One deep sea mine could send noise 500km across the ocean – report
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/08/nowhere-is-free-from-noise-deep-sea-mining-threat-to-marine-mammals
Many deep-sea species – about which very little is known – are believed to use sound to navigate and communicate, as scientists call for limits on mining.
Racist Algorithms Are Making Robots Racist Too
Researchers show that large AI models are threatening to bring racist and sexist bias into the realm of robotics.
There’s now a small library’s worth of evidence that AI systems are biased and tend to replicate harmful racist and sexist stereotypes. So it may not shock you to learn that those racist and sexist algorithms can be used to make racist and sexist robots.
That’s according to a new paper from researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Georgia Tech, who trained a virtual robot to interact with physical objects using a widely-used AI language model. The robot was presented with objects adorned with pictures of human faces of different races and genders, then given tasks to complete that involve manipulating the objects.
HILARIOUS!!! THE TEXAS GRID DOESN’T STAND UP IN THE COLD OR THE HEAT CAUSE IT ISN’T PART OF THE NATIONAL GRID!! IS PRIVATELY OWNED, SHORT CUTS USED AND BUILT LIKE CHEAP SHIT — THOSE INDEPENDENT MORONS DON’T KNOW HOW TO BUILD ANYTHING!!!! BUT THOSE MINORS THOUGHT THEY WERE GOING TO GET TREATED REAL WELL DOWN THERE in NO ABORTION, DON’T SAY GAY EVANGELICAL RACIST TEXAS – THEY DESERVE THEIR PROBLEMS !! HILARIOUS!
Bitcoin (BTC) Miners Shut Off Rigs as Texas Power Grid Nears Brink
Bitcoin Miners Shut as Texas Power Grid Nears Brink
Almost all large Bitcoin miners have shut down as demand peaks Over 1,000 megawatts load is released from mining operations
David PanJuly 11, 2022, 11:02 AM EDT
Riot Blockchain’s Whinstone mining facility in Rockdale, Texas.
Source: Riot Blockchain
Nearly all industrial scale Bitcoin miners in Texas have shut off their machines as the companies brace for a heat wave that is expected to push the state’s power grid near its breaking point.
Miners such as Riot Blockchain Inc., Argo Blockchain Plc and Core Scientific Inc., who operate millions of energy-intensive computers to secure the Bitcoin blockchain network and earn rewards in the token, flocked to the Lone Star State thanks to its low energy costs and liberal regulations on crypto mining. The state has become one of the largest crypto-mining hubs by computing power in the world.
“There are over 1,000 megawatts worth of Bitcoin mining load that responded to ERCOTs conservation request by turning off their machines to conserve energy for the grid.” Lee Bratcher, president of Texas Blockchain Council told Bloomberg in an email response. “This represents nearly all industrial scale Bitcoin mining load in Texas and allows for over 1% of total grid capacity to be pushed back onto the grid for retail and commercial use.”
Miners may see a drop in profitability as the heat wave keeps their machines off by sending energy prices soaring and further stressing the state’s power grid. The miners are already struggling to repay debt and raise additional capital with Bitcoin prices in sharp decline. Shares of public miners have tumbled about 75% this year.
Electric Reliability Council of Texas
The all-time peak record for energy usage was set Friday with 78,206 megawatts, breaking the previous unofficial all-time peak of 77,460 megawatts that occurred on July 5, according to data from the state’s power operator Electric Reliability Council of Texas. The operator has been working with Bitcoin miners, who are required to turn off their mining machines when the state faces energy shortages.
While Texas is likely to face more energy shortages in the future, ERCOT expects crypto miners to increase electricity demand by up to six gigawatts by mid-2023, more than enough to power every home in Houston.
“Currently, 100% of the machines located in Texas have been powered off to provide support for the ERCOT grid,” Core Scientific CEO Mike Levitt said. “In troubled situations including the current Texas heat event, we have been curtailing power and will continue to curtail power as needed.” The company operates in six states, with less than 15% of its production located in Texas, he said.
Riot is participating in ERCOT’s Four Coincident Peak program, in which the company’s Whinstone Facility located in Rockdale, Texas, will curtail energy consumption when called on during the four summer months of peak energy demand, the miner said in an email to Bloomberg.