Kozminski Techblog

Altos labs is a company founded in early 2021 that focuses on maximizing human lifespan and even reversing cellular aging. The world’s richest people such as Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg are involved in funding this project.

The idea seems absurd and completely unrealistic, but the project is full of the world’s greatest scientists. The massive funding has made it possible to engage scientists such as Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, a 2012 Nobel Prize winner in somatic stem cell research. Another Nobel laureate behind the project is American biologist Anne Doudna, who received the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The company also has many other prominent people on its team such as Hal Barron, who is one of the key scientists of the pharmaceutical conglomerate GlaxoSmithKline. Juan Carlos, who became world-famous for creating the most advanced embryo that is a hybrid of a human and an ape. Furthermore, Shinya Yamanaka, who is a Nobel laureate in medicine is also working to make this idea possible.

A team of such outstanding scientists will for sure progress really fast. The first results are expected in a few years, and the first scientific paper explaining this process will soon be published by Altos Labs specialists. Unfortunately, the company has not yet provided information on the method by which they want to achieve their goal. At this point, it can be assumed that Altos Labs will focus on working on telomeres, as well as using gene modification methods.

Sources:

https://www.polsatnews.pl/wiadomosci/technologie/

https://geekweek.interia.pl/medycyna/news-miliarderzy-chca-byc-niesmiertelni-pomoga-im-wybitni-naukowc,nId,5789367

https://www.dobreprogramy.pl/@aqostol/szok-przyszlosci-niesmiertelnosc-jako-krok-wprzod-czy-raczej-wstecz,blog,57880

Face recognition technology is a very hot topic all around the world. However, some people still think that this technology is something unrealistic and are not aware that it is already being implemented around the world. CCTV cameras and monitoring are present everywhere and can be updated. Then the introduction of face recognition will be possible on a massive scale leading to mass biometric surveillance. The technology is already being deployed by law enforcement and private entities in many locations, including schools and train stations. 

 Already today, Germany plans to introduce biometric surveillance systems at 134 railroad stations and 14 airports. Authorities in Italy and Serbia are also slowly introducing such applications.

The data collected during such identification will be able to be used for various purposes. Initially, they are used by law enforcement agencies to facilitate police investigations, but in the future, they could be used for other purposes, such as recruiting for jobs or assigning credit. 

Facial recognition technology can obviously bring a lot of benefits and make our daily activities easier. For example, the introduction of this technology at four train stations in Osaka has made travel much easier. Now people pass gates that scan their faces without removing their passports or tickets.

However, facial recognition technology carries many risks. Data about where we are, at what time, legally belongs to us, so we have a right to know when and for what purpose such information is collected. However, once they are recorded by cameras, we can no longer control this.

The number of problems that the development of this technology can bring is enormous. It can exacerbate social inequality, for example. Confirmation of this can be the fact that in Italy the database of police face recognition software contained only 2 million pictures of Italians while storing as many as 7 million pictures of refugees and migrants. 

Moreover, with the help of this technology, government authorities can easily identify participants in strikes. This can lead to a reluctance to participate in such demonstrations due to fear of losing one’s job, for example.

Resources:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.infor.pl%2Fprawo%2Fprawa-konsumenta%2Fprawa-konsumenta%2F2864437%2CMonitoring-zgodny-z-RODO.html&psig=AOvVaw1_dQbwMFJYDBONsKsjdZQ1&ust=1643483053717000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCJjts9OR1fUCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fintercore.net%2Fisraeli-facial-recognition-tech-reduces-chance-of-human-bias%2F&psig=AOvVaw27Qfpt5tuBFu4GEINHxuHz&ust=1643482975958000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqGAoTCNjz_7KR1fUCFQAAAAAdAAAAABDyAQ

https://www.liberties.eu/pl/stories/korzysci-i-zagrozenia-rozpoznawania-twarzy/43708

Ships using alternative fuels are getting more and more popular. Maritime companies are racing against each other to create new, more efficient ships. One company – Maersk has shown the first such size dual-fuel container ship.

The ship will operate with an engine that can be powered by both standard fuels and methanol. With this solution, maritime transport will be possible without CO2 emissions. These container ships will be produced at the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard. Firstly, they will produce 8 units. The first operations using these container ships will take place in 2024. Maersk’s container ships will primarily be more ecological, but there’s more to it than that. The company announced that they will be larger than the current largest container ship in their fleet.

