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Businesses across the genres craving for , has been all about consistent revamping and digital evolution chains. Traversing from mainstream processes to tech-efficient landscapes has been a mammoth move and of course an imperative one. However, now one can say that scratching off the surface of digital transformation for businesses has come full circle with AI in metaverse. Where personalization, massive data optimization and immersive roll outs are easier than ever. But again, this is only the businesses capitalize on futuristic catalysts like ‘Fueling Innovation & Step-Ups’ if and when AI and Metaverse. Yes, there are virtual shopping, interactive displays, and AI-powered virtual assistants for sales. Or even the AI-powered virtual meeting platforms have been super tech-savvy catch-ups. But I can now safely say that it was quite last season because synergizing on the symphony of Metaverse with AI is the next wave. So, for all the modern businesses to hover around the ultra-competitive times and level up comprehensively on all fronts, calling dibs on Metaverse with AI is the only way out. The duo is not just rolling out benefits and perks in abundance for the businesses. They are changing the entire trajectory of digital transformation. So, let’s unravel the prowess of this tech-fusion ahead! The Need of the Hour: AI and Metaverse . But wait, is it the only catch when times have changed dramatically, and businesses are on an outlook for innovative leverages? Certainly, no! Right? AI and Metaverse have moved past the Traditional Bandwidths! Transcending limitations, Automating tasks and zapping the gap between the real and virtual worlds still does shine and serve for the businesses I mean, the swaps from manual to automation and clutching in the meeting rooms to highly hyper-realistic platforms are game changers. But, again would it streamline operations, as we live in the datasphere. Clearly businesses across the globe are equipped with data flowing from all directions and they do rely on it extensively. Well, was that it? Was that the big final? Without a second thought, NO! Okay, automation was magical. But considering the present times and the competitive march towards the future, integrating AI and the metaverse is not just a looming luxury but a necessity. Now, it’s natural to think why and how. For that, let us get you navigating through the same. Considering the cluster of futuristic capabilities that AI hosts, it is understood that the initial drive for the businesses to integrate AI was to add a ‘Dollop of automation, smart and modern dynamics’. However, with the digital horizons taking up on a massive scale, AI delivers more than ever. Why AI? Let’s explore your businesses as a ‘ Robust Machine.’ And for that machine to run efficiently, AI is the ‘Core Mechanism.’ It means if you, as a business loses the grip on mechanics, the machinery stops working. To be precise, it falls out completely if you let go of AI in digital transformation. For Example- Now, at this point it is quite natural of you to raise the most obvious question; Sure, but what does metaverse bring to the table? Why Metaverse? When it comes to businesses and considering it as a robust machine (for example, same as above), artificial intelligence is clustered machinery that is in charge of the process, production, and operational efficiency. Basically, it is a on the other hand, is a ‘Finished Product, which is not your average batch of products but a personalized, futuristic, and immersive one more like, . In other words, AI in metaverse are like two peas in a pod. And you cannot stack and put chips on one and leave the other. They just synergize so well together that no tech giant would want to ignore their massive impact. back-end ecosystem. , Metaverse a front end ecosystem Having said that- it does not matter if you are into retail, corporate, fintech or even narrowed down to marketing, production or designing. This ultimately brings us down to the HOW. How is this the only seed for taking ‘The next digital transformation leap’? And, for the same we need to tap onto the tech-trail. TECH-DUO How Integrating Metaverse and AI in digital transformation is the only move ahead for businesses? To help you understand it better, let us give you a simple formula. Technically Speaking- AI x Metaverse  (Backend + Frontend) Catering Modern-Day Business Requirements = Intelligent Agents of Computer Science fetching, formatting, filtering, and powering up data. AI: An Immersive space powered by AI, panning out real-life-like aspects for the users. Metaverse: In a nutshell, it does not matter what stream or genre your business falls into. The digital horizon of the times, roots on two thriving technologies i.e Metaverse and Artificial Intelligence. Right from operational efficiency, to acing a competitive edge in the market to delivering next-gen experiences to the users. This dynamic duo is certainly a ‘ solution, and integrating it is the only step to soar high for the businesses. one-size-fits-all’ Besides that, I do have some claims to make for AI in Metaverse; AI and Metaverse are . beyond the basics You can count on it for the ‘Innovative Next-Gen Dive.’ Yes, you ‘ Save money while facelifting your operations.’ No, you ‘Do not have to undertake a trail of tasks.’ Don’t worry, with below listed genres I will affirm the above claims. So, tag along! Training Simulations Break-free the mainstream physical conference room training which aren’t just passive but highly time and cost intensive. Metaverse digital transformation is here with immersive safety training with AI expertise to fuel in the adaptive, tailored yet cost effective training! Fusing in realistic scenarios in a spatial space with life-like learning sessions is what one can say that offers. But, I am still adamant about our claims. These training programs are cost-savvy, highly skill-efficient, and industry-agnostic. You can have medical professionals or even construction personnel to train. Metaverse with AI is the step-up you need. And when I say you need it, I mean it! Metaverse x AI Earlier the training sessions involved manual physical explorations, in-person training and direct machine/equipment contact, which was time consuming but at the same time extremely risky and even resource intensive. And, above all that, it’s now SO LAST SEASON! Here, I will tell you what gap it bridges. You are panning out collaborative virtual training with an expert who takes on a spatial space with all the required equipment/machinery available. By hopping onto this futuristic fusion, you are not just offering safety training and shrinking down the incidental risks. But, you are offering a simulated controlled environment, connecting through experts and dodging barriers. On top of that, you are cutting machine maintenance and operational costs. At the same time, it offers personalized, active, and real-time learning. Consider this: Transform Sales and Marketing Strategies If you thought AI powered chatbots, automated marketing campaigns and collaborative virtual meetings are all that AI and metaverse has gotten, then let me tell you. You are not just highly mistaken, but you are undermining its potential to a great extent. I will equip you with how Metaverse x AI can do wonders and revolutionize your sales and marketing. From consumer & company interaction to consumer x product interaction virtually. Brace Yourself: I meant for the fact all I know that the world is shrinking and businesses are trying their level best to modernize and level up digitally. To help you understand, let’s approach your brain wires in a simpler way. Earlier businesses used to analyze consumer preferences and market trends manually and showcased the products/services in mainstream displays. Personalization was a farfetched pick for businesses because coping with inconsistent consumer trends in the masses was not only difficult but impossible. There was a gap between consumers and businesses offerings due to lack of data analyzation, preference consideration and lack of customer engagement. For Sales: Be it campaigns, personalization virtual launches and down to chatbots everything is streamlined and up to the trends. Businesses can take a backseat in this digital age considering their putting the chips on this dynamic duo. However, this might not do justice to the claims stated above, which is why I’ll just quickly run you through the evolved sales process. With AI and Metaverse in Sales: How does it transform your Sales and Marketing processes? Pools in the data comprehensively, yet segregates the chunks into ‘Preferences, Patterns, Purchase history’ by leveraging predictive analytics. Further, the same data is brought to use in personalizing the entire marketing strategy and virtual immersive 3D launches. With that, AI seeps this data into the Virtual assistants in real-time thereby rolling out a personalized output to the users according to their preferences, likings and choices. AI – The entire data processing across the platforms and servers is lastly brought to show on the business front. Now this can be in the form of modern virtual product launches, 3D virtual try-ons, 3D product demonstrations and all of this in a hyper-realistic space i.e Metaverse. Metaverse Digital Transformation: Imagine virtually trying on a dress or getting to access a virtual test drive for that car that’s recently launched. It is now possible from your own living room but with all the immersiveness of actuality. Plus, what adds a cherry to the cake is all of this will be (automatically and in real-time) tailored to the customer’s preferences via virtual reality development. Not just that, you as a business can get vast amounts of data optimized (in no-time), display products in 3D space and let the products interact with your potential segment of customers (in real-time). And, and, and hit that sales target while finessing the modern marketing and sales game. A win-win right there like never before! Work and Play: Perfectly Balanced Gear up to bail out from the monotonous workloads! It’s time to hunch down the hamster wheel! Taking a backseat and letting things run on auto-pilot has always been synonymous with AI. But, now by syncing on the symphony of metaverse with AI it is no less than living in the future without waiting for 2050. The avatar aura is real and how. You are serving your clients round the clock and bringing in business globally. But there is no employee burnout issue nagging you, nor are the productivity dips hitting your sales anymore. Picture this: If you are running an e-commerce site- by counting on this duo. The AI powered chatbots do not just respond to the user-queries in real time. But, your users will be equipped with a 3D product display and that too tailored to their specific needs. All this is via virtual reality development. For Example- Your Perks: Customer attrition rate, offer modern services while saving resource costs. How time consuming and labor intensive is to run through numerous resumes, shortlisting potential candidates and further dealing with the onboarding process. But, it can be swapped to a rapid, streamlined, cost and time-savvy one. Every company understands the basics, if your employees are happy, they tend to perform better, and your company stays in business lane. Hence, what if there were virtual assistants powered by AI guiding your interns to understand the basics and recognize their potential? I mean think how quickly you will be able to streamline your HR processes before and after onboarding of your employees. Now Picture This- Implementing Metaverse with AI is a hardcore necessity. Because AI algorithms will fill in and sift potential candidates matching your recruitment needs, Metaverse will reform your onboarding process by providing a virtually immersive and simulated workspace for the candidates. And even better with gamification! Do you know how? Well, you guessed it right! In short there is no other way around but implement, integrate and inch in the via the futuristic fusion of Metaverse and AI. digital transformation Conclusion So, if you’re still second guessing on integrating Metaverse with AI and taking on that digital facelift, you are running late. Because while this is a catalyst and not merely an upgrade. The integration changes everything and the entirety of the ecosystem surrounding us. It is certainly a star of its discipline and hitting the throttle for businesses across the genres. As Metaverse x AI is not a mere privilege, you can take a raincheck on but an iconic move that your business will be living on in the future. We at initially thought the next innovative leap is just chatbots and frameless screens. Only ‘few’ perceived the information, trusting its ability to lead the current digital transformation phase. Maybe, its not too late to be the ‘few’ and crave an innovative leap for your business too.

The Next Digital Leap: AI and Metaverse Integration for Businesses

People who work with or on industrial batteries face unique hazards every day. Here are the most critical safety concerns and practices for dealing with them and protecting workers. 1. Hazardous Dusts Chemical fumes and powder get into the air during manufacturing. Usually, workers wear personal protection equipment (PPE) like masks and goggles to keep from breathing or ingesting hazardous materials. However, it’s not uncommon for people to skip wearing their PPE. Exposure to lead dust and the top source of work-related lead absorption. Unfortunately, it can quickly cause severe organ, nerve, and blood vessel damage. is the biggest health hazard Workers should always use their PPE when near hazardous chemicals to protect themselves. On top of wearing masks, they need goggles and gloves to minimize indirect contact. Could you imagine avoiding breathing in lead dust all day only to rub your eyes with a contaminated hand after work? 2. Sudden Explosions Have you seen those videos of smartphone batteries randomly blowing up? They generate heat when they charge or discharge, and overheating can lead to an explosion. Usually, electrical abuse — overcharging, rapid charging, or short-circuiting — is the cause. Also, many batteries produce flammable byproducts. Any spark or heat source could set off an explosion if too much fills an enclosed space. To make matters worse, commonly used gases like hydrogen are colorless, odorless, and tasteless — undetectable by human senses. Safety practices include following charging protocol, ventilating rooms, and using hydrogen detection systems. You can avoid most explosions if you prevent overheating and monitor the level of flammable gases. However, you’re still at risk even if you follow the manufacturer’s recommendations. Since , there’s always a chance one will happen. This possibility is one of the reasons inspections are a standard safety practice. Routinely checking for flaws can protect you from random battery detonation. faulty cells can cause sudden explosions 3. Corrosive Materials Many industrial batteries contain corrosive materials. For example, the flooded lead-acid variety can leak sulfuric acid, a chemical that burns through the skin. This type needs to be topped up with distilled water, meaning workers come into close contact with it regularly. Refilling it before or during charging could cause the acid mixture to boil over. Corrosive materials can also escape because of mechanical abuse. In other words, physical mishandling — dropping, denting, or otherwise damaging an industrial battery — can cause it to leak. In these cases, the person who breaks it should immediately report the issue to prevent others from getting injured. You must wear proper PPE whenever you’re close to a corrosive material. In the case of a flooded lead-acid battery, you’d need gloves, goggles, boots, and an apron. However, these are just precautionary measures. Prevent highly toxic liquid from leaking by following the manufacturer’s charging and handling recommendations. Eye-washing stations and safety showers should be nearby if someone comes into contact with a corrosive or toxic liquid. Considering the damage acid can do, it’s also best to have special first-aid equipment. 4. Fast-Growing Fires Overcharging or improper charging can cause thermal runaway — an uncontrollable temperature increase. Since , they’re at risk of suddenly bursting into flames. intense heat damages batteries Battery fires grow quickly and are challenging to put out, so most safety practices are preventive. There are still safety practices left to follow when the fire’s out. If you don’t address the root cause of thermal runaway, there’s a chance the industrial battery will reignite. Disconnecting it from its power source and quarantining it can prevent it from bursting into flames again. At the very least, it’ll keep the fire from spreading. 5. Electrocution and Shock Electrocution is a significant safety concern for people working on or near industrial batteries. Although it isn’t as standard — or deadly — as explosions, acid leaks, and toxic gases, there are still safety standards workers must follow. For one, they should keep metal away during charging, which includes jewelry. Additionally, they shouldn’t touch the positive and negative terminals simultaneously. The possibility of electrocution increases substantially during a fire. Stranded energy — the unknown amount of power left over — means workers can’t safely discharge the battery without posing a shock hazard. While it’s a serious risk, for it. there are no standard safety practices For now, first responders take the lead, and everyone else stays a reasonable distance away. 6. Highly Toxic Gases Batteries often produce highly toxic gases during charging and discharging. For example, lead-acid varieties can produce arsenic hydride — which — while connected to power sources. This particular chemical is extremely dangerous. Militaries have even used it as a weapon because it causes symptoms similar to poisoning. is colorless and flammable Other common toxic gases include hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide. They can be harmful or deadly in high concentrations. Usually, they remain at very low levels unless there’s a leak. The best safety practices include using gas detection systems, following the manufacturer’s charging recommendations, and routinely inspecting the battery. Address Safety Concerns With Standard Practices No one wants to deal with acid leaks and explosions at work. Anyone working with or on industrial batteries must keep safety practices in mind to protect themselves and their colleagues.

