Amazon’s deforestation has dropped by 55% since last year, reaching its lowest levels since 2019. This decline is considered a significant achievement, particularly for the newly-elected officials in Brazil and Colombia.
The information comes from the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project, utilizing the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellite to track forest cover and loss across all Amazon nations, as reported to Reuters. Brazil, with a 59% reduction in primary forest loss.
The Amazon Rainforest’s role as a crucial carbon dioxide absorber is highlighted by some scientists as Earth’s primary tool against climate change. The Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project anticipates that the deforestation data will enhance the negotiating position of Amazonian countries for international conservation funding at the Paris Agreement summit, COP28.
— On a related note, we just ran an article about an amazing discovery in the Amazon that proved a very popular theory wrong. You can read it here.
Also, if you would like to know the truth, here is what the Amazon actually does in the environment and why things are better than most people realize.
John Walsh, co-founder of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and host of “America’s Most Wanted,” expresses concerns about the technological gap between law enforcement and criminals, particularly in smaller jurisdictions. Criminals, including human traffickers and sexual predators, utilize advanced technology and encryption, posing challenges for law enforcement.
Cellebrite DI, Ltd. addresses this issue with the launch of “Operation Find Them All,” a donation initiative providing its technology to nonprofits combating child endangerment.
Matt Parker, co-founder of The Exodus Road, said he saw what a difference one piece of Cellebrite technology made in investigating the human trafficking of Rohingya Muslims in Malaysia in 2015. Through “Operation Find Them All,” Parker hopes to bring Cellebrite technology to other countries, even if the governments have previously not prosecuted human trafficking cases.
Cellebrite’s CEO, Yossi Carmil, stresses the strain on law enforcement resources and the company’s commitment to supporting these organizations. Kent Nielsen, digital forensic investigator for the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office in Texas, said his department currently uses Cellebrite technology to process data gathered from cell phones as well as its AI-driven software to analyze the data to find potential leads.
The initiative aims to enhance investigative processes, as demonstrated by success stories from law enforcement agencies already using Cellebrite technology. Walsh hopes increased access to technology will empower organizations like the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
A professional ice hockey team in Pennsylvania, the Hershey Bears, set a new franchise record last week, not for goals scored, but for the number of teddy bears tossed onto the ice by fans.
The annual Teddy Bear Toss collects toys for charity, and this year, 74,599 stuffed toys were collected— surpassing the previous record of 67,309. The event is part of the club’s Hershey Bears Cares program which showcases the philanthropic activities and volunteer efforts of Bears players and staff members throughout the community. Since its inception in 2001 the tradition has collected nearly a half million cuddly creatures for children in need.
The Sweigart Family Foundation also donated $55,000 to Children’s Miracle Network in Hershey.
The Bears went on to a 3-2 overtime victory over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, improving their AHL-best record to 29-7-0- this season.
Brunei came to a halt for a grand royal wedding, featuring Prince Abdul Mateen, the tenth child of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, and Anisha Rosnah. The ceremony took place at Istana Nurul Iman, the world’s largest residential palace.
The wedding included a procession through Bandar Seri Begawan, drawing crowds in scorching heat. Prince Mateen, a 32-year-old military officer, is the face of Brunei’s royal family, known for his Instagram presence. Anisha, reportedly an entrepreneur, joined the extravagant royal lifestyle. The sultan’s family, known for lavish parties, has a history of grand celebrations, including a $25 million event in 1996.
The wedding festivities began on January 7 with a traditional pre-wedding ceremony, followed by the Islamic solemnization ceremony on January 11. Other ceremonies, like the Berbedak Pengantin Diraja, or “powdering ceremony” – where the groom and bride-to-be are blessed by their close family members who apply a powder paste to their hands before the wedding, also added cultural significance. The formal wedding on January 15 featured royals from Bhutan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the UAE, along with leaders from neighboring countries. Brunei, a tiny nation rich in oil and gas reserves, gained independence in 1984. The ruling House of Bolkiah is led by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, who holds various government roles.
Verdant Robotics, a leading ag-tech company, has developed cutting-edge artificially-intelligent weed killer robots that are transforming crop management.
Verdant Robotics has created a multi-action, autonomous platform that is the only ag-robot in the U.S. market capable of simultaneously weeding, fertilizing, and treating plants for pests and diseases. Passing over a field the robots can specifically target individual weeds and crops at a rate of 20 per second, before blasting them with either de-weeder or fertilizer within a millimeter of accuracy.
The robots use sub-millimeter precision to identify and target individual plants, allowing for the use of 95% less chemicals than traditional spraying methods. This level of accuracy is made possible by a combination of advanced robotics, machine vision, and deep learning algorithms.
“Increasingly folks are turning towards things like cover-cropping again, and inter-cropping and other regenerative agriculture techniques that allow us to keep the soil healthy,” said Gabe Siblev, Founder and CEO of Verdant Robotics, in a mini-doc about their technology. “The challenges there have been that it’s difficult to do this at the same sort of scale that we can do monocropping, which is how we feed the world.”
The robots can treat an impressive 500,000 plants per hour, significantly increasing the speed and efficiency of farm operations. Furthermore, these advanced robots, such as the SprayBox, don’t just treat a plant and move on. Instead, they meticulously construct a centimeter-by-centimeter map of the entire field, including the geolocation and identification of each plant. This extensive data collection is vital in implementing regenerative agriculture on a large scale, which would otherwise require a substantial workforce.
Because of the mapping and precise targeting, this could potentially enable the large scale growing multiple crops on the same field. Doing this at a monocropping scale would be huge for utilizing regenerative farming techniques. “Ironically, it’s kind of returning to how we farmed you know, 100 years ago. Unlocking knowledge that a lot of older growers have, and bringing it back through technology,” said Siblev.
As the demand for food increases and the need for sustainable farming practices becomes more pressing, the adoption of these advanced technologies will be essential in meeting the challenges of the future.
It is well worth watching the thing in action, it almost looks like a video game.
