All posts tagged: efficient

Scaling up neuromorphic computing for more efficient AI

Scaling up neuromorphic computing for more efficient AI

Published by skeptic

Neuromorphic computing—a field that applies neuroscience principles to computing systems to mimic the brain’s function and structure—needs to scale up if it is to compete effectively with current computing methods. Researchers have presented a detailed roadmap of how neuromorphic computing can reach this goal. The research offers a new and practical perspective toward approaching the cognitive capacity of the human brain with comparable form factors and power consumption. “We do not anticipate that there will be a one-size-fits-all solution for neuromorphic systems at scale but rather a range of neuromorphic hardware solutions with different characteristics based on application needs,” the authors stated. The versatile applications of neuromorphic computing Neuromorphic computing has applications in scientific computing, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, wearables, smart farming, smart cities, and more. Neuromorphic chips have the potential to outpace traditional computers in energy and space efficiency and performance. This could present substantial advantages across various domains, including AI, healthcare, and robotics. As AI’s electricity consumption is projected to double by 2026, neuromorphic computing emerges as a promising solution. “Neuromorphic …

Making Europe’s wind energy industry easy and efficient

Making Europe’s wind energy industry easy and efficient

Published by skeptic

Christoph Zipf, Spokesperson at WindEurope, stresses that EU governments must revitalise implementation in order to accelerate Europe’s wind industry. As it stands, Europe is not building enough new wind turbines to reach its 2030 energy and climate targets. After several challenging years, the European wind energy supply chain has started to ramp up. The European Commission has tabled an excellent Wind Power Package in late 2023 – 15 immediate actions to strengthen Europe’s wind industry. Now, it’s up to European governments to implement these European Union (EU) rules on the national level. ‘Implementation’ might sound boring and dusty, but, for Europe’s wind industry, the timely and efficient implementation of the Wind Power Package might well be matter of survival. The challenges Europe faces today – declining competitiveness, geopolitical uncertainties, and climate change – are significant. Wind energy is uniquely positioned to help tackle all three. It reduces fossil fuel imports, creates jobs, strengthens the industrial base, and plays a pivotal role in reducing carbon emissions. By fully embracing wind energy, Europe can bolster its energy …

Efficient Web Automation : Skyvern’s Advanced Open Source AI

Efficient Web Automation : Skyvern’s Advanced Open Source AI

Published by skeptic

Skyvern is fundamentally changing the way we approach web-based task automation through its innovative open-source AI framework. By offering a compelling alternative to proprietary systems like Anthropic’s Computer Use API, Skyvern uses advanced machine learning and computer vision technologies to enhance browser-based workflows. This platform grants you unprecedented flexibility and control, hallmarks of open-source solutions. Unlike proprietary systems that often lock you into rigid frameworks, Skyvern offers a refreshing alternative, empowering you with the freedom and flexibility to tailor its capabilities to your unique needs. By harnessing the power of advanced machine learning and computer vision, it promises to transform how you interact with browser-based workflows, making them more efficient and less time-consuming. Web Automation What sets Skyvern apart is its commitment to openness and community-driven innovation. As you explore its features, you’ll find a platform that not only adapts to your specific requirements but also evolves with the collective input of a global network of developers. This collaborative spirit ensures that Skyvern remains at the cutting edge of automation technology, constantly improving and expanding …

Energy drink use associated with shorter, less efficient sleep in college students

Energy drink use associated with shorter, less efficient sleep in college students

Published by José

A recent study of over 50,000 Norwegian students revealed that individuals who drank energy drinks daily tended to have lower-quality sleep compared to students who rarely or never consumed energy drinks. Daily energy drink consumers had shorter, less efficient sleep, took longer to fall asleep, and required more time to wake up. The research was published in BMJ Open. Energy drinks are beverages designed to boost energy, alertness, and concentration. They typically contain high levels of caffeine, sugar, and other stimulants such as taurine, guarana, and B vitamins. These drinks are popular among individuals seeking a quick energy boost, particularly students, athletes, and those working long hours. However, excessive consumption can lead to side effects such as increased heart rate, high blood pressure, and anxiety. Regular intake of energy drinks, especially those high in sugar, may contribute to health risks like obesity and dental problems. Due to these potential health concerns, many health organizations recommend moderation in their use, particularly among young people. Study author Siri Kaldenbach and her colleagues aimed to investigate how often …

Does a Lack of Empathy Make You More Efficient?

Does a Lack of Empathy Make You More Efficient?