Exploring the Safety Concerns of Industrial Battery Use

As warfare evolves from sticks and stones to nuclear armaments and beyond, digital tools like scamming and social media offer novel and significant impacts on the battlefield. New digital tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) developed by Ukraine in response to Russia’s February 2022 incursion mark the beginning of social media warfare, characterized not just by cyber confrontations but how the digital translates into action on the battlefield. The use of digital platforms will only grow and further expose how these technologies can both aid and compromise military efforts in modern warfare. Russia’s experience with Ukrainian-leveraged digital assets serves as a cautionary tale for both individuals and militaries about the perils and possibilities inherent in our connected world. As (IW) gains prominence in modern military strategy, the role of digital tools like social media and cyber-enabled scamming cannot be overstated. Social media platforms serve as an ideal ecosystem for executing a wide range of IW activities, from disinformation campaigns aimed at sowing division among enemy lines to civil-military operations that gauge public sentiment and build community relations. In the digital world, the battlefront’s traditional geographic confinement disappears, and the environment is persistently dynamic. irregular warfare Digital tools are particularly potent for small-scale, non-state actors who might not have the resources for traditional warfare but can nevertheless exert a significant impact through well-coordinated online campaigns, such as Ukrainian activists who use scamming techniques to convince to firebomb their own military offices. In the age of IW, the power dynamics on the battlefield are no longer solely determined by physical might; the impact of influence and information will continue to grow and allow for certain aspects of warfare to be crowdsourced, with ordinary civilians taking on a more prominent role in the era of irregular warfare. Russians The challenges faced by Ukraine on the battlefield have provided invaluable lessons for military strategists regarding and the . “Once the war is over, we will definitely write a textbook,” Vice-Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa, the head of Ukraine’s navy, “And we’ll send it to all the NATO military academies.” Ukraine is already applying many recently learned lessons with new digitally-enabled TTPs. The West, including and beyond NATO, can learn much from Ukraine’s social media application of irregular warfare in their ongoing war with Russia. conventional warfare future of war proclaimed Romance and espionage: how online dating apps betrayed Russian soldiers Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian soldiers have revealed information from their to AI-generated of Ukrainian women. Some soldiers inadvertently disclosed their tactical locations through images while seeking companionship. One woman ingeniously two Tinder accounts, setting a different location near the border for each account and, referencing the difference between locations of shared matches, “triangulate(d) the exact locations of her matches.” As a result, she reported over seventy such profiles and their locations to Ukrainian authorities. Tinder dating app profiles fake profiles employed devised a ruse using fake profiles of appealing women across multiple social media platforms, such as Telegram, to ensnare Russian soldiers stationed near Melitopol. According to the , the Russian soldiers were persuaded to share photos of themselves on duty. Upon receiving these images, the hackers pinpointed their origin to a secluded Russian military base near Melitopol in southern Ukraine. This intelligence was subsequently relayed to the Ukrainian military, leading to an assault on the base days later. Ukrainian hackers Financial Times On Russian Navy Day in July 2023, Ukrainian hackers targeted Russian sailors by sending them a video with good “wishes” via apps. According to the Ukrainian military’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR), these videos depicted Ukrainian drones and missiles attacking Russian warships, including the . In addition to any potential psychological impact of the footage, the message contained malware that provided the hackers with access to the sailors’ phone data, subsequently transferring confidential information to Ukrainian servers. Most sailors unwittingly expressed gratitude before opening the deceptive video. messaging Moskva cruiser Activists use scamming techniques to target Russia's military infrastructure and offices. Russian officials attribute a series of at their recruitment centers to “phone scammers” who specifically target the elderly to attack Russian army recruitment offices. According to Russian intelligence services, scammers target vulnerable citizens “who found themselves in difficult circumstances and are easy to influence.” By convincing them to take out a loan or share their bank details, they are subsequently convinced to attack a recruitment office in an attempt to recover their losses. For example, in Russian-occupied Crimea, scammers duped a schoolteacher into throwing a flammable object at a recruitment office. Similarly, in St. Petersburg, a 66-year-old woman was lured into taking out a loan with the false promise that her debt would be cleared if she attacked a with a Molotov cocktail. Digital scammers do not only target the elderly. Teenagers in Russia, who claim they are not aware of who their financier may be, were recruited via to ignite railway junction boxes in exchange for money. fire-bombings recruitment office social media The rising significance of open-source intelligence (OSINT) In August 2022, the Wagner group faced an attack in Popasna, Ukraine. A local pro-Russian journalist inadvertently the Wagner base’s location through images shared on Telegram. One such image, now removed, disclosed the base’s exact address. Armed with this information, Ukrainian forces demolished the site. A Ukrainian official hinted that the strike’s precision was possibly aided by the shared Telegram images. This incident epitomizes how social media-derived open-source intelligence (OSINT, information procured from public sources) is strategically leveraged in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war. revealed When location-based apps lead to physical attacks In March 2017, a Royal Navy member’s run inside His Majesty’s Naval Base, Clyde (HMNB Clyde), a high-security base housing the UK’s nuclear deterrent, was tracked via the , leading to concerns about revealing sensitive military locations. has shown that data from fitness apps might inadvertently reveal the locations of hidden military bases by mapping consistent exercise patterns and patrol paths within or around such bases. These apps, which often connect to devices such as Fitbits and Garmin watches, allow users to log their exercise routes. A feature designed for friendly competition might unintentionally expose the precise activities and identities of staff within high-security military zones. Strava app Research In July 2023, data from the app turned deadly. A Le Monde from July 11, 2023, suggests that Strava may have inadvertently played a role in the assassination of Captain Stanislav Rzhitsky. The Russian officer was ambushed and on July 10, 2023, in a park in Krasnodar, Russia. Rzhitsky formerly led a submarine that was implicated in a 2022 strike on the Ukrainian city of that resulted in 27 civilian deaths. report killed Vinnytsia Rzhitsky’s leadership role in this act made him a target for Ukrainian intelligence. disclosed that Rzhitsky was a regular Strava user, often sharing his routes. The consistency in his routes led to speculation that his killers might have used the app to predict his movements on the day of his assassination. Strava’s user agreement highlights that unless data-sharing settings are restricted, user activity can be accessed by anyone online, including details like distance, runtime, and maps of routes. Le Monde , a Ukrainian government app originally designed to facilitate access to public services, was repurposed for wartime efforts. It enables Ukrainians to both report the presence of Russian soldiers in their vicinity and manage tasks like uploading tax returns, renewing passports or providing students with bus fare discounts. Among its features is the “e-Enemy” function, which lets Ukrainian citizens about Russian troop movements, providing invaluable data to the Ukrainian military for strategizing their defense and countermeasures. Diia relay information The evolving face of modern warfare Carl von Clausewitz’s posits that, while the fundamental nature of war remains constant in the human experience, its execution or character is . He viewed war as a complex social activity, and in the 21st century, our interconnectedness expands our connectivity to war as individuals through the digital realm. The increasing democratization of warfare, facilitated by technology, is shifting the focus towards the role of ordinary civilians, like the women who set up virtual “ ” using dating apps to get Russian soldiers to reveal their location. As digital tools continue to enter the fray, regular citizens will assume an even more important role in today’s warfare. On War ever-changing honey traps This metamorphosis of warfare, propelled by the digital age, underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive reevaluation of how we in the West approach conflict in the 21st century and ensure we apply lessons from the Russo-Ukrainian war. The battlefield is no longer confined to physical terrain; it now includes the vast, interconnected realm of the internet, where each click or post could be as consequential as any traditional military maneuver. Therefore, it is vital for the Western alliances and NATO to adapt and develop new strategies that respond to this evolving threat landscape – the next compromised service member could be a NATO soldier who accidentally leaks vital information on social media to our adversaries. In an all-out war, it could be our own populations that are targeted by scammers to attack military offices. We must learn lessons early on from the digital irregular warfare we are seeing in the Russo-Ukrainian war and begin strategizing new approaches to protect ourselves. We must develop an understanding of how to leverage these tools more effectively in the future. Also published . here

Cyber-Enabled Scamming Techniques and Social Media’s Growing Role in Warfare

Lithium has become increasingly more popular due to the variety of products that it can be made into. But what actually is lithium, and why is it so useful? .  Due to its high levels of reactivity, lithium has to be stored in a particular way.  Mineral oil is used in the storage of lithium to help prevent any tarnishing or corrosion that may occur if the metal was exposed to air. Lithium is a reactive, flammable metal that is silvery-white in appearance The first chemical used in the process of producing lithium is called lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE).  The process of obtaining lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, which are usable in products, is called direct lithium extraction (DLE). In comparison to the traditional process of extracting lithium using brine, the DLE process is efficient DLE allows for more than 80% of the lithium to be recovered, whereas conventional methods only retain about 40% of the lithium.  DLE also creates lithium that is considered to be more pure, and this process requires lower rates of usage of reagents than older methods using brine. adsorbents, ion exchange, solvent extraction, membrane separation, and electrochemical separation.  The only technology of these 5 that is currently being used commercially is adsorbents.  The adsorbent technology uses sorbents as a lithium-bonding material to extract lithium.  The DLE method using this technology allows for 80-99.9% of lithium to be retained. There are 5 types of DLE technologies: The uses for lithium are widely varied This mineral can be used for simple purposes such as lubrication when made into grease, and it can be used in the manufacture of glass and ceramics.  There are also more complex applications of lithium in scientific contexts, such as in nuclear fusion and even in medicine.  There is now a medication called lithium carbonate being used to treat folks with bipolar disorder. The newest lithium product in demand is batteries. In 2015, batteries constituted (greases and other industrial uses, and ceramics/glass, each accounted for 35%). just 30% of the demand for lithium products However, it is expected that batteries will account for 95% of demand in the year 2030.

