{"id":2179,"date":"2023-10-19T03:27:51","date_gmt":"2023-10-19T03:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publication.jfn.ac.lk\/nail\/?page_id=2179"},"modified":"2025-01-19T19:25:35","modified_gmt":"2025-01-19T19:25:35","slug":"science-news","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/publication.jfn.ac.lk\/nail\/science-news\/","title":{"rendered":"SCIENCE NEWS"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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VOLUME 01: ISSUE 01 (FEBRUARY, 2023)<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Gaia space telescope of European Space Agency (ESA) has released a data set consisting of the speeds and chemical composition of almost 2 billion stars, that gives us a new perspective of our universe. This new perspective has been claimed to have enabled us to look back in time of each stars to deduce the whereabouts and status of each star. The Gaia telescope is located at a distance of approximately 1.5 million kilometers from earth being launched in 2013, has released a set of data comprising of brightness and positions of 1.1 billion stars in 2016 and another set with colours, temperatures and radii of 1.7 billion stars in 2018. The current addition of data now avails us with more information in our quest to understand the origin of stars and our universe. The chemical make up sheds light on where the stars
\nformed based on the metal they contain, that is obtained through the starlight analyses. The article from New Scientist describes the study findings in detail. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

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Complete article: New Scientist, June 18, 2022, page 10<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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The article discusses a latest study where switching off a\ngene in the liver using a one-off injection could permanently reduce the risk\nof heart diseases, as observed in mice. This technology is called\nepigenome-editing where the injection controls the gene activity. Liver cells\nproduce a protein called PCSK9 which break downs another protein that is\nresponsible for the removal of cholesterol from blood. Given the protein that\nremoves cholesterol is preserved by reducing or stopping production of PCSK9\nshould lead to lowering of cholesterol. Although there are drugs that adopted\nthis method to lower cholesterol in humans, they require periodic-frequent\ninjections. Permanently altering DNA to quell production of PCSK9 could lead to\ncomplications and cells becoming cancerous, this new gene-editing methods\nclaimed no observed complications as such. Should this new method be seen\npromising, could solve the issue of cholesterol related diseases in humans. <\/o:p><\/p>

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Complete article: New Scientist, June 18, 2022, page 16<\/o:p><\/b><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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News emerged as an engineer attached to Google had been\nsuspended, after he had claimed that sentient AI had been developed. This\narticle that appeared in New Scientist (June 18-24, 2022, page 11: No sign of a\nmachine mind yet) has discussed the claim and refuted by Google. Sentient AI\nrefers to the potential of an AI system to mimic human consciousness.<\/o:p><\/p>

Blake Lemoine, the engineer, had released transcripts of the\nconversations with the AI he had assisted in developing called LaMDA (Language\nModel for Dialogue Applications), that had consisted of dialogues where the AI\ndiscusses about its feelings of fear, happy and sad based on activities that\nnever have happened. Lemoine claimed that LaMDA can not only make convincing\nconversations, but can also present itself having self-awareness and feelings.\nOn the other hand, Adrian Weller at the Turing Institute in London claimed,\nthat although LaMDA is an impressive system, it is no-where close to being\nsentient. The article goes on to discuss if the current trajectory of AI with\numpteen amounts of data used to train several models will be successful in\ncreating an artificial mind. In the meantime, Adrian Hilton of University of\nSurrey, UK claimed that he would not believe that we understood the mechanisms\nbehind what makes something sentient as yet and that what we do in terms of AI\nresearch using machine learning is really intelligence. Weller claims, that\ngiven human emotions rely entirely on sensory inputs, we may be able to attain\nsentient systems, but not as yet. <\/o:p><\/p>

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Complete article: New Scientist, June 18, 2022, page 11<\/o:p><\/b><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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The article claims to have observed revival of seven types\nof viruses that laid dormant for thousands of years in the Siberian permafrost\n(with the thawing of the frost). The youngest of which have been dormant for\n27,000 years while the oldest (revived latest) was in the ice for 48,500 years.\nSimultaneously, the article reveals that several other scientists have claimed\nto have revived microorganisms that were dormant in sediments, ice and salt\ncrystals for more than 250 million years, which are yet to be confirmed not to\nhave been contaminated. These ancient viruses have the potential to spread and\ninfect living organisms including humans. <\/o:p><\/p>

\n\nComplete article: New\nScientist, December 03, 2022, page 17<\/span><\/b><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Another news item is discussed in this issue, on carbon\ncapture, where the United Kingdom has opened the largest facility to absorb\ncarbon dioxide from the atmosphere to produce sodium bicarbonate. And it was\ndiscussed that we would need more innovative solutions and upscaling to see the\neffect of carbon capture on revival of our climate. This article that appeared\non New Scientist discussed about another form of carbon capture. The oceans are\ncurrently the biggest sink for carbon dioxide, while the method discussed in\nthis news item is to enhance the capacity of the oceans to absorb carbon by\nchemically modifying it. This has been given a dangerous warning as this would\npermanently affect the sensitive marine environments, while it is thought that\nthe lack of progress otherwise in curbing carbon emissions, necessitating such\nmeasures. To avoid global warming breaching the 1.50<\/sup>C rise (the\nworld agreed to in 2015 in Paris), it is computed that a removal of 584 billion\ntonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere between 2020 \u2013 2100 is imperative.\nThis accounts for approximately 7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.\nPlanting trees to aid the process of removing carbon dioxide is seen as\ninsufficient in our quest. Oceans covering almost 70% of the area, technologies\nto sequester carbon using the ocean has a potential of removing 100 billion\ntonnes per year while the constraints such as feasibility shrink that figure to\n5 \u2013 10 billion a year. <\/o:p><\/p>

Other than ocean based growth systems such as kelp forests,\nseagrass and mangroves, iron fertilization is seen as a potential alternative.\nSeeding ocean waters with the nutrient iron will increase the population of\ncarbon-absorbing phytoplankton. The organisms down the food-chain will lock\ncarbon dioxide biologically. Another scientist David King proposed mimicking\nthe natural process of whale feces that provide nutrients for the growth of\nphytoplanktons, the results of a small scale study is awaited. <\/o:p><\/p>

Supplying nutrients to the ocean surface are also being\ntried through engineering exercises, that mimic the process of upwelling that\nnaturally occurs in parts of the ocean due to currents. The artificial\nupwelling was also intended to bring the nutrient rich cool waters from the\nbottom of the oceans to the surface and sustain phytoplankton growth. However,\nextensive growth of phytoplankton in ocean waters is believed to deteriorate\nocean environments, mainly by reducing the dissolved oxygen levels and oxygen\ndiffusion in ocean environments. <\/o:p><\/p>

As an alternative, alkalinity enhancement is considered for\ncarbon sequestering process using ocean waters. At the moment, with increased\nlevels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, we are making the ocean water\nacidic due to the formation of carbonic acid as carbon dioxide dissolves in\nwater. Acidification of ocean water reduces its capability to dissolve further\ncarbon dioxide while also imparting detrimental effect on the marine life\nforms. Alkalinity enhancement is believed to enhance carbon absorption capacity\nwhile also reducing the impact acidity would have on marine living organisms.\nThis technology is in the initial stages and is seen a promising alternative\nfor our quest. The article discusses the projects that have used these\ntechniques and the pros and cons each of them harboured. <\/o:p><\/p>

