Out of many different, mind-boggling ideas in science, there are some that seem more obscure than others. It is hardly surprising, as their existence might be quite hard to believe and the progress may have a tough time commencing. This applies, among others, to the creation of researchers from the University of Colorado.
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My! They have created… what exactly?
A group of people, hailing from the place mentioned above, attempted to create a self-healing concrete, made, for the most part, of bacteria. The experiment resurfaced at the beginning of 2020, however, it was lost in the sea of neverending news about Covid19 and other trending topics. This “Frankenstein material” (as Wil Srubar, one of its creators, dubbed it) is capable of self-repairing, due to the process of photosynthesis, which takes place in cyanobacteria. Not only that – it can also reproduce.
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They just keep coming!
The bacteria aren’t very selective when it comes to the material they use, so there is no need to use sand or actual concrete. This makes the solution perfect for situations in which we are short on a certain material. Construction sites are usually filled many different things, leaving little space left. It could also help with that. What’s more (as I mentioned before) you can detach parts of the block in use and let it merge with the raw material. Its ability to reproduce could be incredibly useful in cases where the amount of money on our disposal is very limited.
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Still only fiction?
Needless to say, that the invention is still in its very early stages. It will probably take some time before we can experience all the benefits. It needs jello in order to be held together and drying it excessively would kill most of the bacteria. Due to that fact, it is not possible to make it as hard as concrete. Not only that but caring for bacteria is too difficult and impractical for the invention to be implemented anywhere. We can only hope it finds a niche somewhere.
Sources:
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Timmer, J., 2021. “Living concrete” is an interesting first step. [online] Ars Technica. Available at: <https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/01/living-concrete-is-an-interesting-first-step/> [Accessed 30 November 2021].
also source of image 1.1
2.
Timmer, J., 2021. “Living concrete” is an interesting first step. [online] Ars Technica. Available at: <https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/01/living-concrete-is-an-interesting-first-step/> [Accessed 30 November 2021].
image 1.2:
En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Cyanobacteria – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria> [Accessed 30 November 2021].
image 1.3:
Artsy Pretty Plants. 2021. Choosing Mold Types For Concrete Crafts. [online] Available at: <https://artsyprettyplants.com/best-molds-for-concrete-crafts/> [Accessed 30 November 2021].
Found in many novels like “Snow Crash” or “Ready Player One”, haptic gloves are an inseparable part of the VR set. The ability to touch and feel in the digital world is slowly becoming a holy grail. Those who should claim it will become one of the leading tech companies.
Recent Meta video showing their new haptic gloves spiced the competition even more. After 7 years of development Meta finally decided to share some of their secrets. Gloves work thanks to around 15 actuators – inflatable plastic bubbles, that create the sensation of touching. If Meta would be able to fit thousands of those actuators in a glove the sensation would be almost indistinguishable. The device also possesses standard VR chips to let the camera track your every move. Combining gloves with Quest 2 – VR headset, gives a really strong impression of full immersion being just around the corner. Inventors say that our brain is really good at combining various senses. Seeing an object, and touching it is enough for our brain to even enhance this experience. What’s more Meta plans to develop the first high-speed microfluid processor. This will allow controlling air flow that moves the actuators.
Since Meta is not the first one to build this kind of device there have been different approaches. One of which presents company HaptX. Their idea is to use an electromagnetic solution. In the core, you can find a coil that creates an electromagnetic field, which is picked up by small sensors in each finger. Mixing this with actuators creates a very strong level of reality. The big thing is that HaptX gloves have force feedback. Your fingers will get blocked in a position they normally would if you were to grab any object. You can feel the resistance of objects that are made digitally.
Haptic gloves still have a long way to go. Both companies are working on creating a better and better experience with lower and lower costs. Right now the estimated price of these gloves is around 23 000 USD. Not a lot of people would afford it. Also, there is still some work to be done in aspects of weight or overall design. Those are still prototypes, it will take some time before we see them in the customers market.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies had been on a market for a long time now. When the topic is brought up, most people think Bitcoin, unpredictability of these currencies, and that they are a great opportunity to get rich fast. However almost none of these people know what cryptocurrencies even are, and yet some of them still try to invest using tips from the internet.
