Bumblebees have been declared the most important living things on the planet, and rightly so. They help in the process of pollination and are thus crucial for the growth of new plants. Just like everyone has preferences, bees also like specific plants compared to others. If bee conservation programs are to be planned, these flowers and plants must be given attention.
In the summer of 2015-16, bumblebees were found in more than 100 plant species across 400 plots in the Plumas National Forest in California. This is a mountainous and meadowy area with running water and wildlife, and bees are found here in huge numbers. It was found that Oregon checker-mallow and mountain pennyroyal flowers are the most beloved of the bumblebees. (Pictured below.)
North American bumble bees have seen a sharp decline of 44 percent between April 2015 to April 2016, and beekeepers in the US are worried. The reasons pinpointed behind this decline include competition with other insect species, transfer of parasites from honey bees to bumblebees, loss of floral resources, or a mismatch between the phenology of plant species and bumblebee species.
The researchers assessed the choice of five species of bumblebees, each species selecting a different flower within the same plot of land. The most abundant species was Bombus vosnesenskii, the yellow-faced bumblebee, and it preferred the large-leaved lupine. Three of the five species studied chose A. urticifolia, a flowering plant of the mint family.
Agastache Urticifolia, thick-stem Aster and Ryderberg’s penstemon
Along with this, thick stem asters and Ryderberg’s penstemon were primary choices as well. It was observed that these choices remain persistent despite changes in seasons and availability of other plant species. Reasons for preference include quantity and quality of nectar and pollen, availability, ease of accessibility, length of a bee’s tongue, flower symmetry, and color preference.
As whacky as it may sound, another group of researchers from New York found that cannabis crops were also beneficial for declining bee populations. Marijuana crops are also helpful. And the good part is that they don’t need insecticides while farming them. They are nutritious and a good option when flowering plants are scarce.
Source: CNN, 28 Jan 2020 by Kristen Rogers and David G. Allan
Television channels related to wildlife and nature are pretty much the least-watched ones all over the world. The bickering war that goes on between the family members of a house for the remote is basically because the father wants to catch the headlines on the news channels or watch a talk show on budget and policies. Or the mother wants to see what the latest episode of her ongoing drama has unveiled, and what has the most popular chef cooked up this week. And the kids are interested in watching cartoons, funny TV commercials, and movies. Rarely anyone especially turns on the TV to know what goes on in the wildlife community of our planet.
I remember how I, as a child, would sometimes stumble upon these while flipping the channels. If there was an interesting documentary or a ferocious lion hunting his prey, I would become glued to the screen, gaping till the lion tore at the flesh of the poor deer and ripped it off, chomping and smacking. Other than that I never really watched these shows.
I can guarantee you that a lot of hard work and patience
goes into videotaping these moments of nature, not to mention the guts it takes
to go into the depths of a jungle with camera equipment and no connection to
the human world. People who are true wildlife lovers and are brave and daring
can go and deal with these beasts
Animal Planet is one such TV channel dedicated to showing the world of these wild beasts to us. This is an American pay television channel owned by Discovery Inc. It was established in October 1996 and has since then devoted to viewing documentaries on wild as well as domestic animals. The channel was a joint venture with BBC Worldwide, but since 2008, it rebranded itself and started using the logo it still uses today.
The basic ail of this television is to provide good quality
shows on wildlife which are engaging and informative. These educational shows
are captured and displayed with premium quality, suitable dramatic or calming
background music and explanations in English related to the animal and their
behavior.
Animal Planet keeps remodeling the themes of its shows and slogans according to the demand and reactions of its viewers. Its latest slogan was adapted in 2018, which is ‘keeping the childhood joy and wonder of animals alive by bringing people up close in every way.’
Let’s take a look at some of Animal Planet’s popular shows!
Crikey! It’s the Irwins
This TV show began in October 2018 and it exhibits members of the Irwin family struggling with various challenges as they tend to the animals at the Australia Zoo. The IMDb rating of this show is a mighty8.6 and only after one season! This is a reality show and each episode has the viewer holding his breath, like the one where Robert was seen wrestling with rattlesnakes in the heart of Arizona.
The Irwin sisters, Bindi and Terri are no less in bravery
and seeking adventure. The episode where Bindi saves the life of a Koala and
lovingly cradles it is so heart-warming.
Open your laptop and search the net to catch up on the rest
of the episodes showing the adventures of the Irwin siblings.