Another article that appeared on Science (volume 378, page\n22 –  23rd December, 2022) discusses this\nphenomenon, having completed a study of adding alkaline lime powder in\nApalachicola Bay off Florida, and found that it drew down carbon while also\nreducing acidification. This was claimed in the article as the first field\nstudy on the technique known as ocean liming, which also ended up as a\nsuccessful implementation of the technique. The author argues that this is a\nnatural process, and the technique only accelerates the process. This is\nfurther reinstated by the report from National Academies of Science,\nEngineering and Medicine (NASEM) that called for $2.5 billion in researches on\nsimilar techniques, more specifically on field studies.  <\/o:p><\/p>

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Complete article 01: New Scientist, July 02, 2022, page\n48<\/b><\/o:p><\/p>

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Complete article 02: Science, December 23, 2022, page 22<\/o:p><\/b><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Carbon emissions have been blamed for climate change and its\nimpacts on the environment. While the globe agrees to reduce emissions, it has\nalways been spoken of to absorb carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to assist\nmaintain the global rise in temperatures to 1.5 0<\/sup>C. The United\nKingdom inaugurated the largest carbon dioxide absorption project on 24th<\/sup>\nJuly, a factory that produces bicarbonate for dialysis machines, pharmaceutical\ntablets and baking soda. The news article on New Scientist discusses the\nproject. The project initiated by Tata Chemicals Europe (TCE) plant in\nNorwhich, UK is expected to absorb 36,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year\neventually increasing the capacity to capture 40,000. The gas is captured from\na gas-fired power plant. Instead of storing the captured gas, it is purified\nand transformed into liquid to facilitate the production of sodium bicarbonate.\nThe article highlights the incapability of the plant to store the captured gas,\nwhere a fraction of it is turned into gas again. It is noted that this is not\nan ultimate solution to the crisis, but a little step towards managing the gas\nin the atmosphere. <\/o:p><\/p>

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Complete article: New Scientist, July 02, 2022, page 16<\/o:p><\/b><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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The article talks about time and discusses 9 questions that\nbogle human perception of time, including what is time?, why does time only go\none way?, how do we sense time? What affects our perception of time? How much\ntime does evolution take? can time lead us to a theory of everything? How do we\nmake the most of our time? Can we live without time? Will time ever end?<\/o:p><\/p>

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 Complete article: New Scientist, 18 June, 2022,\npage 41<\/o:p><\/b><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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The demand for electrical power is on an exponential rise,\ntogether increasing the consumption of batteries. This causes two issues; one\nis the demand that requires unprecedented demand for materials and the other is\nthe management of wasted batteries, which are toxic to the ecosystems.\nRetrieving materials in possibly elemental form does incur a huge cost in the\nrecovery processes. However, with time this may be seen plausible due to;<\/o:p><\/p>

1 Unprecedented increase in demand<\/o:p><\/b><\/p>

2 Available of new technologies that make the\nrecovery process economically feasible<\/o:p><\/b><\/p>

3 Unavailability of raw materials, that in turn\nincrease the cost of them<\/o:p><\/b><\/p>

The biggest demand for batteries comes from the increased\nconsumption in electronic vehicles (EVs) that use predominantly lithium, cobalt\nand nickel. It has been estimated that the demand for Li will be more than 20\ntimes of that today, by 2050. Simultaneously, the waste amounts to 600,000\nmetric tons of recyclable li-ion batteries is expected to increase to 1.6\nmillion metric tons by 2030. While recycling alone cannot meet the increase in\ndemand, it can certainly supply a significant amount to reduce the stress on\nmining of raw material. According to the article that appeared on New\nScientist, the laboratories and companies are now in the quest pumping money in\nto materials engineering, looking for a way to produce metals in the purest\nform, economically. Several companies such as Li-Cycle (Canadian) and American\nBattery Technology Company have already increased their capacity of recycling\nin anticipation of increasing recovery of metals. Redwood Materials which\nrecycles li-ion batteries from electronics and EVs, with a new plant in Reno\nwith an investment of $3.5 billion, expects to produce 1 million li-ion EV\nbatteries by 2025.  <\/o:p><\/p>

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Complete article: MIT Technology Review, Jan\/Feb, 2023,\npage 48<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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The article was based on a study where nine people who had\nlower body paralysis regained the ability to walk with the assistance of a\nframe, after receiving a prolonged electrical stimulation to the injured area\nof their spine. The article claims that the study led to the identification of\nneurons that can assist the patient improve in the condition post paralysis.\nSpine, usually working with electrical stimulations received form brain to move\nthe muscles and hence facilitate the ability to walk, has been receiving\nelectrical treatment to relieve pain and in cases to regain maneuverability\ngiven sufficient number of neurons remained unscathed in the injured zone. The\nstudy discussed in the article was conducted by Bloch and her colleagues, who\nimplanted electrical devices in nine people, six of the patients had some\nfeeling in their legs with no ability to walk while the other three had neither\nthe feelings nor the ability to walk.<\/o:p><\/p>

The findings form the\nstudy: immediately after the first treatment, the patients could walk 25 m with\nthe aid of a frame in 6 minutes. On a continued treatment over 5 months, in\naddition to physiotherapy 5 times a week, enabled them to walk 50 m in 6\nminutes on average. Four of the patients could even walk without any electrical\nstimulation at the end of the treatment period. <\/o:p><\/p>

A further study in mice by the same team of scientists by\nmonitoring brain activity during injury and electrical stimulation and\nsubsequent regain of activity enabled them to identify the neurons that are\nresponsible for the ability to walk. These neurons when switched off,\ncompletely paralyzed mice, while when they were switched back on, they regained\nthe ability to maneuver. This finding outlines the promise of potential\nadvancement in treatment for paralysis. <\/o:p><\/p>

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Complete article: New Scientist, November 19, 2022, page\n25            <\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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The article that appeared on New Scientist discussed on how\nbig a number can get and how to write them figuratively and for computational\nexercises. For example, consider the number of sand grains on earth? The study\nof extremely large numbers is called googology. The book, \u2018The biggest number\nin the world: a journey to the edge of mathematics\u2019 by David Darling and Agnijo\nBanerjee elucidates the googology by starting from normal big numbers such as\n10 billion trillion or the number of ways a pack of cards can be arranged\n(8.0658\u00d71067<\/sup>). The book then goes on to talk about the method to\nwrite larger values. One such method of writing larger numbers is Knuth\u2019s\nup-arrow notation, which was named after Donald Knuth. <\/o:p><\/p>

Knuth\u2019s up-arrow notation: consider multiplication as simply\nrepeated addition: 5\u00d73 = 5+5+5 while exponentiation is repeated multiplication:\n53<\/sup> = 5\u00d75\u00d75. Up-arrow notation uses a single up-arrow to mean\nexponentiation, so that 5\u21913 indicates 53<\/sup>. Two arrows then mean\nrepeated  exponentiation: 5\u2191\u21913 = 5\u2191(5\u21915).\nThis pattern continues as such that each new arrow meaning the steps before\nshould be repeated, resulting swiftly in immense numerical power. The number 2\u2191\u2191\u2191\u21914,\nfor example is so large that it cannot be displayed in digital form.  <\/o:p><\/p>

