Posts

ai

AI’s Impact Could Deepen Gaps Between The Rich And Poor Worldwide, UN Report Stated

/in , /by

In our modern digital age, artificial intelligence (AI) has become more and more common. Now, according to a new report from the United Nations Development Program, this advanced technology might further drive the constantly widening gap between the world’s richest and poorest populations. 

The report noted that most of the financial gains brought in through the use of AI will be received by wealthy nations unless steps are taken to utilize the technology to close those major gaps in access to basic needs, AP reports.

Embed from Getty Images

Released this week, the report compared the situation to the “Great Divergence” of the industrial revolution, in which many Western countries famously saw expedited modernization with others falling behind. The impact of those delays and advancements in certain nations is still being felt today. 

“We tend to overemphasize the role of technology,” said Michael Muthukrishna, the report’s main author from the London School of Economics.

“We need to ensure it’s not technology first, but it’s people first.”

Communities around the world are still struggling with access to certain skills, electric power, and internet connectivity. This is especially prevalent in nations where citizens have been displaced by war, civil conflict, and climate disasters.

“As a general-purpose technology, AI can lift productivity, spark new industries, and help latecomers catch up,” the report states.

“AI systems that analyze poverty, health, and disaster risks enable faster, fairer, and more transparent decisions, turning data into continuous learning and public value.”

Embed from Getty Images

In wealthier countries such as the US, there is an increased risk for data centers to “devour” too large a share of electricity and water. Power generators are experiencing higher demand, leading to further emissions of carbon from burning fossil fuels to be spread in the environment and our atmosphere. 

AI’s increased presence within the past few years have raised ethical, privacy, and cyber security concerns. 

The report stated, according to AP:

“Asian nations including China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore are well placed to take advantage of AI tools, while places like Afghanistan, the Maldives and Myanmar lack skills, reliable power and other resources needed to tap into the computing potential of AI.”

“If such gaps are not closed, many millions may be excluded from the kinds of devices, digital payment systems, digital IDs and education and skills that are required to participate fully in the global economy, falling further behind,” said Philip Schellekens, the UNDP’s chief economist for the Asia Pacific.

“We believe we need more balance, less hysteria and hype,” he said.

“AI is becoming essential for modern life, like electricity, roads, and now the internet, so governments need to invest more in digital infrastructure, education and training, fair competition and social protections,” the report says.

“The goal is to democratize access to AI so that every country and community can benefit while protecting those most at risk from disruption.”

Artificial Intelligence Is ‘Rewiring Democracy’ Around The World 

/in , , , /by

AI is “undermining confidence in our information ecosystem, how the use of biased AI can harm constituents of democracies, and how elected officials with authoritarian tendencies can use it to consolidate power.”

Read more
drinks

New Study Reveals Sugary Drinks Linked To Millions Of New Diabetes And Heart Disease Cases 

/in , /by

According to a new study published in Nature Medicine, sugary drinks are responsible for more than 2.2 million cases of diabetes and 1.1 million new cases of heart disease a year around the world. 

The study highlighted rising health inequalities, citing that Latin America and the Caribbean say sugary drinks contribute to about 24% of new type 2 diabetes cases in 2020. 

In sub-Saharan Africa, they had the greatest percentage increase in diabetes cases from 1990 to 2020, and sugary drinks led to 21% of new diabetes cases and 11% of new heart disease cases. 

Embed from Getty Images

Columbia, Mexico, and South Africa also experienced major rises. Half of new diabetes cases in Columbia were connected to sugary drink consumption. One-third of new diabetes cases in Mexico were also linked with 27.6% of cases in South Africa also being connected. 

Part of the science behind this connection has to do with how quickly sugary drinks are digested. The speed causes a spike in blood-sugar levels and provides little nutritional value. 

“Sugar-sweetened beverages are heavily marketed and sold in low- and middle-income nations. Not only are these communities consuming harmful products, but they are also often less well equipped to deal with the long-term health consequences,” Dariush Mozaffarian, one of the paper’s authors, said.

Around 830 million people have diabetes around the world. A majority of these individuals live in low to middle income countries. Type 2 diabetes can be prevented, unlike type 1. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death around the world with about 17.9 million people dying from the disease annually. 

Embed from Getty Images

“We are seeing a rise in the popularity of sugary drinks fuelled by influencer culture online. In urban centres, young people are targeted by social media influencers that are paid to promote branded sugary drinks to them, filling an information gap left by the lack of school-based nutrition education,” Dr Catherine Kanari, a non-communicable diseases specialist for Amref Health Africa in Kenya, said.

“Ultimately, a rise in diabetes cases risks straining our health system to beyond its limits.”

The authors of the study are hoping that their research will spark greater conversations about the measures that can be taken to help prevent this consistent increase in diabetes and heart disease. They’re calling for more public health compaigns as well as greater regulation on sugary drink advertisements.

“Much more needs to be done, especially in countries in Latin America and Africa where consumption is high and the health consequences severe,” said Mozaffarian. 