Extinct or Alive
Since we all know the catastrophes that our Earth is facing, it is not surprising to hear that another species of wildlife is on the brink of extinction. But we might be mistaken. It may be it that animals which have been declared extinct do still exist, and to prove just that, wildlife biologist Forrest Galante has taken the mission of venturing into remote woodlands and searching for the truth. He ponders over the reasons for the animals’ demise and questions eyewitnesses about where and when they saw the last of the species.
More like the Sherlock Holmes of Wildlife, this man concludes every episode of his with either proof that the species is extinct, or that it may be surviving. Some of his best episodes include the ones where he treks through the world’s largest caves in Vietnam in search for the exotic saola species, where he is determined to find out about the reclusive Ivory-Billed Woodpecker of the Bayou, or where he unravels the mysterious attacks on recent cattle which suggests the existence of the southern Rocky Mountain Wolf in the Sierras.
River Monsters
Where ever there is man, there is a myth. Stories and folklore are common, especially when it comes to monsters in water bodies. Murky, creepy, slippery, slithery monsters in dark waters are very often inculcated in bedtime stories for little kids. Since we can’t see what’s under the water, we tend to make up stories and then, as generations come and go, believe in them and let them haunt us.
Jeremy Wade explores freshwater mysteries and local folklore, debunking most of them and sharing his mind-boggling and harrowing experiences. The show ended in 2017 but is still one of the most viewed ones, with a rating of 8.2 (IMDb).
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His show is like some very well-written horror mystery and it chills us to the spine. For example, when he heard the story of two men vanishing at a remote lake in Malaysia and unraveled a mysterious lake monster. To find out what the monster is, the whole episode is to be watched. Another time he had his viewers frozen with suspense when he dug into the mystery of the terror at a volcanic island of the pacific. Jeremy describes himself rightly as the ‘underwater detective’.
Developing interest in such shows can really inspire us into loving and caring for nature, so do spare some minutes of your TV time for this channel and similar ones!
General satellite imagery is also known as Earth observation imagery or spaceborne photography. These are images of Earth or other planets collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses. The importance of satellite imagery is the technological advances and increasing availability of high-resolution satellite imagery offer the potential for more accurate land cover classifications and pattern analyses around the world. Being a world-class organization, NASA strives to conserve and protect natural resources through great habitat and species management programs.
NASA strives to promote the increased efficiency of raw materials and the conservation of natural resources. These resources include land use, wetlands and floodplains, threatened and endangered species, wildlife, ecosystems, oceans, and coastal zones. Natural Resources Management ensures that NASA makes efficient use of natural resources while protecting the environment and valuable wildlife. This management further allows NASA to conserve precious natural resources for future generations.
NASA’s satellite instruments
NASA’s satellite instruments are often the first to detect wildfires burning in remote regions, and the locations of new fires are sent directly to land managers worldwide within hours of the satellite overpass. Together, NASA instruments detect actively burning fires, track the transport of smoke from fires, provide information for fire management, and map the extent of changes to ecosystems, based on the extent and severity of burn scars. NASA has a fleet of Earth-observing instruments, many of which contribute to our understanding of fire in the Earth system.
Satellites in orbit around the poles provide observations of the entire planet several times per day, whereas satellites in a geostationary orbit provide coarse-resolution imagery of fires, smoke, and clouds every five to 15 minutes. NASA satellites can show the movement of the smoke across the globe as evidenced above, but other instruments found onboard can give scientists, firefighters, health experts, local government, and others information about what is happening on the ground in real-time.
How NASA contributes to global wildfire detection
Wherever fires are burning around the world NASA-NOAA’s
Suomi NPP satellite’s Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) can track the
smoke and aerosols. Suomi’s OMPS tracks the health of the ozone layer and
measures the concentration of ozone in the Earth’s atmosphere and can detect
aerosols. Ozone is an important molecule in the atmosphere because it partially
blocks harmful ultra-violet radiation from the sun. OMPS data help scientists
monitor the health of this vital protective layer. On Sept. 13, 2019, data from
OMPS revealed aerosols and smoke from fires over both South America and North
America.
Fires in South America generated smoke that continues to
create a long plume east into the Atlantic Ocean. Fires over western Brazil
were generating aerosols at a level 2.0 on the index. Higher aerosol
concentrations, as high as 4.0 were seen off the southeastern coast of Brazil
as a result of the fires in the region.
Western Brazil, South America
In North America, Suomi NPP’s OMPS detected smoke and aerosols from fires over Canada’s Yukon Territories. Aerosol concentrations were very high over the Yukon fires due to a pyrocumulus event that occurred on 11 September. The image also shows a low-pressure system (the area of spiraled clouds) off the coast of western Canada.