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Complete article: New Scientist, June 18, 2022, page 37<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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The previous record of recovering 1 million year old DNA in\n2021 has now been broken with the recovery of a 2 million year old DNA from\nsediments by Eske Willerslev and team from University of Cambridge. This would\nassist recreation of the ecosystem that existed in Greenland at that time. This\noldest DNA has been recovered from Kobenhavn Formation, which a series of sand,\nsilt and mud laid around 2 million years ago. As this DNA was bound to mineral\nparticles, rather than fossilized organisms, the enzymes couldn\u2019t access and\ndecay it, leaving it preserved. The DNA comprises mostly of plants (some of\nwhich are still in Greenland) and some from animals, such as arctic hares,\nrodents, muskats, reindeer and an elephant relative. This discovery has given\nhope that even older DNA could be found in the arctic seas, preserved.    <\/o:p><\/p>

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Complete article: New Scientist, December 17, 2022, page\n12<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Computing one\u2019s carbon footprint to delineate environmental\nfriendliness of people and institutions have become popular among modern\nhumans, who have already started bearing the brunt of impact the industrial\nrevolution had on the environment. No matter how hard we strive to halt pumping\ncarbon dioxide in the atmosphere, we are set to increase the fraction of the\ngas in the atmosphere for several decades to come. The article that appeared on\nNew Scientist (25 June, 2022, page 11: Food miles matter less than you might\nthink) discusses on another factor that contributes to carbon footprint. Food\nmiles simply indicate the carbon footprint of a food item that has been\ntransported from the location where it was grown to where it was consumed.\nEssentially, the longer the food travel, greater the food miles and so is\ngreater the carbon footprint. In other words, if one person eats locally,\nhe\/she reduces food miles for their consumption, that has inherently less\ncarbon footprint. The article however, analyses the credibility of the claim\nthat lower the food miles, lower the carbon footprint, drawing attention to the\ncarbon footprint of locally produced food items. It was found that the carbon\nfootprint is not as significant as it was considered it to be between food\nitems with different food miles. It is worthy to note the following regarding\ncarbon footprint and food production. The production of the food  we eat is responsible for more than a third\nof global greenhouse gas emissions and that 20% of food-related emissions are\nfrom food miles. It is therefore crucial that consumers resort to measures that\nwould curb carbon emissions from their food consumption practices and growing\nlocally is not a solution. <\/o:p><\/p>

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Complete article: New Scientist, June 25, 2022, page 11<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCRISPR for high cholesterol<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

A patient from New Zealand became the first person to\nreceive a gene-editing treatment to permanently lower her cholesterol. CRISPR\nis the editing tool that was used which has moved from labs to clinic in the\nlast decade. Compared to CRISPR 2.0 (base editing tool), CRISPR 3.0 (prim\nediting) allows insertion of chunks of DNA into a genome. The article claims\nthat this could possibly be adapted to treat blood pressure and certain other\ndiseases in the future. <\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: MIT Technology Review, Jan\/Feb, 2023,\npage 27<\/o:p><\/b><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEthic guidelines for human enhancement R&D<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Human enhancement: \u2018improving human being beyond what is\nconsidered typical or normal\u2019. This definition includes prosthetic limbs that\noutperform biological limbs or drugs that boost cognitive capacities beyond\ntypical human range. We very well know that such enhancements are proscribed in\nsports and is considered a punishable offense. However, research and\ndevelopment does occur at rapid pace in the science community, which\nimperatively calls for regularization. European Commission endorsed a set of ethics\nguidelines to be adopted in human enhancement related research, which is now\nincluded in the Horizon Europe funding programme. <\/o:p><\/p>

The biggest challenge in such ethical guidelines lies in the\nvery definition of the term, human enhancement. The definition entails,\nmodification aimed at improving  human\nperformance\u2014as opposed to restoring it. Restoration of human ability to the\nnatural levels would mean that the human enhancements are applied to physically\nchallenged people, which is not the case discussed in definition. Furthermore,\nabilities may differ, and the term \u2018healthy\u2019 and \u2018normal\u2019 may not be applicable\ngenerally to everyone. Hence the terminology in ethical guidelines needs\nnegotiations. <\/o:p><\/p>

Discussed in the article appeared on Science; Cyborg artist\nand activist Neil Harbisson had an antenna implanted and osseointegrated in his\nskull which was qualified as human enhancement according to the definition.\nHowever, he had the ability to convert colours and images into audible\nvibration, that included wavelengths of IR and UV, which are not visible to\nhuman eye. <\/o:p><\/p>

Some typical human enhancement research areas listed in the\narticle are prosthetics, tissue engineering, genome editing, neurotechnolog,y\nand nanomedicine, belonging to field of biomedical engineering. Therapeutic or\notherwise, the yearning to enhance ones ability is not new, yet, research and\ndevelopment in the area needs regularization. The question asked in the article\nis that since human enhancement is not part of medicine, laws and ethics\nrelated to medicine may not be applicable. Medical ethics guidelines depend on,\nwell-being, autonomy, informed consent, equality, justice and (moral or social)\nresponsibility. Human enhancements on the other hand are required to include,\nliberty, bodily integrity and human dignity, which are currently not included.   <\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: Science, November 25, 2022, page 835<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArtificial Intelligence that makes images<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Artificial intelligence has been used in various\napplications, trying to mimic human behaviour. Creativity has been considered\nas a talent and not even available to all humans (not scientifically proven),\nyet, artificial intelligence is now pouted to get into the creative arts as\nwell. In 2021, DALL-E was released and shocked the world, with its ability to\ntext-to-image model (in addition to several other tools that even write\nscientific articles, including critical review of literature). In this tool of\ntext-image, it is capable of creating a visual art from any piece of\ndescriptive text. While Google launched its own image-making AI called Imagen,\nDALL-E2 was unveiled in April\/2022 with a massive leap forward, as it claimed.\nIn the meantime, the article claims that the biggest game-changer was Stable\nDiffusion, an open-source text-to-image from a UK-based startup Stability AI in\nAugust. <\/o:p><\/p>

Just like language models, AI trains models based on\navailable data on the internet, that may have bias. The article elaborates on\nthe challenge that just like language models, text-to-image generators can\namplify the biased and toxic associations embedded in the training data. With\nthis technology already transforming in to text-to-video tools, the creativity\nis highly challenged with randomness. The article claims that nothing else in\nAI grabbed peoples\u2019 interest more in the last year\u2014for the best and worst\nreasons. <\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: MIT Technology Review, Jan\/Feb, 2023,\npage 48<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Inevitable EV<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

The article claims that the emission-free cars and trucks\nwill likely make for 13% of all new auto sales globally in 2022, according to\nInternational Energy Agency. This trend is expected to surpass 30% by the end\nof this decade. <\/o:p><\/p>