The Emergence of the Lithium Economy to Power the Future of Energy

If you know about the breadth-first search algorithm, and even if you don't, you will be able to easily understand Dijkstra's algorithm as we address it in this article. The Breadth-first Search of a Graph The first algorithm that I would like to describe is the search of a graph. breadth-first What is it? Let's step back from the formal description of graphs and imagine a picture. We lay out ropes on the ground, soaked in something flammable, of the same length so that none of them intersect, but some of them touch each other at the ends. And now we light one end. How will the fire behave? It will spread evenly over the ropes to neighboring intersections until everything ignites. It is easy to generalize this picture to three-dimensional space. This is what the breadth-first search of a graph will look like in real life. Now let's describe it more formally. Let us start the breadth-first search from some vertex V. In the next moment of time, we will examine the neighbors of vertex V (a neighbor of vertex V is a vertex that shares an edge with V). And so on until all the vertices in the graph have been examined. Implementation of breadth-first search Suppose we are in some vertex during the breadth-first search process. Then we will use a queue into which we will add all the neighbors of the vertex except those that we have already visited. void bfs(int u) {
  used[u] = true;
  queue<int> q;
  q.push(u);
  while (!q.empty()) {
    int u = q.front();
    q.pop();
    for (int i = 0; i < (int) g[u].size(); i++) {
      int v = g[u][i];
      if (!used[v]) {
        used[v] = true;
        q.push(v);
      }
    }
  }
} In this implementation, g is the adjacency list, i.e. g[u] contains a list of adjacent vertices to u (std::vector is used as a list), and used is an array that allows us to understand which vertices we have already visited. Here, breadth-first search does nothing except for the search itself. It may seem unnecessary, but it can be easily modified to find what we need, such as the distance and path from any vertex to all others. It should be noted that the edges do not have weights, i.e. the graph is unweighted. Here is an implementation of the search for distances and paths. void bfs(int u) {
  used[u] = true;
  p[u] = u;
  dist[u] = 0;
  queue<int> q;
  q.push(u);
  while (!q.empty()) {
    int u = q.front();
    q.pop();
    for (int i = 0; i < (int) g[u].size(); i++) {
      int v = g[u][i];
      if (!used[v]) {
        used[v] = true;
        p[v] = u;
        dist[v] = dist[u] + 1;
        q.push(v);
      }
    }
  }
} Here, p is an array of ancestors, i.e. p[v] is the ancestor of vertex v, and dist[v] is the distance from the starting vertex of the traversal to vertex v. How to restore the path? It's quite easy to do, just by traversing through the array of ancestors of the required vertex. For example, recursively: void print_way(int u) {
  if (p[u] != u) {
    print_way(p[u]);
  }
  cout << u << ' ';
} Shortest paths All further reasoning will be valid only if the edge weights are non-negative. Now let's move on to weighted graphs, where the edges of the graph have a weight, such as the length of the edge, the fee for passing through it, or the time it takes to pass through it. The task is to find the shortest path from one vertex to another. In this article, I will start with the breadth-first search and I don't recall seeing such an approach anywhere else. Maybe I missed it. So let's take a look at the breadth-first search implementation again, specifically at the condition for adding to the queue. In the breadth-first search, we only add to the queue those vertices that we haven’t been to yet. Now, we will change this condition and add those vertices whose distance can be reduced. Obviously, the queue will be empty only when there are no vertices left whose distance can be reduced. The process of reducing the path from vertex V is called vertex V relaxation. It should be noted that initially, the path to all vertices is infinity (take some sufficiently large value as infinity, namely, such that no path will have a length greater than the value of infinity). This algorithm directly follows from breadth-first search, and it was the first algorithm I came up with when solving my first problem of finding the shortest paths in a graph. It is worth mentioning that this method finds the shortest paths from the vertex from which we started the algorithm to all others. Here is the implementation: const int INF = 1e+9;

vector< pair<int, int> > g[LIM]; // In g[u] there is a list of pairs: (the length of the path between vertex u and v, vertex v).

void shortcut(int u) {
  fill(dist, dist + n, INF);
  dist[u] = 0;
  p[u] = u;
  queue<int> q;
  q.push(u);
  while (!q.empty()) {
    int u = q.front();
    q.pop();
    for (int i = 0; i < (int) g[u].size(); i++) {
      int v = g[u][i].second, len = g[u][i].first;
      if (dist[v] > dist[u] + len) {
        p[v] = u;
        dist[v] = dist[u] + len;
        q.push(v);
      }
    }
  }
} Why do we store such pairs in the adjacency list? It will become clear a little later when we improve this algorithm, but to be honest, for this implementation, the pairs can be stored the other way around. We can slightly improve the queue insertion process by introducing a bool array to mark whether the vertex that needs to be relaxed is currently in the queue. const int INF = 1e+9;

vector< pair<int, int> > g[LIM];
bool inque[LIM];

void shortcut(int u) {
  fill(dist, dist + n, INF);
  dist[u] = 0;
  p[u] = u;
  queue<int> q;
  q.push(u);
  inque[u] = true;
  while (!q.empty()) {
    int u = q.front();
    q.pop();
    inque[u] = false;
    for (int i = 0; i < (int) g[u].size(); i++) {
      int v = g[u][i].second, len = g[u][i].first;
      if (dist[v] > dist[u] + len) {
        p[v] = u;
        dist[v] = dist[u] + len;
        if (!inque[v]) {
          q.push(v);
          inque[v] = true;
        }
      }
    }
  }
} If you take a closer look, this algorithm is very similar to the Levit algorithm, but it's not the same, even though in the worst-case scenario it has the same asymptotic complexity. Let's make a rough estimate of this. In the worst-case scenario, we will have to perform relaxation each time we pass through any edge. The total is O(n * m). The estimate is quite rough, but it's enough for the initial stage. It's also worth noting that this is the worst-case scenario, and in practice, even such an implementation works quite quickly. And now, the most interesting part!... drum roll... Let's improve our algorithm to Dijkstra's algorithm! Dijkstra's Algorithm The first optimization that comes to mind is to relax only those vertices whose current path is minimal. This idea came to me one fine day, but as it turns out, I was far from the first. The wonderful scientist Edsger Dijkstra was the first to come up with this idea. Moreover, he proved that by choosing vertices for relaxation in this way, we will perform relaxation no more than n times! Intuitively, it is clear that if the path to a certain vertex is currently minimal, we cannot make it any smaller. You can read about it on . Wikipedia Now the only thing left to do is to understand how to efficiently find the vertex with the minimum distance to it. To do this, we will use a priority queue (heap). The STL has a class that implements it and is called . I will provide an implementation that, again, directly follows from the previous (described in this article) algorithm. priority_queue void dijkstra(int u) {
  fill(dist, dist + n, INF);
  dist[u] = 0;
  p[u] = u;
  priority_queue< pair<int, int>, vector< pair<int, int> >, greater< pair<int, int> > > q;
  q.push(make_pair(0, u));
  while (!q.empty()) {
    pair<int, int> u = q.top();
    q.pop();
    if (u.first > dist[u.second]) continue;
    for (int i = 0; i < (int) g[u.second].size(); i++) {
      int v = g[u.second][i].second, len = g[u.second][i].first;
      if (dist[v] > dist[u.second] + len) {
        p[v] = u.second;
        dist[v] = dist[u.second] + len;
        q.push(make_pair(dist[v], v));
      }
    }
  }
} Most likely it's not entirely clear what's going on here. So, let's start with declaring a priority queue. Here, the first template argument is the data stored in the queue, specifically pairs of the form (distance to the vertex, vertex number). The second template argument is the container in which the data will be stored, and the third argument is the comparator (which, by the way, is found in the functional header file). Why do we need a different comparator? Because with the standard declaration of , we'll only be able to extract the vertices with the maximum distance, whereas we actually need the opposite. The asymptotic complexity of this solution to the problem is O(n * log(n) + m * log(n)). priority_queue< pair<int, int> > Indeed, we only have n relaxations, and we can find the vertex with the minimum path length to it in log(n) time (which is the asymptotic complexity of the standard priority queue implementation in the STL). It should also be noted that we may end up adding the same vertex to the queue with different paths to it. For example, we may have relaxed from vertex A, whose neighbor is vertex C, and then relaxed from vertex B, whose neighbor is also vertex C. To avoid problems related to this, we simply skip the vertices that we extracted from the queue, but whose distance from the queue is no longer relevant, i.e. greater than the current shortest path. This is why the implementation includes the line "if (u.first > dist[u.second]) continue;". Conclusion It turns out that it is actually very easy to implement Dijkstra's algorithm with a time complexity of O(n * log(n) + m * log(n)).

Exploring Graph Traversal: From Breadth-First Search to Dijkstra's Algorithm

Nowadays every modern web application uses platforms that provide error monitoring in real-time. They have support for different languages and technologies. And that’s great because the quality of development grows every year. I’m a big fan of tools that help my team instantly react to bugs and crashes and fix them ASAP. It’s necessary when you are building a startup and trying to show your customers the best service. For instance, we used to monitor our frontend errors in and fixed repeated crashes for the mobile Safari browser. That was a big win because I had started to hate that issue (everyone faced that issue which cost him plenty of hours to find the solution). Recently, my team made the decision to migrate our front-end projects from Airbrake to . And like a big part of other developers, I was struggling with uploading source maps there. Airbrake Sentry I think the following solutions can help those who have and versions on their projects. ~Next.js@12 ~@sentry/nextjs@7.3+ Solution 1 If you see a notification similar to that in the picture below on an Issue page inside Sentry don’t fret. skipped the uploading of some source maps for Next.js generated files. In my case, those were errors that related to the framework/main files. @sentry/nextjs A little explanation: When Sentry is reacting to any error or event, it tries to get the source maps from the archive that it has uploaded. According to the GitHub issue conversation, the framework's code does not get uploaded by default anymore and Sentry doesn’t have access to all files for resolving stack trace. release Take a look at this note from Sentry manual setup documentation: If you find that there are in-app frames in your client-side stack traces that aren't getting source-mapped even when most others are, it's likely because they are from files in rather than . By default, such files aren't uploaded because the majority of the files in only contain Next.js or third-party code, and are named in such a way that it's hard to distinguish between relevant files (ones containing your code) and irrelevant ones. static/chunks/ static/chunks/pages/ static/chunks/ To make it upload everything, try to expand your current with the next properties. next.config.js // next.config.js
module.exports = withSentryConfig(
  {
	...yourNextConfig,
	sentry: {
	   widenClientFileUpload: true,
	}
  },
  {
	...yourWebpackSentryConfig,
	ignore: [],
  },
  yourSentryConfig,
); It helped me to resolve 2 of the 3 errors that I got. For the majority, it’ll solve 100% of problems with source maps. Solution 2 Let’s move on. The last problem was related to a square brackets notation for dynamic route values. If I catch an error on the client side(browser side), the stack trace paths are sent encoded but they’re not decoded when they reach the sentry server. Since the path is encoded and the string is not equal to , the source map is not matched/not found/whatever. When Sentry is sending the frames, it includes this encoded URL instead of the decoded URL. %5Bslug%5D.js [slug].js I’ve found the solution in rewriting StackFrame. Just follow the next instructions: Install package to expand your current client config. @sentry/integrations npm install --save @sentry/integrations I your add the next instruction sentry.client.config.js import { RewriteFrames } from '@sentry/integrations';

Sentry.init({
  ...yourSentryClientConfig,
  integrations: [
    ...yourSentryClientConfig.integrations,
    new RewriteFrames({
      iteratee: frame => {
        frame.filename = frame.filename.replace(distDir, 'app:///_next');
        // here we are decoding our square brackets []
        frame.filename = decodeURI(frame.filename);
        return frame;
      },
    }),
  ],
}); Great! I hope this solves at least one person’s problems! As new technologies constantly evolve, their versions get mismatched and make many developers cry. But god bless a huge programmer community that is glad to share their experience with others.

How to Upload Source Maps to Sentry with Next.js

How to Create a Google Chrome Extension Part 2: Image Grabber

How to Create a Google Chrome Extension: Image Grabber

A battery management system (BMS) should be all eyes and ears of a battery. It must keep a lookout, take precautions, and protect it from all possible mishappenings. With regard to battery safety and security, common BMS duties include voltage and current control, thermal management solutions, fire protection, and cybersecurity. This post elaborates on the main hazards that can cross a battery’s path and how a BMS can overcome them. A BMS on Guard of Your Battery A rechargeable battery is a key element of every battery energy storage system (BESS). But this is also a rather sophisticated and unstable component that needs careful treatment and constant attention. But how can you provide all that? A BMS is the answer. This system is in charge of multiple functions, and all of them aim to . get the most out of your battery within the longest possible time For example, by measuring the state-of-charge and state-of-health, a BMS can extend the battery life and improve its performance. By and , it can harness the full potential of the battery and consequently your battery energy storage system. estimating the state-of-energy and state-of-power balancing cells inside a battery pack Depending on their electrochemistry, batteries can be very sensitive to a changing environment (learn more about different ). Going beyond the operating limits . battery technologies used in BESSs can be crucial for a battery and may lead to its degradation and untimely death More importantly, a battery’s failure can be dangerous to its user. For example, lithium-based batteries are notorious for their inflammability and have a high risk of fires and explosions. Armed with multiple sensors, modules, and fuses, a BMS can and . A well-thought-out BMS is equipped with battery safety systems that prevent short circuits, ground faults, and thermal runaway. In addition, a BMS security system can ensure safe data transfer and shield your battery storage system from unauthorized use. predict potential hazards safeguard both the battery and the user Functions performed by a battery management system A integrated into a BMS allows the system to monitor the battery, identify probable hazards, and fix them in real-time. As a result, you can . real-time operating system (RTOS) avoid premature battery replacement as well as costly repair and maintenance of your BESS In this article, we’ll focus on a lithium-ion battery—a bestseller in the world of battery energy storage. Being intolerant to extreme temperatures, overcharging, and over-discharging, this battery type demands careful handling. And this is something a BMS can provide. Keep on reading and see what exact precautions you can take when designing your battery management system. Voltage & Current Control You can control the battery’s current and voltage in two principals ways: carry out overcurrent and overvoltage protection during charging and avoid undervoltage as you discharge the battery. Every battery type has recommended current and voltage limits for both charging and discharging. Here, the battery’s voltage correlates to the state-of-charge or SOC. The main point : For example, it’s best to charge lithium-ion batteries at a voltage and discharge them when the voltage is . Charge current for Li-ion chemistries may range , and their recommended discharge current is . not exceeding 4.3 V not less than 2.3 V from 0.1 C to 1.0 C up to 2 C Going above or below these limits can cause faulty conditions, such as oxidation and a short circuit, that can seriously damage the battery and cut down on its life span. The worst-case scenarios may include an explosion, fire, and electrical injury. You can control your battery’s voltage and current by adding sensors to the cells. The more sensors you add, the higher reliability you can achieve. A BMS will read data from multiple sensors, analyze it, and decide on what to do next. What you can do about it : Thus, if the current, voltage or SOC is over the limit, the BMS can . Similarly, the BMS will react to the undervoltage in case of overdischarging. If the battery’s voltage or SOC drops below the threshold, the system will . disconnect the circuit using a breaker and stop charging the battery break the circuit and stop discharging BMS overcurrent and overvoltage/undervoltage protection systems Alerting a user to the battery’s out-of-tolerance condition would be a nice and helpful feature to add to your BMS. The system may send an alarm or push notification and display it on the dashboard of a connected device. To implement overcurrent and overvoltage protection, battery management systems along with chargers can take to consta method. The idea is: nt voltage/constant current battery charging You charge the battery with constant current until the battery comes up to a specified voltage level. Then, you charge the battery with constant voltage while the current goes down. Charging will be complete once the current hits the lowest possible reading. You can introduce voltage and current control at both the software and hardware levels of your battery management system. For example, the basic hardware that we used for an industrial BMS solution comprises: and ; current voltage transformers an and a that increase the magnitude of the output current and voltage respectively; amplifier buffer with a resistive divider an ( ) that converts the current and voltage values to digital signals; analog-to-digital converter ADC a ( ) that reads the signals. microcontroller MCU The firmware that we wrote for the MCU compares measured values with the setpoints a.k.a. current and voltage limits and after that, sends a command to the breaker. However, you should play it safe when designing protection circuits. Additional electronics may not only raise the BMS cost but have a negative impact on the battery’s performance—increase internal resistance and decrease power. So it’s important to trust your to professionals. We at Integra know how to . electronic design build cost-effective safety solutions for lithium-ion battery energy storage without compromising efficiency Constant voltage/constant current battery charging Thermal Management Thermal management is one of the most critical lithium-ion battery safety precautions you should take in your BMS design. This relates to the battery’s temperature control and goes hand in hand with heating, cooling, and air conditioning. Despite the high efficiency of lithium-ion batteries, there’s the flip side of the coin. Lithium is a highly reactive and flammable metal, which can ignite in the blink of an eye on contact with water and air. The main point: So, even a slight temperature rise or minor battery damage may cause thermal runaway and a short circuit, resulting in bursting and burning. That’s why battery thermal management is literally a matter of life and death for Li-ion-based solutions. The batteries have the following recommended temperatures: 0oC to 45oC for charging -20oC to 60oC for discharging 0oC to 20oC for storing : A battery thermal management system of your BMS can monitor the compliance of temperatures with preset limits. To measure the temperature inside or outside the battery, you can use temperature sensors or —semiconductor devices having a strong correlation between temperature and resistance. What you can do about it thermistors As soon as a BMS detects deviations from the specified values, it takes the steps necessary to save the battery, be it over-or undertemperature. For example, a BMS can employ thermistors and thermal fuses to rescue the battery from overheating while in operation. They will . open the circuit and disable the battery if the temperature rises too high Most modern BMSs rely on NTC, or negative temperature coefficient, thermistors. They are highly sensitive and can quickly identify any changes in resistance with high accuracy. BMS overtemperature protection system For a thermal battery management system, lithium batteries become a major focus of attention when it comes to charging and discharging. First, you need to watch the internal battery’s temperature to prevent thermal runaway and inflammation. Second, you must protect against adverse environmental conditions. Li-ion batteries are highly intolerant to extreme temperatures and have recommended charge/discharge temperature limits (see them above). Operating over or under the ambient temperature range may lead to battery aging, capacity loss, and complete failure. A thermal management system can react to any out-of-limit variations. It can either using a battery fan, cooling system, or heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system (HVAC). turn off the charger or adjust the temperature accordingly is of one the methods applied by a BMS to remove excess heat generated from electrochemical reactions running in a battery. This comprises air and liquid cooling, as well as air and fluid convection. Other ways of heat transfer, such as , , , and , may come useful too. Heat dissipation conduction convection radiation phase changes Apart from battery temperature control, you need to ensure the thermal management of electronics engaged in your BMS solution. Installing a sufficient number of thermistors and thermostats can shield your system and its user from possible thermal hazards. Fire Protection If your system failed (better not) and the battery caught fire, it must instantly alert you and take immediate measures to nip it in the bud. So, if you cannot stave off battery overheating and the worst comes to the worst, make certain that your BMS has a solid fire protection system. t: For a lithium battery energy storage system, fire is one of the hardest, though not hidden threats. The main poin Knowing the inflammable nature of this battery technology, you can allow for that in your BMS design and take all appropriate steps to prevent probable risks. However, even if you take care of voltage, current, and temperature control, you cannot guard against battery self-ignition that may happen because of manufacturing defects. For example, the flaws in cell package and battery plates can lead to internal short circuits and, as a result, sparking, smoking, and burning. Tesla Model S Plaid powered by a lithium-ion battery catches fire. Source: CNBC For starters, make sure your battery is fine. The hazard assessment of lithium-ion battery energy storage systems must include a thorough inspection of the battery, including its package, components, and construction. For example, Li-ion battery manufacturers use and that prevent thermal runaway and short circuits in the battery. What you can do about it: separators flame retardants Proper installation, use, maintenance, and storage can also reduce the risk of battery combustion. Following the conditions listed above, such as current, voltage, and temperature limits, can help you avoid overheating and inflammation of your Li-ion battery. That said, making a reliable fire protection system can defend you and your . BESS from the spread of smoke, fire, and toxic gases Placing smoke detectors enables a BMS to detect the combustion of a battery and tap into cell cooling and fire extinguishing systems in good time. In one of our projects, we installed a smoke detector in each battery module. In case of emergency, the sensor sent a signal to the BMS, and the system opened a valve connected to the pipe of a plumbing system. Also, we set up a water leak detector that detects, controls, and manages pipeline leakage. Mind that putting out a fire with water can be dangerous because of lithium’s reactivity and adverse effects, such as releasing hazardous gases and explosions. So to be on the safe side, you can fight . Li-ion battery fires with foam or dry chemicals Fire safety is critical to certifying your battery energy storage system. UL, NFPA, and other certification standards set certain requirements that you need to meet to bring your system to market (learn what else you ). need to consider when building a BESS We can help you fail-safe your battery storage system by creating robust and BMS solutions . software hardware compliant with international fire prevention and protection regulations BMS fire protection system Cybersecurity Saving a battery from operating out of limits is not the only concern a BMS can address. Apart from getting a damaged or dead battery, you’d likely be unwilling to have your system attacked or data stolen. So when designing a battery energy storage system, remember to think about its cybersecurity. No secret that most of today’s BESSs belong to the solutions. Internet connections enable users to monitor and manage their systems remotely from their mobile and other portable devices. The main point: Internet of Things And wherever data transfer is involved, there is always a risk of a breach of confidentiality and integrity. So a BESS can also be prone to cyberattacks. Without strong BMS security features, the system is not immune to unauthorized access and diverse malicious activities that can seriously harm the battery and related BESS components. You can secure your system by implementing a variety of protection procedures. What you can do about it: First off, you need to take care that only allowed users can access the system as well as modify it. To that end, you can add a . user identification system with unique passwords and/or other authentication techniques In a custom BMS that we built for one of our clients, users send authentication requests, entering a login and a password. After successful authentication, the users get automatically authorized. They also receive an access rights list used to verify what is permitted to them and what is not. After that, every subsequent request sent from the users is checked for their permissions. User authentication system in our BMS project To provide data integrity and security, make sure the communication protocol you use has . Thus, a BMS can safeguard any interactions between the elements of the system, keeping the information about the BESS and its user confidential. reliable encryption mechanisms Component selection is a key point in BMS design since defective or counterfeit components can cause vulnerabilities in the system’s security. Developing battery management systems, we pay careful attention to the choice of chips, modules, sensors, and other parts that make up the BMS hardware. We opt for . high-quality electronic components and write rugged firmware resistant to malware and other security threats Conclusion Reactions initiated by chemical battery species can trigger unpredictable and hazardous effects on both a BESS and its user. Lithium battery energy storage systems are high on the list of potentially dangerous solutions. So ensuring battery safety is one of the core functions that need implementing in their battery management systems. A BMS can shield the battery from a range of hazards. Common lithium battery safety challenges comprise: Under and overvoltage Overcurrent Under and overtemperature Spontaneous ignition In addition, a BMS can address security issues, such as and loss of confidentiality. cyber threats We can help you avert the above troubles by creating full-fledged electronic and software solutions, enabling the long and flawless operation of your battery energy storage system. Also Published Here

BMS Safety & Security Solutions to Avoid Battery Hazards

By now, we can hopefully all agree that producing sustainable energy from renewable sources is something humanity should strive for. Though it’s taken us way too long to get started, great leaps have been made in that direction over the last decade. However, the main energy challenge of the 21st century is not making it sustainably. That part is easy. that energy . This is where come in. As we try to “beat” climate change, they will become ever-more important by helping to move cars, trucks and the power sector away from oil, coal and natural gas. Storing is hard and expensive new and improved batteries New battery technologies take many forms, and the world has not yet decided which technology will be the winner. Below is short a primer on the most promising ones. How do batteries work? It’s impossible to understand the below without basic engineering knowledge. Electricity is produced by electrons traveling from point A to point B. This movement creates an electrical current which can then be harnessed to power everyday objects. In batteries, point A is a “negative electrode” called the anode, and point B is a “positive electrode” called a cathode. Because batteries are not directly connected to a power source, they need a way to create electrons so they can travel. This is done thanks to “electrolytes”. This substance interacts with the anode, producing electrons and ions (you need both for balance). The electrons travel and produce power, while the ions are released into the electrolyte to balance the charge at both ends of the battery. When we recharge a battery, the chemical reaction that occurred during use is reversed. Pretty simple, right? Lithium-ion Batteries is the technology used in the majority of electric cars, PCs and mobiles today. In these batteries, the anode is generally made of either (lower costs), carbon or ( ), while the cathode is typically made of a lithium-cobalt or compound. These batteries have a high , and low , which is why they’re so widespread. A lot of Lithium-ion batteries varieties exist. Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, for example, offer worse performances, but are cheaper and safer. Lithium-ion graphite silicon the supposed best option lithium-nickel energy density self-discharge Despite their benefits, most lithium-ion batteries are safety hazard as they contain . If they are damaged or incorrectly charged, this can lead to explosions and fires. They are also expensive: today, these batteries can make up a quarter to a third of the cost of electric cars. flammable electrolytes Safety and costs are not the only downside to this technology : components from batteries come from mining, which is extremely harmful to the environment. There are also sociological and political aspects to the issue. Cobalt, for example, comes from , where it is mined by or by freelancers who sometimes employ children. Lithium mining harms Argentinian and American natives. The nickel industry, meanwhile, relies heavily on Russian suppliers. . the Democratic Republic of Congo Chinese-financed companies Other options need to be explored Lithium-sulfur Batteries As the name indicates, Lithium-Sulfur batteries still use lithium, but at least do away with cobalt. They instead use sulfur to make up the batteries’ cathodes. As such, these batteries lower environmental impacts and manufacturing costs while reducing the battery’s weight and providing high energy density. In fact, Li–S batteries offer twice the amount of energy per kilogram than Li-i batteries use. For all these reasons, Lithium–sulfur (Li-S) batteries may commercially replace lithium-ion cells in the future. Metal-Air Batteries A uses an anode made from pure metal and an external cathode of ambient air. As the battery is discharging, the anode is going through oxidation (losing electrons), while oxygen is in the cathode to induce a current flow. metal–air battery reduced The specific capacity and energy density of metal–air batteries is higher than that of lithium-ion batteries, making them a prime candidate for use in electric vehicles. are the most promising metal-air batteries. They have the highest energy densities of all batteries. They are however not widely used because of high costs. They also tend to be single-use (non-rechargeable). This has restricted their use to mainly military applications. However, a car with aluminium batteries has the potential for up to eight times the range of a lithium-ion battery with a significantly lower total weigh. As such, investments in research seem to be worth it. Aluminium–air and Lithium-air batteries Sodium-Ion Batteries The ( or ) is (very) similar to the lithium-ion battery, but uses sodium ions as the charge carriers instead of lithium. sodium-ion battery NIB SIB In fact, lithium, cobalt, copper and nickel are not strictly needed to make sodium-ion batteries. As such, this type of battery has received a lot of interest over the past decade because of the uneven geographic distribution, high environmental impact and high cost of these elements (as mentioned earlier). The largest advantage of sodium-ion batteries is the high natural abundance of sodium (salt is cheap). This would make commercial production of sodium-ion batteries far less costly than lithium-ion batteries. There are however many challenges to mass adoption : these batteries have low energy density, and a limited number of . Nevertheless, they may yet have a future as lithium-ion complements for lower-quality products. charge-discharge cycles Nanowire Batteries Regardless of the chemical make-up of future batteries, a nanowire battery would increase the surface area of the electrodes in contact with the electrolyte, thereby increasing the anode’s power density and allowing for faster charging and higher delivery. Nanowires are usually made of silicon, which tends to expend and damage the battery. In 2016, however, researchers at the University of California, Irvine announced the invention of a nanowire made of capable of over 200,000 charge cycles without any breakage. The technology could lead to batteries that never need to be replaced in most applications. gold, Solid-State Batteries The batteries above use liquid electrolytes, which cannot be compressed. The Holy Grail, as such, is — batteries with solid electrolytes. They would first and foremost improve safety levels: solid electrolytes are non-flammable and will work it harsher environments, unlike their liquid counterparts. Secondly, it permits the use of (such as carbon or ), enabling denser, lighter, 3D batteries with better shelf-life. Moreover, at system level, it will bring additional advantages such as simplified mechanics as well as thermal and safety management. As the batteries can exhibit a high power-to-weight ratio, they may be ideal for use in electric vehicles. solid-state batteries new materials glass Challenges however abound, especially if mass adoption is the goal. These batteries are difficult to mass-produce, and are very expensive. This isn’t surprising, as this is the trend for all new technologies. Many of these technologies are not new at all. Lithium-ion and Lithium-sulfur batteries, in fact, were first developed in the 60s. But as our needs and manufacturing capabilities evolves, so do our interests in various battery technology. Whatever the best technology, NextGen batteries will need to be cheaply produced at a large scale, with manufacturing capacities we do not have. They will need to have a long life-span to avoid them ending in landfills after a couple of charges. They will also be dependent on the chargers we use, a technology the still needs to evolve. We’ve got our work cut out for us. Good luck out there. Also Published . Here