In the text linked below it’s said that decentalized nature of cryptocurrencies make the investor more in control, because there is no 3rd party like government involved the profits won’t be subrtacted by them. However that is not enough to compansate how it is impossible to predict price of ex. Bitcoin, and basicaly no one has any control of a price. Article also mentions limited supply of cryptocurrencies, and how that makes purchasing power increase over time. But that doesn’t mean profit for investors if price dies down completely, which can happen anytime. Another thing said in article is how secure they can be and safe to trade thanks to being open-source. That is however not true, hackers steal cryptocurrencies all the time and one safe way is to store them on a remote drive, which can be easly lost. Next it is mentioned how good investment it is in a long run investment, and the wait will pay off eventually, in real life however almost 20% of cryptocurrencies are completely forgotten, which makes them worth 0$, and the price can easily go either up or down.
All mentioned above in my opinion makes it not worth to invest in cryptocurrencies, they are even riskier than stock market, and sometimes don’t even provide more profit. Esspecially if it is done by people who don’t know what they are playing with.
Recently Wall Street has been sending some signals indicating the end of Intel as the leader of the US chip market. And if these signals come to fruition, this might indicate the end of Intel’s leadership of four decades very soon.
Qualcomm, a chip manufacturer , has seen its stock market value increase by nearly half since October , crossing Intel last week. AMD , another one of Intel’s competition in PC and server processors , has seen similar growth and is nearly about to cross its longtime opponent.
This is coming after Nvidia , the primary manufacturer whose chips provide computing power for machine learning , artificial intelligence , video gaming and supercomputing leapt past intel early last year. Currently Nvidia’s stock has risen 60 percent from October and is almost 4 times the size of Intel’s.
Meanwhile , Intel’s shares have dropped in value even after an attempt by Pat Gelsinger , Intel’s new chief, to reassure battered investors fell short. Intel’s troubles have been widely known , missing the smartphone market , losing its lead in chip manufacturing technology to TSMC and now losing its dominance in the PC and server processing market.
But this recent shift is a rather new one. Wall Street no longer believes that Intel’s edge which used to be its unrivalled technology, operational excellence and financial excellence are no longer enough to bring back the growth in double digits which it has not seen in a decade and half.
On the other hand , AMD’s growth has been the most startling. After an all-time low of USD$2BN in the middle of 2010’s , its market value has now surged to USD$190BN after a radical tech overhaul which made its processors more competitive and more affordable for users.
Things do not look good for Intel, even after their announcement of their Sapphire Rapids line of processors which are based around chiplets. Even though it’s a unique concept , it may not be enough to give Intel the edge it seeks. AMD has already announced its newer Zen architecture which is more dense and more powerful in computing than its current generation which already puts up a brave fight for itself against Intel.
So what does this translate to ? This means that in the near future we could see an end to Intel’s era of excellence where Intel was the first choice in many different departments but due to a failure to keep up and adapt with the times it may be too late. Unless Pat Gelsinger can get his managers together and right the ship, Intel may be looking at becoming an option instead of a choice when it comes to the US Chip Market.
Over the next five years, Nissan will invest $17.6 billion to develop their new EVs. Astonishing 15 EV models are set to arrive by 2030. Their plan is called “Ambition 2030” and it’s part of a goal they’ve set to be carbon-free by 2050. “We want to transform Nissan to become a sustainable company that is truly needed by customers and society,” said the Nissan chief executive, Makoto Uchida.
For now, Tesla is at the top
Tesla Model Y has a 32.9% market share and Tesla Model 3 22.6%.[1] A couple of next big competitors are Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Honda, and now many EU-based companies like Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and BMW dive deep into the EV market.
Nissan has presented four concept EV cars.
Surf-Out comes with quite a futuristic appearance and all-wheel-drive setup. Quite a small, single cab pickup.
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Max-Out is a very sporty and convertible car. According to Nissan, it’s lightweight and with a low center of gravity.
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Hang-Out seems to be something between a van and SUV. Very cool features are rotating seats and a huge screen.
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Chill-Out is the least futuristic car of the four presented, but still impressive. This crossover probably is going to appear first of those concepts.
Dinnr was a web platform which allowed customers to select a recipe on the website and order pre-measured ingredients accompanied with printed instruction which would be delivered to them on the same day. The only item clients were required to have at home, besides an equipped kitchen, were oil, salt, and pepper.
Dinnr failed as there was no real market need for the company from the start. If people had supermarkets and supermarkets nearby (as is often the case in developed countries), they wouldn’t have to order ingredients when they could go out and buy what they need. Dinnr has focused on ingredient sourcing and delivery, but the reality is that most potential customers would rather order ready meals than just an ingredient that they then have to prepare. And while the product may have been useful in some cases, the demand for the product was low, resulting in a low profit margin.
The Dinnr team seems to have created a product they personally like without first doing thorough market research. They conducted multiple interviews and focused on marketing their services rather than asking about the challenges the average customer faces when shopping for groceries. It was overlooked that the presentation of a product instead of reliable market research on paper provides great statistics, but often leads to disappointment when it is launched on the market.
