exponentially – in the numbers of animals and events. There have been about 13 mass strandings of pilot whales since SMASS was started in 1992, 10 of which have been in the last decade. Evidence indicates that the situation is only going to get worse. [] Blame in the past has been placed on severe weather conditions, illness and solar storms disrupting the whales’ natural navigation system and deceiving them into swimming on to the shore. But are these the reasons for the most recent stranding and rise in events over the years? If these waters are noisy, then that’s a hazard for animals that have a herd mentality, that are easily spooked Dr Andrew Brownlow Crucially, Doeschate notes that their position on the beach was “clustered round key animals in the group”. This strongly suggests they had been frightened into coming ashore as a “stress response”. [] They might have been fleeing predators – orcas had been seen in the area, she says. But the scale of the Orkney stranding may prove long-held suspicions: that extremely loud sounds, caused by people, were responsible. The evidence for such damage is found in tiny hair cells embedded within the organ of Corti, which converts sounds into electrical signals that can be transmitted to the brain through the auditory nerve. This is the holy grail of whale biologists, embedded in the animals’ walnut-sized earbones, or cochleas, which are themselves buried deep within the whale’s skull. [] Since the 1980s, researchers have cited the damaging effect of noise pollution on whales and dolphins, from seismic surveys for oil and gas to military sonar. But Brownlow counsels caution, suggesting that natural earthquakes may also have the same effect. Whatever the reasons for the Orkney event, its consequences are serious, not only for cetaceans, but for the health of our seas. A measured and careful scientist, Brownlow nonetheless delivers a stark warning: “We’ve got to be really careful about what else we are doing in those waters. “Otherwise,” he says, “this is going to become a horrifically common occurrence.” How to solve a mass stranding: what caused 77 healthy whales to die on a Scottish beach? | Whales | The Guardian links to: Seismic surveys reduce cetacean sightings across a large marine ecosystem
POLITICS BLOOD IN THE MACHINE BRAIN MERCHANT a newsletter about big tech, AI, labor, and power: Every startup in JD Vance's VC fund, ranked from least to most hillbilly elegiac What can we learn about Donald Trump's VP pick from his VC fund's investment portfolio? I think no company in Narya’s investment portfolio better exemplifies Vance’s mix of faux populism, performative religiosity, and VC-minded tech adventuring than an app that offers users the opportunity to pray virtually with D-list celebrities for $69.99 a year (or $9.99 a month). HERE
AND: Silicon Valley’s Man in Washington The selection of J.D. Vance consummates the tech world’s Trump-era embrace of far-right politics. Today, tech billionaires are pulling levers behind the scenes, and increasingly publicly, to get their agenda on the Republican ticket. J.D. Vance: Silicon Valley’s Man in Washington (truthdig.com)
SMART METERS NEW YORK: NYSUMA Battle for Analog Meter Choice Continues [] According to the New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government, lobbying expenditures reached an unprecedented $360.6 million in 2023. We can only imagine what the totals for 2024 will look like. Industry influence is out of control and it is negatively affecting all aspects of our lives, especially when it comes to getting bills passed that will benefit utility consumers and the environment. Although the analog meter choice bills did not pass this time, we will continue our efforts now and in the next legislative session to secure our right for utility meter choice in NY State. LINK
SPACE: NASA cancels its moon rover mission, citing cost overruns and launch delays NASA said Wednesday it's canceling its water-seeking moon rover, citing cost overruns and launch delays. The Viper rover was supposed to launch in late 2023 aboard a lander provided by Astrobotic Technology, but extra testing and increased costs kept delaying the mission, threatening other projects, the space agency said. NASA cancels its moon rover mission, citing cost overruns and launch delays (msn.com)
TOWERS AND ANTENNAS: Telecom firm is facing scrutiny in San Mateo Numerous requests to fix facilities have fallen on deaf ears, city and residents sayBy Alyse DiNapoli, Daily Journal staff “Between a stop-work order issued by the city and mounting pressure from residents over potential health hazards, telecommunications firm Crown Castle is in hot water with San Mateo over almost 20 unauthorized facilities it has in operation. A local volunteer-led group, No Cell Outs, has made continuous pleas to the city to intervene in the ramped-up presence of small cells - or antennas added to telecommunications equipment to support 5G technology. - claiming they pose health risks due to radiation from higher radio frequencies and want to see more regulation around where and how such structures can operate. "Over a dozen unapproved antennas have been operational, many since February. It took concerned residents experiencing symptoms to discover this, placing the public at great risk with little industry accountability," San Mateo resident Lindsay Raike said during public comment at a council meeting July 15. "The city is repeatedly