🏭 Coal power in the richest countries peaked in 2007 - and has halved since then
OECD countries' coal power production has decreased by 52 percent since the peak in 2007. Over a third of OECD countries are now completely free of coal power. Three-quarters of OECD countries are on track to phase out coal power by 2030.
📳 Mobile phones used to detect earthquakes
Android devices are transformed into a global network for earthquake warnings. The system provides valuable seconds of advance warning before an earthquake strikes. Over three billion Android phones worldwide can potentially contribute to the system.
🦾 Industrial robots learn new skills on their own
Industrial robots are becoming more intelligent with the help of AI and can now perform increasingly complex tasks. Generative AI enables robots to perform more complex tasks, such as pouring liquids or turning knobs, and to learn new skills faster based on learned behavior.
🌾 AI-driven weed controllers reduce the need for herbicides by 90%
New technology reduces herbicide use by up to 90 percent. AI-controlled cameras identify weeds for precision treatment. Using less herbicide through precision applications can help lower costs for growers.
📈 Solar energy grows fastest in Central and Eastern Europe
Electricity production from solar parks in Central and Eastern Europe increased by 55 percent during the first seven months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Poland and Hungary account for the strongest growth in large-scale solar energy in the region.
💡 Warp News #252
🧊 Technology to restore sea ice in the Arctic. 🦾 AI generates more innovative research ideas than experts, large study shows. 🦌 Saiga antelope goes from endangered to thriving. 🌊 Minesto delivers ocean energy to the grid with tidal kites.
🌊 Minesto delivers ocean energy to the grid with tidal kites
Minesto's tidal kites have been generating electricity to the grid for three months. They generate electricity from ocean currents using a method similar to a kite flying in the wind. Test data shows that the technology is ready for commercial production.
🧠 My extra AI brain makes me better
It's not about what AI will do for you. But how you will become better with the help of AI. When the AI knows you, everything is taken to a new level.
🦌 Saiga antelope goes from endangered to thriving
The saiga antelope population in Kazakhstan has increased from 21,000 in 2003 to 1.3 million today. The species has been reclassified from "critically endangered" to "near threatened" on the international red list.
🔋 New battery technologies expand possibilities for renewable energy
Several new types of batteries are in development. Zinc-bromine flow batteries offer a safe and sustainable solution for energy storage. Organic flow batteries with solid materials increase storage capacity compared to conventional flow batteries.
🦾 AI generates more innovative research ideas than experts, large study shows
AI-generated research ideas were judged as statistically significantly more innovative than human experts' ideas in a large-scale study. Ideas generated by AI and then reranked by a human expert scored even higher on both novelty and excitement.
🌊 Breakthrough: Seawater becomes fuel without hazardous substances
The company Equatic has created a technology that extracts hydrogen from seawater without producing harmful chlorine. The method can simultaneously remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in the ocean.
🧊 They are developing a technology to restore sea ice in the Arctic
The company Real Ice is developing a technology to preserve and restore sea ice in the Arctic. The method uses renewable energy to pump seawater onto the ice and create extra ice layers. Testing of the technology in Arctic conditions will soon begin.
💡 Warp News #251
🤰 Obesity in the US is decreasing. 🎈 Startup wants to cool the Earth with lots of balloons. 🌍 Plan to provide 300 million Africans with access to electricity.
🎈 Startup wants to cool the Earth with lots of balloons
Make Sunsets has released 82 balloons with sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere. Solar radiation management is controversial but could potentially reduce global warming quickly and cost-effectively.
📚 Top Reads
We're honored to present these top reads from world-class writers, who contribute to Warp News because they believe in our mission of spreading fact-based optimism all over the world.
🆙 Warp Levels - an idea to level up humanity
Humanity is doing the high jump without a bar. We have no goal. With Warp Levels, we determine what the next level for humanity should contain, so we can level up and make progress faster.
📚 Kevin Kelly: Focus on the biggest opportunities, not the biggest problems
We talk about some of the 450 advice in his new book, but also about his new project: Protopia - the hundred-year desirable future. And Kevin Kelly give advice for how Warp News should grow faster: "Wrap it around people and their dreams."
💡 A new mindset for humanity can impact billions of people now and in the future
If we succeed in giving humanity more optimism about the future, it will not only affect those living now but also all generations and billions of people who will live in the future.
💰 Wall Street legend: “Pessimists sound smart – optimists make money”
Jim O'Shaughnessy is a legendary investor on Wall Street. He shares what he thinks is the biggest opportunity for the future and explains how the world is going through a great reshuffle.
🔋 Northvolt and the benefit of understanding the future
The story of Peter Carlsson and Northvolt teaches us two lessons: You need to understand the future to see all the possibilities, and you must be a fact-based optimist to grab them.
💡 David Deutsch: Optimism, Pessimism and Cynicism
With so much progress in the world, how can pessimism still be widespread? It is because of cynicism, denying that “so-called-progress” is progress, argues David Deutsch, professor at Oxford University and one of the world's leading intellectuals on optimism.