Western Canada, North America
Tracking and detecting Australia’s Bushfires
NASA scientists using data from its NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite have traced the movement of the smoke coming off the Australian fires across the globe showing that it has circumnavigated the Earth. Suomi NPP carries carry five science instruments and is the first satellite mission to address the challenge of acquiring a wide range of land, ocean, and atmospheric measurements for Earth system science while simultaneously preparing to address operational requirements for weather forecasting. Suomi NPP also represents the gateway to the creation of a U.S. climate monitoring system, collecting both climate and operational weather data and continuing key data records that are critical for global change science.
Satellite Image constructed using data from NASA, showing the extent of Australia’s Bushfire
In an image taken on Jan. 13, 2020, the Suomi NPP satellite used the reflectance bands on the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument to clearly show the areas that have been affected by the fires (dark brown to black) alongside areas not burned (appearing green to bright green). These reflective bands can also be used to show the “height” of clouds since clouds lower to the ground appear whiter and clouds higher in the atmosphere appear bluer to aqua since the ice crystals within the clouds reflect a bluer color using this instrument. Just changing values on a satellite instrument can give those on the ground information they would not have any other way. The image below shows the burned areas, clear areas, and clouds.
Suomi NPP satellite showing Australia’s Bushfires
In Australia, an estimated 1 billion animals killed. Many wild animals and some farm animals have been
killed directly by the flames. Other animals have not been burned alive but
have faced death due to the destruction of their natural environment, which
they rely on for food and shelter. This is a crisis for biodiversity in
Australia, which is home to some of Earth’s most distinctive animals, like
marsupials.
NOAA meteorologists incorporate Suomi NPP data into their weather prediction models to produce forecasts and warnings that help emergency responders anticipate, monitor and react to many types of natural disasters, including the bushfires plaguing Australia currently. Suomi NPP serves as an important link between the current generation of Earth-observing satellites and the next generation of climate and weather satellites. It observes the Earth’s surface twice every 24-hour day, once in daylight and once at night. In its orbit Suomi NPP flies 512 miles (824 kilometers) above the surface in a polar orbit, circling the planet about 14 times a day.
The satellite sends its data once an orbit to the ground station in Svalbard, Norway and continuously to local direct broadcast users. The data collected by Suomi NPP can help save lives. One-third of land on an Australian island that is a refuge for some of the country’s unique and endangered wildlife has been scorched by raging bushfires, NASA satellite images show the extent of fire damage to Kangaroo Island in the state of South Australia was captured by NASA’s Terra satellite. NASA estimates that 155,000 hectares (600 square miles) of the island have been consumed by fires, calling it “an ecological tragedy”. NASA saved 90,000 animals.
Satellites used by NASA saved many lives not only humans but animals as well. The data collected by satellites can save lives within minutes. Satellite imagery helps to save every living being around the globe. More missions focused on satellite imagery for prediction and modeling wildfires are needed to avoid catastrophes.
From Pakistan to the Middle East, from the Middle East to US states; From US states to Australia and Amazon, Wildlife did not have an easy go of it in 2019. The extent of forest fires has sparked outrage around the globe & a considerable trace of forests in Australia, Africa, Russia, Brazil, and other parts of the world has been under fire. In August 2019, multiple forest fires broke out in the Canary Islands of Gran Canaria, Tenefire, and Lanzarote. In the same month, record-breaking forest fires ripped through the Amazon.
According to the Non-Permissive Environment (NPE) report, there were more than 80,000 fires, most of them recorded in Amazon, which burned around 7 million hectares of land. The worst of all was/is Australian bushfires that pushed more than 7.3 million hectares, had put a huge devastating impact on wildlife, many endangered species like Koala and Kangaroo were in the fire path, and as per reports, one billion animals have been killed or affected, including birds, reptiles and mammals. Almost a third of Koalas may have been killed in Australia’s New South Wales bushfire, and 30% of their habitat has been destroyed till the date when there are reports that fires reignite with soaring temperature in NSW. The Australian administration keeps trying to whittle away at critical protections for endangered species.
So with this rough bit of recent history, what does 2020 holds? According to environmentalist and forest experts, the primary threats to wildlife are; climate change, massive infrastructure construction, global warming, plastic waste, emerging decease, and poaching, snaring, and wildlife trafficking.
