Weekly Progress Roundup
Progress in cruise ships, weather forecasting, and global electricity access.
Global electricity access continues to rise
Like some other global trends, the steady growth in electricity access temporarily reversed during the pandemic. In 2023, however, progress resumed, and a recent update from the International Energy Agency predicts that in 2024, the number of people without electricity will fall to 737 million, the lowest in decades.
AI weather forecasting achieves groundbreaking accuracy
DeepMind, Google’s AI laboratory, has developed a weather forecasting model that is both faster and more accurate than the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts’ Ensemble Prediction System, a current leader in weather prediction. According to a recent paper in Nature, the DeepMind model demonstrated superior accuracy in 97.2 percent of cases and can generate forecasts in minutes rather than the hours required by conventional systems.
Cruise ships keep breaking records
News of stagnation in the world of atoms has not reached cruise ship builders:
“Since the SS Great Eastern in 1858, the gross tonnage of the largest passenger ships has grown an average of 1.59 percent per year, nearly double the 0.84 percent annual growth rate in the height of the world’s tallest buildings.”
A new article in the Works in Progress magazine explores the lessons we can glean from this impressive growth.
Food & Hunger:
Energy & Environment:
Health & Demographics:
Measles Vaccines Saved over 90 Million Lives in the Last 50 Years
India Sees Huge Drop in AIDS Deaths, HIV Infections Since 2010
“Neural Tourniquet” Can Stop Bleeding with Nerve Stimulation
Science & Technology:
US Airlines Have Traveled Light-Years Since the Last Plane Crash
Meta Plans to Build Subsea Cable Spanning the World, Sources Say
Falcon 9’s Flight Rate 30x Higher than Shuttle at 1/100th the Cost
Satellites Launched to Create Artificial Solar Eclipses in a Demo