If I had to list 5 must have things for my daily routine and tasks, Google would most definitely make the cut – fast information has become one of the main pillars of society, whether you want to learn how to make an awesome burger, or find out how to solve that complex task at work, you are just a quick Google search away from the solution (or two).
Having said that, too much information can be misinformation – and this is exactly what happened to Hristo Georgiev, a Swiss based engineer whose picture was linked by Google’s Algorithm as the infamous Bulgarian serial killer, who happened to have the same first and last name.
See, when you search for either, celebrities or notorious individuals, you may have noticed that there is a snippet of information at the top right corner, called “knowledge panel”. This is designed to provide a quick overview of the most important events of the character, but contrary to common belief, knowledge panels are automatically generated by Google’s array of sources, which, sometimes, may link the incorrect character and his/her deeds (or crimes) to mostly, anyone.
If we keep in mind that Google has around 4 billion users and that more than 60% of all mobile searches in 2019 were purely based on knowledge panels (that is, individuals who only considered the information contained in these snippets, without confirming said data with any other source), it goes without saying that these mistakes can lead to serious consequences for the person involved.
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Moving on to biology, a new study has suggested that stress and psychological well-being may be causing (and reversing) the process of hair greying.
The research, funded by the Wharton Fund and NIH, concluded that natural re-pigmentation of the human hair across diverse sex, ethnicities, ages, and body regions was possible and that psychological stressors played a significant role in this process and thereby, enabling the examination of life exposures on human biology.
Yes, one more reason to take those deserved holidays – now, endorsed by science.
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And last but not least, we are all very well aware of the global efforts in reducing our carbon footprint – so much so, that even if we covered every inch of the planet with forest, we would not be able to cope with the existing surplus of carbon dioxide that is in the atmosphere.
Several approaches are being taken into consideration on how to tackle this issue – from reducing the output of emissions to even negative emission technologies, in hopes of achieving a net-zero balance.
However, start-up Living Carbon came up with an idea – what if trees were better? The company has started manipulating the genetic code of trees to increase the amount of carbon dioxide they can absorb during the photosynthesis stage.
Co-founder Patrick Mellor mentioned that this breakthrough could translate in an increase of 20-30% of carbon dioxide drained, which if it were to come true, it would most certainly help our ecosystems.
• Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:33 Google Algorithm Misidentifies Random Guy For Serial Killer
2:16 Hair Greying Reversal Is Possible
3:45 Genetically Modified Supertrees To Save Our Planet
• Resources:
a) Research:
https://futurism.com/the-byte/google-algorithm-serial-killer
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/09/googles-knowledge-panels-are-magnifying-disinformation/598474/
https://support.google.com/knowledgepanel/answer/9163198?hl=en
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gray-hair-can-return-to-its-original-color-mdash-and-stress-is-involved-of-course/
https://elifesciences.org/articles/67437
https://www.fastcompany.com/90646232/these-supertrees-are-engineered-to-capture-more-carbon
https://futurism.com/the-byte/gene-hacked-trees-carbon-dioxide
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2020.00058/full
• Footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riOa6ATrm7U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KXGZAEWzn0
• Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CLIPS OR IMAGES SHOWN IN THIS DOCUMENTARY Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
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