Vigil for Jean Paul Sofia commemorates victims of construction

Feb 4 2023

A vigil held in front of the Ministry for Public Works and Planning by various members of the Maltese public and other activist groups commemorated the tragic death of Jean Paul Sofia, which occurred exactly 2 months ago from today.

The vigil also commemorated the deaths of victims of construction from 2017 till today.

Speaking at the vigil, Paul Vella, the son of another construction victim after their house collapsed, said that nothing has taken place to ensure that this does not happen again.

“The authorities wash their hands from these cases” he said. “You end up in court and you never know when it will end. I have waited for 23 years. The case was closed a year ago, but the accused have not yet paid their due.”

Speaking at the vigil, Maya, Jean Paul Sofia’s cousin, said that there is a need for urgent change, effective enforcement and harsh penalties. “We cannot let chaos and recklessness continue” she said.

Speaking on behalf of Moviment Graffiti, Christine Cassar said that all these deaths could have easily been avoided. She also expressed disappointment at the fact that no one has been arraigned in court over Jean Paul’s death as of yet.

“We demand a public inquiry so that we can know the truth” said Cassar. “We are fed up as political representatives say a lot of things but do nothing in practice.”

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Chat GPT becomes fastest growing app with 100M users in 2 months

Feb 4 2023

AI-powered text generation tool ChatGPT, has quickly become one of the fastest-growing consumer-facing apps ever.

According to research by investment bank UBS, the app has already gained 100 million monthly users in just 2 months since its launch.

The report, which gathered data from analytics firm Similarweb, showed that ChatGPT had around 13 million daily unique visitors in January of this year.

This growth is impressive compared to other popular apps like TikTok, which took 9 months to reach 100 million monthly users, and Instagram, which took 2.5 years.

ChatGPT has been widely adopted in various fields and applications, being used by the likes of students to write essays, articles, resumes, and even jokes. However, its fast growth also raises concerns about the sustainability of its popularity and user base.

UBS Equities Analyst Lloyd Walmsley told CBS News that the app may be facing a challenge in retaining its user base in the future. The app might also not remain free for long, with Google and Microsoft working to develop a competing technology in the near future.

Nevertheless, ChatGPT’s quick rise to prominence is a testament to its versatility and usefulness in generating text.

Introducing the Moonwalkers: the world’s ‘fastest shoes’

Feb 4 2023

We’ve all tried running around a shoe store to ‘test’ whether a new pair of sports shoes made us run any faster. The latest in shoe technology (yes, that’s a thing) now has us all covered.

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Shift Robotics, a Pittsburgh-based start-up, has developed a new type of shoe called Moonwalkers which reportedly increase a person’s walking speed by 250% without the need to exert extra energy.

The shoes work by being strapped onto the bottom of a person’s shoes and activated by lifting one heel and giving it a twist.

Sensors in the shoes collect data on the user’s gait, which machine learning algorithms use to control the speed at which the eight motorised wheels on the bottom of each shoe rotate. This results in an increased walking speed, similar to walking on a moving sidewalk.

The shoes have a range of about 6 miles and take 1.5 hours to charge via USB-C. They weigh 4.2 pounds and are best suited for people with shoe sizes between men’s 9 to 12 and women’s 10.5 to 13.5, with a recommended user weight limit of 220 pounds.

If you’re wondering about when you could get your hands, and then feet, on this new tech to give it a go, Moonwalkers will be available for purchase for a whopping $1,399 and are expected to begin deliveries in the summer of 2023.

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Solar and wind the top energy sources for Europe in 2022

Feb 4 2023

According to a report by climate thinktank Ember, wind and solar energy provided more of the European Union’s electricity than any other power source for the first time in 2022.

The two sources together supplied a record one-fifth of the EU’s electricity, surpassing the contributions from gas and nuclear power.

The increase in wind and solar generation helped Europe to overcome a “triple crisis” in its energy supplies, caused by restrictions on Russian gas supplies, a dip in hydro power due to drought, and unexpected nuclear outages.

Solar generation in the EU rose by 24%, which prevented the need for €10 billion in gas costs. Some 20 EU nations sourced a record amount of their power from solar, including the Netherlands, Spain, and Germany.

The report projects that wind and solar growth will continue in 2023, while fossil fuel power generation could drop by 20%, double the previous record observed in 2020.

This comes as Europe faced a triple crisis for energy supplies, with the invasion of Ukraine by Russia being at the forefront of these crises. Prior to the war, Europe sourced a third of its gas from Putin’s Russia, but, despite the upheaval, EU gas generation remained stable in 2022 when compared to 2021.

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