Category Science & Technology

In August 2018, Apple became the world’s first- ever trillion dollar company, thereby becoming the richest company to ever exist. However, it quickly lost its top spot after poor iPhone sale and multiple controversies.

PetroChina, a state-owned oil giant, was the first company to hit this mark during its initial public offering in 2007, though its value has declined dramatically since then. Apple on the other hand is the first non-state-owned company to reach this stratospheric valuation on its own merits through a long, sustained upward climb without implicit government guarantees or backing.

It is a market development that has been in the pipeline for well over a year. Recent higher sales of the expensive iPhone X gave investors more confidence in the company and helped it to this watershed moment, leaving second-place Amazon and third-place Google well behind in the mid to high $800 billion value range.

Picture Credit : Google

In July 2017, fossils of five early humans found in North Africa were unveiled by researchers. These fossils show that Homo sapiens emerged on Earth at least 100,000 years earlier than previously recognized. The finds also suggested that humans may have been evolving in the same direction all over the African continent.

Homo sapiens is part of a group called hominids, which were the earliest humanlike creatures. Based on archaeological and anthropological evidence, we think that hominids diverged from other primates somewhere between 2.5 and 4 million years ago in eastern and southern Africa. Though there was a degree of diversity among the hominid family, they all shared the trait of bipedalism, or the ability to walk upright on two legs.

When humans migrated from Africa to colder climates, they made clothing out of animal skins and constructed fires to keep themselves warm; often, they burned fires continuously through the winter. Sophisticated weapons, such as spears and bows and arrows, allowed them to kill large mammals efficiently. Along with changing climates, these hunting methods contributed to the extinction of giant land mammals such as mammoths, giant kangaroos, and mastodons. Fewer giant mammals, in turn, limited hunters’ available prey.

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At a time when it is difficult for humans to get citizenship of a particular country, Sophia, a humanoid robot developed by Hong Kong- based Hanson Robotics was conferred citizenship by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in October 2017. Sophia looks and talks like a human. From after, you can probably not even say she’s a robot!

She is fashioned after Audrey Hepburn, can walk, talk and emote too. And now, Sophia, the world’s first robot citizen who came calling here this week, can also draw sketches, contextualise a conversation and attach faces with names, say its makers.

The delicate looking woman robot with doe-brown eyes and long fluttering eyelashes, who mesmerised the world when she was activated in 2016, is getting smarter by the day.

Sophia, dressed in a black skirt and a grey metallic shirt, was part of several industrial and social robots, including ‘Professor Einstein’, exhibited at the 28th IEEE Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN2019) here.

Picture Credit : Google
 

For four days in May, Portugal, the European country known for soccer and Cristiano Ronaldo, was powered by renewable energy. Yes, for four consecutive days the country’s electric usage was provided entirely by wind, solar and hydro-generated energy.

The country’s zero emission milestone was announced just days after Germany, another European superpower, announced that clean energy had powered almost all its electricity needs on May 15.

Overall, renewable energy is gaining ground on the world’s electric grids, accounting for nearly 60 percent of the world’s new electric capacity, according to the renewable energy research network REN21.

Still, wind and solar panels together account for just 4 percent of the total power supply. Though the coal industry has been on the decline in some places, the world is still largely reliant on fossil fuels to generate power. Efforts to cut planet-warming greenhouse gases depend markedly on the power sector, which accounts for about 42 percent of all energy-related carbon emissions. Nuclear plants can contribute to the clean-energy bottom line, but they face opposition over waste and safety issues, as well as political and economic headwinds.

Wind and solar command a lot of attention when it comes to renewable energy, but in many cases, other low-emissions sources are providing big assists. A key player in Portugal’s win is hydroelectric power, which accounts for about 19 percent of the country’s supply. Hydro can provide the steadier output needed to fill in gaps when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining.

Having a strong reserve of geothermal energy can help lay a foundation, too, as is the case in Iceland, Philippines, and others. But developing those resources takes time, money, and political consensus, which can often hold projects back.

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Technology has received its share of criticism over the years, especially when it comes to social interaction. With the advent of computers and smartphones, many of us have been accused of spending less time with friends and family, and more with gadgets. However, the same technology can be used to keep in touch with loved ones. Here’s how:

Send them a mail

While writing a letter is always an option, you can send your loved ones an email as well. It gets delivered in an instant and is versatile, allowing you to incorporate images and documents. Share your vacation pictures or tell them how the year has been for you and wait for a reply.

Email is a quick and hassle-free way of connecting with your loved ones.

Connect on video

Video calling is one of the best technologies available to us. It helps bring those staying far away closer to us, and is more personal than chat or email.

Use one of the many video calling software on your phone or laptop to call and connect with your loved ones. You’ll feel like they are right next to you.

Send E-greetings

Gone are the days when we shared greeting cards with friends and family on special occasions. However, technology has added its own twist to those cards, enabling you to customize them and send them electronically. There are several e-greeting sites online. You can choose the ones you like and send them to your loved ones.

Alternatively, you can use your design skills to create your own greeting card and mail it.

Send them a gift

With the boom in e-commerce, you can easily send a gift to your dear ones. Not sure about what they like? Browse their social media accounts or ask common friends.

Alternatively, you can send them an e-giftcard which will enable them to buy whatever they want from an e-commerce site.

Share memories

With the availability of cloud storage, you can collaborate with your loved ones and create a repository of photographs of everyone in your circle. It will stay forever, and you can always browse through them for a walk down memory lane.

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Scientists for the first time have measured the heart rate of the world’s largest creature. The blue whale, which can reach up to 100 feet in length and weighs 200 tons, is the largest mammal to have ever lived and possesses the largest heart of any living creature – around 180 kg. It lowers its heart rate to as little as two beats per minute as it plunges under the ocean surface for food. Its highest heart rate – between 25 and 37 beats per minute – occurs when it returns to the surface to restore oxygen levels. These extremes suggest that the blue whale’s heart is “working at its limit”. A more robust cardiovascular system is not likely, and the research may explain why no species on Earth has grown bigger than the blue whale, since the energy needs of a larger body might surpass what’s biologically possible for a heart to accommodate.

Picture Credit : Google