New Battery Technologies and the Race to Beating Climate Change

By Mitja Goroshevsky, Sergei Blinov, and Luca Goroshevsky This is GOSH’s answer to the blog post: “ ” co-authored by Luke Hinds (Red Hat) and Prof Santiago Torres-Arias (Purdue University). sigstore, blockchain vs transparency logs We will address some limitations of the decision they discuss and how it affects solutions built on top of , like . Sigstore Chainguard At GOSH we chose the blockchain. As we will see further on, the reasons for this decision are similar to the reasons cited by Sigstore in arguing against the blockchain. Indeed, we agree 100% with every point discussed in the Sigstore blog post. We completely understand all the reasons behind their decision. Moreover, if we were in Sigstore’s place, having the same circumstances, the same experience and background, we too may have decided not to use the blockchain. That would not make it the right decision overall, but we are not here to denounce the decision that works for them. Below we will be analysing point-by-point Sigstore’s argumentation, their decision process, and adding some perspective to their claims. We hope that, towards the end, you better understand our solution. One where the blockchain is placed front and centre of Software Supply Chain Security. The main reason we reach opposite conclusions, despite the same facts, lies in the expertise of the people behind our respective projects. While brilliant engineers at Sigstore are great at what they are doing, they are not blockchain engineers or architects. They look at the blockchain in its current state and inevitably come to the conclusion that it is not at all suited to their undertaking, and what they need to accomplish. Which, again, is completely true. “While our assessment is that blockchains do not fit the bill (now), we wouldn’t discard a constantly-evolving and constantly-innovating field forever” — concludes their post. Here at GOSH we come from a different background. Most of GOSH’s core team are coming from , where the last 5 years were spent building , one of the most scalable and innovative blockchains to date. GOSH core development team members have led the design and implementation of radical blockchain architecture, including consensus protocols, governance models, tokenomics, and complex smart contract system research. We are trained to solve problems on the blockchain. We know how to build architecture to allow for challenging use cases. And securing the software supply chain starting from the source code is probably the most interesting real-world blockchain use case since it began. Tackling this challenge is why we are here. EverX Everscale Tokens & Fees “The first issue is the need for a token and its related fees. For a public blockchain a token of some sort is required to transact on the chain. A majority of the time these tokens are acquired as part of an initial ‘giveaway’, conversion of fiat money via some sort of exchange or via the use of compute power (in the case of proof-of-work). With sigstore the key tenet of the service is that it is ‘ ’ at point of use. free Typically fees are required and a general trend exists where the more popular the chain ecosystem becomes, the higher the token value inflates.” There are a few separate issues the Authors discuss here, all of which we completely agree with. But before addressing them, let’s put them in order. All public blockchains require some sort of token (usually called “native token”) which one needs, even if only to pay for gas (actually, as we later discuss, the main reason for native tokens is quite different). There are two reasons blockchains need gas: To pay validators (or miners, in proof of work blockchains) – people who run specialised hardware that create and validate blocks of transactions and other meta information To prevent spam (the gas price in this respect is a payment for the time one can expect the blockchain to work exclusively on processing this user’s transaction) It is certainly true that native tokens should have value to ensure the security of the blockchain. This is because security here is based on the fact that someone may lose considerable value if they produce something faulty or otherwise incorrect on the blockchain. A guarantee measured in its value. However, this does not at all mean that transactions need necessarily cost something as well, as the Authors suggested. There is no security guarantee in the fact that a user pays for transactions. These are disconnected. Let’s return to that point later and concentrate on the notion of fees themselves. Most blockchains require fees to process transactions. They therefore cannot accommodate “free” services. All while there is a common agreement that a free service is a highly desirable feature for a mass adoption of any digital product. There are several blockchains which have attempted to tackle this issue before. EOS pioneered the “bond” idea where developers would put a bond of native tokens and use blockchain for free. This did not work out well, as it required developers to incur quite heavy upfront costs. However, the thought, hatched by EOS creator Dan Larimer, that a blockchain does not necessarily require constant fees for processing transactions is, in itself, liberating. Later, several blockchains tried to lower their fees to the point where payments would be negligible. The most notable of these is Solana. Yet even their results are unsatisfactory. This is for two reasons: the fees are still present, thereby preventing the “free model”, while simultaneously being too low to prevent spam (which became apparent after many DDOS attacks on Solana). One of the requirements of the GOSH blockchain’s tokenomics was to: Allow for a completely free service While preventing spam Describing the solution in detail here would take too long (those interested can take a look at our instead), but the general concept is as follows: tokenomics There is a smart contract address space in GOSH. It is determined by the hash of the smart contract code (let’s just point out that GOSH is a content addressable blockchain), and it is called the “Free Service Area.” In it, all smart contract executions are subsidised completely by the network validators. Rather, instead of fees, collected on the network, going to validators, they go to a ‘Giver’ which subsidises these smart contract executions. However, these contracts have some restrictions: one of which is that they can not transact value outside of the Area. Meaning they can only transact for free between themselves.  This allows for the creation of a completely free user experience without generating spam, because the execution of these contracts are only available within the service they provide, i.e. if a smart contract is a Git commit, it can only transact with commits of the particular repository. Much like Github commits are free, but the spam attack on infrastructure using it is very costly, and without an obvious gain. The last point about the inflation of token price, despite being a generally correct observation, is no longer relevant because it’s free, and free is not inflationary. Likewise, GOSH has two “native” tokens, instead of one. The “GOSH” token is a value-capture token. The token which pays for gas in a smart contract outside the “Free Service Area” is called “SHELL” and it is an algorithmic stable coin, and the value against the dollar does not inflate in the case of a stable coin. The rest of points that the authors make in this section are related to permissioned blockchains like Hyperledger with which we, again, are in complete agreement: private blockchains are insecure by nature and defeat the purpose for which the blockchain was invented in the first place. As for the considerations of factors such as a 51% attack: this is very rare. In the whole history of the blockchain industry, and even when successfully conducted, they are usually successfully reverted (see Ethereum Classic attack). Vitalik tweeted about 51% on POS . here ✅ Free service on the blockchain — DONE ✅ Non inflationary token on the blockchain — DONE Private Key (Wallet) management “The truth is the majority do not want to deal with the headache and cost of storing private keys securely. This is why cryptographic signing adoption is so low in open source communities (typically lower than 5%). With blockchain a key pair is required (a wallet). This is a problem for the following reasons: OSS contributors are often unfunded and not employed to develop open source. Quite often they could be from a developing nation or somehow disadvantaged financially (most students right?!). It is not fair to expect them to spend upwards of $100 on buying a hardware wallet. Likewise we cannot expect users to store their wallet and passphrase in a cloud service.” Blockchain cryptography is very strong and very well developed. One can just look at the amazing advances in Zero Knowledge Proofs for perspective. The reason for this is . Something which, unfortunately, cannot otherwise be said of open source. It is because of this that , not only Software Supply Chain Security. precisely because blockchain provides resources for such advanced research we believe blockchain tokenization is the only valuable business model for the whole of OSS However, OSS developers don’t need to wait for solutions to the open source business model. They can buy a hardware wallet for very cheap even now. . A single chip secures the hardware element which has not only ed25519 support inside for GOSH blockchain cryptography, but also supports end-to-end supply chain protection against man-in-the-middle and other threats starting at the manufacturing facility. EverX produces one for less than $10 At the blockchain level there is a formally verified multisignature wallet smart contract which handles up to 32 signatures, combined with a mobile application, managing the access and recovery of a lost key. Contrary to this there’s: “use Facebook to log in and sign the supply chain.” This just doesn’t sound right to us. The signatures one uses for Software Supply Chain security should be, well, . secure ✅ Formally verified multisignature wallet — DONE ✅ Negligibly cheap hardware keystore — DONE Controversy The truth is that blockchain makes for a controversial topic. Post to any forum about blockchain (save the ones catering to those holding crypto-currency) and you will find a very flammable mix of views. One group feels it is the answer to everything, the other feels it’s no more than a Ponzi scheme. Those in the middle are typically undecided and often drowned out. We agree. The blockchain is inundated with controversy. And, though much of it is unfounded, some of it does ring true. As a result of this, we believe it important to try and look at it in a sober way. Blockchain may not be the answer to everything, but we are making the case here that blockchain is the best solution to securing the Software Supply Chain. And if a solution works, we ask that people not be so quick to dismiss it simply because it is controversial. Production Ready The truth is we would have been in a ‘prototype’ stage for a lot longer if using blockchain, while we gained the confidence to have sigstore run in production. As we have said, production readiness is all down to the of a particular team, and not to the technology itself. Seeing as blockchain technology is a mature one by now, a team with years of experience in developing it, debugging it, and adapting it to different tasks should naturally be able to achieve production readiness sooner. GOSH has an additional advantage: it is an evolution of what is already the most scalable blockchain architecture in history, Everscale. expertise The underlying architecture of Everscale had to be adapted for the specific purpose of storing git on-chain. Meaning GOSH is the only blockchain capable of storing git on-chain, with potentially hundreds of millions of objects in repositories. ✅ Production-ready scalable blockchain tech — DONE Decentralisation One clear advantage a blockchain has is its distributed / decentralised architecture. However when we dig into the current developer landscape we often find it’s not decentralised. As mentioned under the Token heading, permissioned / token-less blockchains require gateways for access-control , canonicalization etc. dApps use centralised API access from providers After the , a hard fork by developers created wide controversy about the other “angles” of centralisation that may exist: in this case, the fact that a series of developers can — and have — effectively thrown away the protocol-level decentralisation. DAO hack in ethereum Many posts, , have discussed the issue of blockchain decentralisation. While in general a validity point (i.e. if we consider use cases for a public blockchain, it must be decentralised) it has an embedded deception. We’d like to note that decentralisation is not a binary state. The network is not either decentralised or not. It’s a process that has never reached 100% completion, i.e. decentralisation is not a finite state. including some by Vitalik Buterin When considering the Authors’ argument as to why they chose transparent logs, we would like to give an argument in favour of the blockchain in terms only of security: In its 13 years of existence, no major blockchain network has been hacked. The DAO hack mentioned by the Authors is: not a blockchain hack, but rather a smart contract implementation hack. This is the reason why all system smart contracts in GOSH are . formally verified Ethereum at that point was not a major cryptocurrency network by today’s standards. And what happened is a quite democratic and interesting result: there were now two networks. Participants decided which to support. Forked Ethereum clearly won. But let’s apply this case to the Secure Software Supply Chain. In the case of today’s software supply chains, the damage is immensely hard to reverse. show the damage takes months to be patched. Perhaps then, a blockchain fork agreed by all token holders would be a much easier and cleaner solution in such a case? The recent attacks on logistic providers We agree, yet again, with the Authors’ point of view regarding the centralization of blockchain APIs. Moreover, the more performant the blockchain becomes the harder it is to run an access node. Yet, on GOSH, techniques exist that may allow an application developer to run a blockchain node without incurring huge costs. In GOSH in order to prove a state one needs only to hold a few key blocks and blocks from the last (short) epoch of a particular shard, where the subject smart contracts are located. Now every transaction can be proved cryptographically without a need to hold or process all blocks. The proof itself can be performed quite inexpensively on a smartphone, making it a non issue how centralised the access infrastructure is by itself. In general though, blockchains are just better at providing fault tolerance. ✅ Secure recoverable secret — DONE ✅ Sufficiently Decentralised Blockchain — DONE Why We Didn’t Choose Transparent Logs Fault tolerance problems Logs stored on servers are centralised by nature. This means that, by inherent design, all their critical operational infrastructure relies on many potential points of failure. Let’s take a look at Github itself. In a Github outage, users are unable to verify their certificates. This is one of the key reasons why GOSH is an implementation of Git on the blockchain and not just a hash storage service. Fucio is another point of failure. As it is a certificate rotating tree: if the service halts — there is no access to OpenID secrets and users cannot sign certificates. Problem of trust The transparency log cannot be altered unless the root is altered. But there is no trustless infrastructure to independently verify this. As a user, you need to trust the certificate. In turn, if the registry is out of service — users are unable to even download the manifest. Without the blockchain present there are just too many critical points of failure. After all, this is what blockchain and distributed computing was invented to solve. Record ordering However, there is one point of paramount importance: This makes transparency logs, as well as any other technology built for this purpose, limited in their use case and much less secure. So much so that once we solved all the issues mentioned above, blockchain became the most plausible ready-to-use solution to securing the Software Supply Chain. That’s what is doing right now. only on the blockchain is it possible to prove ‘order of time.’ GOSH This article was first published here.