“As a species, we need to address sugar-sweetened beverage consumption.”

Movies

‘Jurassic World Dominion’ Receives $245 Million At International Box Office 

/in , /by

Universal’s “Jurassic” franchise is once again proving why it’s become one of the most popular series since the 1990’s. “Jurassic World Dominion,” the sixth installment in the long-running series, received $176 million from 72 international markets over the weekend, bringing its international total to $245 million. 

When combined with its domestic earnings of $142 million, the film currently stands with $389 million and is likely to cross the $400 million threshold soon. 

Embed from Getty Images

“Dominion” opened in 57 foreign markets this past weekend, including China, which has been increasingly hostile when it comes to showing Hollywood films. The movie received $52 million in China during its opening weekend. 

China has chosen to import a very select amount of movies since the beginning of the pandemic, so “Dominion” is already set to be the biggest non-local release in 2022. 

“Other top-grossing territories include the U.K. and Ireland with $15.4 million, France with $9.7 million, Australia with $8.5 million and Germany with $7.5 million,” according to Variety.

“Dominion” had a production budget of $185 million, and a promotion budget of $100 million. 

Embed from Getty Images

Another movie that’s continuing the legacy of its original cinematic predecessor is “Top Gun: Maverick,” which earned itself nearly $747 million in international box office sales, passing the original “Top Gun’s” sales of $700 million. 

Within its third weekend of release, the blockbuster starring Tom Cruise earned itself $52.7 million from 64 international markets. According to Variety, “‘Maverick’ has raked up the most tickets in the U.K. ($63 million so far), followed by Japan ($33.9 million), Australia ($32.6 million) and France ($28.7 million).”

Worldwide box office revenue has been on a high as of late. Disney’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” earned itself $930 million in global ticket sales after last weekend, making it the highest grossing movie of the year.

This is an especially impressive feat as both China and Russia have decided not to show the newest Marvel movie and they account for a large portion of the international box office numbers.

Covid-19 Deaths Surpass 5 Million Globally As Pandemic Progresses 

/in , /by

More than 5 million people have now died from Covid-19 during the two year span of this pandemic. The world is continuing to battle this virus, its highly infectious strains, and any new mutations that may appear. 

According to Johns Hopkins University, there have been 5,000,425 Covid-19 related deaths around the world. 745,836 of those deaths were in the United States, making it the country with the highest Covid death rate. 

Despite the rise in deaths and infections, particularly among the unvaccinated, many countries are lifting pandemic restrictions and ending lockdowns. The rapid development of Covid vaccinations helped aid these reopenings, as they are clinically proven to reduce severe infection, hospitalization, and death from Covid-19.  

Embed from Getty Images

Unvaccinated individuals are at a much larger risk of contracting the virus and being hospitalized for it. Now that we’re approaching the winter season, healthcare experts are worried for those at more of a risk of infection. 

During the week of Oct. 18-24, “the number of weekly Covid cases and deaths had increased slightly from the previous week, with over 2.9 million new cases and more than 49,000 new deaths, a 4% and 5% increase, respectively,” according to the World Health Organization.

Europe accounted for more than half (57%) of global new weekly cases and was the only region to report a higher number of cases when compared to the week before. 

According to reports, “the highest numbers of new cases were reported in the U.S. (with 512,956 new cases, although this represented a 12% decrease from the previous week), the U.K. (which reported 330,465 new cases; a 16% increase) and Russia, which reported 248,956 new cases; a 15% increase from the previous week.”

Embed from Getty Images

The alpha and delta variants have dominated the globe especially among unvaccinated citizens. The delta-plus variant is also being reported in the US, UK, and Australia. The new mutation of the delta variant is currently being examined to see if it could make Covid-19 even more infectious. 

The World Health Organization announced last week that they would be closely tracking the delta subvariant, which has appeared in 42 countries now. 

“An increase in AY.4.2 sequence submissions has been observed since July. The majority of cases stemming from the AY.4.2 variant have been detected in the U.K., and these are rising in frequency,” the organization said in a report last week. 

“A gradual increase in the proportional contribution of AY.4.2 has been observed [in the U.K.]; accounting for an estimated 5.9% of overall Delta cases reported in the week beginning 3 October 2021. Epidemiological and laboratory studies are ongoing to assess if AY.4.2 makes the virus more transmissible or makes antibodies against the virus less effective.”

Magnify Glass of Real Estate Market

Global Wellness Real Estate Market Surging Throughout Pandemic 

/in , /by

Wellness real estate is defined as “commercial, institutional, and residential properties that incorporate wellness elements in their architecture and amenities,” according to the nonprofit Global Wellness Institute (GWI).

GWI explained that throughout the past few years the wellness real estate market has seen exponential growth, even with the pandemic. 

Embed from Getty Images

“The pandemic fueled the shift in the real estate and construction industries toward wellness: from 2019-2020, wellness real estate continued to grow by over 22%, even as overall construction shrank,” the organization reported.