Climate change and widespread drought are the primary cause of wildfires outbursts in 2019 and destroyed a million hectares of land. Climate scientists have been warned long ago that the scale of devastation of wildfires will be overwhelmed in the future and will be a clear-cut example of the way climate change can intensify natural disasters. Moreover, this is not limited to fires; the extremely upsetting expects of climate change are not showing signs of breaking and the administrations worldwide, refuse to recognize it.
An overall rise in the ocean in the ocean surface water increased precipitations, which is causing extensive flooding, deforestation, snowstorm, tornados, and extensive draught all are affecting a species existence, correctly put a severe threat to endangered species survival. According to a noted wildlife conversationalist, William Laurence of James Cook University, reduced oxygen level at oceans could have a significant influence on zooplankton, which is one of the building blocks of the ocean food web. Any further changes in ocean composition will be a huge impact, much alike to a great dying.
From rising sea levels to wildfires, wildlife is at high risk more than ever
Another critical threat to wildlife conservation is building new roads and an avalanche of infrastructure projects most of them initiated by Chinese investors and are craving into primary inhabitants of Africa, Asia (especially Indonesia and nearby), and Amazon. As the construction process speeded up, most of the governments around the globe are experiencing tight stress to preserve some of their prestigious wildlife inhabitants, especially some particular areas of biodiversity and ecosystem importance.
Another factor is plastic waste, which popped up as a most significant threat to ocean-life and sub-marine creatures and equally affecting wildlife an environment. A new study reveals that around 100% of sea turtles have plastic or micro-plastic in their digestive system. Plastic has been found as the primary persistent polluters of several environmental niches from Mount Everest to the bottom of oceans and flooding cities by trapping their drainage systems. The causes and effects of plastic pollution are needs serious and immediate attention.
Meanwhile, due to escalating pollution, emerging deceases like those affecting Bats, Frogs, and several reptiles are outnumbering and are more likely to cause a more significant loss of species worldwide. The forests of South Asia and South Africa are gradually emptying their local species due to poaching, snaring, and wildlife trafficking.
As per expert’s opinions, there will be more blood, more habitat loss, and more wildfires in 2020. The opportunities to make a difference in the issues, as mentioned earlier, are quickly running short. Our planet is getting punished for over-exploitation of its natural resources; we already have got poisoned its atmosphere, land, and oceans. We need to put aside our political, religious, and social differences and should work together to cease this catastrophic situation.
Share your thoughts about the biggest threats to wildlife and endangered species with hashtag #Wildlife2020.
As the new decade arrived, everyone raised their hopes for a
better future, a better world, a better life. But just when it started to
unfold, we saw some big catastrophes and incidents that tipped it towards a bad
start. One such devastating event was the Australian wildfires.
These bushfires started last June at a mild rate, but only at the beginning of this year did we fully grasp the horror of it. Not only is it destroying the lands, but it is also brutally ravaging the habitats of millions of animals that are a part and pride of the Australian region. One such species that have been affected at large is the Koalas. The Australian native usually found in the coastal areas of the southern and eastern parts is easily recognizable in the region.
Unfortunately, for the past few months, the internet is exploding with the horrible footages that show these Koalas searching for water or the damages on their body incurred by the wildfires. One video in particular that gained the sympathy of many was of a woman saving a Koala form the fire and then taking her shirt off to protect it from the heat and clean its wounds. To make sense of how it all came to such a low point, we first need to learn how it all initially began.
Fires have ravaged millions of acres in Australia
The beginning of wild vs. wild
Bushfires are quite frequent in Australia and usually start
in the mid-year during the hot summers. But the bushfires of this season were
record-breaking and have caused high temperatures and droughts. As mentioned,
the wildfires began in June 2019 through natural processes of lightning, etc.,
(although it should be noted that they are also started on purpose at times,
not confirmed in this case). The severity gradually increased to a point where
it became tough to control, despite the considerable amount of efforts put in
by the firefighters and the Australian government. In September, the fires
reached and drastically affected the different areas in the state of New South
Wales. Many acres of land and towns perished along the way. Two months later,
there was a declaration of fire danger in Greater Sydney. During this time,
there was much controversy due to some political decisions on the issue as
well.
Recently, the government revised the land area number
damaged by these events. Around 46.03 million acres of land have been
destroyed, and more is burning. The forests housed various species of animals,
and the ecologists have given an approximate number to those that have lost
their lives, which adds up to a staggering 1 billion!
Koalas’ fight for survival
Koalas are just one of the several precious animals that have been gravely affected by these wildfires. In December, the environment minister of the country declared that around 30% of Koalas in New South Wales might have been killed because of the loss and damage to their habitat. Earlier, many reports also claimed that they were ‘functionally extinct’ in the region, but that comment has since been withdrawn and labeled as incorrect. Though, it is to be noted that Koalas are still mainly under threat.
