Summary Hydrogen when used as fuel, exhausts clean water vapour. It is portable like petrol (or diesel) so has the potential as fuel for cars and trucks. At present it is the only option for aeroplanes, as batteries would be too heavy. The main problem is cost and storage and adding yet another outlet source to existing petrol stations. Much work is being done to make these viable. Hydrogen as a replacement for piped natural gas networks is possible but existing piping may need to be modified. For a full explanation see References below. The pros and cons are detailed in the video and text be ..read more

Summary Elon Musk, the world’s (former) richest person has been hugely successful in creating or acquiring 8 radically different technology companies. He is now reforming Twitter. It will take time to determine if renamed X company he calls the world’s ‘town square’ fails or is substantially better. He has a form of Autism (Aspergers) which seems to be a large factor in his success and unusual behaviour. Elon is the product of a harsh upbringing, probably making him battle hardened and determined to succeed. His companies are altruistic, designed to overcome problems facing the world. He seems ..read more

Summary Before 2030, more Indians as a percentage of the population will use AI every day than in any other country. India is on the cusp of a technological revolution that could alter its social and economic future. While well behind China today, it will soon be the largest economy in the world and the USA will be well back at 3rd. When this will occur varies from 2030 according to the Standard Chartered Bank to 2081 by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR). The video below shows how fast India’s economy is expanding compared to other countries. India doesn’t appear at the star ..read more

AI is now being introduced into education world wide and a good example is Khan Academy, a FREE online education platform with courses on a wide range of topics. Here is an earlier blog Founded by Salman Khan, a former hedge fund analyst, Khan Academy, a not for profit organisation, has over 6,500 videos that have been viewed over 1.8 billion times in 190 countries and 30 languages. It has educated to near PhD standard, many people in poor countries. All that is needed is an internet connection, smartphone or computer. AI Is a Personal Assistant One of the biggest advances is the use of an AI ..read more

Summary It appears the older we are, the more reluctant we are to consider EVs (Electric Vehicles) as an alternative to ICEs (Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles, pronounced ices). Attitudes like this are common for most new revolutionary technologies. This blog discusses why these fears should diminish in the next few years. There are many reasons not to buy an EV yet, but it is predicted a tsunami of EVs will appear on our roads in the next few years as the reasons for our concerns, e.g. range fear, high cost, battery safety, etc., rapidly disappear. Any new technology will unlikely be perfe ..read more

Summary Imagine a world where we can prevent illnesses like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s before they occur. Thanks to advances in modern medicine, this is becoming a reality. In the past, doctors focused on treating diseases after they had already developed. But today, they are increasingly looking for ways to prevent disease from happening in the first place. This is called proactive medicine, and it’s changing the way the world thinks about healthcare. How Does AI Tailor Treatment One of the biggest advances in the last few years is the use of AI (Artificial intelligence ..read more

Summary I see many old friends who have weak hearts, arthritis and suffer pain from a myriad of illnesses, so it is important to ensure you enjoy good mental and physical health in old age. If you are like 80% of the population who don’t exercise and don’t like it, the good news is that you don’t need a lot, especially if you do the right type. Here is what Harvard Medical School says: “Even the people who did only 15 minutes per week of vigorous physical activity had a 17% lower risk of death from any cause and death from cancer compared with people who were inactive. With about 50 minutes pe ..read more

Summary This is not my normal blog as I have pasted verbatim, the answers to questions I asked Bard, the Google AI Chatbot. This demonstrates Chatbots’ capabilities. See also the previous blog. I consider Bard the best of the free Chatbots as it has 1.54 trillion references, whereas the much publicised ChatGPT3.5 has only about 540 billion. Question 1: “What countries have updated their education systems to cater for a fast changing world? Also, when did they do this and how?“ Here is Bard’s Answer: “Many countries have updated their education systems to cater for the fast-changing world. Here ..read more

Summary There is concern that Chatbots are already so powerful, bad actors may use them for criminal purposes. Is the surge in AI and new technology generally threatening? For example, we have seen a rapid upsurge in scams as a result of online banking. Technology and regulation are now being implemented to prevent scams, but solutions always lag the upsurge. The world has always been like this. With the first industrial revolution, employees tried to smash machines because, like many people, they were frightened of the unknown. They didn’t like change and were understandably concerned about t ..read more

Summary While there are obviously many world problems, here are some major ones technology is trying to fix: Health Food Security Poverty Climate Change Environmental Degradation, Water Availability, Human Rights Crime and Scams . War is another problem and although the focus now is on the Ukraine war, major continental wars have not occurred in the last 70 years. The TED talk below outlines solutions to some of the major world problems: Here are other relevant videos: https://youtu.be/de9aIFAgSvo https://youtu.be/_TsonN7YIdA https://youtu.be/Zeza83WlXxg https://youtu.be/rMvCMg0puPo . Tec ..read more