Tag Archives: Technology

Fighting Climate Change by Capturing Excess CO2.

Posted on November 23, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Climate change is becoming a serious issue as temperatures continue to rise due to increasing global greenhouse emissions. Greenhouse gases such as CO2 trap reflecting sunlight and radiation that would normally escape the atmosphere of Earth and this trapped heat then leads to warmer temperatures. Over the past 150 years, Carbon dioxide(CO2) emissions around the world have increased mainly due to human involvement through the burning of fossil fuels and industrial processes. The figure below outlines the percentages of various greenhouse gas emissions and their sources.

Credit: IPCC(2014)

Due to these rising emissions, there are many researchers and technology companies around the world that are looking at ways to reduce the amount of atmospheric CO2 and mitigate climate change before it is too late. In the past few years, many new technologies and techniques to capture excess carbon have emerged. Some of these main ones include Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage(BECCS or bio-CCS) and Direct Air Capture(DAC). Although the ultimate goal of both methods is to reduce carbon emissions, BECCS focuses on capturing CO2 released through combustion in industrial facilities while DAC aims to directly capture excess CO2 from the atmosphere. From these two methods, companies such as Carbon Engineering who are employing DAC have gained more traction as they have landed large investors such as Bill Gates and Chevron.

A study posted in 2018 outlined the process and cost of Direct Air Capture(DAC). Through this research, a Canadian company called Carbon Engineering based in Squamish, BC has tested the Direct Air Capture technology and hopes to make various large scale carbon storage plants over the next few years. Another company called Climeworks based in Switzerland is using similar methods to capture carbon from the atmosphere. Carbon Engineering has a plan to use the carbon from the atmosphere in 2 different ways which are reusing the stored carbon as a source of fuel and the second being storing solid carbon underground. According to the company, one large scale plant can store as much carbon as 40 million trees. They believe it is an efficient way to reducing carbon emissions and as they continue to get more funding they become closer and closer to their goal.

This video below explains the Direct Air Capture(DAC) method of removing CO2 and also outlines the various ongoing and future projects to mitigate climate change.

-Sandeep Singh

Leave a comment

Posted in Issues in Science, Science Communication, Science in the News

Tagged , , , , ,

Self-Driving Car: Latest Technologies (Revised)

Posted on November 2, 2020 by | 4 comments

The Dream Has Become a Reality

Self-driving cars might seem like an imaginary machine for people who are not very familiar with the term, but they are widespread soon. According to Grand View Research, the global self‑driving cars’ market size is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 63.1% from 2021 to 2030. They are a key innovation and have high growth potential in the automobile industry.

Weymo

While the market of self-driving cars is expanding, there is one company that attracts the most attention to itself now in the automobile industry, which is Weymo. Weymo itself does not produce cars, but it develops AI software for self-driving cars. Their autonomous driving technology is said to be one of the most advanced in the world.

Image: Grendelkhan/Wikimedia

Machine Learning

Waymo is using machine learning in many ways to improve its autonomous driving technology. Machine learning is a method of having a computer read data and analyze it based on an algorithm. By iteratively making a computer to learn the data of a particular case, they can discover the features and patterns in those data. Then, they apply the found features and patterns to analyze the new data.

Image: Avimanyu786/Wikimedia

Utilization and Training Of AI by Waymo

Self-driving cars need many data in various situations, but it is difficult to train them using real-world data in high-risk but infrequent situations, such as when pedestrians jump out from behind a stopped car or in a snowstorm. Thus, the cars are instead travelling billions of miles using virtual reality simulations.　Waymo’s researchers have revealed that they usually drive about 25,000 cars in simulations to keep improving machine learning algorithms.

Recognition Of Objects and Surroundings

The most basic task of self-driving cars is to recognize surrounding objects. Waymo uses a neural network that imitates the mechanism of the human brain (it is essentially a machine learning model) to accurately detect traffic lights, bicycles, pedestrians, lanes, etc. in any weather condition. Weymo has recently released a video of a car understanding human gestures. The video below shows a self-driving car stopping at a crossing with a broken signal and following a police officer’s hand signal.