letting Crown Castle get away with violations, showing leniency that would never be extended to a resident building without a valid permit." Public Works Director Matt Fabry confirmed that Crown Castle has 19 sites in operation that did not get final approval from the city and, despite numerous requests, the firm has not made the necessary changes to its facilities to obtain compliance. The city had also issued a stop-work order based on previous work performed by Crown Castle, which caused utility damage. [] Some public commenters also directed their frustration toward Councilmember Amourence Lee, claiming she has inappropriately solicited donations from Crown Castle for the nonprofit CORA, an organization she has worked for as a paid consultant. Several claimed the relationship should preclude her from being involved in discussions surrounding a new wireless ordinance currently in the works. https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/telecom-firm-is-facing-scrutiny-in-san-mateo/article_722b192c-44b0-11ef-9e30-d3d137f60122.html
WARFARE: Sorry: America Can't Afford $300,000,000 For Each NGAD Fighter Plane -The NGAD, envisioned as a "system of systems" with a sixth-generation manned fighter and advanced UAVs, promises enhanced situational awareness and AI integration. Critics argue the program's financial burden is unsustainable, urging investment in drones and AI instead. In essence, the Air Force is holding the U.S. Congress hostage. Once the Air Force commits vast sums of money to initiate the construction of these birds, the service assumes, it can force Congress to fully fund the NGAD program. They will sign a contract without having any money in the bank, assuming that Congress will just roll over and do whatever the Pentagon wants. This is no way to run a government with a debt crisis looming, and with rival states waging comprehensive economic warfare on the United States globally. Whatever promise the NGAD holds, it will be insufficient next to the risks to America’s economic well-being. Plus, the U.S. already has the world’s most advanced warplane, the F-22, and it also has the F-35. There is no need to replace these systems with even costlier, harder to build, more difficult to maintain, sixth-generation warplanes. The Air Force should build the next-generation drones. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sorry-america-can-t-afford-300-000-000-for-each-ngad-fighter-plane/ar-BB1q9JWT
WARFARE IEEE: SEA DRONES IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR INSPIRE NEW TACTICS Navy planners see a defensive role for drones in a China-Taiwan war How Maguras and Sea Babies Hunt and Attack The first Ukrainian drone boats were cobbled together with parts from jet skis, motorboats, and off-the-shelf electronics. But within months, manufacturers working for the Ukraine defense ministry and SBU fielded several designs that proved their worth in combat, most notably the Magura V5 and the Sea Baby. Carrying a 300-kilogram warhead, on par with that of a heavyweight torpedo, the Magura V5 is a hunter-killer antiship drone designed to work in swarms that confuse and overwhelm a ship’s defenses. Equipped with Starlink terminals, which connect to SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, and GPS, a group of about three to five Maguras likely moves autonomously to a location near the potential target. From there, operators can wait until conditions are right and then attack the target from multiple angles using remote control and video feeds from the vehicles. Larger than a Magura, the Sea Baby is a multipurpose vehicle that can carry about 800 kg of explosives, which is close to twice the payload of a Tomahawk cruise missile. A Sea Baby was used in 2023 to inflict substantial damage to the Kerch Strait Bridge. A more recent version carries a rocket launcher that Ukraine troops plan to use against Russian forces along the Dnipro River, which flows through eastern Ukraine and has often formed the frontline in that part of the country. Like a Magura, a Sea Baby is likely remotely controlled using Starlink and GPS. In addition to attack, it’s also equipped for surveillance and logistics.[] In contrast with Ukraine’s small sea drones, which are usually remotely controlled and operate outside shipping lanes, the U.S. Navy’s much larger uncrewed vessels have to follow the nautical rules of the road. To navigate autonomously, these big ships rely on robust onboard sensors, processing for computer vision and target-motion analysis, and automation based on predictable forms of artificial intelligence, such as expert- or agent-based algorithms rather than deep learning. But thanks to the success of the Ukrainian drones, the focus and energy in sea drones are rapidly moving to the smaller end of the scale. The U.S. Navy initially envisioned platforms like Sea Hunter conducting missions in submarine tracking, electronic deception, or clandestine surveillance far out at sea. And large drones will still be needed for such missions. However, with the right tactics and support, a group of small sea drones can conduct similar missions as well as other vital tasks. https://spectrum.ieee.org/sea-drone
WATER: Why Slashing Water Infrastructure Funding Is A Bad Idea Clean Water Is A Public Safety Issue! Why Slashing Water Infrastructure Funding Is A Bad Idea (thebrockovichreport.com)
Re: Colonizing space: “We have to get it right here first.” - Daniel Schmachtenberger