Several causes have propelled this trend, specifically the\ngovernment policies. Auto companies are gearing up for this trend by setting up\nsupply chains, building manufacturing capacity and better and effective\ndesigns. The Hongguang Mini, a small EV with a price tag less than $5,000 has\nbecome the most preferred in the world. The challenges object the trend is\nmostly the charging options and battery supply and clean technology in power\nproduction.  <\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: MIT Technology Review, Jan\/Feb, 2023,\npage 27<\/o:p><\/b><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCO2 to Methanol fuel plant<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Another story on a plant that changes carbon dioxide to\nbicarbonate has been reported in this issue. This is another plant designed to\nreduce the CO2 <\/sub>in to methanol has been opened and running in China.\nMethanol is used primarily in production of chemicals such as plastics and also\nused as a fuel and is naturally made from coal or natural gas. Omat Freyr\nSigurbjornsson from the Carbon Recycling International (CRI) expects that this\nplant would curb , tonnes of CO2<\/sub> a year from the atmosphere. The\nestimate includes the emissions from the facility as well. <\/o:p><\/p>

This facility in the city of Anyang by Shunli captures CO2<\/sub>\nfrom emissions during the production of lime with hydrogen turns 160,000 tonnes\nof CO2<\/sub> into 110,000 tonnes of methanol per year.  they contain, that is obtained through the\nstarlight analyses. The article from New Scientist describes the study findings\nin detail. CRI is working on a second CO2<\/sub>-to-methanol site in China,\nto recycle  petrochemical complex\nemission to produce methanol for plastic production. <\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: New Scientist, November 12, 2022, page\n11<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCool it, with a pinch of salt<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Salt is used on roads in winter, in countries which receive\nsnow-fall which transforms ice into slush. Addition of salt reduces the melting\npoint of water. A similar observation could be made when sea water freezes, it\nsqueezes salt out making water beneath more saltier, which makes lower level\nwater hard to freeze. An experiment showed that ice cubes covered with kitchen\nsalt reached \u2013(negative)100<\/sup>C after a few seconds when ice cubes\nwithout salt remained at 0 0<\/sup>C.bLilley Prasher developed a method to\nmake this process reversible, the idea known as ionocaloric refrigeration. This\nidea takes advantage of the large temperature change\u2014and therefore the large\nheat absorption\u2014obtained by melting this special form of ice when put in\ncontact with specific salt. <\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: Science, December 23, 2022, page 1275<\/o:p><\/b><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArtificial Confidence <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Can AI models be trusted to shape our future?<\/o:p><\/p>

Many possible cases could be assumed for the static picture\nof a dynamic process shown in Figure, of which, three are discussed here. <\/o:p><\/p>

Case 01: the base ball player pitching the ball on top of a\nbas-ball field<\/o:p><\/p>

Case 02: a man throwing a baseball at a pitcher on a\nbaseball field<\/o:p><\/p>

Case 03: a baseball player at bat and a catcher in the dirt\nduring a baseball game<\/o:p><\/p>

For a human viewing the picture, he would base the\nconclusive statement he\/she would make on the experience they have together\nwith a logical understanding of the context of the picture. Depending on this\nanalogy, the first case would be best depiction of the picture, while the other\ntwo would rarely be even discussed. On the other hand, when AI is making a\njudgement on the picture, it would have been based on rough approximations\nbased on statistical similarities to the images that were used to develop the\nmodel, and instilling logic in the judgement is highly questionable. For\nexample, any human would know that there would be other players in the vicinity\nbut not in the image, where AI would find it hard to make a guess on that\naspect in making sense of the picture. <\/o:p><\/p>

AI failing to identify the difference between a man riding a\nhorse and a horse riding a man may be considered inconsequential in terms of a\nrisk potential. However, the article speaks about an incident where an AI\ndriven car failed stop when a man carrying a stop sign was encountered. The AI\nwould emphatically identify a stop sign in the usual locations as seen in the\ntraining data or a man, which were distinctively well trained and tested.\nHowever, what the AI system failed to respond is when both events happened\nunexpectedly (not in the training data). For cases where zero tolerance towards\nfailures is aspired, depending on the AI is questionable. <\/o:p><\/p>

The article identified that the biggest teams of researchers\nin AI are no longer part of the academic circles and publications where peer\nreview process is essential prior to publication and rigorous scrutiny at\ndifferent levels is inevitable prior to implementation. <\/o:p><\/p>

The article identified that the biggest teams of researchers\nin AI are no longer part of the academic circles and publications where peer\nreview process is essential prior to publication and rigorous scrutiny at\ndifferent levels is inevitable prior to implementation. In the corporate\nsectors, conducting researches in the field, bypass the scrutiny process and\nthis is said in the article as, \u2018we see what the company wants us to see\u2019.\nThese developments by the corporate are only to be used in controlled environments,\ngiven they were developed from fair experiments, which cannot be used in a\nreal-scale application, which is usually known as \u2018demoware\u2019 in IT sectors. <\/o:p><\/p>

The article states that the deep learning techniques have\nadvanced the pattern recognition ability in data analytical methods, yet, have\nintricately three major flaws, that need attention when implementing. <\/o:p><\/p>

1. The patterns learnt are ironically, superficial and\nnot conceptual<\/o:p><\/p>

2. The results it creates are hard to interpret (often\nsaid to be black boxes)<\/o:p><\/p>

3. The results are difficult to use in the context of\nother processes, such as memory and reasoning (this forbids the general\napplication of the models, strange to the controlled environment they were\ntrained with). <\/o:p><\/p>

The article quoted Les Valiant, a computer scientist from\nHarvard university as saying, \u2018the central challenge [going forward] is to\nunify the formulation of \u2026 learning and reasoning\u2019. At the mean time it is said\nin the article, that we have reached the local minimum in which companies\npursue benchmarks rather than foundational ideas. What is actually required is\nto intertwine logical approach and a more conceptual approach in the\ndevelopment of the model to substantiate the learning and reasoning in the resulting\nmodels. This reinstates the need for basic research, which depends on such an\napproach. The article closes with an example. Suppose aliens learn about the\nhuman behaviour using such an AI system, that was based on the shadows of\nhumans, what would the replications of the model when implemented. For example,\nall humans will have the same colour, and some shadows may change in size based\non the time (location of sun) and worse of all, the shadows may disappear in\nnights. The outcome of their model would be uncharacteristic, illogical and\ninappropriate. <\/o:p><\/p>

It could be put, the AI is as intelligent as its training\ndata, or it is true as of now. The outcome of AI model when treated as black\nboxes devoid of fundamental concept, may not be trusted unless it was\nexperimentally verified. An uncertainty will linger always, that as explained\nin the example with a man carrying a stop sign, may not be trustworthy. As\nmentioned earlier, specially in applications where zero tolerance is envisaged\nfrom a model prediction, the outcome of an AI model may be questionable. The\nway forward would be to instill logical and fundamental approach in model\ndevelopment.<\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>

 Complete article: Scientific American, October,\n2022, page 46<\/o:p><\/b><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe water cycle on overdrive<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Frequency and intensity of drought, melting of glaciers and\nextreme precipitation events are dynamically changing contemporarily, and how\nthey will affect the future of water cycle depends on calculation of water\ncirculation. The warming earth bring more water from surface of earth to the\natmosphere, specifically through evaporation, depleting surface and ground\nwater resources. With the increasing in demand primarily due to population\ngrowth further stress the water cycle unprecedently. <\/o:p><\/p>

