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Oil Giant BP is Killing 18 Hydrogen Projects, Chilling the Nascent Industry

An anonymous reader shares a report: Tucked inside a 32-page earnings report, oil and gas giant BP revealed it was killing 18 early-stage hydrogen projects, a move that could have a chilling effect on the nascent hydrogen industry. The decision, along with the sale of the company's U.S. on-shore wind power operations, will save BP $200 million annually and help boost its bottom line. The hydrogen industry, which has relied on oil and gas companies both financially and through lobbying efforts, is preparing for a grimmer outcome. BP has been a supporter of hydrogen. The company's venture capital arm has invested in several green hydrogen startups, including Electric Hydrogen and Advanced Ionics. Earlier this year, BP said it would develop "more than 10" hydrogen projects in the U.S., Europe, and Australia. Now, BP is scaling back those plans, saying it'll develop between five and ten projects. The company is keeping quiet about which ones will receive the green light.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.




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How Samsung Fell Behind in the AI Boom - and Lost $126 Billion in Market Value

After missing a chance to capitalize on the AI boom, "Samsung's profit has plunged," reports CNBC, and "around $126 billion has been wiped off its market value, according to data from S&P Capital IQ." It's gotten so bad that "an executive issued a rare public apology about the company's recent financial performance." [A]s AI applications such as OpenAI's ChatGPT rose in popularity, the underlying infrastructure required to train the huge models they rely on became a bigger focus. Nvidia has emerged as the top player in this space with its graphics processing units (GPUs) that have become the gold standard used by tech giants for AI training. A crucial part of that semiconductor architecture is high-bandwidth memory, or HBM. This next generation of memory involves stacking multiple dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, but it had a small market before the AI boom. That's where Samsung got caught out and failed to invest... SK Hynix saw this opportunity. The company aggressively launched HBM chips which were approved for use in Nvidia architecture and, in the process, the South Korean firm established a close relationship with the U.S. giant. Nvidia's CEO even asked the company to speed up supply of its next generation chip, underscoring the importance of HBM to its products. SK Hynix posted record quarterly operating profit in the September quarter... Analysts said that Samsung is lagging behind competitors for a number of reasons, including underinvestment in HBM and the fact that it is not a first-mover. "It is fair to say that Samsung has not been able to close the gap with SK Hynix on the HBM development roadmap," said Kazunori Ito [director of equity research at Morningstar]. Samsung's ability to make a comeback in the short term appears to be closely linked to Nvidia. A company must pass a strict qualification process before Nvidia approves it as a HBM supplier — and Samsung has not yet completed this verification. But a green light from Nvidia could open the door for Samsung to return to growth and compete more effectively with SK Hynix, according to analysts.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.




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Cuba's Power Grid Collapses Again After Second Hurricane. And Then an Earthquake Hit

Wednesday Cuba was hit by a major hurricane which took down its entire power grid again, this time for about 24 hours, according to CNN: Videos of the aftermath showed power infrastructure turned into a mangled mess and power poles down on streets. Hundreds of technicians were mobilized Thursday to reestablish power connections, according to state media... Operations at two electrical plants were partially restored and parts of eastern and central Cuba had electricity back up by Thursday afternoon, state media reported... The country's power grid has collapsed multiple times, including when Hurricane Oscar hit in October and killed at least 7 people. In the capital of Havana, where 2 million people live, power had been restored to less than 20% of the city by late Friday afternoon, . "Authorities had not yet given an estimate for when power would be fully restored..." Then tonight, CNN reported: A 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of eastern Cuba on Sunday, causing material damage in several regions as the island continues to recover from widespread blackouts and the impact of two hurricanes over the past few weeks. The earthquake was reported about 39 km (24 miles) south of Bartolomé Masó before noon local time, about an hour after a 5.9 magnitude quake rocked the area, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. "There have been landslides, damage to homes and power lines," Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said, adding that authorities are evaluating the situation to start recovery efforts.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.




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Can AI-Enabled Thermostats Create a 'Virtual Power Plant' in Texas?

