💡 Premium Supporter recap + fact-based optimistic news
💉 Covid vaccines saved 20 million lives. 🌳 Deforestation in the Amazon decreases by 30%. 🛫 New aircraft engine makes supersonic flight cheaper and more climate-friendly.
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🏅 The decisive question for AI's Godfather
On Monday, I was invited to the Canadian Embassy to meet one of this year's Nobel Prize winners. The one who's called the godfather of AI, Geoffrey Hinton.
I read about him in the excellent book Genius Makers and got a very positive impression. An extremely stubborn, eccentric, brilliant, and funny person. When the book's author emailed to ask if he preferred to be called Geoffrey or Geoff, he answered Geoffrey – and signed it Geoff.
After a brief address by Hinton, we 120 guests had the chance to talk with him. I had two questions. One serious and important, another that I really wanted an answer to.
In the book, I read that Hinton cannot sit down. He has an injured back and can only stand or lie down.
How does one get through the Nobel banquet if one cannot sit???
So I asked.
It turns out he can sit for about an hour, on a specially made cushion. After that, he must stand up and stretch his back. The Nobel banquet is, as we know, longer than an hour. So he has been given permission to stand up and "go to the bathroom," even before the king has left the table.
So now you know!
The answer to the other question I'll probably save for my new book.
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Mathias Sundin
The Angry Optimist
💡 Premium Supporter content
🏅 Not celebrating a Nobel Prize is far from being clear-sighted, Han Kang
To only see war and misery is not clear-sighted, it is one-eyed.
💡 Fact-based optimistic news of the week
🛫 New aircraft engine makes supersonic flight cheaper and more climate-friendly
The engine is designed to run on liquid natural gas which costs one-tenth of traditional jet fuel and emits 30 percent less carbon dioxide.
💉 Sudan begins malaria vaccination
Sudan starts malaria vaccination, with 186,000 doses reaching 148,000 children under one year. The vaccine will be administered in 15 areas in the Gedaref and Blue Nile states, with plans to expand to 129 areas during 2025-2026. Sudan has high prevalence with over 3.4 million cases during 2023.
🌳 Deforestation in the Amazon decreases by 30%
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has decreased by 30 percent over the past year, reaching its lowest level since 2015. In Cerrado, Brazil's savanna region, deforestation also decreased by 26 percent, the first reduction in five years.
📉 Lowest poverty level of the 21st century in Latin America
Poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean has decreased by 4.7 percentage points between 2021 and 2023. The middle class has grown to 41.1 percent of the population in 2023, the highest level this century.
💉 Covid vaccines saved 20 million lives during first year of the pandemic
The Covid vaccine saved an estimated 20 million lives globally during the first year the vaccine was available. Data shows that mortality was significantly higher among unvaccinated individuals, particularly during virus outbreaks. At least 25 million people died in the pandemic.
✈️ Boom Supersonic ready to deliver supersonic aircraft in 2029
Boom Supersonic will deliver the passenger aircraft Overture, flying at 1,300 miles per hour (Mach 1.7), to airlines in 2029. A journey between New York and London will take 3 hours and 40 minutes, compared to today's 7 hours.
🎙️ AI talk or master class?
I'm giving a lot of talks and master classes on AI in several different countries. Happy to come to your organization.
Learn more at mathiassundin.org.
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