Things Are Good

The Electrotech Revolution

Graph from Ember energy report.
01
Sovereignty
Domestically run information and
energy systems
02
Democratisation
Energy on your roof, intelligence in
your pocket
03
Abundance
Access to orders of magnitude
more energy and information
Energy Information
04
Decarbonisation
Fast decline in global emissions
and a stable climate

The saying used to be the “future is electric”. Today the saying is “now is electric”. Amber has taken a look at the connection between technological innovation in the information space and renewable energy, concluding that the two are interconnected and accelerate each other. Countries that embrace both renewable electricity and high-tech information systems are bound to flourish in the 21st-century whereas countries that rely on old types of energy systems and don’t advance their renewable capabilities will be laggards in the global economy. Their report is an interesting look into the intersection between these electric and technological advances. They call this the electrotech revolution.

? The world runs on two foundations: energy and information. Energy does work; information directs it. The digital
revolution shifted information onto electrons; the electrotech revolution is shifting energy onto electrons as well.

? The electrification of information. Over 99% of the world’s storage and communication is already digital, and so runs on electrons. Now, with AI, thinking itself is moving onto electrons too.

? The long term: a new electric world. Electric energy and intelligence promise decentralisation, faster
decarbonisation, greater sovereignty and new-found abundance. But they could also concentrate manufacturing, put dangerous intelligence in every pocket, and entrench autarky. A world of ubiquitous energy and intelligence may be richer and cleverer – but not necessarily wiser

Read the report.

Providing Safe Cycle Infrastructure Helps Developed Economies

The benefits of providing good bicycle infrastructure just keep getting proven time and, and time again. Bicycles are good for people’s health, the local economies, and now many other benefits. Yet, for some reason the rates of a bicycle ownership does not correlate to places with good bicycling infrastructure, so what gives? Researchers looked into why the rates of ownership of bicycles does not match their use and noticed some neat trends that will inevitably lead to more research.

We also noticed that countries with extremely high income level and bicycle ownership (e.g., the Netherlands and Denmark) tend to increase bicycle use, likely due to some special country characteristics, such as a cycling culture, high environmental awareness, well-developed cycling infrastructure, and flat terrains. It is also shown that, among countries with a similar level of bicycle ownership, population density positively affects bicycle use on a daily trip because lower population density often makes driving a necessity (e.g., type 4 countries). Countries with high traffic death rates (e.g., Thailand, Brazil, and Russia) tend to have relatively low bicycle use because cycling can be perceived as dangerous. This finding echoes earlier research that bicycle infrastructure expansion (e.g., separate bicycle lanes) could increase the bicycle modal share36,45. For example, the provisional redistribution of street space during the COVID-19 crisis has induced large, rapid increase in cycling36.

Don’t be Afraid of e-Bike Batteries

Are you avoiding buying an e-bike because you’ve heard of scary battery fires? No need to live in fear, instead just purchase a battery that isn’t illegal. I have an e-bike battery that I charge inside with nary a worry as it’s a legit battery that is safe to use. You don’t need to take my word for it, in the video above Evan Edinger breaks down why people think e-bike batteries are a concern and the reality of how dangerous they are. Spoiler: not that dangerous, in fact they are likely less dangerous than the gas you use in your car or in your house.

Amazon Bridge Saves Thousands of Lives

Aerial picture of a primate bridge being installed over a highway,

When humans build into areas where animals thrive there is inevitably an increase in harm done to the local population, but this harm can be managed and reduced in multiple ways depending on where the development is. In the Amazon they are installing bridges for monkeys and other animals to safely cross over the road instead of trying to run across the roadway. These bridges aren’t a new idea, they are plentiful in Costa Rica for example, so it’s easy to demonstrate how effective they are. That being said, local wildlife have their presences for style of bridge and locations so it’s vitally important to figure out the best bridge design and location. In Brazil they have now created a standard design that proves to be very effective in the country. With the standard approach it should be easier and cheaper to put up more bridges.

The bridges are part of a program involving Projeto Reconecta and the municipal government, along with local organizations and business owners who are eager to conserve the unique biodiversity of their town and promote ecotourism, but were alarmed by the growing number of wildlife-vehicle collisions.

…

After years of working along Brazilian highways, the biologist had always sought a solution that was simple, low-cost and durable. The current bridge features a multilayer design that accommodates primates with different modes of locomotion — from species that rely on their prehensile tails to move through the canopy to brachiating species such as spider monkeys, which swing using their arms, both of which are common in the Amazon, as well as species that simply walk across the network of crossed ropes. It is worth noting that other small terrestrial mammals, including opossums, sloths and mouse opossums, have also been recorded using the bridges.

HIV Vaccine Showing Promising Results

There are lots of teams trying to create a vaccine for HIV and they are all making valuable progress. HIV is the virus that turns into AIDS which is a life altering diagnosis. Treatments for people with HIV/AIDS have improved greatly over the decades but a vaccine would be the greatest step forward. This new vaccine works at the cellular level to help the body fight off HIV by boosting B cells. Modern science truly is impressive!

The new vaccine works by intervening in a process called B cell maturation. B cells make antibodies. Like many immune cells, B cells have an early “naive” stage before they are ready to make antibodies. B cells start to mature once they get the signal that a pathogen, such as a virus, is trying to attack. B cells see pieces of that pathogen’s molecular structure and start producing antibodies that can bind to that structure and halt infection.

It can take a little while for B cells to find the right “bullseye” on a pathogen. But B cells keep trying. As they mature, B cells tweak their antibody production, refining antibody structures to bind to a pathogen in just the right, vulnerable spots.

Scientists describe B cell development as a training process or bootcamp. In most cases, the body is left with a well-honed B cell army.

HIV is hard to beat because it doesn’t give B cells a chance to develop effective antibodies. The first problem is that HIV disguises itself from the immune system. The virus is wrapped in an ever-shifting cloak of sugar molecules, called glycans. This lets HIV sneak undetected past human cells, which are also covered in glycans.