To the Stars with Data: June 20 2021
Fossil fuel emissions and mortality, autonomous shuttle buses, space stations, synthetic data, and more...
Hello!
Let’s talk about fossil fuel emissions, or air pollution from burning fossil fuels.
Example time:
A city depends on a nearby lake for drinking water
Because the lake is so large, the city dumps its sewage into the lake, thinking there won’t be any impact for years to come
Meanwhile, the city has the technology to create a water treatment plant, but it costs money
I know what you’re thinking, “The city needs to build the sewage plant so its citizens aren’t drinking polluted water!” But here’s the thing: by depending on fossil fuels for electricity, this is what we are doing to our air.
Worldwide, we are pumping 33 gigatons of CO2 (nearly 73 TRILLION pounds) per year into our atmosphere. It is estimated that fossil fuel emissions caused 3.6 million excess deaths in 2015 alone.
In this week’s data viz, I explore fossil fuel emissions and its impact on mortality. We only have one Earth, people.
Oof, that’s some heavy stuff. I promise the articles in this week’s newsletter are more positive. Enjoy!
-Joe
Thought-Provoking Data Viz
Quick Hits. In this interactive viz (which I made!), you can explore fossil fuel emissions by country for the three most common fossil fuels: coal, gas, and oil. At the bottom, you’ll find a list of countries sorted by excess deaths due to fossil fuel emissions.
My Thoughts. As I mentioned in the opening, fossil fuel emissions are bad for the planet (through climate change) and our health (through literal death). Climate change is difficult to see day-to-day because it’s gradual, so it’s chilling to see that millions of people are dying as a result of our emissions.
Earth News
🚌 Autonomous shuttle buses debut in Yellowstone
Quick Hits. Yellowstone (one of the US’s most popular national parks) is using electric driverless shuttle buses to help alleviate traffic this summer. The buses will run in 3-hour shifts and their route lengths will be 1.5 to 2 miles.
My Thoughts. We’ve been promised autonomous vehicles for over a decade, and they’re finally arriving. This is because autonomous vehicles are quite difficult to implement safely, especially in environments with varied weather (such as Yellowstone). Additionally, the public is tepid on autonomous vehicles. If these shuttles (and other autonomous vehicles) are implemented successfully, they’ll likely begin to alter public opinion.
📷 Smartphone camera can illuminate bacteria causing acne, dental plaques
Quick Hits. Researchers created a smartphone attachment that enables the smartphone camera to capture pictures of bacteria that cause acne, gingivitis, and dental plaque. The augmentation shines certain lights in an area, the bacteria react to the lights, and the camera can then capture the image.
My Thoughts. I’m excited for this technology for two reasons: the price point and its implications for healing. Imagine getting a somewhat serious cut and being able to monitor levels of harmful bacteria around the wound with technology you have right at home. Here’s the amazing part: the technology to accomplish this already exists!
Space News
🌕 Russia just released a video 'road map' of its lunar base with China
Note: The video in the above Tweet is in English
Quick Hits. Via Tweet, Russia released a video detailing its roadmap for the ILRS (International Lunar Research Station), Russia’s joint lunar research station with China. Notably, the plan doesn’t call for astronauts to land on the moon until 2036. This plan is similar to NASA’s Artemis mission, which expects to land astronauts on the moon in 2024.
My Thoughts. More research in space is ultimately good for humanity because we can conduct experiments in space (or on the moon) that are not possible on Earth. I’m personally not too excited about this because so much can change in 15 years, so it’s probable that the details for the ILRS mission will change drastically or the mission will be cancelled altogether.
🚀 Astronauts safely board Tiangong, China’s space station
Quick Hits. Three Chinese astronauts safely boarded Tiangong, China’s space station. Notably, they are first astronauts to board since the space station was placed in orbit a few months ago. They plan to remain aboard the space station for 3 months, booting the space station into service, testing its systems, conducting experiments, and testing equipment.
My Thoughts. As I mentioned above, more research in space is ultimately good for humanity. With Tiangong now operational, the only two operational space stations currently in orbit are the International Space Station (crewed by the US, Russia, European Space Agency, Japan, and Canada) and Tiangong (crewed by China). If you’re interested in space stations in general, I recommend checking out the Wikipedia article.
Things that make you think
🤖 The rise of synthetic data
Quick Hits. Synthetic data is exactly what it sounds like: it’s made up (though it is usually based on actual data). Many different companies are producing synthetic data for a variety of use cases, including finance, insurance, and health care. The need for synthetic data is expected to grow for two reasons: 1) companies need more of it to train AIs and 2) countries are likely to enact more regulations that protect data from actual people.
My Thoughts. I understand the need for synthetic data (I’ve built AI models and work in HR, so deal with data privacy regulation daily), but I have issues with synthetic data:
Right now, AI are black boxes. We don’t know why an AI does what it does.
The synthetic data is generally created by AI.
Using a black box to create data that feeds more black boxes means that, at some point, the data being used and created by AI no longer reflects reality. And we won’t even know how we got there because everything is a black box! Now add in our forecasted reliance on AI in the future (i.e. they might decide whether we are approved for a mortgage), and our future begins to look somewhat dystopian.
Future-Thinking Companies
🏎 Airspeeder - produces electric flying race cars
⛑ Kernal - produces helmets that read/monitor brain activity. Considering that very expensive, room-sized equipment, are typically needed for this task, somewhat-bulky helmets are a vast improvement.