Additionally, Dinnr initially set lofty monthly goals, but they were overly ambitious and failure to meet their own expectations could have dealt them a psychological blow later on.
The Japanese economy boomed in the 1980s (particularly from the mid-80s onwards). Life was very good (a sense of optimism everywhere!), people bought luxury goods like no tomorrow and in the West, many people started learning Japanese and taking Japanese business classes (learning how to conduct business in a more Japanese way, etc) as many thought that the Japanese economy was set to take over the world (and that all future business transactions worth their salt, would happen in the language of Japanese). People both hailed and feared the economic giant Japan had become (in only 30 or so years since its dim post-war days)!!
Then the bubble economy began to collapse in January 1990 as stock prices crashed (and continued declining through the year)…By 1991 the economy had gone bust and a huge recession had started. Between December 1989 and August 1992 the Nikkei average dropped from 38,915 to 14,309, producing a loss of $2 trillion. With the declining value of land factored in assets shrank by around $10 trillion.
The decade beyond 1991 is known as “The Lost Decade” (失われた十年).
Like in all economic bust periods, no one person or single factor was to blame for the burst of the bubble economy. But whoever or whatever was to blame, it was little consolation for the endless amount of ordinary souls involved whose livelihoods were destroyed or were severely negatively affected by the disaster.
People struggled in all sorts of ways- many people lost their jobs (and struggled to find any new jobs at all) while those who managed to keep their jobs saw their salaries drop significantly. Many people also found themselves being forced to continue paying for huge loans they had taken out on properties whose value plummeted after the crash (sometimes by 50% or more!). The number of people committing suicide or filing for personal bankruptcy also went up considerably.
The collapse of the real estate values was devastating to Japanese banks. Banks had traditionally relied on the property as collateral for loans. But when real estate values plummeted, the banks were reluctant to call in the loans (because the value of the collateral was considerably less than it was before, causing the banks to lose money).
So Japanese banks were saddled with billions of dollars in debts (and may have accumulated as much as $1 trillion in bad loans, or $5,000 for every Japanese). No one was sure how bad the situation really was…The Japanese government prevented the Japanese banking system from being properly investigated and hid the full scale of the losses sustained by the banks (in a bid to prevent the crisis from being worse than it already was).
And things weren’t necessarily any better by the late 90s! In the late 1990s, the introduction of performance-based salary systems produced higher unemployment rates and coincided with high suicide rates.
Over the years the Japanese government tried many things to rejuvenate the economy. For example, over $10 trillion was pumped into projects between 1991 and 2001. The projects offered temporary relief but generated huge debt. But a lot of money was spent on projects (dubbed “Bridges to Nowhere”) that Japan didn’t really need.
Ultimately (long story short) none of the government stimulus measures worked very well and Japan ended up building the largest national debt of any industrialized nation in the world. In 2003, the public debt reached $6.4 trillion (130 percent of GNP, and half Japan’s savings and triple the debt rate in 1992). By contrast, the public debt in the United States was $3.4 trillion (or 35 percent of GNP). Most of the debt is held by the government. Even though there is enough money in the banks to cover the debt, most of it is in the form of personal savings (which the government can’t touch).
Japan also suffered from deflation. National wealth declined as property values continued to fall. Companies didn’t invest, so they didn’t expand. So people worried about the future (and save their money rather spent it, figuring that things would be cheaper in the future). Prices declined more, people saved more because they figured prices will drop further.
Companies lost money and laid-off workers…
There were worries about a deflationary spiral and a depression. Some wanted the Bank of Japan to create inflation, believing that would solve Japan’s problems (but others saw deflation as a symptom of Japan’s deeper problems).
In more recent times…
The New York Times once reported: “Deflation has left a deep imprint on the Japanese, breeding generational tensions and a culture of pessimism, fatalism, and reduced expectations. While Japan remains in many ways a prosperous society, it faces an increasingly grim situation, particularly outside the relative economic vibrancy of Tokyo…A new frugality is apparent among a generation of young Japanese, who have known nothing but economic stagnation and deflation. They refuse to buy big-ticket items like cars or televisions, and fewer choose to study abroad in America.”
Even in 2019, Japan’s economy is still troublesome (and ultimately, all the massive monetary and fiscal stimuli have so far over the years since the bust has failed to really spur faster and more sustained growth). Some of the current ideas to boost and strengthen the Japanese economy are;
Expand the workforce, including by hiring and promoting more women, and by allowing older workers to keep jobs longer.