Source: Weymo

Predicting the movement of pedestrians and vehicles is essential to avoid accidents. In 2019, Waymo patented a system that sends data from a car sensor to a neural network to predict the position of a nearby car.

Future Prospects of Self-Driving Cars and Issues

Though the technologies of self-driving cars are rapidly developing, there are still many issues that cannot be solved by technology alone. For example, in regards to Tesla car fatal accident that occurred in 2108, issues such as who should take responsibility and driver’s moral hazard have been pointed out. It won’t be long before self-driving cars will be part of people’s daily lives if these problems are solved.

 

ーShunya Sunami

4 Comments

Posted in Science in the News

Tagged , , ,

Failure to Communicate

Posted on October 19, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Introduction 

Right now communicating science to the general public is more important than ever, and we are failing. Less than 50% of Americans say they would receive a vaccine for COVID-19. This shows the eroding trust that the public has for their once highly esteemed scientist. This is the result of breakdowns in the scientific method that have led to conflicting information being shared with the public.

Mask  Wearing

Perhaps the most notable slip up was the controversy surrounding masks.  While recommended now, it was not until April 3rd, three months into the pandemic, that the CDC began recommending the general public to wear a mask. This was in direct conflict with their earlier statements that only healthcare workers needed masks.  Scientists rushed conclusions that could not be properly verified before being shared with the public. The public demanded answers from a process that can take years, in a matter of weeks. By caving in to public demand, the CDC and World Health Organization were inevitably set up for failure as the pandemic progressed and more data was collected leading to new developments. Tweets from the U.S surgeon general like this

Tweet by Surgeon General Feb 29

only serve to fuel distrust when compared with tweets he makes a few months later.

Tweet by Surgeon General June 14

 

I do not fault scientists for changing their opinion as new data became available, but I do fault (some) scientists for stating their answers with confidence when the proper research and review had not been conducted.

 

Treatment

Image: flickr

Scientists have been under enormous pressure to find treatments for COVID-19 that can reduce mortality and infection rate. This has created haste in the scientific method and has allowed some treatments to receive emergency authorization from the FDA such as remdesivir. Even these emergency authorizations are accompanied by randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials that assure treatments are safe. These methods for testing were not present in the study of Hydroxychloroquine that led to its eventual emergency authorization.  The original study involved only 26 patients treated with Hydroxychloroquine that were compared to 16 untreated patients at a different hospital. Later studies conducted on Hydroxychloroquine would question its effectiveness as a treatment for COVID-19 and thus the scientific process was able to correct itself and the FDA revoked the use of Hydroxychloroquine. However, the public once again lost its trust in doctors. This opened the door to rumors and conspiracy theories to dominate the public view. In a pandemic where time is everything the spread of misinformation costs lives

By allowing leniency in the scientific method, we have opened the flood gates to all types of information being thrust onto the pedestal once reserved for the conclusion from the scientific method. Your uncle’s Facebook post about the healing power of Clorox bleach carries as much weight as the cutting edge research on COVID-19. Scientists have lost credibility with the public. This is not the first time this has happened, but it may be the most damaging.

 

Dylan Chambers

Leave a comment

Posted in Issues in Science, Science Communication, Science Communicators, Science in the News, Statistics, Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , ,

From Earth to Beyond: Will Humans Ever Live on Another Planet and What Would Life Beyond Earth Look Like?

Posted on October 13, 2020 by | 1 comment

Past, Present and Future

Humans have always been a curious species and have spent lots of time trying to figure out the mysteries of the universe. From launching thousands of satellites to space to landing a man on the moon, space exploration has continuously advanced through time. Throughout time, space agencies from around the world have completed various missions to space to explore different stars and planets such as the Moon and Mars. Humans continue to explore as they did in the past and now with the increasing interest in space exploration, there is no doubt that one-day humans will live on another planet.

Where would we go?

