Panos for Progress: Thoughts and Selections

 Amidst the Y2K hysteria, 1999 Was the best year for movies, with something for everybody: 10 Things I Hate About You American Pie Being John Malkovich Eyes Wide Shut Fight Club Magnolia Notting Hill Office Space Runaway Bride Shakespeare in Love Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace The Green Mile The Matrix The Mummy The Sixth Sense The Talented Mr. Ripley The Virgin Suicides Toy Story 2 You’ve Got Mail And last but not least “The Blair Witch Project” which turned $35,000 into $250 million! I can't pick one most favorite, but I can pick three: The Matrix, The Sixth Sense and Being John Malkovich. The Sixth Sense was second top at the box office, with Star Wars at the top. (Compiled from a NYT newsletter.)

Robert Poole's article titled The (Not So?) Surprising Decline of Electric Vehicles gives a useful update on the reduction of EV sales and manufacturing in the US.  All the text below is from Robert's newsletter. First, let me add two updates. 1. AXIOS: " Ford is again shifting its electrification strategy — delaying a planned electric pickup truck by 18 months and killing plans for a three-row electric SUV ... Ford's EV unit lost $4.7 billion in 2023 (and is on track to lose even more this year. )" 2. ConsumerAffairs:  Nearly one-fifth of sold EVs recalled over battery or charging issues . Surface Transportation News , August 7, 2024: Recent headlines in business media report trouble with the electric vehicle market. Last month, (all-EV) Tesla reported a 45% profit decrease in the most recent quarter, due to lower sales and the lower prices it’s recently been charging due to increased EV competition. GM announced delays in two planned EV factories—one for electr

My brief expert opinion in WalletHub : Why is it important for drivers to check their Driving Record? Much like people's credit scores and records, drivers need to inspect their driving records and be aware of relevant laws. There may be errors in the record that need correction. Also, incidents that occurred many years ago may still be listed although applicable law requires them to be expunged after, say, five years. How often should drivers check their Driving Record? Drivers should inspect their driving record if there is a change in their insurance premium if they plan to shop for and change insurance carriers, or every five years at the latest. What is the best thing to do if drivers see an error on their Driving Record? Drivers need to contact the DMV or relevant authority to request a correction and inform their auto insurance carrier of the error. What are the best things drivers can do to improve their Driving Record? Traffic safety clinics and defensive driving schools a

My commentary in WalletHub's ranking of US green cities :  Should cities invest in going green? What are the benefits? Environmental and transportation solutions need to be tailored to an area's specific characteristics. Solutions for Tokyo are likely less suitable for Chicago. Cities with acute pollution issues should focus on smart city mitigations targeting pollution, such as electrification of bus fleets and incentives for EVs. Cities with acute traffic congestion should focus on smart city congestion mitigation, such as adaptive traffic signal management and intelligent time-dependent road pricing. What policies or investments offer the biggest bang for the buck? Smart traffic management for both arterial streets and freeways is the most common low-hanging fruit with moderate costs and substantial congestion and pollution reduction. Priority lanes and traffic signal preemption for Bus Rapid Transit are cost-effective smart city improvements for public transport. How can st

My Letter to the Editor, Reno Gazette Journal, January 12, 2022 "No Future in Manufactured Meat" by Jim Hightower (RGJ 1/2/22) will be one of the most erroneous editorial opinions this year. The article is peppered with scientific jargon to scare the reader about substances in plant-based meat. But these substances can be found in many foods consumed routinely. Hightower states a hyperbolic past cost, but today a 4oz plant-based meat hamburger putty is about $2 at Costco.  Hightower asks, “who needs a meatless burger?” Everyone who likes meat does! The cattle industry is the number one agricultural source of greenhouse gasses worldwide, a major source of climate change that affects everyone. In June 2020, UC-Davis research estimated that livestock are responsible for 14.5% of global greenhouse gasses.  Based on a large US-based study by the Harvard School of Public Health, in 2012 the National Institutes of Health informed that red meat is linked to increased risks of diabete

Interesting article by Phred Dvorak in the Wall Street Journal:  Solar-Powered Planes Take Flight . "Solar-powered planes won’t be flying people to their next vacation spot anytime soon. But these prototypes, most of which operate without humans, could lead to new alternatives for aerial surveillance on high-risk missions and emergency telecommunications in disaster zones." I had two questions after reading the article: 1. Why don't they fill pockets in the wings and fuselage with helium for added lift? 2. A lot of energy is spent and a high likelihood of risk due to wind gusts is experienced during the slow and laborious take off. Why don't they launch them to, say, 10,000 ft. using a slow, modified bush plane?   Photo : Solar Impulse has a long stopover at a hangar in Honolulu and was opened to visitation. Four of my graduate students and I in summer 2015.

Definition : Self-driving labs combine robotics, AI and advanced computing to design, make, test and analyze potential new materials in a loop guided by AI that learns from the experiments it has run and makes decisions about what to do next. Importance : It currently takes 20 years and $100 million on average to go from the discovery of a new material to high-volume advanced manufacturing of it. Self-driving labs could accelerate the process 100 to 1,000 times, potentially bringing a 10-plus-year operation down to less than a few months and cutting the cost from $100 million to less than $1 million. Only a few : This is a fairly embryonic concept. The list of countries with the trifecta of AI, robotics and advanced computing capabilities is small. Source: AXIOS Science, Aug. 08, 2024.

Good coverage in this CNBC article:  Waymo is developing a roomier robotaxi with less-expensive tech . Selected quotes below. Waymo provides around 50,000 paid driverless trips weekly, primarily in San Francisco and Phoenix.   Waymo has completed more than 2 million trips to date. Its new driverless tech, integrated into Geely Zeekr electric vehicles, should be able to handle a wider array of weather conditions without requiring as many costly cameras and sensors on board. Waymo testing and validation work in Detroit, Buffalo, New York, and New York aims to understand more about how its driverless cars will perform in different types of traffic and weather.

  Source: AXIOS, Aug. 20, 2024

  At over 60 years of age, won't be around to fact check this, but explosive overpopulation does not seem to be as big a threat to Earth's resources as once was. The projections above do not account for climate change deaths from extreme weather, famines, etc. All the growth shown will be in India, a few pockets in Asia, parts of Latin America and most of Africa. First world population will shrink, by a lot.

J D Power: ... new electric vehicles are taken into the dealership at a rate three times higher than that of gas-powered vehicles . Quote from the report: Proponents of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) often state these vehicles should be less problematic and require fewer repairs than gas-powered vehicles since they have fewer parts and systems. However, newly incorporated repair data shows BEVs, as well as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), require more repairs than gas-powered vehicles in all repair categories. “Owners of cutting edge, tech-filled BEVs and PHEVs are experiencing problems that are of a severity level high enough for them to take their new vehicle into the dealership at a rate three times higher than that of gas-powered vehicle owners,” Hanley said.

The current AI models are just the appetizer. AI capabilities will soon accelerate at an unfathomable rate, making today’s tech look like Stone Age tools - Emad Mostaque, former CEO of Stability AI This prophecy is likely true and it means that the talent, knowledge and experience of accomplished individuals will become tertiary. Mediocre persons who delve into AI tools will be better at getting to the top by harnessing the global talent, knowledge and experience. For those who see the glass half full, it'll be a world of opportunities for new winners and new losers. My guess is that in the next several years society will make a giant leap forward, mostly in science, medicine, research (see self-driving labs), industrial processes and management ... although many AI discoveries and proposed methods or actions may be too expensive, impractical or politically unacceptable to realize. However, soon enough, millions of idiots and powerful bad actors, including domestic and self-center