Intensification of water\u2019s circulation through atmosphere,\nland and ground affect the sustainability of water supply. This in turn affect\nthe water cycle through which the frequency and intensity of events are further\naltered. The process of water distribution and conveyance among atmosphere,\nland and ground is severely affected by the warming climate that in turn affect\nagricultural systems, weather events and freshwater resources. The change in\nthe water cycle also varies across climate zone, further stressing the cycle in\nan unpredictable way. The models predict a drastic change in the extreme events\nin the near future. <\/o:p><\/p>

A paper by Thomas G Huntington et al. in 2019 introduced a\nnew framework for quantifying the intensity of the terrestrial water cycle,\nknown as water cycle intensity,<\/i> is the sum of precipitation (groundwater\ninput) and actual evapotranspiration (groundwater output) over a time period.\nliberty, bodily integrity and human dignity, which are currently not included.\nThis parameter when analysed together with GIS tools could help understand the\nspatial distribution of water cycle intensity. Next steps will have to focus on\nfinding links between the anthropogenic factors (such as industry, lifestyle\nand technology)  and their effects on the\nwater cycle intensification that is occurring contemporarily.<\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: American Scientist, Volume 110, page\n324<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHow can we prevent AI from being racist, sexist and offensive? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

An article appeared on New Scientist (25 June 2022, page 16:\nHow can we prevent AI from being racist, sexist and offensive?)  discusses the potential of AI systems being\nbased on our inherent prejudices. The article begins with a case speaking about\nthe biases in facial recognition working best with white people compared to the\nblack communities. Considering that most AI systems depend on machine learning\nmodels that depend on data., the author quotes from Carissa Veliz from\nUniversity of Oxford as proposing two solutions to wring bias out of AI, 1)\nvetting the data used to train models and 2) applying filter to intercept any\nharmful outputs. However, the article highlights the challenges owing to the\ndifficulty in engineering the vast data that already had been collected and\nthat the repercussions may affect the AI systems underperforming in other\ndomains that relied on the raw data, that included the biases. For example, the\nmodels that are based on images, captions, texts on websites and other sources,\nwould all inherently include biases, as the human nature inevitably encompasses\nthat in nature. Predicting if a prisoner would repeat the crime would\nessentially require the biases that it may entail in the raw data collected and\ntampering or engineering the data would make the models invalid per se. A\nyoutuber Yannic Kilcher did an analysis based on an open source language model\ncalled GPT-J-6B found that the bias was not as bad as he anticipated. However,\nIt is also of paramount importance that the biases don\u2019t create unnecessary\nskews in the AI models where such biases are not critical for the predictions,\nwhile acknowledging the fact that creating data sets without biases is a\ndaunting task. The article goes on to discuss about how the biases in AI data collection\nmay be controlled without violating the privacy of the sources. <\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n<\/p>

 Complete article:\nNew Scientist, June 25, 2022, page 16<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMost precise measurement<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Electron\u2019s magnetic moment predicted from standard models\nand observations were improved with the new measurement made which is 2.2 times\naccurate than before. The new measurement is made at a precision of 1.3 parts\nper 10 trillion. The study was done at Northwestern University in\nIllinois.  <\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: New Scientist, October 22, 2022, page\n09.<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArtificial sweeteners can kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Sweeteners are widely used to replace sugars for low calory\ndiet. Three such artificial sweeteners used in diet drinks, yoghurts and\ndesserts are observed to dramatically halt the growth of multidrug-resistant\nbacteria, from a study at Brunel University in UK. The three sweeteners\ninclude, saccharin, cyclamate and acesulfame-K, successfully inhibited the\ngrowth of two bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii <\/i>and Pseudomonas\naeruginosa<\/i> which are rampant in ICU ventilators and other medical\nenvironments. Resistance of bacteria to antibiotics is a natural process where\nbacteria evolves to resist the drug that challenges its very survival. However,\nthe process is accelerated by overprescribing drugs in humans and misuse in\nanimals, specially in hospital waste and hospital environment. <\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: Science Focus (BBC), January, 2023.<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAI can predict the risk of heart disease by analysing a single chest X-ray<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Hear diseases is one of the major contributor to deaths\namong humans worldwide and in Sri Lanka. Patients are  often administered statins that lower the\ncholesterol, but since heart diseases are not diagnosed early, those who could\nbenefit from such medications do not receive them. Researchers based in\nMassachusetts General Hospital have developed a deep learning AI model to\nanalyse the 10-year risk of a person of death due to heart attack or stroke\nfrom a single image of X-ray. The AI model is named CXR-CVD Risk included\nX-rays from 150,000 patients in a prostrate, lung, colorectal and ovarian\ncancer screening trials carried out by the National Cancer Institute.  <\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: Science Focus (BBC), January, 2023.<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t14 units of alcohol a week<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Guidelines of UK says, 14 units of alcohol a week, spread\nover a period of 3 days or more may not cause significant health issues.\nAlthough, how much people drink depends more on the price, availability and\nmarketing, and not a health risk.  <\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: Science Focus (BBC), January, 2023.<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe delicate balance of river sediments<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Rivers in addition to transport and distribute water, the\nsupply nutrients and sediments to downstream and oceans. While most\nanthropogenic activities lead to soil erosion (that elevate sediment and\nnutrient washoff in rivers), dam construction works on the contrary. This is\nfurther affected by the frequency and intensity of precipitation events, caused\nby climate change. A study by Deither et al. analysed sediment flux changes in\n414 rivers worldwide using satellite data obtained between 1984\u20142020 (approximately\n130,000 measurements). <\/o:p><\/p>

Field measurements to study the dynamics of sedimentation\ncharacterization as the frequency of sampling would be too expensive, where\nimage analysis could be beneficial, and irrespective of inaccessibility due to\nremoteness or terrain difficulty. The study found a 50% reduction in sediment\nflux in river of Northern Hemisphere, mainly as a result of entrapment of\nsediments in the dam. Simultaneously a 40% increase in suspended sediments was\nobserved in the Southern Hemisphere, specially due to deforestation and mining\nand agricultural activities. Another modeling study on sediment retention in\nMekong River showed that as little as 4% of the total sediment load is expected\nto reach the river delta. While dams and other measures of entrapment reduce\nsediment transport, agricultural and mining activities release much more than\nwhat has been trapped. <\/o:p><\/p>

Changes in sediment fluxes have huge impact on the stability\nof river systems, their geomorphology, ecology and socioeconomic activities.\nIncreased sedimentation may lead to ecosystem change, increase in flood risk,\nand increasing frequent dredging for removal of sediments and avail paths for\nnavigation. In the meantime, decrease in sedimentation may starve ecosystems,\naffecting the food chain and socioeconomic activities that depend on them and\naggravating erosion of sediments. <\/o:p><\/p>

