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Archive for the ‘government’ category: Page 149

Jul 11, 2019

Blockchain and carbon offsetting can help cities reduce emissions – but sometimes simpler is best

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, business, climatology, government

Carbon offsetting initiatives have been offered by private companies – including British Airways and Shell – for many years. These voluntary schemes give customers the choice to pay a premium, on the understanding that the company will offset some greenhouse gas emissions. Since carbon offsetting became an option, projects around the world have resulted in a saving of approximately 994m tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) equivalent. But given that global CO₂ levels in 2018 were 33.1Gt, it’s fair to say that a lot more could be done.

The UK could become net zero emissions tomorrow if the government wished, but it would cost the tax payer dearly. In 2017, the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions were 460m tonnes. If, for example, the government used the Gold Standard offsetting scheme, at an average cost of £10/tonne, that would amount to an astonishing £4.6 billion bill. Most would agree this would be an excessive cost for the government to bear, and anyway the public, private and third sectors should share responsibility for tackling emissions.

Local authorities have an important role to play in meeting this target, given their ability to work with residents, charities and businesses to make meaningful changes at a local level. Some local authorities are leading the way by setting ambitious targets: Liverpool City Council aims to become the UK’s first “climate positive” city by the end of 2020. The council has formed a partnership with a private sector organisation – the Poseidon Foundation – to achieve this through carbon offsetting.

Jul 8, 2019

The Pill That Could Change the Future of Aging

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government, life extension

A network of government-funded labs has spent the past 15 years searching for a drug that can slow down aging. The results have researchers excited.

Jul 6, 2019

China’s Big AI Advantage: Humans

Posted by in categories: economics, education, government, robotics/AI, transportation

Seemingly “intelligent” devices like self-driving trucks aren’t actually all that intelligent. In order to avoid plowing into other cars or making illegal lane changes, they need a lot of help.

In China, that help is increasingly coming from rooms full of college students.

Continue reading “China’s Big AI Advantage: Humans” »

Jul 2, 2019

The Rejuvenation Market in Singapore

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, economics, finance, government, life extension

With its growing aging population, Singapore has a looming crisis, but could also be primed to become a major player in the rejuvenation biotechnology industry.


Singapore has one of the fastest-aging populations in the world. Senior citizens 65 years old or older are expected to make up almost half of Singapore’s population by 2050. Unfortunately, this swelling population is spending more time living with sickness, even though they live longer. While average lifespans have been extended, healthspans have not. [1] Singaporeans have an impressive average life expectancy of 84.8 years, but an average Singaporean born in 2017 is predicted to spend the last ten and a half years in sickness, compared to how a Singaporean born in 1999 is likely to spend only nine twilight years in deteriorating health.

This is becoming a massive concern for the Singaporean government because of the financial strain that this is imposing on Singapore’s budget. Having the world’s second-lowest birth rate coupled with a rapidly aging population means that the ratio of working adults to senior citizens is quickly shrinking. In 2007, there were 6.9 working adults for every senior citizen. By 2030, there will be 2.3 working adults per senior citizen.

Continue reading “The Rejuvenation Market in Singapore” »

Jul 2, 2019

MIT’s Nano-Magnets Can Clean Up Oil Spills

Posted by in categories: government, nanotechnology, robotics/AI, sustainability

Oil spill cleanup technology is a surprisingly innovative field—we learned as much in the wake of the BP Gulf disaster, when everyone from conservation biologists to barbers to Kevin Costner rushed to sell the government on their wild, sometimes literally hairy oil-sucking solutions. We had rubber goop that turned oil solid, massive bags of hair, and MIT’s previous entry into the cleanup fray, robotic oil-eating submarines.

But now the renowned science lab has a better idea: nano-magnets.

MIT researchers have developed a new technique for magnetically separating oil and water that could be used to clean up oil spills. They believe that, with their technique, the oil could be recovered for use, offsetting much of the cost of cleanup.

Jul 1, 2019

Britain to become Europe’s first spaceport as UK joins space tourism race

Posted by in categories: government, satellites

Britain could soon be sending tourists into orbit after the UK Space Agency began drafting regulations to allow human launches from spaceports in Cornwall and the Scottish Highlands.

The government is already committed to putting satellites into space from British soil and recently signed a deal with Virgin Orbit to start building the facilities to allow horizontal launches.

Now the UK Space Agency has confirmed it is drawing up regulations to allow sub-orbital human spaceflight, with Virgin Galactic the most likely candidate to take tourists beyond Earth’s atmosphere where they can experience weightlessness and see the curvature of the planet.

Jun 29, 2019

The U.S. put nuclear waste under a dome on a Pacific island. Now it’s cracking open

Posted by in categories: government, nuclear energy

The Marshallese government, however, does not have the money to shore up the structure, leaving it vulnerable to both rising tides and typhoons.

“It’s clear as day that the local government will neither have the expertise or funds to fix the problem if it needs a particular fix,” a Marshallese official told the Guardian.

Last week, Guterres sounded a similar theme in Fiji about the ongoing effects of the American testing on the small island nation.

Jun 28, 2019

Jason—a secretive group of Cold War science advisers—is fighting to survive in the 21st century

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, engineering, government, science

With the end of the Vietnam and Cold wars, Jason members began to branch out from physics and engineering. In 1977, they did their first assessment of global climate models and later advised DOE on which atmospheric measurements were most critical for the models. Since the mid-1990s, Jason has studied biotechnologies, including techniques for detecting biological weapons.


After near-death experience, top scientists seek a long-term home in the U.S. government.

Jun 27, 2019

Global Cold Plasma Market Analysis 2019 Miller’s Total Comfort, Atmospheric plasma technology, Air Oasis, Lenntech, ECOAIR, GPS

Posted by in categories: business, government

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Jun 26, 2019

Retailers Are Judging Consumers

Posted by in categories: business, education, government, information science, surveillance

China isn’t the only country with a draconian “social credit score” system — there’s one quite a bit like it operating in the U.S. Except that it’s being run by American businesses, not the government.

There’s plenty of evidence that retailers have been using a technique called “surveillance scoring” for decades in which consumers are given a secret score by an algorithm to give them a different price — but for the same goods and services.

But the practice might be illegal after all: a California nonprofit called Consumer Education Foundation (CEF) filed a petition yesterday asking for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to look into the shady practice.