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Nov 24, 2023

Tesla Megapack battery farm in Queensland connected to the grid: report

Posted by in categories: energy, food, sustainability

The 100MW/200MWh Chinchilla battery in Queensland, Australia, has been registered and connected to the grid. Expectations are high that the massive battery farm’s commissioning will begin soon.

The Chinchilla battery features 80 Tesla Megapack batteries. It is also the first battery farm that will be built by state-owned generator CS Energy, as noted in a Renew Economy report. The facility was committed as part of the state’s response to an explosion at the Callide coal-fired generator — an incident that helped convince the state to accelerate its adoption of sustainable solutions.

The 80 Tesla Megapack batteries are situated next to the Kogan Creek coal-fired generator, which also happens to be owned by CS Energy. The 750MW Kogan Creek coal-fired generator is among the largest coal-fired facilities in Australia. As per local reports, CS Energy is looking to develop a clean energy hub around Kogan Creek, so the Tesla Megapack farm could be considered part of the state-owned generator’s initiatives in the area.

Nov 24, 2023

Sam Altman says successful people ‘believe in themselves almost to the point of delusion’—that’s frightening, says expert

Posted by in category: futurism

Ex-OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote in 2019 that “almost too much self-belief” was a key to success. That presents problems, says a UC Berkeley leadership expert.

Nov 24, 2023

Heatherwick Studio unveils undulating mixed-use district in Tokyo

Posted by in categories: education, space travel

Aiming to create a city district that provides access to nature and a diversity of spaces, Heatherwick Studio designed Azabudai Hills to contain residential buildings, retail and restaurant spaces, a school, two temples, art galleries, offices and 24,000 square metres of public green space.

The 81,000-square-metre-development was informed by timber pergola structures with a gridded roof structure that extends like hilltops to create curving forms extending to ground level.

Heatherwick Studio added trees, flowers and meandering routes between the building and on the sloping roofs, aiming to create spaces that invite exploration and encourage social gatherings.

Nov 24, 2023

Jones Studio designs education centre to highlight “preciousness” of water

Posted by in category: education

Architecture firm Jones Studio has designed an educational centre in Arizona with the aim of raising awareness about water resources and infrastructure in the region.

The Water Education Center will form part of a Central Arizona Project (CAP) facility north of Phoenix and highlight the “contested topic of water in the west”, according to Jones Studio principal Brian Farling.

Prospective designs show a sloping weathering-steel canopy supported by stone-clad buildings on each side of the 336-mile-long (541 kilometers) canal that brings water from the Colorado River to central Arizona.

Nov 24, 2023

‘The era of “do nothing, the boss can’t fire me“ is over’ says Ivy League professor Jeremy Siegel, as workers face down fear of layoffs

Posted by in categories: economics, finance

A stuttering economy, rampant inflation and a handful of mass layoffs later, it seems the tables may be turning.

According to Professor Jeremy Siegel, emeritus professor of finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, staff looking over their shoulders at laid off peers may have actually proved useful to the economy.

Nov 24, 2023

Vietnam’s Richest Person Bets Over $10 Billion To Break Into The Global EV Market

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

Vietnamese billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong wants to make VinFast Auto into a viable global electric vehicle brand. But its journey so far has been bumpy.

Nov 24, 2023

Arm Cortex-M52 chip brings AI acceleration to low-power IoT devices

Posted by in categories: business, information science, internet, robotics/AI

Why it matters: While AI algorithms are seemingly everywhere, processing on the most popular platforms require powerful server GPUs to provide customers with their generative services. Arm is introducing a new dedicated chip design, set to provide AI acceleration even in the most affordable IoT devices starting next year.

The Arm Cortex-M52 is the smallest and most cost-efficient processor designed for AI acceleration applications, according to the company. This latest design from the UK-based fabless firm promises to deliver “enhanced” AI capabilities to Internet of Things (IoT) devices, as Arm states, without the need for a separate computing unit.

Paul Williamson, Arm’s SVP and general manager for the company’s IoT business, emphasized the need to bring machine learning optimized processing to “even the smallest and lowest-power” endpoint devices to fully realize the potential of AI in IoT. Despite AI’s ubiquity, Williamson noted, harnessing the “intelligence” from the vast amounts of data flowing through digital devices requires IoT appliances that are smarter and more capable.

Nov 24, 2023

YouTube Threatens to Become Even More Horrendous If You Have an Ad Blocker

Posted by in category: business

YouTube has had it with you blocking the ads on its platform — and it’s willing to make the experience as miserable as possible until you give up.

As Business Insider reports, the company is encouraging viewers to turn off their ad blockers in their browsers or subscribe to YouTube Premium, which costs a whopping $13.99 a month, by degrading the experience of using the site.

“Ads are a vital lifeline for our creators that helps them run and grow their businesses,” a spokesperson told Insider. “That’s why the use of ad blockers violates YouTube’s Terms of Service.”

Nov 24, 2023

Elon Musk Says There’s a “Large Graveyard Filled With My Enemies”

Posted by in category: Elon Musk

X CEO Elon Musk posted on the social media platform on Tuesday, “There is a large graveyard filled with my enemies.”

Nov 24, 2023

Vernor Vinge’s Early Science Fiction, 1965–1983; A Quest for Superhuman Intelligence & Singularities

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, singularity

Vernor Vinge is one of the foremost thinkers about the future of artificial intelligence and the potential for a technological singularity to occur in the coming decades. He’s a science fiction writer who’s had a profound impact on a wide range of authors including: William Gibson, Charles Stross, Neal Stephenson and Dan Simmons.

Many of Vinge’s works are brilliant. Among them are some of my all-time favorites in the SF genre. And he’s been recognized with numerous awards, including seven Hugo nominations and five wins, despite writing only eight novels and 24 short stories and novellas over a span of five decades.

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