Neuralink:The ability to control technology with the brain

Elon Musk is back at it with exciting developments at his controversial company Neuralink. Neuralink will potentially enable humans to wirelessly link the brain to technological devices. The groundbreaking technology could revolutionize how we treat people with severe disabilities like quadriplegia. Neuralink’s product would interpret a person’s neural activity and transmit it through a phone or other device. At this point in time, Elon Musk and the others working on this product have tested it on monkeys and have recently implanted their first device in a human. Although this product could advance the medical industry, there are also some potential pitfalls. The brain is a very fragile part of the body and it is risky to tamper with it. Putting 1024 electrodes distributed across 64 threads could definitely cause some long term health issues. While many are upset about the use of monkeys in testing, I am much more concerned about hackers or other parties with bad intentions having control of someone’s brain. Despite all of the risks, Neuralink could significantly enhance the way that people with severe disabilities can function through day to day life.

GraphCast: The Future of Forecasting

The inconsistency and chaotic nature of weather makes it very difficult to predict. Similar to many other areas, Artificial Intelligence(AI) is revolutionizing the way we forecast weather. Over the past few years, Google has developed GraphCast, which has quickly become one of the most accurate forecasting systems. GraphCast uses data from the last 20 years to conceive more accurate weather predictions. First, GraphCast chooses more that a million grid points covering the surface of the earth. For each grid point, GraphCast predicts 11 different variables including temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, and mean sea level on the surface. Not only does GraphCast predict day to day weather, it also predicts extreme weather events with more accuracy than other weather systems. GraphCast provided more accurate predictions on more than 90% of 1380 test variables compared to the HRES, which is a popular weather simulation system. GraphCast has started a new era of weather predictions, and will only improve as time goes forward. AI innovation continues to change the world.

Is SpaceX too Powerful?

Elon Musk is a generational thinker, and SpaceX is changing how we think about space travel. Not only does SpaceX work with space travel, but they have also implemented a new satellite internet system known as Starlink. Starlink currently controls over 4,500 satellites which is more than half of the active satellites in space. SpaceX’s goal is to grow this network up to 42,000 satellites. Through these satellites, Starlink provides internet and phone access to many different countries. During Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Starlink has provided vital communications to the Ukrainian military, but they have also restricted access on several different occasions.

Starlink’s role in the Ukrainian conflict introduces the problematic idea that SpaceX could play a crucial role in global disputes going forward. Starlink’s control of a majority of satellites in space potentially allows them to tip the scale one way or the other. Over the past 18 months, at least nine countries including China and Taiwan have brought up significant concerns about Starlink’s influence with American officials. Even though SpaceX provides an innovative product, should a private company possess so much power?