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Innovation For A Sustainable Global Energy Transformation — Dr. Roland Roesch, Ph.D. — Director, Innovation and Technology Centre, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)


Dr. Roland Roesch, Ph.D. is Director, Innovation and Technology Centre (IITC), of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA — https://www.irena.org/) where he oversees the Agency’s work on advising member countries in the area of technology status and roadmaps, energy planning, cost and markets and innovation policy frameworks.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is a leading global intergovernmental agency for energy transformation that serves as the principal platform for international cooperation, supports countries in their energy transitions, and provides state of the art data and analyses on technology, innovation, policy, finance and investment. IRENA drives the widespread adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy, including bioenergy, geothermal, hydropower, ocean, solar and wind energy in the pursuit of sustainable development, energy access, and energy security, for economic and social resilience and prosperity and a climate-proof future.

Here’s a nice article discussing the progress of the brain-computer interface industry, some existing startups in the space, and where the industry may go in the future.


Fifty years after the term brain–computer interface was coined, the neurotechnology is being pursued by an array of start-up companies using a variety of different technologies. But the path to clinical and commercial success remains uncertain.

These businesses are building tech that could exceed the abilities of today’s AI.

The field of artificial intelligence is still in its early years, yet several businesses are already working on technology that can become the foundation for AI’s future. These companies are developing quantum computing systems capable of processing mountains of data in seconds, which would take decades for a conventional computer.

Quantum machines can execute multiple computations simultaneously, accelerating processing time, while typical computers must process data in a linear fashion. This means quantum systems can evolve AI beyond the abilities of the most powerful supercomputers, enabling AI to drive cars and help find cures to diseases.

Earlier this month, Reddit published a Public Content Policy stating: Unfortunately, we see more and more commercial entities using unauthorized access or misusing authorized access to collect public data in bulk, including Reddit public content. Worse, these entities perceive they have no limitation on their usage of that data, and they do so with no regard for user rights or privacy, ignoring reasonable legal, safety, and user removal requests.

In its blog post on Thursday, Reddit said that deals like OpenAI’s are part of an open Internet. It added that part of being open means Reddit content needs to be accessible to those fostering human learning and researching ways to build community, belonging, and empowerment online.

Reddit has been vocal about its interest in pursuing data licensing deals as a core part of its business. Its building of AI partnerships sparks discourse around the use of user-generated content to fuel AI models without users being compensated and some potentially not considering that their social media posts would be used this way. OpenAI and Stack Overflow faced pushback earlier this month when integrating Stack Overflow content with ChatGPT. Some of Stack Overflow’s user community responded by sabotaging their own posts.

It’s unclear what customers or applications might be earmarked for this node, but it’s possible it could be dedicated to IoT and other consumer devices that need to sip power. Typically, these applications use legacy nodes as it would be too expensive to use advanced processes for inexpensive devices, but TSMC is planning for the future since this effort won’t be realized until 2029 or so.

TSMC’s Dr. Kevin Zhang, senior vice president of business development and overseas Operations, says the company has already started building Greenfield, but he didn’t indicate where it’s located. He says the rapid deployment of the Greenfield fab is the first time the company has essentially skipped what we assume is a lengthy review process and put shovels in dirt already.

According to Zhang, TSMC’s move is part of its larger effort to build some resiliency into its global supply chain. That resiliency will be achieved both by building fabs outside of Taiwan and increasing capacity for nodes it thinks will be in demand in the future. Anandtech notes the company’s most advanced low-power node is currently N6e, which is a 6nm/7nm node that uses between 0.4V and 0.9V. For N4e, the company is reportedly looking to drop that all the way down to 0.4V, but it didn’t offer any additional details about its performance or attributes at the symposium.

Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have developed a battery constructed from zinc and lignin that can be recharged over 8,000 times. This innovation aims to offer an affordable and eco-friendly battery alternative, especially for regions with limited electricity access. The findings are detailed in the journal Energy & Environmental Materials.

“Solar panels have become relatively inexpensive, and many people in low-income countries have adopted them. However, near the equator, the sun sets at around 6 PM, leaving households and businesses without electricity. The hope is that this battery technology, even with lower performance than the expensive Li-ion batteries, will eventually offer a solution for these situations,” says Reverant Crispin, professor of organic electronics at Linköping University.

On the day of the ChatGPT-4o announcement, Sam Altman sat down to share behind-the-scenes details of the launch and offer his predictions for the future of AI. Altman delves into OpenAI’s vision, discusses the timeline for achieving AGI, and explores the societal impact of humanoid robots. He also expresses his excitement and concerns about AI personal assistants, highlights the biggest opportunities and risks in the AI landscape today, and much more.

(00:00) Intro.
(00:50) The Personal Impact of Leading OpenAI
(01:44) Unveiling Multimodal AI: A Leap in Technology.
(02:47) The Surprising Use Cases and Benefits of Multimodal AI
(03:23) Behind the Scenes: Making Multimodal AI Possible.
(08:36) Envisioning the Future of AI in Communication and Creativity.
(10:21) The Business of AI: Monetization, Open Source, and Future Directions.
(16:42) AI’s Role in Shaping Future Jobs and Experiences.
(20:29) Debunking AGI: A Continuous Journey Towards Advanced AI
(24:04) Exploring the Pace of Scientific and Technological Progress.
(24:18) The Importance of Interpretability in AI
(25:11) Navigating AI Ethics and Regulation.
(27:26) The Safety Paradigm in AI and Beyond.
(28:55) Personal Reflections and the Impact of AI on Society.
(29:11) The Future of AI: Fast Takeoff Scenarios and Societal Changes.
(30:59) Navigating Personal and Professional Challenges.
(40:21) The Role of AI in Creative and Personal Identity.
(43:09) Educational System Adaptations for the AI Era.
(44:30) Contemplating the Future with Advanced AI

Executive Producer: Rashad Assir.
Producer: Leah Clapper.
Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky.

Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint’s AI Podcast: / @redpointai.

Imagine having telepathic conversations with loved ones, instantaneously accessing superhuman computational power, playing back memories and dreams, or immersing yourself and every sense you possess into a virtual entertainment experience. In the distant future, if brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are successful at reading and writing information to the brain, and if humans adapt to the technology, we could experience some pretty amazing scenarios. But, there are many outstanding questions for how we could ensure a bright future: Who will own the data generated by our brains? Will brain data be bought and sold by data brokers like other personal information today? Will people be forced to use certain BCIs that surveil their brain activity (for example, to make sure you’re paying attention at work and school)? Will BCIs put peoples’ brains at risk of being hacked? As with all new technology, more of these philosophical questions will need to be investigated and answered before there is widespread adoption and use of BCIs in the future.

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Who owns that data?