Maersk states that the containers on the ships will be able to hold 16,000 m3 of methanol. This means that these ships will be able to travel between Asia and Europe. The ships will also be equipped with modern technologies to assist ship maneuvering.

Nowadays to reduce water resistance ships are using special lubricants. However Maersk’s ships will use new lubrication system. By using this system ships will be “lubricate” with air. The Silverstream Air Lubrification System is an innovative solution that has been in development for several years to improve ship performance while reducing fuel consumption. 

Silversteam create a brand new solution – pumping large amounts of compressed air under the flat bottom of ships.

The bubbles will stick to the hull, thus repelling the water and creating something like an airbag, or “air carpet”.

Such innovative solutions introduced in transport will significantly reduce the negative impact on the environment.

Resources:

https://www.komputerswiat.pl/aktualnosci/biznes/przelom-w-transporcie-morskim-maersk-wyposazy-swoje-okrety-w-nowy-system-smarowania/y0nx0yzhttps://www.komputerswiat.pl/aktualnosci/nauka-i-technika/maersk-zaprezentowal-koncept-nowego-dwupaliwowego-kontenerowca-podroz-miedzy-azja-a/ezc7c9v

Every conventional products which are aimed at women’s safety have one big problem – they have to be physically activated. That’s why in some situations they cannot be used. But E-J a student from University’s School of Management, while jogging in badly lit park came up with a brilliant idea that will solve this problem. She thought that if with development of technology smartwatches can easily detect heart diseases they could be also used as women’s safety product. She told about this idea to her friend and they together Co-Founded Epowar. 

Epowar is a smartwatch app that by using AI can recognise distress in a user’s activity. Application in the event of attack sends an alert to the wearers contacts, sets off a loud alarm, records evidence and stores it immediately in a cloud system.

“After months of research and experiment, we were fascinated to find that people’s responses to distress were remarkably consistent and that this could be reliably captured and interpreted using AI. We have now reached the development stage where in-field testing can start and are confident we are close to creating a finished product,” E-J said.

The AI-powered system was built based on analysis of thousands of samples of physiological and motion data. This system is able to distinguish between physical and psychological stress.

Users of Epowar don’t have to worry about privacy issues wearing their smartwatches. Epowar’s software does not track or identify the wearer, up to the point where an alert is issued. A user can take on application during specific journeys or make it work all the time. 

“We are keen to find ways to make this as affordable and accessible to as many women as possible and could envisage a system where organisations, such as schools or universities, make available such software to groups for example. We hope people will recognise the ability to automatically alert contacts as a game-changer in a world where such software seems increasingly necessary,” E-J said.

Resources:

https://startupsmagazine.co.uk/article-trials-begin-womens-smartwatch-safety-app

Cobionix (Canadian start-up) has recently presented autonomous robot that is able to vaccine without using needle. 

Cobionix is a developing in the University of Waterloo business incubator start-up which is creating autonomous robot for procedural tasks.

A lot of people feel discomfort or even fear when they see needle, at the thought of syringe they start to panic. That makes vaccination very problematic for them. Fortunately, Cobionix has found a solution for this problem. Robot named Cobi is able to autonomically give a dose of vaccination without using needle.

The whole process (after online pre-registration) is as follows:

1.Cobi verify persons ID 

2.intuitive interface

3.tracking position by lidar sensor

4.spotting injection point

5.needle-less vaccination

6.Used vial ejection

All 6 points are done autonomically by Cobi.

Film from vaccination process:

Needle-less vaccinations sounds surreal, but Cobi makes it possible. Robot by using high pressure sends a thin stream of vaccine, straight into the appropriate tissues of the human body. The vaccine breaks itself to the correct depth of the body. 

I think this autonomous robots would be very useful throughout mass vaccination during pandemic. Probably we won’t be able to use Cobi’s during COVID-19 yet, but during following pandemics it could reduce the labour demands. In such a difficult time doctors and nurses are busy saving lives in hospitals. Such robots are needed to help health services and give medics more time. Although Cobi can be adapted to other specifications as well, for example it will be able to work on production lines.

Sources: