Kurzweil e-newsletter

[view in web browser]( Kurzweil | e-newsletter Dear readers, Welcome to the Kurzweil e-newsletter --- tracking the press + activities of Ray Kurzweil: best-selling author, inventor, and futurist. Plus breakthroughs in science, tech, and progress --- illustrating Ray's ideas + predictions outlined in his acclaimed books. Our web library features Ray's key writings, resources, and a digest of stories about the world of tomorrow. to visit our home page | [click here]( what's new: digest | Data is growing world-wide, so is the energy needed to power it With more AI apps + mobility --- energy-use is going up. --- summary --- Researchers at Northwestern Univ. are looking at the world-wide growth of data — and the global energy needed to power it. They ask: Will we run out of energy to power civilization’s data-use — soon or in the future? New, high-energy-consuming software --- like the algorithms running artificial intelligence apps, and data mining tools that process Big Data --- run on the massive infra-structure of super-scaled industrial computer hardware warehouses, called data centers. The increased demand equals more + more energy-use. According to Microsoft, there are billions of devices and data centers processing over 2.5 exa-bytes of data daily. The team's study is the most nuanced to-date, showing how energy efficiency can try to keep-up --- as the world presses limits of how far power sources can go. They look at renewables, new modular designs, and guess at a time-frame before we might have an energy emergency. this story includes: video tours of the world's biggest data centers. [read the full story]( image: A huge data center by CyrusOne measuring 976,000 square feet, on 90 acres. resource | podcasts: Techtonic + a Little Slice of Tech Pie from: WFMU --- summary --- Techtonic and a Little Slice of Tech Pie are popular weekly podcasts — on free-form radio station WFMU — about our shift to a digital future. Journalist Mark Hurst --- the podcasts' host + creator --- interviews makers + thinkers who are charting the way forward in today’s cyber-infused society. The shows cover tech, community, video games, current events — “and whatever else is next.” And the podcast episodes are archived + available for free listening anytime. this story includes: featured Techtonic episode: "artificial intelligence inspired music" [read the full story]( a & e | film • Data Center: the hidden face of the web from: Science Film Festival --- summary --- How does the internet work? What energy does it use? This documentary film explores the hidden face of the web — huge data centers that rely on cheap + reliable energy: coal. The visuals of this film take us deep into the international layers of the internet. From the third world we see communities desperate for better, faster, cheaper, ubiquitous connectivity enjoyed by modern states. And the theme that permeates: we live in an epoch of light-speed inter-connectedness --- and web access is now a primary, basic need. [read the full story]( event: Intersekt theme: Examining, discussing, unlocking fin-tech potential. --- summary --- Intersekt is the leading annual fin-tech industry conference gathering of: fin-techs, hubs, accelerators, policy-makers, regulators, investors, and advisors. Devoted to examining, discussing, and unlocking the potential of the fin-tech market. The program features top international speakers, free workshops, optional satellite events — plus extensive networking opportunities with social functions. [read the full story]( the Kurzweil Library | accelerating intelligence by Kurzweil Technologies co. This email was sent to {EMAIL} [why did I get this?]( [unsubscribe from this list]( [update subscription preferences]( Kurzweil Network | accelerating intelligence · 935 Great Plain Ave. | no. 111 · Needham, MA 02492 · USA