Firefighters give water to a thirsty Koala. (Credit: PAUL SUDMALS/via REUTERS)
Several reports have been released which contain accounts of the firefighters who shared the dreadful scenes they witnessed during their battle with the fires. Volunteers have also shared images of the animals taken during the rescue operation. These images and videos have generated a worldwide response of sympathy and horror. These include videos that feature thirsty Koalas on the roads searching for water and drinking from the bottles of cyclists and have garnered millions of views on the online platforms. Koalas are out on the roads (literally) because they are weak from the effects of the fires, and their destroyed habitat offers them no protection at all. A positive outcome from all of this was a boost in the donation campaigns targeted towards their rescue. Animal charities are also searching for and taking care of injured Koalas as much as they can. An animal rescuing organization Humane Society International (HSI), says that they are treating more than 200 Koalas on Kangaroo Island.
For Australia, Koalas are more than just native animals. They are an icon and a feature that helps in recognition of this land. The natives feel a special connection also because of its baby-like features and promotion in pop culture. The only other animal associated that widely is the kangaroo, which is, of course, just as severely affected by the wildfires as the Koalas. And conservationists are warning about even more dangerous effects on other types of animals, saying that there is a possibility they might be completely wiped out. However, there is yet no way to confirm as the fires are still raging.
According to a study, Koala has a high economic value, and its tourism brings billions in revenue to the Australian economy. But these wildfires may change the scene now. It may alter the reality, which shows that now they are no more to be celebrated but to be conserved and protected. Not only that, but climate change is also a factor that can be attributed as a threat to the Koalas. Their eucalyptus diet can also pose a problem and has already shown how vulnerable it makes them to the effects of the fire.
Koalas are slow which puts them at risk and they also eat Eucalyptus whose leaves contain highly flammable oils.
Fixing the damage
Even though the conditions in the natural habitats are deplorable for now, there has been an emergence of several incredible efforts to protect animals and help the firefighter teams. One such fundraiser is the GoFundMe campaign for Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, which has become one of the most successful GoFundMe ever in Australia (the amount raised as of now is A$7,618,500).
Koala tourism is likely to continue, unfortunately, even if
the species is at a threat. One of the reasons is because it is associated with
those animals who are kept in captivity. But for its long-term survival, it
will all depend upon the decisions and policies of the Australian government,
especially on climate change, forest clearing, management of unexpected
disasters like these wildfires.
Even though there have been some extreme weather changes in the country and heavy rainfall and storms have descended in parts, there is still a lot to be done to counter the problems after estimating the loss. Stability is yet to be achieved in this battle of wildfires vs. wildlife. We can hope and pray that Koalas and all the other affected wildlife are able to survive this fight, and the aftermath may not be downright gloomy. Although it may not be entirely in our control, we can still try to help as much as we can and reduce our carbon footprint and save nature and protect it to avoid any such unfortunate events and damages from happening in the future.
The “Circumhorizontal Arc”, more commonly known as the “Fire Rainbow” is a unique and strikingly beautiful natural phenomenon that is observed in the atmosphere. It occurs in high-level cirrus clouds in the form of ice crystals and with a little help from the sunlight, a halo is formed. The term Fire Rainbow itself is not real or scientifically accurate and is just used to describe its shape as it appears like a rainbow that is fire-shaped.
The Fire Rainbow frequently occurs in the US and is often apparent in the summer at various locations. And it is not so common in other areas such as the northern parts of Europe etc. In London, during mid-May to late July, the sun goes high in the sky for 140 hours, and in Los Angeles, from late March to late September, the elevation may increase up to 58 degrees for 670 hours. During such conditions, the halo can be seen several times a year.
Here are some fascinating pictures of the phenomenon!
The colorful sky in Michigan. (Credit: Derek W, via Wikimedia Commons)
Here it can be seen in the background. (Credit: Attila Magyar, via Flickr)
The West Virginia skies offering a mesmerizing sight. (Credit: Jeff Kubina, via Flickr)
The optical phenomenon formed by the refraction of light in ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. (Source: Pinterest)
The rare ‘Fire Rainbow’ seen here above a mountain. (Source: Oleg Bartunove via APOD)
It occurs in high-level cirrus clouds in the form of ice crystals and with a little help from the sunlight, a halo is formed. (Source: Dave McGlinchey)
Imagine buses, railways, subways, trucks and all kinds of public and private transportations getting closed. Airports getting closed completely and the traffic going in and out of the city through ferries, ships, and vessels getting closed. Roads getting blocked and all the life, in a major metropolitan city coming to halt.