The Blockchain Is Not Dead

10 Affordable NFT Projects You Should Know About In 2022

Clearly, the thing that’s transforming is not the technology — it’s the technology that is transforming you.” — Jeanne W. Ross Digitization has changed many industries' entire landscape, and the manufacturing sector is not an exception. Advanced technologies are taking this industry to greater heights. As per the latest marketing reports, the global manufacturing industry's revenue was in 2021. These numbers will grow to USD in 2028 at a . This steady growth in CAGR results from the growing demand for digitized manufacturing technologies worldwide. USD 116.14 billion 337.10 billion CAGR of 16.4% Manufacturers have started identifying digital transformation prospects to increase their business productivity, ensure rapid growth, and remain competitive. Indeed digitization has greater impacts and can give your brand an edge in the market if done properly. The successful implementation comprises the latest digital manufacturing trends that include the Internet Of Things (IoT), Augmented Reality (AR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, and more. My blog intends to provide you with a list of top trends that can help you establish a robust digital transformation foundation for your manufacturing business and derive maximum benefits from it. So, let's get started. Top Digital Transformation Trends in Manufacturing 1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Greater Efficiency in the Manufacturing Process Source Among the digital transformation trends in manufacturing, perhaps none is more prevalent than AI. Experts predict this technology will drive of all business value by 2022. What's more, Gartner estimates that of customer interactions will be managed without a human agent by the end of 2022. over 40 percent 75% One of the primary reasons for the tremendous growth in AI-related revenue is that organizations want to take advantage of deep learning and predictive analytics to improve their business processes and boost their ROI. Many manufacturers have already adopted this technology and use it for various tasks, such as: Identifying profitable trends in sales and marketing. Removing humans from the equation in high-risk tasks, thus reducing the likelihood of human error Analyzing data collected from connected machines in real-time to predict machine failures Improving quality management by detecting defects before they become a problem Identifying profitable trends in sales and marketing. 2.  Collaborative Robots to Speed up Manufacturing Process Automating repetitive tasks performed by humans is a significant benefit for organizations that want to improve their ROI. Collaborative robots collaborate with human workers and increase productivity in the workplace. According to a report from Tractica, collaborative robots will be used in nearly every industry by 2025, including manufacturing. Research from the International Federation of Robotics proves that the number of collaborative robots in operation worldwide will increase twofold in 2022. The report also forecasts an impressive compound annual growth rate for this technology over the next eight years. (CAGR) of 32 percent 3. Digital Twin to Bridge the Gap Between Data and Actionable Insights Source A digital twin represents a digital representation of a real-world object or system, such as a product, machine, building, or process. For manufacturers, the management (ELM) stage. It can help companies gather data from machines and incorporate it into smart manufacturing strategies. Manufacturers can use them to predict machine failures and increase equipment uptime. A manufacturer has a CNC machine that, over time, begins to show signs of stress. The company can use data from this machine and its twin to predict when the equipment will break down and deliver a replacement before it happens. Therefore, digital twins help manufacturers improve their operations and better serve customers. For example- 4. Augmented Reality For Faster & More Efficient Maintenance Services Source Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality technologies will play a significant role in the digital transformation trends in manufacturing because they allow organizations to offer customers better, faster maintenance services. By leveraging AR devices for visual instructions, manufacturers can demonstrate how to fix defective products or equipment to resolve issues more quickly. Let's assume that a customer has purchased a faulty machine part. A manufacturer can send an engineer to the customer's location with an AR device, which shows them how to make the necessary repairs. It means customers spend less time waiting for maintenance services and get back up and running more quickly. For example- 5. Blockchain to Boost Transparency in the Manufacturing Process Source According to a recent report from Gartner, blockchain is becoming one of the top five technologies that manufacturers must consider. Its decentralized, transparent nature makes it a perfect fit for many business processes within verticals such as manufacturing. Blockchain enables manufacturers to eliminate intermediaries and increase transparency in the supply chain process. This technology allows organizations to share information securely without compromising data integrity. For example- 6. Sensors & Smart Devices for Better Quality Control In order to keep pace with the expectations of the digital consumer, businesses must ensure that their products delivered to the market are safe, high-quality goods. Manufacturers can use a variety of sensors and smart devices in real-time to track everything from the environmental conditions of a product to its location. A manufacturer has multiple facilities that produce metal parts for machinery. Sensors and smart devices allow them to track these goods at each step in the process to ensure they don't fall into the wrong hands or travel too far from their original destination. For example- 7. Advanced Analytics for Real-time Risk Prevention & Management Manufacturers can use advanced analytics to gain real-time insights into potential risks throughout their production processes, which helps them avoid costly issues before they occur. an energy company operates a chemical plant that produces harmful gases and flammable liquids. It uses advanced analytics to monitor the equipment in real-time for temperature fluctuations. If the system detects an issue, it sends an automatic alert to nearby personnel, who can address the problem before it becomes severe. For example- 8. 3D printing for a Faster & More Efficient Prototyping Process As a result of rising product complexity and customer expectations for customized goods, manufacturers must adopt technologies that help them improve turnaround times and cut costs. A viable option for many businesses is 3D printing, which enables them to quickly build a new product or component model before it goes into full production. a manufacturer has created an innovative ax design with interchangeable heads for different uses. Before investing in expensive tooling, they can 3D print several versions of the ax, which helps them test its features and make any necessary adjustments. For example- 9. The Internet of Things (IoT) to Create a Smarter and More Secure Production Environment Smart devices can play a significant role in helping manufacturers deliver better customer experiences and generate new revenue streams by making new business models that support digital transformation. An industrial manufacturer has built a network of smart devices around its facilities that monitor the environment, including temperature fluctuations, energy consumption, and unexpected noise levels. This data can predict breakdowns before they occur and make any necessary adjustments to improve uptime. For example- 10. 3D Scanning for Better Part Inspection During Production Due to the rising products' complexity, manufacturers must verify that their components are manufactured to the correct specifications. One way to do this is through 3D scanning, which gives them a digital blueprint of each product to compare it with design specs before allowing its release into the production process. a semiconductor manufacturer uses 3D scanning to ensure its parts meet specific requirements in the production test phase. If not, they can make necessary adjustments before the product goes into full production. For example- 11. Predictive Maintenance for Greater Equipment Uptime Source Predictive maintenance is a technique manufacturers can use to keep their equipment in optimal working order for extended periods. According to research from McKinsey, this technology can reduce unplanned downtime by . up to 50% By using sensors and advanced data analytics tools, manufacturers can more accurately identify potential problems before they occur and make necessary adjustments, such as changing the lubricant levels or cleaning equipment components. A business that manufactures parts for jet engines has installed sensors on some of its machinery to monitor critical metrics like temperature and usage hours. These devices send regular reports back to a central system to alert operators to any abnormalities before impacting productivity. For example- 12. Edge computing to Improve Services for Smart Factories, cities, and infrastructure Source As the number of connected devices grows higher than ever before, businesses struggle to achieve the speed, security, interoperability, and efficiency needed for success. Fortunately, edge computing can help them overcome these challenges by providing continuous access to big data and advanced analytics applications via the network's edge. a manufacturer has created a smart factory that houses thousands of sensors throughout its facilities, including monitoring machines, materials, and other vital areas. It makes so much data that it can overwhelm even the most powerful servers. To keep up with demand, they use edge computing, which routes the data to the network's edge before moving it back through a central hub. For example- Conclusion We can conclude that digital transformation is a significant opportunity for manufacturers to become more agile, efficient, and competitive based on emerging technologies and trends. Manufacturers must be willing to take risks and adopt the tech advancements to succeed in the market. The smart factory is changing everything from traditional manufacturing processes to business models. So, it’s high time to embrace technologies in your manufacturing business, and if needed assistance, get in touch with the . They’ll guide you out better. business transformation agency

