Defrosting the World’s Fridge. The Contrail Conundrum. Irish Inspiration. And Who’s on the Vati-Cans? Plus more! #174
Grüezi! I’m Adrian Monck – welcome!
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1️⃣ What Happens When You Defrost the World’s Fridge
Strap in. We’re gonna find out.
Remember all those people telling you not to worry about global warming because Antarctic sea ice was getting bigger? Like respected climate scientist British journalist Andrew Neil.
Matt King at the University of Tasmania has been studying Antarctic ice. He has some grim news:
“The surprise was that sea ice extent had been growing slowly over the last decades, but now it’s actually declined very rapidly. Very, very large reductions in sea ice extent is not a gradual retreat at all.
“We can’t explain – yet – what’s caused those events, and so until we do, we won’t really be able to say confidently what’s driving them.
“It is entirely possible that this is a very, very, very rare event that has occurred and the sea ice will recover and then later in a few decades the sea ice starts to decline because of climate warming.
“Or, you could say, actually, something’s changed in the system, and such a change obviously is consistent with global warming.
“I think it’s entirely reasonable to expect, or have the hypothesis, that this is associated with warming climate.”
Ice expert Martin Siegert says:
“There’s a real danger in the years ahead that Antarctica starts to behave in a way that looks a lot more like the Arctic... that it stops acting as a refrigerant for the planet, and it starts acting as a radiator.”
⏭ Is it just penguins who are in trouble?
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2️⃣ The Climate Change Contrail Conundrum
AI helps cut contrails but adds to fuel costs. And who pays?
Google has done some cool research on how to use AI to cut contrails – the smoky looking trails that airliners leave across the sky.
The write-up is better than the video. TL;DR, the trails add to global warming, but a bit of AI-assisted route tweaking can cut them by nearly 60%.
The route tweaks also add a tiny amount (0.014%) to aircraft fuel consumption. Not so inconsequential in an industry where every cent counts.
How much can initiative like this reduce global warming – if it passed all the hurdles to implementation? AI did the calculations:
This initiative can reduce the warming from aviation by 0.0001°C in 2023
So we need a lot of these kinds of things to lower the temperature in the planetary oven.
⏭ Google has a whole website dedicated to the project here.
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3️⃣ The Most Inspiring Team Talk
In a unique language...
We draw a lot of inspiration from sport. Especially when it comes to leadership and motivation.
Watching Irish rugby legend Ronan O’Gara wind up the team he coaches with old-style expletives delivered in a hilariously accented French? Motivation gold.
O’Gara’s got a masters in economics. Maybe he could use one in psychology.
⏭ How can coaches influence players and motivate athletes?
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4️⃣ A Military Historian on Barbie
Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman has thoughts.
Lawrence Freedman, strategy guru, uses the movie to draw six lessons:
Importance of coalitions: Barbies succeed in overthrowing Kens by aligning with outliers, who know the truth. The Kens fail due to their lack of unity and coordination.
Use of indirect means: Barbies use deception and misdirection to outsmart and defeat the Kens, rather than violence or force.
Role of empathy: The Barbies understand the Kens better than the Kens understand the Barbies, which gives them an advantage in manipulating and influencing them.
Value of ideological commitment: Barbies have a clear, strong vision of what they want to achieve and why, while the Kens have a vague and weak understanding of their own goals and values.
Power of legitimacy: The Barbies restore the ancien regime, which gives them the authority and credibility to end the rebellion and enforce their rules.
Consequences of strategic choices: Barbie’s decision to leave Barbieland implies a change in her identity, purpose, and role.
That’s enough Barbie!
⏭ If you want more Sir Lawrence, his magnum opus ‘Strategy’ is here.
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5️⃣ Who Owns The Songs That #AI Wrote?
It’s complicated.
⏭ Meta is already licensing material for its AI music machine.
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6️⃣ Build Your Own Terminator!
First ingredient, self-healing metal.
⏭ Farewell metal fatigue?
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7️⃣ The Energy You Need for the Weekend
God’s David Guetta with the Vati-cans.
‘Obrigado’ to Portuguese priest Guilherme Peixoto – the Papal Paul Oakenfold.
If you ain’t redlining, you ain’t headlining…
⏭ Weekend reading on Bea’s book club podcast.
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If you enjoy this newsletter – please recommend it!
Best,
Adrian