Counteract aging demographics via immigration.
Generate more revenue to lower government debt.
Institute industrial and labor market changes aimed at more flexible work practices and eventually, wage gains
But the main obstacles to these proposals are:
Cultural workforce “traditions,” rigid seniority systems at companies.
Deep aversion to increased immigration (by both policymakers and the general population).
Pressure against tax increases from consumers and companies.
Resistance from various quarters, including industries, labor unions, and some in workforce, along with a lack of political will.
A 3D rendered invisible clothing show hosted by Congolese brand Hanifa on Instagram Live to showcase its latest fashion collection.
Virtually invisible models paraded on a black background without a podium. This format attracted a huge audience. Subscribers note that the absence of spectators and the models themselves made it possible to examine in more detail the clothes from the fashion collection.
I was very interested in this format of fashion shows and I can tell you several reasons why:
It is convientent. A virtual presentation does not require lengthy preparations and gathering many guests from all over the world. It can be designed as a simple lookbook or mini-movie that requires minimal time and money.
It is economically benefecial. In the past, brands have spent fortunes on spectacular physical shows. For the sake of a 20-minute show, entire cities were sometimes erected from scenery.
It is environmentally friendly. This item will especially delight the followers of Greta Thunberg. Yes, on top of everything else, physical displays have often been the target of criticism because of the harm they cause to nature. Judge for yourself: disposable decorations, paper invitations and thousands of people who fly long distances on airplanes to watch shows that will never be repeated. The virtual format also solves this problem: now all “guests” are watching what is happening on the screens of their devices, which means that the air will be freed from excess carbon dioxide emissions, and tons of paper will not go to landfills.
It is democratic. Since the trend towards inclusiveness is the most visible trend in recent times in fashion, there have been more and more voices lately that shows and closed presentations at Fashion Weeks are stalling progress and pulling back fashion, in a time when it was the prerogative of the rich and famous. Social justice activists can rejoice: their voices have been heard. The coronavirus has leveled everyone. Now the top editors of the key gloss, bloggers and celebrities of the first magnitude see fresh collections at the same moment and in the same ways as ordinary fashion enthusiasts.
This article is devoted to investing in gold and other tangible commodities such as lead using cryptocurrencies.
Introduction to stablecoins
In the beginning, I should explain to my readers the concept of “stablecoin.” We can define “stablecoin” as a cryptocurrency that should illustrate the value of something else. It can be a real currency, a commodity, or even a stock index. The first stablecoin was developed due to the volatility of the cryptocurrencies market. Let’s take such an example. You invest in Bitcoin, and the chart is soaring. You guess that this prosperity can end before long, so you want to escape your investment position. Unfortunately, when you cash your investment, you will have to pay the tax. You want to avoid it, and now You have to think of how to exit Bitcoin and at the same time avoid the tax. Such a situation was quite often in the past. Then some people figure out that they can take advantage of it by creating a cryptocurrency that denotes roughly one dollar. It was a breakthrough because until then, the hallmark of cryptocurrencies was their volatility. People didn’t have to wait long until new cryptocurrencies, which were supposed to reflect values of other national currencies, were created.
Reasons for buying gold on the blockchain
The main benefits of investing in gold using the blockchain are:
A much easier way to come into possession of it.
You can buy it and pay in cryptocurrencies.
It can be cheaper. There are no fees for holding your position or costs of storing gold in some protocols.
Gold, thanks to it, is PROGRAMMABLE.
In my opinion, the last point deserves most of our attention. Since gold can now be programmable, there is a chance that in the future, we will be able to use gold in the same way as we use money now. I mean by it that there will be the possibility of taking a loan in gold and getting interest from gold.
Current possibilities of buying “digital” gold
Nowadays, we have four options if we want to buy gold on the blockchain.
Digix Gold Token
PAX Gold
Synth sXAU
Tether Gold
I want to describe each of these possibilities shortly.
Digix Gold Token was the first stablecoin of gold. It is registered in Singapore, and also in this country, gold is stored. One token is equaled to 1 gram of gold. You can buy this token using a well-known decentralized stock exchange called Uniswap. Users have to pay 0.13% for each transaction with this token. There is also a fee regarding storing physical gold, which is 0.6% of the gold value. The biggest downside of using this protocol is its small capitalization.
On the other hand, we have PAX GOLD which value should be precisely equal to 1 oz of gold (31,1 g). This token doesn’t have any fee for holding it. There exists a commission for creating it from gold and for exchanging it for gold. It ranges from 0.125% to 1%. For each transaction with PAX GOLD, 0.02% is charged. The main benefit of this coin is safety because its issuer is a company under the regulations of the New York Department of Financial Service. For this reason, the company’s vault is checked each month. Anyone has access to the report from this control which is published on the project’s website.