This mass quarantine is not a scene from any movie, but actually being carried out by the Chinese authorities due to the spread of Coronavirus in China, especially Wuhan―a metropolitan, with a population of 11.08 million, in China’s Hubei Province. It is the 42nd largest city in the world, with the catastrophic potential to exponentially spread the coronavirus, which is rapidly becoming an epidemic
China is fighting a battle against deadliest Coronavirus and nationally, there are currently 830 confirmed cases of patients infected with this virus. The Chinese government has widened a lockdown in the center of the outbreak, in the Hubei province but the impact of the virus is not limited to one province only and warnings have been issued in other provinces also. The travel restrictions will affect at least 20 million people across 10 cities, including the capital Wuhan, where the virus emerged.
But controlling the
outbreak of contagious, endemic micro-organisms, which can be transmitted
virtually through our environment, especially in such a large city is not a
piece of cake as explained by Professor Adam Kamradt-Scott, a health security
expert from the University of Sydney who says that, “the only way you
could do it, realistically, would be to ring-fence the city with the PLA
[Chinese military].”
BBC reported that “as of 10:00 on Thursday (02:00 GMT), buses, trains, subways, and ferries were stopped from leaving the city.”
Gauden Galea, the
World Health Organization’s (WHO) representative in China, put it more
straightforwardly: “To my knowledge, trying to contain a city of 11
million people is new to science,” he told the Associated Press. “We
cannot at this stage say it will or it will not work.”
And – even if it
proves possible to shut the stable door on Wuhan – the horse may already have
bolted.
What is Coronavirus?
Coronavirus is a kind of common virus, causes respiratory infections in humans, often mild, but in rare cases potentially it could be dangerous. It causes an infection in the nose, sinuses, or upper throat. There are no cure or vaccines approved for the prevention or treatment of the virus so far.
Most of the types are not lethal at all and everyone gets this virus infection once in a lifetime which could be treated with proper cure and treatment. But in January 2020, the World Health Organization identified a new type: 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China. By late January, there were 300 confirmed cases in China and a death count that was still in the single digits but rising. And despite airport screenings, a traveler had brought the first case to the U.S.
How contagious is this virus?
Touching or shaking hands with a virus affected person can pass the virus from one person to another. Making contact with surface walls, floors, doors, etc or object that has the virus and then touching face, nose, eyes, or mouth is also a major cause of the speedy outbreak of the virus. On rare occasions, a coronavirus may spread through contact with feces.
The coronavirus in China was first reported to the WHO on 31st December. But it was not until 20th January that Chinese officials assessed that the virus is contagious and can be passed from human-to-human.
The coronavirus outbreak is not
limited to Wuhan or China alone, where out of 571 reported infections 18 have
died. The coronavirus has infected people in Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea,
Japan, and Saudi Arabia and even as far as the US.
In the past decade, Artificial Intelligence has revolutionized the digital world in marvelous ways. Almost every smart appliance uses AI in one way or the other making human life easier and more joyful.
Worldwide
spending on artificial intelligence (AI) systems is forecast to reach
$35.8 billion in 2019, an increase of 44% over 2018, and to more than
double to $79.2 billion in 2022 (IDC). Apple, IBM, Facebook, Google, Amazon are
undoubtedly the heavy investors of this year again.
Every
year the world witnesses some huge breakthroughs in AI, unleashing the
potential of AI in the digital world and setting new benchmarks for the
following year. This year was no different in this regard and we have seen some
stunning technology making its way to the digital world.
Some of the jaw-dropping technologies of 2019 you don’t want to miss are:
Generative Adversarial Network (GAN)
GAN is a deep neural net architecture that can learn to mimic any distribution of data. It is known as the robot artist that can generate artificial pieces of art, music, speech or prose by impersonating the real data.
GAN generates realistic human faces. Source:smart2Zero
In May 2019, Samsung used a GAN based system to produce a full-motion video from a single picture. Researchers in Samsung’s AI lab used it to animate Britney Spears, Neil Patrick Harris, Marilyn Monroe, even the Mona Lisa herself.
GUAGAN is another interesting GAN model of this
year, that turns doodle and sketches into stunning photorealistic landscapes.