Environmental activities are always dynamic, and will\nchange. However, sudden and frequent changes may have a dire effect on the\nentities discussed above. A clear strategy to manage sediment transport in\nrivers and subsequent ocean beds is therefore critical. For devising of\neffective management plans, studies are required to analyse the history,\ndevelop models to make predictions and the management protocols should be\naligned to the predictions made. <\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: Science, June 24, 2022, page 1386.<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Liquid Telescope<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Atop Indian Himalayas there lies a 4-metre liquid mirror\ntelescope with a retractable roof(left) sits next to two optical telescopes. It\nappears as if someone scooped up a piece of the Bolivian salt flats, the\nworld\u2019s largest natural mirror, and put it in the Himalayas. The basin is part\nof a unique telescope. Situated in an observatory in the northern Indian state\nof Uttarakhand, the International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT)uses the pool\nof shiny metal to gather light from the skies.<\/o:p><\/p>

After a decade of works, ILMT, largest of its kind, and the\nfirst built to carry out astronomical observations was opened this year.\nAccording to Paul Hickson at the University of British Columbia in Canada, he\nstates that \u201cThe idea was, if we can find a reflective liquid and rotate it\nwith a very precise control system, it would focus light from above onto a\ndetector and we could use that as a telescope\u201d.<\/o:p><\/p>

In the early 1900s, Robert Wood made a notable attempt but\ndue to inability in maintaining the dish that held the metal spin at constant\nspeed it failed. In1982, Ermanno Borra at Laval University in Quebec, Canada\nsuggested dampening vibrations by pumping a thin layer of air between the basin\nthat holds the mercury and the motor that rotates it, he also mentioned to pour\nthe liquid resin on the dish surface first, letting it dry into the right\nshape, then pouring reflective liquid onto it as a coating, cutting down the\namount of mercury needed. According to the suggestions of Borra and his\ncolleagues, an experimental 2.7-metre-wide liquid mirror telescope near\nVancouver, Canada was built. It was used to study the sodium layer in Earth\u2019s\natmosphere, but it wasn\u2019t suitable for space observations, because of the\ncloudy weather near Vancouver.<\/o:p><\/p>

Conventional instruments use glass mirrors to reflect light\ncoming from stars and other cosmic objects. The mirror surface be polished\nsmooth to a fraction of the wavelength of light which is almost impossible in\nlarge telescopes. One work around is making several smaller mirrors and then\naligning them to form a big surface. The 4-metre ILMT cost around$2million,\nwhereas the 3.6-metre optical telescope costs $17million. However, cost savings\nare irrelevant if we can\u2019t build a working liquid mirror telescope.<\/o:p><\/p>

There were several challenges in the project, getting enough\nmercury, coronavirus pandemic and so on. However, a strong determination kept\nthe project alive. Unlike regular telescopes, which can point to different\nplaces, a liquid mirror telescope can only look straight up at the patch of sky\noverhead, which astronomers call the zenith. It was a good way of detecting\nobjects that appear fleetingly, such as supernovae and passing asteroids.\nAnother advantage of the ILMT is its location, right next to India\u2019s biggest\noptical telescope. If astronomers spot something interesting through the ILMT,\nthey can follow up with the other instrument.<\/o:p><\/p>

Although these are cheaper to build liquid mirrors are\ntougher in construction. In the ILMT, the mirror dish floats on an air layer\nabout10micrometres thick, much thinner than a human hair. Getting the resulting\n4-metre-widedish up to the observatory, which is at elevation 2450 meters, was\nalso quite an expedition. Finally, in early 2022, Hickson and Surdej achieved\nthe first viable observation in the second week of May. The telescope is only\noperational for about eight to nine months a year, taking a break between July\nand October during monsoon season. <\/o:p><\/p>

Observations so far include a rich stellar field in the\nMilky Way and NGC4274, a galaxy in the Coma Berenices constellation. The\nultimate dream, for astrophysicist Anna Schauer at the University of Texas at\nAustin at least, is to build a giant liquid telescope on the lunar surface, to\npeer at the first stars in the universe. To do so, scientists would need a\ntelescope with an incredibly large mirror. This would be practically impossible\nto manufacture and extremely expensive to put on the moon\u2013unless it is made of\nionic liquid. Such a huge project is likely to take decades to materialize. But\nthe ILMT\u2019s opening, after years of preparation, makes Schauer hopeful.<\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: New Scientist, December 10, 2022, page\n41.<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAI writes about itself <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

The article appeared on Scientific American discusses the\nability of AI to write novel content in academic language with in-cite\nreferences in the right places and in relation to the right context. The author\nclaims to have experimented with the AI called GPT-3, and discusses the issues\non legalities and ethics of academic publishing and philosophical arguments on\nnonhuman authorship. THE GPT-3 is claimed to have writing creative pieces of\narticle for example, opnion piece, a book on poetry and a new content from an\n18th<\/sup> century author. Although academics papers have been written on\nthe ability of GPT-3, the author claimed to have observed none that had\nauthorship of GPT-3. <\/o:p><\/p>

The GPT-3 develops several arguments on a context and picks\nthe best suitable, and the author has given prompts regarding the structure of\nthe academic paper with no more human intervention.  The experiment was the AI to write an\nacademic paper on AI itself, which was produced in less than two hours\naccording to the article. The author discusses the questions he had when\nsubmitting the paper for publication regarding authorship and if authors had\nconflict of interest, and how he solved them. AI not not being sentient, asking\nif it had any conflict of interest raised concerns, the author claims. Several\nquestions were raised in the article, for example;<\/o:p><\/p>

1. Will journal editors require proof of human\nauthorship in all publications? And that they have not used GPT-3 or similar\nAI.<\/o:p><\/p>

2. If in case they used, does it need to be given\nauthorship?<\/o:p><\/p>

3. Could AI be ever given first author status?<\/o:p><\/p>

It is time, future authorship of academic publication need\nto be revised. <\/o:p><\/p>

 <\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: Scientific American, September, 2022,\npage 73.<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhy you may never be able to buy your own self-driving car! <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Some Mercedes-Benz S-Class cars can drive themselves\nunaided, as long as you are in a specific car park in Germany. It is somewhat\nimpressive, but disappointing given new Scientist proclaimed 15 years ago that\na fully driverless car \u201cmay not be far off\u201d The US start-up Cruise, which\nstarted providing a taxi service in San Francisco this year, is conducting what\nis arguably the most ambitious autonomous trial to yet. There are no drivers\npresent, and the only people inside are customers. Everything has gone rather\nwell, except for the sporadic stopping and blocking of traffic.<\/o:p><\/p>

City streets can be challenging to navigate, so Cruise\ninitially only offered rides at night, when streets were quieter and limited\noperation to San Francisco, which it has extensively mapped. Cruise initially\nonly offered rides at night, when streets were quieter. It is, nonetheless,\nproof that driverless cars are possible and is a vital step to convincing\npeople that the technology’s time is near. According to varying levels of car\nautomation, as defined by the standards body SAE International level 0, levels\n1,2, 3, and level 4 and level 5 indicates conventional car, driver-aided cars,\nfull automation in \u201climited conditions\u201d and total autonomy, all the time\nrespectively.<\/o:p><\/p>