In the past few years, there has been an increasing interest in searching for possible planets for humans to survive on. This has led to increased funding for research on planets like Mars. Mars is one of Earth’s closest neighbouring planets. Mars was first discovered in 1609, by Galileo Galilei who first saw it through a telescope. Since then, many satellites, probes and rovers have been sent to Mars to examine its surface and look for water and other signs that can help sustain life. Mars falls within the habitable zone in our solar system known as the Goldilocks zone. The Goldilocks zone is a zone around a star which is at a distance good enough for liquid water to exist. The zone is shown in the photo below. Research has shown signs of water on Mars but due to its thin atmosphere, much of it has frozen or evaporated. There are methods which are possible to artificially warm-up Mars according to space companies such as SpaceX. Mars also has 38% gravity of Earth which researches suggest humans can adapt to. Moreover, a day on Mars is about 24 hrs and 37 min which is very similar to a day on Earth. These factors have shown that Mars is a suitable candidate for supporting human life.

Credit: Cornell University
Found on NASA astrobiology website

 

How will people get there?

People will travel to destinations such as Mars via rockets. Space flight is very expensive and can cost almost 100’s of millions of dollars just to send one rocket to a planet like Mars. Despite the overwhelming cost of rocket launches, many companies such as SpaceX and government agencies such as NASA and China National Space Administration (CNSA) have invested in Mars research. Technological innovation is leading to a decrease in these prices. SpaceX has a plan to send its first crew to Mars in the year 2024 while NASA has a more long term plan which includes sending crews to the Moon first as a preparation for larger missions to Mars.

Life on Mars

Due to the amount of radiation on Mars surface humans cannot walk around unprotected. The thin atmosphere on Mars would have to be shielded from solar winds and life on Mars would be mostly spent living in capsules. Over time, Mars can be transformed into a fully habitable planet like Earth.

– Sandeep Singh

1 Comment

Posted in Science in the News, Uncategorized

Tagged , , ,

Self-Driving Car: Latest Technologies

Posted on October 13, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Self-Driving Cars

Self-driving cars might seem like an imaginary machine for people who are not very familiar with the term, but it is expected to be widespread soon. According to Grand View Research, the global self‑driving cars’ market size is expected to expand at CAGR of 63.1% from 2021 to 2030. They are a key innovation and have high growth potential in the automobile industry.

Weymo

While the market of self-driving cars is expanding, there is a company that attracts the most attention to itself now in the automobile industry, which is Weymo. Weymo itself does not produce cars, but it develops AI software for self-driving cars. Their autonomous driving technology is said to be the most advanced in the world.

Image: Grendelkhan/Wikimedia

Utilization and Training Of AI by Waymo

Waymo is using machine learning in many ways to improve its autonomous driving technology. They need many data in various situations, but it is difficult to train them using real-world data in high-risk but infrequent situations, such as when pedestrians jump out from behind a stopped car or in a snowstorm. Thus, the cars are instead travelling billions of miles using virtual reality simulations.　Waymo’s researchers have revealed that they usually drive about 25,000 cars in simulations to keep improving machine learning algorithms.

Recognition Of Objects and Surroundings

The most basic task of self-driving cars is to recognize surrounding objects. Waymo uses a neural network that imitates the mechanism of the human brain to accurately detect traffic lights, bicycles, pedestrians, lanes, etc. in any weather condition. Weymo has recently released a video of a car understanding human gestures. The video below shows a self-driving car stopping at a crossing with a broken signal and following a police officer’s hand signal.

Source: Weymo

Predicting the movement of pedestrians and vehicles is essential to avoid accidents. In 2019, Waymo patented a system that sends data from a car sensor to a neural network to predict the position of a nearby car.

Future Prospects of Self-Driving Cars and Issues

Although the technology of self-driving cars is rapidly developing, there are still many issues that cannot be solved by technology alone. For example, in regards to the Tesla car fatal accident that occurred in 2018, issues such as upon whom responsibility should be and the driver’s moral hazard have been pointed out. It won’t be long before self-driving cars will be part of people’s daily lives if these problems are solved.

 

ーShunya Sunami

Leave a comment

Posted in Science in the News

Tagged , , ,