GAN is one of the greatest breakthroughs for AI this year because of its huge potential. It can be used to generate high-resolution images, text to image synthesis and high-quality videos. It can also play a vital role in strengthening face recognition systems as it has the ability of 3D face reconstruction. GANs are also very useful in the medical field for image analysis, anomaly detection or even for the discovery of new drugs. It has also become a part of online retail sales because of its promising visual content having remarkable accuracy.
Deep Learning
Deep learning is the field of artificial intelligence where machines can learn from experience, acquire skills and do tasks that require human intelligence without the supervision of any human. Deep learning basically involves an artificial neural network algorithm inspired by the human brain.
2019 has been a year of immense growth for deep learning, as we have seen very impressive emerging technologies based on deep learning making. Generative model, reinforcement learning, algorithms used in biomedical research, advancements in Computer-Aided Drug Designing (CADD) and unsupervised text translation all are based on Deep learning.
Deep learning in AI
AI Augmentation
Augmented intelligence is the partnership model of human and AI working together to enhance the efficiency of performance. It includes learning, decision making, new experiences, and many more.
“This year we have seen artificial intelligence evolve into augmented intelligence;
a technology specifically created to assist enterprise decision-making rather
than to replace it. Augmented intelligence drives business results by
monitoring and summarizing to create intelligent insights that help surface
previously unseen issues.”
According to Gartner,
Inc. In 2021, artificial intelligence (AI)
augmentation will create $2.9 trillion of business value and 6.2 billion hours
of worker productivity globally.
Natural Language
Processing (NLP)
NLP is an important component of AI, which enables the computer program to understand the human language as it is spoken and respond intelligently in real-time. NLP is capable of interpreting free text and make it analyzable.
2019 is marked to be the gamechanger in the field of NLP by releasing BERT and ROBERT, the revolutionary model of NLP that is superlative in terms of functioning as compared to conventional NLP models, achieving state-of-the-art performance in General Language Understanding Evaluation (GLUE).
One of the major applications of the NLP model is text classification and categorization. It can also be used to classify if an email is a spam or not. BERT is also now being utilized in many conversational AI applications like a chatbot for customer support.
Reinforcement
Learning
Reinforcement learning is the training of machine learning model to make a sequence of decisions in order to chase a goal in a complex environment.
Reinforcement learning remained one of the most important domains of this year. In January 2019, Google DeepMind introduced AlphaStar- an intriguing and unorthodox AI player that played one of the most challenging real-time strategy games Star Craft II using a deep neural network based on supervised and reinforcement learning.
DeepMind AlphaStar AI beats StarCraft II pro players. Source: SlashGear
In October, DeepMind announced that AlphaStar has reached the grandmaster level and is beating 99.8% of humans including the top professional players.
Retail Vision
This year has massively revolutionized the brick and mortar store through retail vision, making it an essential part of digital enterprise transformation. Retailers are using Al enabled computer vision to speed up their business operations like data management, store security, shelf management, compliance, employee performance and also for automated payments like in AMAZON GO.
Retailors are also using computer vision for face recognition of customers and for monitoring their purchases. Retailors use these tactics to improve customer experience by offering discounts on the goods that are more likable for the customers, also to make their occasional customers their local customers and for in-store advertisements via smartphones using location data.
Face recognition is also used for sentimental analysis like when the customer is happy, frustrated or delightful and to monitor salesman and customer interaction.
QUANTUM COMPUTING
Quantum
computing has taken a quantum leap this year, having its immediate applications
in machine learning in AI. It has the capacity to perform even the tedious
tasks of AI within nanoseconds that can be achieved through traditional
methods.
Google and NASA have just announced that they
have achieved ‘quantum supremacy’. Their quantum computer solved a problem in
200 seconds that would take the world’s fastest supercomputer 10,000 years.
Quantum computing as described by Google AI: “is a new paradigm that will play a big role
in accelerating tasks for AI. We want to offer researchers and developers
access to open source frameworks and computing power that can operate beyond
classical capabilities.”
Black Hole Detection
The first image of the black hole revealed to the world by Dr. Katie Bouman and a team of scientists at MIT in APRIL, was generated using a machine learning algorithm known as CHIRP (Continuous High-resolution Image)
Artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm this year, it proved to be a real game-changer, bringing reality to the fantasies we have seen only in sci-fi movies. It is now intertwined in almost every aspect of our life, but we have to be considerate about the ethical dilemmas regarding AI and have to define the extent to which we wan to integrate AI in our lives before it’s too late.
It took William Herschel a lifetime to discover Uranus back in 1781. Cosmologist James Peebles and astronomers Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz took nearly 7 years discovering and confirming the existence of an exoplanet in the year 1995, for which they were awarded for the Nobel Prize for physics in 2019. But a 17-year-old just outperformed them.
