Cow poop to electricity:
World’s first commercial solution to generate electricity from dairy
waste. The CalBio-Bloom Energy system also removes methane that would
otherwise have been released into the atmosphere. Cow manure contains
approximately 65% methane, which has a 25 times greater impact on global
warming than CO2 emissions.
Bengaluru sitting on groundwater time bomb:
Groundwater supply in the IT city will decrease from 146 billion litres in 2018 to 36 billion litres in 2041 due to over-exploitation.
Why fasting bolsters brain power:
Fasting improves energy metabolism in neurons and stimulates the
production of 'Neurotrophic factors'. Improves the number of
mitochondria in your nerve cells. Ketones provide an alternative fuel
that boost the energy levels of neurons.
Cut the cutlery: Plastic with your home-delivered meal adds up to 22,000 tonnes waste every month. . . . . . . Where plastic outnumbers fish by seven to one
MNC overlords: 60 of America's biggest companies paid no federal income tax in 2018. Amazon didn't pay a cent in federal income tax on $11.2 billion in profits in 2018. In fact, Amazon claimed a federal income tax rebate of $129 million.
China's J-20 Stealth Fighter Has F-35 'DNA': Beijing has heavily invested in industrial and military espionage. In 2007, Chinese hackers stole technical documents related to the development of the F-35. The details on the hack, eventually revealed in documents leaked by Edward Snowden, are just one example of Chinese attempts to steal foreign aviation technology; as recently as 2017, Chinese hackers went after Australian F-35 defense contractors, nabbing even more info on the cutting-edge fighter.
The worse he behaves, the greater his weight in Europe: Erdogan has been expanding Turkey beyond its borders – starting
with Cyprus, the Greek Islands, Suakin Island (Sudan) and Syria. In Germany, Turkey controls 900 mosques out of a total of 2,400. Speaking with Turks in Germany, Erdogan urged the Turkish diaspora not to assimilate, and called the assimilation of migrants in Europe "a crime against humanity." He has spies throughout Europe through a network of mosques, associations and cultural centers.
Just so you don't feel that Google and Tesla are having all the fun with autonomous self-driving AI vehicles, a robotics researcher in Bangalore has modified a Tata Nano to turn it into a driverless vehicle:
Perhaps Ratan Tata should take a closer look at what this fellow has done. Maybe sponsor it for a cross-country self-driving road tour. It would at least be impressive for the trade shows. But "world's cheapest driverless car" also has a nice ring to it. Made in India!
Consider that if a large number of such cheap systems were to be put into operation, they could each be transmitting back information on various situations the vehicle encounters - just like your web browser sends information back each time it crashes. That accumulating pool of information could be continually analyzed to make the vehicle's AI smarter and more robust. The cheapest system would become the most widely deployed system would become the smartest and most robust system.
Given that companies like Uber are already clamouring for driverless cars to improve their business model, one of India's homegrown Uber-rivals might benefit from looking at this robo-Nano invention. The technology could also be adapted for defense applications and even space systems, after being stress-tested in the everyday world.
Maybe if any of Modi's "smart cities" take off, they'd be the ideal place to showcase such smart self-driving vehicles, and such cities could even be designed around facilitating them.