Taxi services can sidestep problems by pausing operations if\nproblems are spotted, without angering taxi drivers. Breckon says creating AI\nMaking different models for every market is prohibitively expensive, so the\nsoftware needs to be capable of handling all of it. Private car automation\nisn\u2019t being entirely neglected, however, as is shown by Mercedes-Benz\u2019s\nannouncement this month that its S-Class model will now offer level\n4automation, albeit only in one car park at Stuttgart airport, where it can park\nitself with help from sensors dotted around the area. The Tesla company also\nfaces legal challenges over using the word “self-driving” in its\nmarketing material. A level 4 car could still be more than five years from\ngoing on sale, and firms may never actually sell them to the public, says\nBreckon. If there’s a sudden spate of pedestrian deaths, they could have their\nautopilot function switched off, he says.<\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: New Scientist, December 17, 2022, page\n13<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOcean air\u2014lightning frequency<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Ocean covers more than 70% of the earth\u2019s surface and as\nsuch, most rain fall over the oceans compared to land. However, lightening at\nsea is surprisingly rare which is revealed in a study as the salt spray getting\nin between clouds. The upper parts of the cloud freeze into a mixture of\ngranular, rounded snow pellets called graupel and microscopic ice crystals.\nThese ice and snow upon colliding with each other, transfer electric charges\nwhere the graupels tend to accumulate negative charges while the smaller ice\ncrystals end up with positive charge. <\/o:p><\/p>

Due to the updrafts of air, smaller ice crystals reach the\ntop of the cloud while the graupels sink to the bottom, generating an\nelectrical field between the top and bottom edges of the cloud. Depending on\nthe charge difference, plausibility of a lightning event is triggered. When\nlarge water-absorbent particles of sea salt (from ocean spray) are present, the\ntiny droplets that condense on microscopic dust and soot to form clouds grow\nmuch more rapidly, becomes heavy enough to fall as rain well before the cloud\nforms tall enough. Although this idea was suggested before, a study by\nresearchers from China, Israel and the U.S. experimentally found that the areas\nwith salt spray had 90% less lightning. However, other factors also may\ncontribute to the phenomenon such as atmospheric differences caused by local\nweather conditions such as wind and temperature, the researchers claimed.<\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: Scientific American, December, 2022,\npage 16.<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShrinking aquifers and land subsidence in Iran<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

More than 98% of Iran\u2019s 1.648 million km2<\/sup> of land\nis subsiding. A subsidence at a rate of 4 cm\/year is considered a crisis, while\nit was observed to be 6 cm\/year in Iran, attributed to 25 years of water level\ndecline. Major contributors were identified to be dam construction, climate\nchange, inefficient water consumption by agriculture and industries and over\nextraction of groundwater. Subsidence will severely affect buildings, bridges,\ntransportation lines and energy transmission in urban areas and can turn arable\nland in to dessert. Implementation of a integrated water resources management\nis critical in revival mission.  <\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: Science, June 17, 2022, page 6599.<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMicro Flow <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Before we get to the discussion on the topic, let us talk a\nbit about cilium. Cilium is a membrane-bound organelle found on most types of\neukaryotic cell and they do no exist in bacteria and archaea. It is of the\nshape of a tube protruding from the larger cell body. One piece of cilium may\nnot be of much benefit, however, when in groups they contribute to  fluid flow. Cilia remove inhaled pathogens\nfrom respiratory tract, carry cerebrospinal fluid across brain cavities,\ntransport eggs from the ovary to the uterus, and rain mucus from the middle ear\nto the nasal cavity. <\/o:p><\/p>

Laboratory based artificial cilia are used in chips are\nexpected to control fluids\u2019 miniscule flow patterns. This concept currently in\nresearch status is believed by researchers to be used in testing blood, urine\nand other fluids to diagnose illnesses with efficiency more than that observed\nfrom the laboratory tests. In addition, this may only require much smaller\nvolume of fluid samples compared to that required for laboratory testing.\nStudies from the past have attempted to make artificial cilia that can be moved\nusing pressure, lightl, electricity and even magnets, while the major obstacle\nthen was to produce tiny actuators, that triggered the motion. A study created\ncilium 1\/20 of a millimetre long and 10 nm thick, with a strip of platinum on\none side and a coating of titanium on the other. The article discusses the\nconcept behind the functional attributes of artificial cilium, triggered by\nfluid flow. Running a low positive voltage triggers chemical reaction and frees\noxygen from water molecules in the fluid. This results in bending of cilium,\nand is returned to original status once the voltage is reversed. Alternating\nthis induces an oscillation in cilia, creating waves that move the fluid. <\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: Scientific American, September, 2022,\npage 18.<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNASA Radar <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Turbulent swirls of water, ranging in size from a few\nkilometers to hundreds of kilometers across, peel off large ocean currents and\nmix heat and carbon dioxide into deeper ocean layers. They are the most\nenergetic feature of the ocean, critical to getting climate models right yet\nlargely invisible to satellites, except when they happen to sweep up a massive\nbloom of green phytoplankton.<\/o:p><\/p>

After the launch of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography\n(SWOT) satellite, a joint venture between NASA and CNES, the French space\nagency, the ebb and flow of rivers and lakes will snap into focus. The\nsatellite will capture eddies as small as 7 kilometers across and cover nearly\nthe entire globe every 21 days. On land, SWOT will be able to map the changing\nheight of more than 6 million lakes, from the Great Lakes down to ponds,\ncapturing flows in rivers wider than 100 meters.<\/o:p><\/p>

For nearly 4 decades, NASA and CNES have launched a series\nof radar altimeter satellites, which have monitored the accelerating rise of\nglobal sea levels, a basic indicator of climate change. With the aid of two\n5-meter booms, each bearing an antenna to catch reflections of the radar signal\nSWOT pulses to Earth\u2019s surface and gains a sharper view. With SWOT, seasonal\nchanges in lakes and rivers can be precisely observed. SWOT will be able to\nchart how the levels of the world\u2019s major rivers drop each time a dam or weir\ninterrupts them, and how severely that fragments aquatic habitats. Moreover,\nSWOT will capture flood waters as they move downriver, which should help flood\nmodelers.<\/o:p><\/p>

S\u00f6nke Dangendorf, a physical oceanographer at Tulane\nUniversity states that at the coastlines, SWOT will provide a detailed picture\nof how hot spots of sea level rise in the open ocean influence coastal\ninundation. Small eddies might warm nearby waters, fueling stronger hurricanes,\nthus trapping more heat at the depth too. This must be considered as there are\nmany dwellers along the coasts <\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: New Scientist, December 17, 2022, page\n13<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSolar energy gets flexible <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Engineers in Germany have glued 18 solar panels to the\noutside of a huge tank of hot water for a German utility. It’s not the typical\nhome for solar panels – most are flat, rigid silicon and glass rectangles\narrayed on rooftops or at solar parks. Those are ultrathin organic films made\nby Heliatek, a German solar company. The goal is to expand solar power\u2019s reach\nbeyond flat land. \u201cThere is a huge market where classical photovoltaics do not\nwork,\u201d says Jan Birnstock, Heliatek\u2019s chief technical officer. Organic\nphotovoltaics (OPVs) such as Heliatek\u2019s are more than 10 times lighter than\nsilicon panels and cost just half as much to produce. Some are even\ntransparent, which has architects envisioning solar panels, not just on\nrooftops, but incorporated into building facades, windows, and even indoor\nspaces. In the past few decades, researchers have come up with materials and\ndesigns that have reached efficiencies of nearly 20%, approaching silicon and\nalternative inorganic thin-film solar cells. OPVs allow them to tweak bonds,\nrearrange atoms, and mix elements from across the periodic table. Those changes\nrepresent flexibility to improve their materials\u2019 ability to absorb sunlight,\nconduct charges, and resist degradation. <\/o:p><\/p>

