Market trends and business perspectives
Millions of cocoa farmers live in poverty across western Africa.
Over the years, these farmers have been forced to contend with geopolitical instability, predatory loan practices, and a general lack of information that hampers their ability to maximize yields and sell crops at fair prices.
Other problems, such as deforestation and child labor, also plague the cocoa industry. [Read more…] about Digitizing supply chains to lift farmers out of poverty
Cloud robotics are enabling robots to access large amounts of computing power that their bodies do not have the physical space to accommodate. Hundreds if not tens of thousands of servers are potentially at the service of small robots which can be in remote locations well away from the nearest supercomputer or data centre, only being connected by, for example, Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
This allows robots to call on powerful, cloud-based applications, such as speech recognition and language, when they are interacting with their users.
At the moment, most cloud robotics systems are linked to specific robots. So, for example, SoftBank’s Pepper robot is linked to the cloud robotics artificial intelligence system developed by Cocoro, another SoftBank company.
Pepper has about 25 onboard sensors to collect a wide range of information – sight, sound, touch and movement. That covers three of the five senses that human beings generally use, the two missing are taste and smell.
Pepper can be connected to the internet through Wi-Fi or Ethernet, both of which are incorporated into the robot. [Read more…] about Cloud robotics: Talking cloud and saying nothing
Starting today, you can transfer your Facebook photos and videos directly to two additional services – Dropbox and Koofr – using Facebook’s newest data portability tool.
Facebook has long believed that if you share data with one service, you should be able to move it safely and securely to another. That’s the principle of data portability, which gives people control and choice while also encouraging innovation.
For almost a decade, Facebook has enabled people to download their information from Facebook. [Read more…] about Facebook makes photo and video transfer tool compatible with Dropbox and Koofr
A few days ago, 52-year-old green manufacturer Earth Friendly Products, the maker of ECOS plant-powered cleaners, celebrated the 49th anniversary of Earth Day at its corporate headquarters in Cypress, California, by premiering a short video that is appearing this week at the EarthxFilm festival in Dallas, Texas. (See below.)
The video will be featured online and at film festivals and environmental summits across the U.S. throughout 2019.
Titled “The Artist,” the video is the creation of innovative young Greek filmmaker Petros Antoniadis and Los Angeles-based environmental artist and social activist Velia De Iuliis. Earth Friendly Products is using the art video to express its vision for a better future for the earth.
In the video, the narrator states:
“We imagine a different world
A world where air pollution no longer exists
Where clean water is not a privilege
A world without waste
And we’re working to create that world today with you
Clean, healthy and sustainable
Making the future today in the world’s first carbon neutral, water neutral, zero waste facilities.”
Speaking at the Earth Day event, Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, president and CEO of Earth Friendly Products, said she was moved by the power of art to effect change. “Art is a powerful way to fight for the environment, and Petros’ talent and Velia’s passion have combined to bring to life our sustainability story and our vision for a safer, cleaner planet through art.”
Antoniadis has previously worked with the company on several corporate videos and said those experiences helped him to propose this idea to the company. “ECOS is an authentic brand that truly walks the talk. Getting to create and tell their story and communicate their vision was a joy,” said Antoniadis.
De Iuliis said she was deeply moved by ECOS’ story and jumped at the opportunity to take part in the project. “My work is about conservation, so I was honored to play the role of the artist in the story, to help advocate art as a way to highlight the environment,” said De Iuliis. “Earth Friendly Products is at the forefront of the environmental world, and their ECOS products embody that leadership.”
The Earth Day celebration at Earth Friendly Products that featured the premiere of “The Artist” also featured guest speakers on environmental sustainability and policy.
Congressman Alan Lowenthal, who serves California’s 47th Congressional District, spoke at the event and praised Earth Friendly Products for its unsurpassed record in sustainability. “Every time I come here to visit, I am inspired — there’s no other word for it,” says Lowenthal. “The core values of this company are to make sure they provide safer products and protect this planet for future generations. There is nothing more important than protecting this environment, which is so fragile.”
If you’re among the millions of people who watched the sci-fi TV show Westworld and saw the folding smartphones used by some of the characters, you probably immediately thought, “I want one of those.”
That’s what we thought anyway.
And whereas the old, 1960s Star Trek showed off tablet computers and other technologies many decades before they were beamed into our collective – and possibly holographic – reality, nowadays, things happen slightly faster. [Read more…] about Folding smartphones are here to stay despite reported problems with breakages
New research has found a possible second impact crater hiding under the Greenland ice.
The new, 22-mile-wide site is only 114 miles from a crater under Hiawatha Glacier, reported in November 2018, but is unlikely to have formed at the same time.
Scientists discovered the possible second impact crater buried under more than a mile of ice in northwest Greenland.
[Read more…] about Second impact crater ‘hiding under Greenland ice’