Published by skeptic

Last Saturday, we left Robocop (2014) at the point where Alex Murphy (what is left of him physically) is placed in a robotic suit. He is the pilot phase of a special project meant ultimately to put robots out on the street as cops. Now that he is officially a robocop, Murphy begins his training. He is introduced to Mattox, who, for some reason I have yet to figure out, doesn’t like his newest trainee. Mattox plugs Murphy into a computer program meant to see how he compares to other robots. Murphy performs just as well as the robot in terms of accuracy, but he’s just a little bit slower than his mechanical competitor. Why did the writers backtrack on some of their own assumptions? There were a number of problems with this scene. For one thing, I’m not sure why Sellars needs Murphy to be just as fast as the robots. From his perspective, he just needs a man in a metal suit so he can utilize a loophole in the law against robotic …

Commercial Rooftops Are the Next Frontier for Energy Efficient Heat Pumps

Commercial Rooftops Are the Next Frontier for Energy Efficient Heat Pumps

Published by skeptic

Think your energy bills are high when winter is at its coldest or summer is at its hottest? The next time you’re walking through a big-box store, imagine how much it costs to maintain a comfortable temperature under those high ceilings. The commercial sector accounted for about 18% of the total energy consumed in the US in 2022, and by far the single largest energy use for commercial buildings is in space heating, at 32%, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration. A key way to make heating less energy intensive and reduce fossil fuel emissions? Develop technologies that can heat large buildings more efficiently, like heat pumps. That’s the focus of an accelerator program announced Wednesday by the Department of Energy. DOE’s new Commercial Building Heat Pump Accelerator program is challenging manufacturers to build better rooftop heat pumps that can replace the less-efficient heating and cooling technology currently sitting atop warehouses and stores near you. It’s similar to a DOE challenge to make heat pumps work more efficiently in cold weather, which …

Can we produce efficient models?

Can we produce efficient models?

Published by skeptic

AI energy consumption is becoming a major topic due to the colossal amounts of energy needed to use Google, talk to Siri, or ask ChatGPT to do something. One study estimates that by 2027, AI energy consumption will equal the amount of energy it takes to power Argentina or Sweden. A single ChatGPT prompt is estimated to consume, on average, as much energy as forty mobile phone charges. Despite this, the research community and the industry have yet to make the development of AI models that are energy efficient and more climate-friendly the focus, according to computer science researchers at the University of Copenhagen. Why is AI energy consumption so big? Training AI models consumes a lot of energy and thereby emits a lot of CO2e. This is due to the intensive computations performed while training a model, typically run on powerful computers. AI energy consumption is particularly prominent for large models, like the language model behind ChatGPT. AI tasks are often processed in data centres, which demand significant amounts of power to keep computers …

Most Efficient Solar Panels of April 2024

Most Efficient Solar Panels of April 2024

Published by skeptic

Tied for best overall: Canadian Solar and Maxeon  The most efficient solar panels available to residential customers come from two companies: Maxeon (sold through SunPower) and Canadian Solar. Both companies have solar panels with maximum efficiency ratings of 22.8%, but other companies are close behind. Prioritizing efficiency when you’re shopping for solar panels may not make sense for most people, but if you want to set up the most efficient system, here’s where to start. What is solar panel efficiency? Solar panels may all seem basically the same, but they’re different in at least a few ways. One of those ways, efficiency rating, measures how much of the sun’s energy a panel’s solar cells turn into usable electricity. More efficient solar panels will generate more electricity than less efficient ones given the same amount of sunlight. “If something is 20% efficient, that means that 20% of the energy in that sunlight reaching the solar panel gets turned into moving electrons,” Daniel Ciolkosz, professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Pennsylvania State University, told CNET. Choosing the best solar …

There’s a New Record for the Most Efficient Residential Solar Panel

There’s a New Record for the Most Efficient Residential Solar Panel

Published by skeptic

Solar panel manufacturer Maxeon said this month that its new Maxeon 7 panel set a new efficiency record for its type at 24.9%. The figure was confirmed by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The new benchmark serves “to set the pace for the entire solar industry,” Matt Dawson, Maxeon’s chief technology officer, said in a company statement about the achievement. The most efficient residential solar panels available today have maximum efficiency marks that top out at just under 23%.  American solar shoppers who want to have Maxeon 7 panels installed will have to wait. Though the panel is available for “select partners” in Europe, it won’t be available across “all regions,” including the United States, until the third quarter of 2024. Highly efficient solar panels can squeeze more electricity out of limited space and can be a good fit for people who can’t install a larger number of less efficient panels. It might be cheaper to install more panels to get the same electricity with a lower efficiency rating.  Not every panel will be available …

AI helps workers be efficient if they don’t “fall asleep at the wheel”

AI helps workers be efficient if they don’t “fall asleep at the wheel”

Published by skeptic

Adapted from Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick. Published by Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Copyright 2024. All rights reserved. It is one thing to theoretically analyze the impact of AI on jobs, but another to test it. I have been working on doing that, along with a team of researchers, including the Harvard social scientists Fabrizio Dell’Acqua, Edward McFowland III, and Karim Lakhani, as well as Hila Lifshitz-Assaf from Warwick Business School and Katherine Kellogg of MIT. We had the help of Boston Consulting Group (BCG), one of the world’s top management consulting organizations, which ran the study, and nearly eight hundred consultants who took part in the experiments. Consultants were randomized into two groups: one that had to do work the standard way and one that got to use GPT-4, the same off-the-shelf vanilla version of the LLM that everyone in 169 countries has access to. We then gave them some AI training and set them loose, with a timer, on eighteen tasks that were designed by BCG …