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Category: economics – Page 33

NASA seeks industry support in GLIMR concept study

WASHINGTON — The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced that the agency is seeking assistance from industry as it begins a study into its Geostationary Littoral Imaging and Monitoring Radiometer (GLIMR) Access to Space (ATS) approach.

The GLIMR mission aims to provide transformative rapid observations of dynamic coastal zone ecosystems throughout the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and coastal continental U.S. (CONUS). Its goal is to observe and monitor ocean biology, chemistry, and ecology to help protect ecosystem sustainability, improve resource management, and enhance economic activity. This includes identifying and tracking harmful algal blooms and oil spills, while also observing, quantifying, and understanding processes associated with rapid changes in phytoplankton growth.

The GLIMR ATS scope is expected to include several key components and activities: the spacecraft itself, the launch vehicle, the integration and testing of the GLIMR payload with the spacecraft, and the integration of the spacecraft with the launch vehicle and subsequent launch. It will also cover the command uplink from the industry-provided Mission Operations Center (MOC), the downlink of GLIMR engineering and science telemetry to industry-allocated ground stations, and the delivery of error-checked GLIMR data to various mission partners. Additionally, it encompasses all related tasks and support required during the planned GLIMR Mission, such as pre-launch planning, launch support, in-orbit check-out, and operations.

Patent Landscape Report — Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)

The World Intellectual Property Organization – @WIPO publishes the “Patent Landscape Report on Generative AI.” https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/patent-landscape-repor…index.html.

- 54,000 GenAI-related inventions (patent families) were filed and more…

Generative AI is booming. It is a cutting-edge technology that is poised to disrupt various economic, social, and cultural sectors, and it extends far beyond simple human-like text generation using chatbots. Drawing on original analysis of patent and scientific data, the WIPO patent landscape report on Generative AI provides a snapshot of the patent situation for GenAI.

Scientists discover new plants that could lead to ‘climate-proof’ chocolate

Scientists have found three new species that are close relatives to the plant from which chocolate is produced—a discovery that could pave the way for climate-proof chocolate. The team’s research has been published in the journal Kew Bulletin.

The , discovered in the rain forests of South America, are closely related to Theobroma cacao, the tree that bears which are of tremendous economic importance.

The research team comprising scientists from University College Cork (UCC), the University of São Paulo and New York Botanical Garden say their finding is significant as it indicates that there is much work still to be done in characterizing Earth’s biodiversity.

Redwire Awarded DARPA Prime Contract for SabreSat Spacecraft Very Low-Earth Orbit Demonstration

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (June 17, 2024) – Redwire Corporation (NYSE: RDW), a leader in space infrastructure for the next generation space economy, announced today that it has been awarded a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to be the prime mission integrator for the development of a revolutionary air-breathing satellite that will demonstrate the use of novel electric propulsion systems in very low-Earth orbit (VLEO) using Redwire’s SabreSat VLEO platform. The program leverages Redwire’s worldwide leadership in developing and providing VLEO capabilities.

The strategic significance of VLEO is growing – especially for national security missions. While low-Earth (LEO) and geosynchronous (GEO) orbits are becoming increasingly congested and contested, spacecraft in VLEO operate in a relatively unimpaired environment. Bridging the gap between air and space, VLEO spacecraft fly above airborne anti-access areas while operating significantly closer to the area of responsibility on the ground than existing satellites. Additionally, unlike LEO and GEO, debris in VLEO deorbits in hours or days rather than in decades or more.

“We are proud to be leveraging our SabreSat satellite design to support critical VLEO technology advancements for DARPA’s game-changing Otter program,” said Spence Wise, Redwire Senior Vice President, Missions and Platforms. “As VLEO emerges as a critical domain for national security missions, Redwire is continuing to make investments to support technology innovation and strategic operations in this environment.”

The Future of Technology: Impact on Labor, Economy, and Society

Disruptive innovations in technology, such as humanoid robots and electric vehicles, will lead to significant changes in labor, economy, and society, posing both opportunities and challenges for the future.

Questions to inspire discussion.

What are the predictions about the future of electric vehicles?
—The video discusses accurate predictions made by Tony Seba and his team about the future of EVs, which the media has not reported on.

Could we launch resources from the moon with electromagnetic railguns?

That was five decades ago. Catapult yourself to today and ask this question: What’s the U.S. Navy’s Gerald R. Ford nuclear aircraft carrier got to do with the moon?

Late last year, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems filed a final report to the Air Force Office of Scientific Research’s (AFOSR). That report was titled “Lunar Electromagnetic Launch for Resource Exploitation to Enhance National Security and Economic Growth.”

The author of that appraisal is Robert Peterkin, director of operations for the organization’s Albuquerque, New Mexico office.

Significant energy source found under US-Mexico border

(NewsNation) — Researchers have found a significant source of geothermal energy underneath the U.S.-Mexico border along the Rio Grande, which could lead to promising clean energy development in the rural region.

The findings came after a monthslong study conducted by the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin, which discovered that the region of Presidio County in Texas, which shares a border with Mexico, has the conditions necessary for geothermal development.

“There’s a thin, 10-to 15-mile-wide region that runs parallel or along the Rio Grande that has very high heat by at least by most standards, and even in the interior part of the county, which is probably two-thirds of the county,” Ken Wisian, head of the research team, told NewsNation.

Are Children The Future?: Longtermism, Pronatalism, and Epistemic Discounting

From the article:

Longtermism asks fundamental questions and promotes the kind of consequentialism that should guide public policy.

Based on a talk delivered at the conference on Existential Threats and Other Disasters: How Should We Address Them? May 30–31, 2024 – Budva, Montenegro – sponsored by the Center for the Study of Bioethics, The Hastings Center, and The Oxford Uehiro Center for Practical Ethics.

For twenty years, I have been talking about old age dependency ratios as an argument for universal basic income and investing in anti-aging therapies to keep elders healthy longer. A declining number of young workers supporting a growing number of retirees is straining many welfare systems. Healthy seniors are less expensive and work longer. UBI is more intergenerationally equitable, especially if we face technological unemployment.

But as a person anticipating grandchildren, I think the declining fertility part of the demographic shift is more on my mind. It’s apparently on the minds of a growing number of people, including folks on the Right, ranging from those worried that feminists are pushing humanity to suicide or that there won’t be enough of their kind of people in the future to those worried about the health of innovation and the economy. The reluctance by the Left to entertain any pronatalism is understandable, given the reactionary ways it has been promoted. But I believe a progressive pro-family agenda is possible.

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