[18th August 2024] Interesting Things I Learnt This Week

source: Marklines.com

 1. Samsung's Solid State Battery with 9 minute charging, 600 miles range for EVs and 20 year lifespan - Samsung is shaking up the EV battery game with their new solid-state design. Boasting a massive 600-mile range on a single charge and crazy-fast 9-minute charging, these batteries promise to revolutionize electric vehicles. Samsung also hints at a 20-year lifespan, putting range anxiety to rest. However, expect to see this tech first in pricier EVs, and remember, Chinese battery makers are hot on their heels with similar claims.

My Take: The progress in the space of battery technology has been amazing and I now dont believe that Hydrogen and fuel cell technologies need to really leapfrog over things to be viable alternative to these kinds of technologies. I wonder if these techs could reach out cell phones as well to get rid of the daily charging required. I wonder if Samsung would first put these into these into their Galaxy lineup or will they wait for Apple to do it first.

 

2. Rogue planets with no sun shining on them - IEEE Spectrum dives into the world of rogue planets, celestial objects adrift in interstellar space, unbound to any star. The article explores their origins, either ejected from planetary systems or formed independently. With estimates suggesting billions or even trillions in our galaxy alone, these cosmic wanderers raise intriguing questions. Could some harbor conditions suitable for life, or will they remain forever desolate? 

My Take: These kinds of articles make me wonder if we really understand the Universe. Our telescopes really are not that capable to looking into the universe in detail. We should be sending more probes out there and beyond what Voyagers are doing. Sadly currently there are no such objects going out, though we have more billionaires than ever and they are just chit chatting and bickering over memes on websites. What makes me even sadder is even with so much money with Indian billionaires they too are just trying to mint more money.

3. Scientists find humans age dramatically in two bursts – at 44, then 60 - Our perception of aging as a gradual decline might be challenged by new research. The article reports scientists identified two significant bursts of age-related changes in the human body at around 44 and 60 years old. This could explain the sudden increase in health issues like musculoskeletal problems and cardiovascular disease observed at these ages. The study analyzed molecules in people aged 25 to 75, potentially explaining why some age-related diseases show a sharp rise after 60. This research offers valuable insights into understanding and potentially mitigating the effects of aging.

My Take: This is such a significant discovery that that could change really how we approach a better healthy life. We need more research in this space and I am not sure if this sample has enough diversity to check for how people in different regions actually age. The Vedas had talked about a life where years a broken up into different ways in which one should live. May be that was based on similar observation and maybe for Indians it could be 25 and 50 as per the Vedas or maybe 50 and 75 but without more research we will never know. But my worry here is even before all this is clearly spelled out and proven, our beloved health insurance companies will run out to increase the premiums for people when they reach this age marks. I just hope sanity prevails and we have better outcomes for everybody. 

4. Reor Project - Reor is a note-taking application that leverages AI and a vector database to revolutionize how users organize and interact with their information. The core idea is to transform unstructured notes into a structured knowledge base. By employing advanced AI techniques, Reor can analyze and understand the content of notes, extracting key information and creating meaningful connections between them. This enables users to easily search, retrieve, and explore their notes based on topics, keywords, or even semantic relationships. The vector database plays a crucial role in efficiently storing and searching through these AI-generated embeddings, allowing for rapid and accurate information retrieval. Additionally, Reor offers the flexibility to run language models locally, providing users with greater privacy and control over their data. With features like importing notes from other applications and a user-friendly interface, Reor aims to streamline the note-taking process and enhance overall productivity and knowledge management.

My Take: Projects like these are going to make LLMs much useful and getting them to run locally for everyone is going to be good. Many folks dont trust security of their personal data online. Surely Google is working on on Documents AI which will enable similar behavior. Also increase in context window will enable us push in more data for analysis than previously possible. No wonder with 2M context window Google will deliver more punch than any other system as they stand today. Regardless I hope that these systems are integrated in Libre Office and make them relevant again. I miss not having an capable open source alternative to Google Docs or Office 365.