Solar energy is being added to the power grid at a massive\nrate, with more than 200 gigawatts coming online annually, enough to power 150\nmillion homes. But solar and other green energy sources aren\u2019t growing nearly\nfast enough to meet growing demand and forestall catastrophic climate change.\nStarting from global economic development, population growth, and the expected\nshift of much of the world\u2019s cars and trucks from petroleum to electricity, the\nworld\u2019s electricity demand is expected to double by 2050. Countries must\ninstall renewables at four times the current pace to achieve global net zero\ncarbon emissions by 2050.<\/o:p><\/p>

All solar cells are sandwich-like devices, with\nsemiconductors in the middle that absorb photons and convert them to electrical\ncharges, which then migrate to metallic electrodes layered. When sunlight\nstrikes silicon cells, the added energy kicks electrons out of their orbits\naround individual silicon atoms, freeing them. Each excited electron leaves\nbehind an electron vacancy which flows to a cathode and electrons flow to the\nanode, creating an electric current. However, organic semiconductors tend to\nhold onto their charges more tightly. When OPVs absorb sunlight, there\u2019s enough\nenergy to kick an electron out of its atomic orbit, but not enough for the\npositive and negative charges to split up and move, these opposite charges\nstick to each other, creating what is known as an exciton. To generate\nelectricity, the excitons must be separated into positive and negative charges\nthat can travel to their respective electrodes. Over the decades, OPV\nresearchers have sought to improve the performance of their devices by coming\nup with improved donors and acceptors. By incorporating soccer-ball-shaped\ncarbon compounds called fullerenes into the materials efficiency above 5% was\nreachable. The fullerenes\u2019 hunger for electrons makes them powerful acceptors.\nFor the next decade, the action shifted to the donors. By 2012, a series of\nnovel semi-conducting polymers used as donors propelled efficiencies to 12%.<\/o:p><\/p>

A rival thin-film solar technology called perovskites came\nto progress. Perovskites are blends of organic and inorganic compounds that are\ncheap to make, easy to process, and great at capturing sunlight and converting\nit to electricity. While OPV progress stalled, the efficiency of perovskites\nskyrocketed from about 6.5% in 2012 to about 24% in 2020. Today, perovskites\nremain hot. But challenges with long-term stability and their reliance on toxic\nelements have sapped some enthusiasm. Meanwhile, OPVs soon got a burst of\ninnovation of their own.<\/o:p><\/p>

In 2015, researchers led by Xiaowei  Zhan reported the first of a new class of\nnon-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) , it was only about 7% efficient. By 2016, new\nNFAs pushed OPV efficiency to 11.5%. By 2018, they hit 16%. And the records\nkeep coming. Last year, Larson and his colleagues combined multiple donors, an\nNFA, and fullerene in a single layer, they created a material that enabled\nexcitons to live longer which pushed its efficiency up to 18.4%. Silicon solar\ncells command an $85-billion-a-year market, with a 30-year track record and\nproven durability whereas OPVs remain niche products. U.S. startups Ubiquitous\nEnergy and NextEnergy are developing energy generating OPV windows that\nprimarily capture infrared photons while allowing visible light to pass\nthrough, something CIGS and other opaque thin films can\u2019t do. r OPVs to become\na significant source of green energy efficiency and durability must be\nconcerned. Organics such as polymers and NFAs can be dissolved in solvents and\nmachine-coated over large areas. But each layer in the sandwich like device must\nbe completely smooth, with few or no imperfections, which can trap moving\ncharges and reduce the overall efficiency. Controlling the makeup of the\ncentral layer of the sandwich containing the donors and acceptors. The\nintertwining ribbons of donors and acceptors must be extremely thin, because\nexcitons created when photons strike the material can only migrate about 20\nnanometers before the charges recombine and the opportunity to generate\nelectricity is lost. Min’s team tailored a popular approach for manufacturing\nthin films at high speed called blade coating. Min’s team also calculates that\nthe faster manufacturing rate could drop OPV costs more than 10-fold and make\nthe price per kilowatt-hour (kWh) competitive with silicon. The major\nconsideration should be whether such cells will retain the internal structure\nneeded for high efficiency over decades. NFAs are especially susceptible,\nbecause the best ones consist of small molecules that can easily shift through\nthe material. NFAs were replaced with acceptors woven into long polymers to\nhelp keep them in place. Hong Kong, reported all-polymer solar cells that had\nan efficiency of 17% and retained 90% of their efficiency under accelerated\naging tests. However, under intense exposure to the ultraviolet (UV) in\nsunlight, the organics in solar cells can degrade. Forrest and his colleagues\nreported adding a thin layer of UV-absorbing zinc oxide\u2014the same material in\nsome sunscreens\u2014to their OPV, which extended its life up to 30 years in\naccelerated aging tests.<\/o:p><\/p>

OPVs already have a clear advantage over just about every\nother energy generating technology with a strikingly low carbon footprint to\nlighten further as their efficiency continues to set new records, lifetimes\nclimb, and production methods advance. Those trends are buoying hopes of a\nworld where solar power spreads along the curved facades of skyscrapers, the\nwindows of the world which could make prospects for addressing climate CREDITS:\nchange just a little bit brighter.  <\/o:p><\/p>

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>

Complete article: Science, November 11, 2022, page 588.<\/b><\/o:p><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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VOLUME 01: SPECIAL ISSUE (JULY,2023)<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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VOLUME 01: ISSUE 02 (August,2023)<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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VOLUME 02: ISSUE 01 (FEBRUARY,2024)<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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VOLUME 02: ISSUE 02 (AUGUST,2024)<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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VOLUME 03: ISSUE 01 (JANUARY,2025)<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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VOLUME 01: ISSUE 01 (FEBRUARY, 2023) Rewinding the Milky Way The Gaia space telescope of European Space Agency (ESA) has released a data set consisting of the speeds and chemical composition of almost 2 billion stars, that gives us a new perspective of our universe. This new perspective has been claimed to have enabled us to look back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2179","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"kubio_ai_page_context":{"short_desc":"","purpose":"general"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/publication.jfn.ac.lk\/nail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2179"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/publication.jfn.ac.lk\/nail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/publication.jfn.ac.lk\/nail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publication.jfn.ac.lk\/nail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publication.jfn.ac.lk\/nail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2179"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/publication.jfn.ac.lk\/nail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2872,"href":"https:\/\/publication.jfn.ac.lk\/nail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2179\/revisions\/2872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/publication.jfn.ac.lk\/nail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}