The Top 10 Digital Transformation Trends in Manufacturing for 2022

Facebook recently saw a massive but we all know what’s really going on. They have seen a and according to Lou Kerner at salon.com the engagement slide in their article is proof that Facebook is dying. drop in share prices and blamed Apple also huge drop off in users Maybe this article is related to that. When you hand over your personal information to an online entity, what do you expect in return? In a world where data is increasingly seen as a valuable commodity, consumers need to be aware of the underlying terms of data exchange. This piece for Hackernoon develops and discusses that identifies four key criteria (data ownership, data intimacy, data permanence, and data value). They make-up consumers' perceptions of the terms of the data exchange. a conceptual framework It also discusses my high-functioning alcoholism, which is the real reason you clicked on this, right? This article is going to be a thrill ride, so buckle up. I almost called this article: "Why can't I know exactly what kind of asshole I am? WITH data visualizations, GRAPHS and ANALYTICS? When other people already know?" Let's Start With ShabuShabu and a Highball I was sitting and procrastinating. I have high-functioning alcoholism, and that day I had eaten an enormous amount of ShabuShabu and drank two glasses of wine. It was at a bustling restaurant in Tokyo's Akihabara district. I was finally back home and working through my second Japanese Highball (Whiskey Soda) at my desk in my tiny Tokyo apartment with the heater on full blast like a languid feline. I had editing to do and I didn't want to write or edit. I wanted to read. But, when I opened up to get some procrastination-reading done, I realized I was an asshole. Allow me to explain. Hackernoon's Noonification email I received it on February 5th, 2022, 01:02 Tokyo Time. "How are you, @sarahothman?" It asked. There were a bunch of articles. I originally wrote what they were but I edited it out of this article because who cares, I didn’t read them. And, then there was also an article about . I felt angry about that one because . saying no to your boss and about how sometimes it's necessary sometimes that's necessary If the #MeToo movement taught us anything, surely it taught us that sometimes saying no to our bosses should also be accompanied by f*&king restraining orders. I didn't read it. Sorry, @vinitabansai. It's probably GREAT! And, finally, there was an article called: " ." I didn't read that either. Why? Because I'm arrogant and I already know that. I've read J.G Ballard and a bunch of other sci-fi authors. I know about the future. Guys, don't tell me J.G Ballard isn't sci-fi. AI is Not the Future. You Need it Today Sighing and taking a deep swig of my high ball, several disparate thoughts and recent memories coalesced and I realized: I'm an asshole. But, more importantly, I'm a very specific type of asshole. I was reminded of the recent hit movie: Don't Look Up. Not just the movie generally, because of the amount I was reveling in — or (more importantly) — despite the fact I was using them as a procrastination distraction, but because of not reading things not knowing things a specific scene. There's a scene in the movie, where a slightly cheese-fry fluffed Leonardo Dicaprio is ripped into by a wig-wearing Mark Rylance for calling him a 'Business Man' and it goes like this: PETER ISHERWELL Did you call me a businessman? RANDALL You do own a corporate— PETER ISHERWELL You think I’m just a businessman? Do you think you know me, Doctor? Business? This is evolution. This is the evolution of the human species. (To President Orlean) What are you doing bringing this— (Back to Randall) Did you know that BASH has over 40 million data points on you and every decision you’ve made since 1994, Doctor? I know when you have colon polyps months before your doctor does. You’ve got four or five at the moment, actually... You know, they’re not of concern, but I’d have a checkup as soon as you can. (MORE) PETER ISHERWELL (CONT'D) But more importantly than that, much more importantly, I know what you are. I know who you are. My algorithms have determined eight fundamental consumer profile types. You are a Lifestyle Idealist. You think you are motivated by beliefs, high ethical beliefs, but you just run towards pleasure and away from pain. Like a field mouse. RANDALL (almost in a whisper) I just want to make sure the science is sound on this project. I hope you understand — (Isherwell gets right in Randall’s face) PETER ISHERWELL Our algorithms can even predict how you’ll die with up to 96% accuracy. I looked you up after we first met. Your death was so unremarkable and boring... I can’t even remember what it said. Apart from one thing. You’re going to die alone. Randall shakes his head. PETER ISHERWELL (CONT'D) Alone. If you’ll excuse me Madam President. I’ve got some work to do. (Isherwell leaves) PRESIDENT ORLEAN What the hell are you doing? My God... RANDALL I’m trying to do my job. PRESIDENT ORLEAN You are just so lucky Peter adores you. (President Orlean lights up a cigarette with a GIANT: “HIGHLY FLAMMABLE” warning sign behind her) RANDALL I wouldn’t-- PRESIDENT ORLEAN You are with the grown-ups now Randall. And, I realized, knowing what I know about views, open rates, and a gazillion other metrics and consumer data points that we could use to measure engagement or audience suitability I have a unique set of prejudices that I am not in any way aware of. I know more about the prejudices of other people who I have never met than my own prejudices and more dangerously than that, I have no access to that data. A company like Facebook (META) will provide me with the data that I give to them. For example, I can request to download my own chat logs. But, I think it's harder for me to universally access consumer profile data about myself. Somehow, multiple online touchpoints have played the system, so that a company can buy that data about my preferences but I don't have a universal hub in which I can view consumer profile data about myself. Why? I can pay to see my credit rating, right? According to Wikipedia the top 3 credit rating agencies in the USA are S&P Global Ratings, Moody's, and Fitch Group. Why can't I pay to see my asshole rating? According To The Experts, It's Complicated In the study that I highlighted at the top of this article, the researchers had this to say: "As online and digital transformations disrupt their business, retailers are aware of the crucial role of collecting, analyzing, and translating consumer data into competitive advantages. It is quite popular to call data the “new oil” of our economies, or a currency that customers and firms might use to trade off costs and benefits in their interactions. Social media, new digital solutions, and the have led to an enormous volume of data being generated every day ( ). Coinciding with this, 62% of consumers feel they cannot get through a day without being tracked ( ). Yet, big quantities of data do not guarantee benefits to the retailer, and often come with inherent risks." internet of things Wedel and Kannan 2016 Auxier et al. 2019 The researchers go on to talk about GDPR and consumers blocking information on their devices but neither of these things are considerable risks from either a consumer or business perspective. The biggest risk, with its massively declining user numbers and explosive stock market decline, is a boycott of services. It's people logging in and deleting their accounts. as Facebook has seen Why can't I know exactly what kind of asshole I am? WITH GRAPHS and ANALYTICS when other people already know. I can only guess why I didn't read every article in my Hackernoon Noonification email, but I want to know more. I want to know about my prejudices so that I can address them. What's Data Ownership? Data ownership is the perceived right of an individual to control the use and sharing of their personal data. It includes the understanding that individuals have power over their data — the ability to access, correct, amend, or delete it as they see fit. What's Data Intimacy? Data intimacy is the perceived level of personal privacy consumers believe that they have in their data. It includes the understanding that individuals’ data will not be used or shared inappropriately, and that there are limits to what can be done with consumer-firm relationships. What's Data Permanence? Data permanence is the perceived length of time that personal data will be accessible and usable. It includes the understanding that companies will not delete or alter information without consumer consent, and that individuals have a right to access their data for an extended period. What's Data Value? Data value is the perceived worth of personal data to individuals. It includes the understanding that individuals are entitled to receive some form of compensation for the use of their personal data. Aha! Data value is the most important fundamental transactional factor. Companies are profiting off my data value and it’s ‘the new oil’ but I have no way to profit off it myself (or even use it to search deep inside myself and become a better person) and even if I did… such as online surveys, I would be paid peanuts. According to some sources, okay, , the data of LinkedIn users was worth about $260 per monthly active user to Microsoft Corp when it acquired the professional network in 2016. James E. Short and Steve Todd at MIT And then, in 2017 those two guys produced about how: “Making implicit data policies explicit, codified, and sharable across the company is a first step in prioritizing data value.” a whole MIT Sloan white paper In 2019 a bill was considered that would have given Americans information about they give to Google and Facebook was worth. how much the ad-targeting data Maybe one day we can work together to make a way for people to transparently see their consumer profiles and prejudices. And, maybe then I can tackle the amount of masterful, absolutely ingenious, targeted alcohol advertising I receive. Does anyone wanna’ build a consumer profiling data analytics company where the consumers own their personal data and are the only people who profit off it? If you do, I’ll be the first in line to find out exactly what type of asshole I am. You can pay me, for me to find out.

Facebook, The Cost of Consumer Profiling: Or My High Functioning Alcoholism

If you are reading this, you are a participant in the web 3.0 network. The web we live in today is very different than it was just 10 years ago. How has the web developed, and all the more significantly – where is it going now? Also, why are any of these important? Assuming that set of experiences has shown us anything, these progressions will be pivotal. In this article, I'll explain how the web has evolved, where it's going next, and why it's important. As you read on, ponder what the web means for your life consistently. Consider how society has changed because of the Internet. Web-based media stages. Versatile applications. Furthermore, the web is going through another change in outlook right now. Development of the Web (indeed the most important in 2022) The web has developed much throughout the long term and its present applications are practically unrecognizable from its initial days. The advancement of the Web is by and large separated into three unmistakable stages: Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and Web 3.0. A. What is Web 1.0? Web 1.0 was the principal emphasis of the web. Most of the participants were content consumers, and the creators were developers who created websites with information often presented in the form of text or images. Web 1.0 lasted from approximately 1991 to 2004. Web 1.0 consisted of sites that served static content rather than dynamic HTML. Information and content were served from a static document framework rather than a data set, and the destinations had little collaboration. You can think of Web 1.0 as a read-only web. B. What is Web 2.0? The majority of us have principally encountered the web in its present structure, usually alluded to as Web2. You can consider Web2 the intelligent and social web. In the Web2 world, you don't need to be an engineer to take part in the creation interaction. Numerous applications are worked to permit anybody to turn into a maker without any problem. To create an idea and offer it to the world, you can. To transfer a video and let a large number of individuals see it, connect with it and remark on it, you can do that as well. Web2 is really simple and more and more people around the world are getting creative because of its simplicity. The web is truly great in many ways as it is now, but there are some areas where we can do much better. Web 2.0 Monetization and Security Many popular applications in the Web2 world follow a common pattern in their lifecycle. Think about a portion of the applications you use consistently and how the accompanying models may apply to them. Monetization of Apps (For Developers & Organizations) Imagine the early days of popular apps like Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or YouTube and how different they were today. The process usually looks like this: The company launched an application Incorporates as many users as possible Then monetizes its user base When an engineer or organization delivers a famous application, the client experience is regularly exceptionally smooth as the application keeps on filling in prominence. This is the justification for why they can rapidly acquire a foothold in any case. At first, many software companies don't worry about making money. They're definitely focused on growth and locking in new users - but they should eventually start making a profit. They also need to consider the role of outside investors. Often the constraints of undertaking things like venture capital negatively impact the lifecycle and ultimately the user experience of many of the apps we use today. If an app development company takes on venture capital, its investors typically expect a return on investment of tens or hundreds of times what they're paying. This means that instead of going for a sustainable growth model that they can sustain somewhat organically, the company is often pushed into two paths: advertising or selling personal data. For some web2 organizations, for example, Google, Facebook, Twitter and others, more information prompts more customized advertisements. This results in more snaps and at last more promotion income. The abuse & centralization of client information is at the center of how the web we know and use today is intended to work. Security and privacy Web2 apps experience repeated data breaches. There are even sites devoted to staying aware of these breaks and letting you know when your information has been compromised. On Web2 you have no control over your data or how it is stored. In fact, companies often monitor and record user data without their users' consent. All this data is then owned and controlled by the companies responsible for these platforms. Users living in countries that need to be concerned about the negative consequences of freedom of expression are also at risk. State-run administrations regularly shut down servers or hold onto financial balances assuming they accept an individual is voicing an assessment that conflicts with their promulgation. With incorporated servers, it is simple for state-run administrations to meddle, control or shut down applications as they see fit. Since banks are also digital and centrally controlled, governments often intervene there as well. In times of volatility, hyperinflation, or other political unrest, they may close access to bank accounts or limit access to funds. Web3 plans to address a considerable lot of these deficiencies by in a general sense reconsidering how we plan and associate with applications starting from the earliest stage. C. What is Web 3.0? There are a couple of key contrasts somewhere in the range of web2 and web3, however, decentralization is at its center. Web3 enhances the internet as we know it today with a few additional features: Verifiable Unreliable Self-directed Unauthorized Distributed and robust Status information Local resident payments In Web3, designers for the most part don't construct and send applications that suddenly spike in demand for a solitary server or store their information in a solitary data set (generally facilitated and overseen by a solitary cloud supplier). Instead, . These applications are consistently suggested as dApps (decentralized applications) and you will notice the term used as regularly as conceivable in the Web3 space. web3 applications run either on blockchains, decentralized networks consisting of many peer-to-peer nodes (servers), or a combination of the two forming a crypto-economic protocol To accomplish a steady and secure decentralized organization, network members (designers) are urged and contend to offer the greatest types of assistance to all who utilize the help. When you hear about Web3, you will realize that cryptocurrency is often part of the conversation. This is because cryptocurrency plays a huge role in many of these protocols. It gives monetary motivation (tokens) for anybody wishing to take part in the creation, the board, commitment or improvement of one of the activities. These protocols can often offer a variety of different services such as computing, storage, bandwidth, identity, hosting, and other web services commonly provided by cloud providers in the past. Individuals can get by taking part in the convention in an assortment of ways, at both the specialized and non-specialized levels. Consumers of the service often pay to use the protocol, similar to how they would pay a cloud provider like AWS today. Except for Web3, the money goes directly to network participants. Local payments (exchanges that become vital) Tokens also offer a completely frameless and hassle-free native payment tier. Companies like and have created billions of dollars in enabling electronic payments. Stripe Paypal These systems are extremely complex and still do not provide true international interoperability between participants. They also require you to provide sensitive information and personal data to use them. Crypto wallets like and permit you to coordinate simple, mysterious and secure worldwide installments and exchanges into web3 applications. MetaMask Torus Networks like offer several hundred-digit millisecond latency and transaction costs of a fraction of a dime. Solana Unlike the current financial system, users do not have to go through the traditional myriad, friction-filled steps to interact with and participate in the network. All they have to do is download or install a wallet and they can start sending and receiving payments without any gate control. A new way to start a company Tokens also entail the idea of ​​tokenization and the realization of a token economy. Take, for example, the current situation of starting a software company. Someone comes up with an idea, but they need money to support themselves to start building. To get the money, they take venture capital and give a percentage of the company. This investment immediately introduces misaligned incentives that may not be very compatible with creating the best user experience in the long run. Also, if the company is successful, it will take a long time for everyone involved to realize this value, often leading to years of operation with no real return on investment. Instead, imagine an exciting new project being announced that solves a real problem. Anyone can participate in building or investing in it from day one. The company announces the launch of x tokens and gives 10% to early builders, puts 10% on sale to the public, and reserves the rest for future contributions and financing the project. Partners can utilize their tokens to decide on changes in the eventual fate of the task, and the people who aided from the venture can offer a portion of their resources for bringing in cash. Later, the tokens are delivered. Those who believe in the project can buy and hold ownership, and those who think the project is going in the wrong direction can signal this by selling their shares. Because all of the blockchain data is fully public and public, buyers have complete transparency about what's going on. This is in contrast to buying stock in private or centralized businesses, where many things are often hidden away. This is already happening in the Web3 domain A model is the application (a decentralized GitHub elective), which permits partners to partake in the administration of their undertakings. is one more that permits designers to get compensated in digital currency for bouncing on Open Source issues and dealing with it. Radicle Gitcoin allows stakeholders to participate in decision-making processes and vote on proposals. Yearn , , , , and innumerable different conventions and ventures have given tokens as a method for accomplishing possession, interest, and administration. Uniswap SuperRare The Graph Audius Offering an alternative way to build what we traditionally think of as a company, (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) are gaining tremendous momentum and investment from both traditional developers and venture capital firms. DAOs Such organizations are tokenized and reverse the idea of ​​organizational structure by offering real, liquid and fair ownership to larger segments of stakeholders and aligning incentives in new and interesting ways. For instance, Friends with Benefits is a DAO of Web3 makers and craftsmen, is about a year old, has a market cap of roughly $125 million as of this composition, and has as of late gotten a $10 million speculation from a16z. DAOs on their own might cover an entire post, but for now, I'll just say that I think they're the future of construction products and (as we've thought in the past) companies. How identity works in Web3 Identity in Web3 works much differently than what we're used to today. Frequently in Web3 applications, characters will rely upon the wallet address of the client interfacing with the application. Unlike Web2 authentication methods such as OAuth or email + password (which almost always requires users to hand over sensitive and personal information), wallet addresses are completely anonymous unless the user decides to link their identity publicly. If the user chooses to use the same wallet across multiple dApps, their identity can be transferred seamlessly between apps, allowing them to build their reputation over time. If that sounds complicated, it’s because it is. Admittedly, the blockchain space is still mostly in a testing phase, but the first breakout implementations will be explosive as they encourage users to join the network financially. Imagine if you could actually make money by contributing to social media. Bitcoin's market share has slowly fallen over the past few years, and while we believe bitcoin will continue to grow, rapid growth is imminent in other parts of the blockchain ecosystem. The whole market cap of blockchain-based resources is $13 billion today; an adjusting mistake contrasted with the current worth of frameworks that blockchain innovation might actually satisfy. We will start to see true internet-based dominance as decentralized blockchain protocols start to replace the centralized web services that dominate the current internet. The internet of the future will not be centralized.

