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A team from the University of Southern California claim their research suggests that mega satellite constellations, such as SpaceX’s Starlink, spew copious amounts of aluminium oxide gas in the atmosphere that could deplete the ozone layer.
The ozone layer in the Earth’s atmosphere absorbs harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun, which can cause skin cancer on exposure and even disrupt crop yields and food production.
Tech & Science Daily approached SpaceX for a response to the study but have not yet received a reply.
Fernando Auat Cheein, associate professor in robotics and autonomous systems at the National Robotarium at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, discusses how their new AI tool can use videos to predict harvests.
The system can accurately estimate the number of flowers on fruit trees from videos taken on a standard smartphone by recognising patterns and features.
The technology can be used to predict crop yields up to six months ahead of harvest, enabling farmers to improve their allocation of resources like water and labour, plan harvests and distribution, and reduce the quantity of wasted food.
The first patients in the UK have received a new ‘revolutionary’ device to stop severe acid reflux disease.
The condition occurs when contents from the stomach flow back into the oesophagus – the long tube that carries food from the throat to the stomach.
University Hospital Southampton and Imperial College London are the first NHS trusts in the country to install the implant called ‘RefluxStop’, with Southampton being the first to use robotic surgery for the procedure.
And the rest
Alzheimer’s disease on mother’s side is linked to ‘increased risk’ of the condition, and there’s urgent warnings over the Greek heatwave as the tourist death toll rises to five.
Plus, the first 'major lunar standstill' in nearly 20 years is set for this weekend.
You can listen to the episode in the player above, find us on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Here’s an automated transcript:
Hi, I'm Rochelle Travers and this is The Standard's Tech and Science Daily podcast.
Coming up, how AI is helping predict harvest
Now, let's get into it.
Could satellites like Starlink deplete the Earth's ozone layer?
A team from the University of Southern California say their research suggests that mega-satellite constellations such as SpaceX's Starlink spew copious amounts of aluminium oxide gas in the atmosphere that could deplete the ozone layer.
The ozone layer in the Earth's atmosphere absorbs harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun, which can cause skin cancer on exposure and even disrupt crop yields and food production.
Tech and Science Daily contacted SpaceX for a response to the claims by the research that at the time of recording this podcast, we had not yet received a reply.
Researchers say that a new AI tool can use videos to predict harvests.
The system that we developed is an architecture based on machine learning techniques that actually uses the videos, like the recordings from a cell phone or any other camera, to count how many flowers we have in the video.
So, imagine that you are taking your cell phone and you are making a video of the crop.
In real time, we are classifying and we are counting how many flowers that specific tree is having.
That's Fernando Auat Cheein, associate professor in robotics and autonomous systems at the National Robotarium at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.
The system can accurately estimate the number of flowers on fruit trees from videos taken on a standard smartphone by recognising patterns and features.
Most of the works right now are focused on detecting the fruit, but the fruit that is being detected is like three weeks or two weeks before harvesting.
So from a farming process point of view, that is useless because the farmer needs to know how much they are going to harvest way before the harvesting season.
The tool can be used to predict crop yields up to six months ahead of harvest, enabling farmers to improve their allocation of resources like water and labour, plan harvests and distribution and reduce the quantity of wasted food.
The researchers will now compare the AI's predictions with actual harvests.
So the next step is going to happen now in summer where we are going to test our technology because right now what we are doing is counting flowers and we know there is a relationship relationship between flowers and fruits, definitely, but we don't know the exact number, meaning if we are detecting, let's say, 10,000 flowers, how many fruits those 10,000 flowers represent.
If the next phase of research is effective, they hope the approach can be adapted for crops such as apples, pears and cherries, benefiting fruit growers in Britain, Europe and beyond.
The first patients in the UK have received a new revolutionary device to stop severe acid reflux disease.
The condition occurs when contents from the stomach flow back into the esophagus, the long tube that carries food from the throat to the stomach.
It affects my daily life quite a lot, so I'll start to get pains here in my chest, and I can feel the reflux going up my esophagus.
And then I'd start to get a really sore throat, and then as soon as my nose starts to run, I just know at that point that I'm just going to end up vomiting.
That's Danielle Harding speaking there, who is one of the patients who have now been fitted with the device called Reflux Stop.
Previously, the 30-year-old couldn't eat without experiencing severe coughing and pain.
She's been explaining the positive impact this implant is already having on her quality of life.
I'm really happy to see not having that medication anymore and life going back to normal.
People get the standard like heartburn, but they don't understand the difference from severe to normal and the pain that that comes through, so people definitely don't realise how severe and bad it can get and the damages that it causes to your body as well.
University Hospital Southampton and Imperial College London are the first NHS trusts in the country to install the implant, with Southampton being the first to use robotic surgery for the procedure.
Reflux stop is made out of medical-grade, rounded, solid silicone and measures about 25 millimetres.
It's fitted to the upper part of the stomach wall to block movement of the lower esophagal sphincter.
Let's go to the ads.
Coming up, warning to Taurus over another death due to extreme heat in Greece and the first major lunar standstill in nearly 20 years that's happening this weekend.
Welcome back.
A study suggests that a family history of Alzheimer's disease on the mother's side may increase the chances of someone developing the condition.
Research from Mass General Brigham, an integrated healthcare system in the US, evaluated 4,400 adults between 65 to 85 who had memory loss and trouble solving problems.
The researchers found those with a history of Alzheimer's on either their mother's side or both parent's side had increased proteins which is linked to the disease in the brain.
The findings suggest that considering sex-specific parental history could be important in identifying adults at heightened risk of the condition.
Tourists are being warned not to underestimate the soaring temperatures in Greece after a fifth person has been found dead.
An unnamed 55-year-old American was discovered near a beach on the island of Muthraki on Sunday.
It's the latest in a number of fatalities including British TV presenter Michael Mosley who was found on the island of Simi a few weeks ago.
Temperatures there soared above 40 degrees Celsius earlier this month, just as the holiday season began across Greece.
A police spokesperson for the Southern Aegean said, This is a common pattern.
They all went for a hike amid high temperatures.
And finally, Skywatchers, listen up, because you're in for a bit of a treat this weekend as the first major lunar standstill in nearly 20 years is set to grace our night skies.
The celestial event is when the moon rises and sets at its most extreme northerly and suddenly positions on the horizon, reaching its highest and lowest points in the 18.6-year lunar cycle.
Also known as Lunarstis, it occurs when the tilts of both the Earth and the moon are at their maximum.
And it will overlap with the Summer Solstice this Friday night, the 21st of June, in the Northern Hemisphere.
The last major lunar standstill was seen in 2006.
You're up to date.
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