Renew Home says they're building a "virtual power plant" in Texas by "enabling homes to easily reduce and shift the timing of energy use." Thursday they announced a 10-year project distributing hundreds of thousands of smart thermostats to customers of Texas-based power utility NRG Energy, starting next spring. (Bloomberg calls them "AI-enabled thermostats that use Alphabet Inc.'s Google Cloud technology.") The ultimate goal? "Create a nearly 1-gigawatt, AI-powered virtual power plant" — equivalent to 1.9 million solar panels, enough to power about 200,000 homes during peak demand. One NRG executive touted the move as "cutting-edge, AI-driven solutions that will bolster grid resilience and contribute to a more sustainable future." [Residential virtual power plants] work by aggregating numerous, small-scale distributed energy resources like HVAC systems controlled by smart thermostats and home batteries and coordinating them to balance supply and demand... NRG, in partnership with Renew Home, plans to offer Vivint and Nest smart thermostats, including professional installation, at no cost to eligible customers across NRG's retail electricity providers and plans. These advanced thermostats make subtle automatic HVAC adjustments to help customers shift their energy use to times when electricity is less constrained, less expensive, and cleaner... Over time, the parties expect to add devices like batteries and electric vehicles to the virtual power plant, expanding energy savings opportunities for customers... Through the use of Google Cloud's data, analytics, and AI technology, NRG will be able to do things like better predict weather conditions, forecast wind and solar generation output, and create predictive pricing models, allowing for more efficient production and ultimately ensuring the home energy experience is seamless for customers. Google Cloud will also offer "its AI and machine learning to determine the best time to cool or heat homes," reports Bloomberg, "based on a household's energy usage patterns and ambient temperatures." It was less than a year ago that Renew Home was formed when Google spun off the load-shifting service for its "Google Nest" thermostats, which merged with load-shift management startup OhmConnect. Bloomberg describes this week's announcement as "Three of the biggest names in US home energy automation... coming together to offer some relief to the beleaguered Texas electrical grid." But they point out that 1 gigawatt is roughly 1% of the record summer demand seen in Texas this year. Still, "The entire industry has been built to serve the peak load on the hottest day of the year," said Rasesh Patel, president of NRG's consumer unit. "This allows us to be a lot more smarter about demand in shaving the peak."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.









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The Heist

On Saturday, September 9th, the Gotham Gal and I arrived at JFK airport after an eight-hour flight from Paris. While waiting for our luggage, I got pushed a notification in my web3 wallet that there was an NFT drop underway that I could participate in. So I clicked on the link, signed the transaction, and […]




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AI could transform visual effects in film — but the emerging field is mired in copyright issues


While many people in the creative industries are worrying that AI is about to steal their jobs, Oscar-winning film director James Cameron is embracing the technology. Cameron is famous for making the Avatar and Terminator movies, as well as Titanic. Now he has joined the board of Stability.AI, a leading player in the world of Generative AI. In Cameron’s Terminator films, Skynet is an artificial general intelligence that has become self-aware and is determined to destroy the humans who are trying to deactivate it. Forty years after the first of those movies, its director appears to be changing sides and…

This story continues at The Next Web




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Nvidia's New App Combines the Best of GeForce Experience and Control Panel

This all-in-one app makes it easier to maximize your Nvidia GPU.




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If You Believe in Privacy, You Shouldn't Have These 9 Products In Your Home

An interconnected smart home is a nice idea, but not if it's constantly leaking your data.




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This Terrifying Google Maps Scam Is Making the Rounds: Here's How to Stay Safe

Scammers are using photos of your house to encourage you to send them money, but here's why you shouldn't.




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Apples Take on the Smart Home Controller Is Set to Arrive in 2025 and Sounds Spectacular

Find out more about Apple's first smart home hardware.





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On Funding — The Denominator Effect





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The Changing Venture Landscape





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What Does the Post Crash VC Market Look Like?




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Praying to the God of Valuation





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Atlas Answers the Call for Our Veterans at Camp Liberty

Scheduled to be completed by 2016, the full vision of Briggs and his friend, Allan Lutes, to build a stronger veteran’s community at Camp Liberty is within reach.




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The Moose Hotel & Suites Debuts in Picturesque Banff with Distinctive Roofing Tile

Over the summer, the Banff Lodging Company proudly debuted the newly-constructed Moose Hotel & Suites in beautiful Banff, Alberta.




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VIDEO CASE STUDY: Back to School in the Milwaukee School District

Students and faculty heading back to school in the Milwaukee Public School district have one less thing to worry about thanks to the district’s longstanding partnership with Atlas Roofing Corporation.




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Case Study: Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum

Colorado Custom Metal Inc. was selected as the roofing contractor to reroof the museum with help from S-5! for snow retention.




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Case Study: Battling Extreme Weather Conditions in Houston with Owens Corning’s Duration Series Shingles

A Texas roofing contractor relies on the protection that Owens Corning's Duration shingles offer to battle extreme weather in the Houston market.




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Case Study: Atlas Roofing Polyiso, Shingles Enhance Church's Ventilation, Durability, and Aesthetic

Atlas General Contractors in Illinois turned to Atlas Roofing products to help reroof and improve ventilation for a century-old church.




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Case Study: California Self Storage Gets Desired Aesthetic with McElroy Metal's Metal Roofing, Wall Panels

Using McElroy Metal roofing and wall panels, this storage facility became the brand's "flagship self-storage facility" thanks to its aesthetics.