Web3 and Beyond: Decentralizing the Internet Can Increase Your Productivity

What is a BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) and How Does it Work?

In 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope, Princess Leia appeared hovering over the table as a semitransparent volumetric image projected by a standalone robot R2D2, thus introducing a prevalent yet unrealistic notion of “holograms” and “holo calls” into mass culture. This is an example of how a fictional technology becomes an iconic representation of what future communication looks like. Despite this, a number of companies are now working on bringing a new dimension into our communications, including holographic video calls. But before we dive into the many marvelous opportunities the future is about to bring, let’s briefly recall what holography is all about (it’s not as close to the Star Wars-style holograms as you might think!). What are holography, holograms, and video holograms? (in its primary meaning) is a static photographic recording of a light field, formed by a laser split into two beams. Unlike a flat image or a photograph, you can view a hologram from different angles – by changing its position in your hands or looking at it from different viewpoints if it’s hanging on the wall, for example. Today you can see a lot of 3D images with holographic effects (i.e. on credit cards, postcards, etc). A hologram Two photos of a hologram from different viewpoints Developed in 1947 by Dennis Gabor, holography (from the Greek word “holos,” meaning “complete”) is a technology enabling 3D capturing and recreating an optical copy of a static object by means of laser interference. So, the moving holograms, like the ones featured in the Star Wars franchise – although inspired by existing technology – are more of a fantastic nature (alas!). The process of recording a hologram But what do we have when it comes to real-life solutions in holography? The project, for instance, has created holographic displays capable of demonstrating stereoscopic images by rendering different views according to a viewer’s position. Looking Glass Factory An alternative method of  “multiplex”, or , was developed by Lloyd Cross, who created moving 3D images from movie reels. The technology is based on creating an optical illusion by projecting a video image of an animated 3D model onto a semitransparent mirror or a screen set at a certain angle – so the image is actually flat but appears as three-dimensional. To create the 3D effect and 'the depth', the projected video content has a black background, which creates the illusion of three-dimensionality, the parallax effect. video holograms Although AR technologies also deal with 3D models “added” to the real world, such objects are not usually considered proper holograms since viewing them requires additional devices like AR glasses or smartphones which mix the real world and virtual environment data. For example, 8i such “holograms” by capturing the client’s movements with a bunch of cameras and rendering a moving 3D model, or an asset, which can then be integrated into various environments. creates Star Wars-style Holo Calls Clearly, it’s not possible to recreate the Star Wars-like holo calls by means of real-life holography – but still, this is a good example of a fantastic user experience. Imagine calling a friend or a family member and seeing them appear on your table like in the movie – as a semi-transparent image projected by an external light source! But, however impressive this kind of video call might seem. Over the last 44 years, since they were first demonstrated in Star Wars, they never actually emerged as real-life technology. This is especially upsetting in times of social distancing when everyone is fed up with standard Zoom calls on plain LCD screens. This problem was even mocked in an episode of the – a popular comedy TV series about technological startups: Silicon Valley Google has been a “video-booth” technology that enables the so-called volumetric video calls with external backlighting slightly resembling the Star Wars style. However, it still requires bulky and expensive equipment, a large specialized screen, several cameras for volumetric shooting, sensors, and the booth itself. Besides, the 3D illusion fades away when moving to the side just a few inches. developing Holo video calls in the Google secret lab Recognizable backlighting on the wall panels in Star Wars Given its price and size, it doesn’t seem a suitable solution for mass distribution of a technology enabling Star Wars-like holo calls with your friends... In 2018, Voxon Photonics, in cahoots with Verizon, made an experiment which they claim to be . Using the 5G network and the Intel RealSense depth camera, they carried out a real-time video conference where the caller’s volumetric face appeared on a 3D volumetric display. Well, that’s rather impressive, but still, this is definitely not intended for mass use. The screen is too big while the image is too small and is lacking the airy transparency of a Star Wars hologram. the first international truly holographic call Holographic Entertainment Music shows and DJ sets with laser lighting displays have been immensely popular since they were first introduced by such performers as Pink Floyd and Didier Marouani back in the 1970s. 3D images and visualizations are being projected on a smoked space or, more recently, on a transparent projection screen or a large transparent LCD screen installed between the performer and the audience. FMBooking in cooperation with Iboga Records has been making hologram shows for electronic dance music fans, adding mesmerizing visual effects to the journey that music provides. The shows feature an abundance of dynamic visual forms, colors, and textures that can be perceived from . all viewing angles Another example of Holo entertainment technology is life-sized hologram performances developed by . A medium-sized screen with a built-in projector is available for venues or corporate events along with a catalog of pre-recorded video holograms of DJs. Holocryptics Eric Prydz’s Holo Show has gained enormous popularity, not least because of its impressive visuals. But there are two problems with the show. First, the spectators are so eager to record the ‘hovering’ Star Wars-like music visualizations on the transparent screen that they stick to their smartphones and end up viewing the whole performance through its tiny screen. Second, usually the tickets are out in 10 minutes! already sold Would you like to have your personal Holo Show (i.e. the real-time art visualization of music rendered from any source on a transparent screen) – like Eric Prydz’s – but right in your home or backyard, where you are always in the front row, can watch shows at any time, and play any of your favorite music. The emergence of mass-market holo screens can reveal fascinating opportunities for music and art fans around the world. The spectacular holo shows in your own house or in the backyard, modern audio-visual installations, special TV shows as well as live performances being broadcast to home devices will now become available for everyone in each corner of the Earth — with compact holo screens and multimedia projectors. This sounds especially promising in the age of social distancing. A Holo Experience That's Accessible for Everyone is Coming Soon Before television emerged, people could watch movies, cartoons, documentaries or newscasts only in the cinema. When TVs were first introduced on the mass market, they had tiny screens – and yet, they were seen as a kind of miracle by families and friends and so they would gather together for a new thrilling experience. Today, we’re at the edge of a new era in home entertainment – with the emergence of portative holo screens tailored for holographic content. If the idea of personal holo entertainment seems too fantastic to you, here’s the good news — an affordable holo experience, including Star Wars-like holo calls, holo shows synced to your favorite music and innovative way to enjoy live streams, will soon be available with the launch of a brand-new projection display by (Hologram + Collider). The project is right now. Hollider running a campaign on KickStarter This transparent, frameless and “hovering” holo screen challenges gravity thanks to its impressive console design. At the same time, it exactly nails the need for the widely affordable means of making sci-fi-style video calls. You’ll only need a simple pico or mini multimedia projector widely available on the market and the Hollider screen for an utterly fascinating user experience. The adjustable construction of the transparent rear projection screen is designed to facilitate and simplify the assembling and operating of the holographic screen for a user. make holo-calls with your friends or colleagues, enjoy a personal Hologram Show synched to your favorite music in real time, watch special HOLO TV shows or just ordinary TV shows in the futuristic style on a holo screen, create a sci-fi interior design featuring 3D animated sculptures and collages at home or in the office, watch the world’s first audio-visual show streaming live to home holo screens. Some may argue that “this screen is too simple.” But, microchips were simple, too, and so was the pasteurization process – however, they both changed the world. The point here is a new vision and initiative rather than technical sophistication. The future is coming!

Are Star Wars-like Holo Calls Coming in the Near Future?

Scientists have identified close to 550 different chemical compounds in the Cannabis Sativa plant. Even if we consider just cannabinoids, we can find close to 100 different variations. The purpose of extraction is used to segregate a few desirable compounds from those chemicals based on the needs of the producer and the consumer demands. Some producers even create a single extract with multiple compounds, which is often termed as “whole-plant extracts”. With continued legalization, awareness of the health benefits of cannabis products is on the rise. The demands for products with certain compounds such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are also increasing. To meet those demands, producers are constantly on the lookout for newer technological advancements to facilitate the production process. The extraction process is one of the most important areas in the production process once the plants are harvested. Better Bioavailability of Cannabinoids Cannabinoids are fat-soluble. Which means they don’t dissolve in water. From a commercial point of view, this is not a good thing to have as there would probably be more consumers if those compounds were easily miscible with regular drinks such as diet coke, etc. Solubility plays an important part in the absorption rates of cannabinoids in our bloodstream. Bioavailability is the proportion of a substance introduced to the body that enters the blood circulation to have an active effect. This means the better the bioavailability, the more impact it will have on the same dosage. Therefore, manufacturers needed some innovations to increase the bioavailability of these compounds so as to provide consumers with an incentive to buy from them and not their competitors. One thing to note here is that the method of ingestion of cannabinoids also has an effect on the absorption rates. According to published by Iain J McGilveray, smoking THC allows only 3.55% bioavailability. On the other hand, oral ingestion can lead to 4-12% and a subsequent increase in absorption rate as well. The only way to make a substance be 100% bioavailable is by injecting it directly into the bloodstream. The better the extraction process, the better the bioavailability of the cannabinoids. Below we will read more on the different types of extraction techniques used today. a report Hydrocarbon Extraction and Its Challenges Hydrocarbon extraction is pretty common in the food industry. They may not sound like something we would like to consume but are being used for the production of colors and flavors for over 50 years. Compounds such as butane and propane are recently being used for the extraction of specific cannabis profiles. This type of extraction usually involves the use of butane as the primary solvent, which, when mixed with the cannabis plant material, would dissolve the desirable compounds present in the plant. Other hydrocarbons or a blend of a few of them can also be used for this extraction process. Hydrocarbon extractions help in retaining the authenticity of the strain by letting the original chemical compounds and terpenes remain in the final product. Also, by changing the levels of the solvents (butane, propane, etc.), we can get a completely different final product. However, there are a few challenges to this extraction method. Maintaining strict standards is essential as propane and butane are highly flammable and can easily cause a disaster. Secondly, the use of low-quality solvents can lead to residual solvent levels above the safe zone. This is because such solvents may contain contaminants that can alter the final output. Hence, it is advised to buy only lab-tested products. Nanoemulsification Jaiswal, Dudhe, and Sharma defined nano-emulsions in as “a colloidal particulate system in the submicron size range acting as carriers of drug molecules. Their size varies from 10 to 1,000 nm. These carriers are solid spheres, and their surface is amorphous and lipophilic with a negative charge.” There are multiple benefits of the nano-emulsification extraction technique. One of them being better bioavailability. It improves the bioavailability of any drug, including medical cannabis. Therefore, we can expect cannabis products extracted through this process to have the same effect with much less intake. This will, in turn, eliminate the side effects associated with consuming too much THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). Even the absorption rates are high because of the smaller droplets that provide more surface area for greater absorption. Unlike hydrocarbon extraction, where the solvents used may contain toxic impurities, nano-emulsification is usually non-toxic and non-irritant in nature. their report Supercritical CO2 Extractions Carbon Dioxide extraction is already common in the food and herbal supplement industries and has finally made its way in the cannabis industry for the extraction of cannabinoids. Supercritical CO2 extraction is a specific form of the CO2 extraction technique where the CO2 used is in its liquid form (above the critical temperature and pressure). A supercritical fluid maintains the properties of both the liquid and the gas. When this supercritical CO2 is passed through the cannabis plant material, it reacts with several active compounds by dissolving the membrane of the trichomes. The Future of Cannabis Tech Technology is driving the cannabis industry like crazy, thanks to the in various states. From improvements in the cultivation, extraction, and packaging processes, tech startups are also helping in the faster delivery of products to consumers. There are improvements in every stage of the seed-to-sale process in the cannabis industry. DNA sequencing is helping producers develop strain variations and thus increasing commercial importance. legalization of medical cannabis Researchers are trying to find ways to extract the genes from the plants that produce the various chemicals, including cannabinoids. The final goal is to develop those chemicals without having to grow a single cannabis Sativa plant. Some of the modern cannabis tech companies have found a way to make personalized strains depending on the biochemistry of the consumers. Depending on the unique physiology of the consumers, tailored blends of essential cannabinoids are being produced. In the cultivation stage, new LED lighting techniques are being used to reduce costs and produce better crop quality for better variants. Conclusion The primary objective of the extraction technologies is to be able to isolate more and more cannabinoids that can be used with the endocannabinoid system. There are even talks that compounds such as cannabigerol (CBG) and cannabinol (CBN) can generate about $30,000 to $50,000 per kilo. And with more awareness of the of cannabis, researchers are on the lookout for the potential health benefits of the several other compounds present in the cannabis Sativa plant that are yet to be used commercially. It all depends on who innovates the most advanced extraction techniques first and thus gets a hold of this competitive market. medicinal benefits

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