Synth sXAU is the most interesting coin from these, which were listed. Why? Because its issue is entirely decentralized. There is no actual gold stored, which is supposed to maintain the token price in the correct range. Synth sXAU is created in a unique ecosystem managed by smartcontracts. If you are interested, you can find more information here.
The last option is Tether Gold. This coin is issued by the same company responsible for Tether USD, one of the most popular stablecoin in the world. There is no need to elaborate on it because it is pretty similar to investing in the first two. The difference is regarding charges. The only fee is imposed on creating a token and exchanging it in the reverse direction for gold. However, to do that, your minimal investment has to be equal to 75 000 USD. If your pocket is not so deep, you can buy this token on the market. There are charges neither for each transaction nor for holding your investment position. You can now guess which option among mentioned is the cheapest.
Summary
Summing up, the industry around crypto is still growing up. I strongly advocate for it, but I am not blind to prospective traps. We should remember that this market is unregulated, and due to this fact, there is a risk of fraud. In most cases, we cannot control the issuers of stablecoins and their vaults, so theoretically, we are not sure about its real value. For this reason, I favor decentralized projects such as sXAU because there is no need to trust anyone. Unfortunately, in such systems, especially when they are still young, there is a danger that some hackers will discover vulnerabilities in smartcontracts that are responsible for the whole ecosystem. Everyone who wants to use such novelties should be prudent and not invest in something that might seem obscure.
Quick advances in digital healthcare have become possible thanks to the COVID-19. But also, before that technology was starting to be recognized in healthcare. Pandemic has helped countries in the digitalization of healthcare. Many governments use apps created by tech startups to help themselves efficiently fight the spread of covid, for example, chatbots that can give you medical advice and additionally, minimize the interactions between people or telemedicine thanks to which people can get help from doctors without leaving their home.
Undoubtedly, many positive aspects come with the presence of technology within this sector. Everything is faster, safer, and more efficient. Even greater is that AI and machine learning make healthcare more available. People from poorer regions can seek help without spending an enormous sum of money on diagnosis or treatment. One of the most basic technologies related to health used in Africa is SMS text that reminds people to take medicine for HIV or tuberculosis. It is also possible for people who live on isolated lands to communicate with doctors and get much-needed care at much less cost.
During the last few years, many startups regarding digital health have been created and mostly it is a good thing. Such applications as TrustCircle can keep your mental health in check and inform you about your condition before it might be too late. It is used mostly in colleges and corporates where the atmosphere is rather competitive, and people might need some sort of help
During the COVID-19 era, machine learning also has been a great tool for forecasting the spread of viruses and made it possible for governments to better prepare for pandemics.
Applications that are used by officials to control the quarantine and track singular people can be very helpful in limiting the spread of infection, for example, in China. But they can also be a threat to human rights and privacy. If tracking movement of people would be justified daily uncontrolled, that could lead to discrimination of minorities and preventing them from seeking medical attention.
But usage of such applications requires a lot of patient medical data, and there are suspicions that the privacy of such information isn’t properly protected and can be used for wrong purposes, especially if it isn’t regulated by the government. In the USA a study was made where 33 of 50 questioned hospitals were working with private companies like Google, Amazon, or Microsoft without open rules regarding data protection. It means that patient data isn’t protected and is used by private companies. Furthermore, one review on one of the medical-related apps on android found that 79 percent of user data has been shared with other private companies, such as ad companies. Also, worth mentioning is the current state of data security. Medical data is a very sensitive one and its safety is crucial for digitalizing healthcare. Already in 2017, there had been a case of breaking data protection laws by NHS trust fund. It shared medical records of over 1.6m British to DeepMind. Google faced then lawsuit (DeepMind belongs to Google) over data-sharing. This shows that data isn’t protected and is shared without our consent. We shouldn’t go forward with progress if we can’t guarantee basic rights to our data, especially as sensitive as medical data.
Applications that are used by officials to control the quarantine and track singular people can be very helpful in limiting the spread of infection, for example, in China. But they can also be a threat to human rights and privacy. If tracking movement of people would be justified daily uncontrolled, that could lead to discrimination of minorities and preventing them from seeking medical attention.
The world is certainly changing, digital healthcare is a promising change for our old-fashioned ways, but a lot of effort yet needs to be made to make some real progress in medicine without endangering the rights and privacy of people.
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