GWI held their annual Wellness Real Estate and Communities Symposium this week in New York where they discussed the market as it currently stands, and ways to continue to expand and improve it. 

“The wellness real estate market as a continuing opportunity, driven in part from lessons learned during COVID. Doctors, architects and wellness professionals have come together to introduce preventive medicine intentions into the way we design the built environment as a preventative medicine tool,” shared presenter and sponsor Paul Scialla, CEO of wellness technology firm Delos.

“The pandemic has driven the idea of ‘building for human health’ into the mainstream consumer consciousness, and the recent market growth far exceeded our predictions.”

Embed from Getty Images

The US and China alone account for 60% of the overall total wellness real estate market. GWI estimates that there are more than 2300 wellness projects worldwide in various stages of development and completion; three years ago that number was around 740. 

GWI attributes the growth in the industry to many factors, including many brought on by the pandemic; “stress, loneliness, remote work and an increasing eco-consciousness in the public sphere.”

“The pandemic has definitely brought the wellness real estate concept more into focus. COVID forced us to see our homes and built environment in a radically new light. Wellness real estate is now quickly moving from elective to essential.”

According to GWI vice president of research and forecasting, Beth McGroarty, the pandemic drove trends in wellness real estate thanks to a multitude of factors, such as advanced technology, remote working procedures, and affordability depending on the area.

Climate Change Protest

Young People Around The World Skip School in Climate Change Protests

/in , /by

Usually when we think of students skipping school we imagine they are up to no good, as teenagers are prone to getting themselves into all sorts of trouble. However, a massive global protest today shows that young people are organized, concerned, and focused on perhaps the greatest responsibility of all, which is our species’ obligation to ensure a habitable global environment for generations to come. For these students, many of whom are followers of Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, climate change is an issue requiring immediate action, as they recognize their generation is likely to experience the most devastating impacts of the phenomenon of anyone living today.

The protests began early in the morning on Friday, September 20th, when instead of heading to school students in several countries took to the streets, marching and carrying signs. In Australia, 100,000 students protested in Melbourne, in an event which organizers described as the largest climate action in the history of the country and which shut down public transportation organizers. In Sydney, demonstrators gathered in a popular public park called the Domain, and carried signs with phrases like “You shall not pollute the land in which you live,” “You’ll die of old age / I’ll die of climate change,” and “We can’t drink oil / We can’t breathe money.” Australia’s Prime Minister described these protests as just a distraction, adding that he felt students would learn more in school than they would protesting.

Embed from Getty Images

In the Philippines, protesters blocked the entrance to a Shell Oil refinery, and in China, the world’s largest contributor to climate change, no protests occurred as they were not authorized by the government. Demonstrators protested in Kenya, Poland, and Berlin, where one protestor carried a sign reading “Make the World Greta Again,” a clear reference to Donald Trump’s infamous campaign slogan and the aforementioned world-famous climate activist. Several cities in Britain saw protests, with the largest being in London, where students justified their absence from school by arguing that soon there may be no school to go to due to the magnitude of the threat. 

Given the degree of anger and concern surrounding the topic, demonstrators are unlikely to be placated no matter what world leaders say

In New Delhi, a city well-known for having tremendous problems with air pollution, children gathered around a government building and chanted “I want to breathe clean.” And in Mumbai, the rain did not deter child protestors, who wore oversized coats while demonstrating.

Despite lacking the authority held by other generations, children have been proactive in advocating for serious action to be taken on climate change, and are often at the center of debates about how to handle the crisis, whether explicitly or implicitly. Having grown up using the internet as a primary platform of socialization, young people have a unique ability to quickly and effectively organize, with geographical barriers presenting only a minor hurdle in their efforts. And while children’s concerns are often dismissed or imagined as exaggerated or unrealistic, young peoples’ understanding of climate change and its impacts follows from the strong global scientific consensus that climate change is real, caused entirely by human activity, that we are already experiencing the effects of it, and that the impacts of climate change range from devastating to apocalyptic depending on what action we take in response to it.

Embed from Getty Images

The protests are being held two days in advance of a meeting of world leaders at the U.N. called the Climate Action Summit during which world leaders are scheduled to present their plans for reducing carbon emissions and taking other actions on climate change. Given the degree of anger and concern surrounding the topic, demonstrators are unlikely to be placated no matter what these leaders say, though the historic protests being held today are sure to come up in conversation. 

While this is certainly not the first time young people have organized in protest for a political cause, the protests being held today around the world are unique in their scope and ambition. Climate change is a problem that affects all young people, irrespective of their country of origin or economic class, though it affects lower-class people, who did the least to contribute to the problem, more severely than upper-class people. As such, the primacy of climate change as a political concern unites an entire generation of young people, as evidenced by today’s historic number of protestors. Though the effects of today’s protests are as of yet unclear, as Generation Z grows up and climate change continues to destroy communities around the world, the political pressure to take drastic action is sure to ramp up.

Featured image credit: https://www.maxpixel.net/Climate-Strike-Climate-Change-4276007