Wolf Cuckier joined NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center as a summer intern under Planet Hunters TESS citizen science project. He was assigned to examine the variation in the brightness of distant stars in search for the existence of exoplanets. And guess what!! He did it in just 3 days into his internship. This was the quickest discovery of an exoplanet. What he discovered was a dip in the brightness of a Double Star system. The resulting comprehension confirms the presence of a circumbinary planet, a world orbiting two stars.
The planet, called TOI 1338 b, is around 6.9 times larger than Earth, or between the sizes of Neptune and Saturn. It lies in a system 1,300 light-years away in the constellation Pictor. The stars in the system make an eclipsing binary, which occurs when the stellar companions circle each other in our plane of view. One is about 10% more massive than our Sun, while the other is cooler, dimmer and only one-third the Sun’s mass. TOI 1338 b’s transits are irregular, between every 93 and 95 days, and vary in depth and duration thanks to the orbital motion of its stars. TESS only sees the transits crossing the larger star — the transits of the smaller star are too faint to detect. Its orbit is stable for at least the next 10 million years. The orbit’s angle to us, however, changes enough that the planet transit will cease after November 2023 and resume eight years later. (Source:NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center)
This remarkable discovery is a part of NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission which started in early 2019 with a launch aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 on April 18, 2019. The mission objective is to search for planets outside of our solar system (technically called exoplanets), that can support life or have earth-like features. The mission uses transit photometry as a tool to determine the existence of such planets. In this method, the periodic variation in the brightness of the light coming from a distant star is measured to determine the presence of an exoplanet around it. The photometric signature is used to find the size, distance, orbit and relative position of the star with that of its orbiting planet.
The TESS mission has been planned to conduct this extraterrestrial search in a very systematic way. According to NASA, TESS will survey the entire sky over the course of two years by breaking it up into 26 different sectors, each by 24 degrees by 96 degrees across. The powerful cameras on the spacecraft will stare at each sector for at least 27 days, looking at the brightest stars at a two-minute cadence. From Earth, the moon occupies half a degree, which is less than 1/9,000th the size of the TESS tiles. TESS will create a catalog of about thousands of exoplanets and upon compiling the data, a ground-based analysis will be conducted in order to confirm the existence of these exoplanets.
The ground-based telescopes will collaborate with other ground-based telescopes to measure the masses of the planets. Using the known planet size, orbit and mass, TESS and ground-based follow-up will be able to determine the planets’ compositions. This will reveal whether the planets are rocky (like Earth), gas giants (like Jupiter) or something even more unusual. Additional follow-up with ground- and space-based missions, including NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, will also allow astronomers to study the atmospheres of many of these planets.
The quest for the search of extraterrestrial life has been the hottest interest of modern astronomy lovers. And this discovery by Wolf has triggered worldwide interest in ‘Exoplanet Hunting’. However, the relevance of this discovery or this very objective remains a debatable topic among scholars given the present scenario. Despite being able to find life on such a remote planet, humanity does not justify the sustenance of life on earth itself.
Pakistan as a signatory of many international conventions and agreements is under numerous obligations related to the environment. However, the environment of Pakistan is under severe crisis which is degrading in many ways at an alarming rate, for instance, water pollution and scarcity, land pollution, air pollution, soil erosion, and deforestation. These deteriorated conditions also adversely affect the lives of common masses.
According to the Ministry of Climate Change in 2015, Pakistan had only 5% of land covered with forest while at present only 2.5% of the land is left with forest. In Asia, Pakistan has the highest deforestation rate per annum. Hence, the country is under ‘Green emergency’ which needs to be addressed on an immediate basis or else, Pakistan is expected to exhaust its natural resource of forests in the next 50 years. Under consideration of these threats and to combat the effects of climate change, the current government has taken measures to meet posed challenges. Under the PTI government, a policy of reforestation is adopted. ‘10 Billion Tree Tsunami’ is a project which aims to plant about 10 billion trees within span of five years. However, among the tree saplings that are being planted the ‘eucalyptus’ tree is of great concern which is likely to lead to the situation of ‘green desertification’.
Eucalyptus is considered to be a favorable plant species in most reforestation programs due to its fast growth and adaptability. These pros are why Pakistan government is excessively using eucalyptus in its reforestation programs. However, despite the heavy pros it also carries quite many cons that significantly outweigh the pros.
Eucalyptus trees can cause trouble in the ‘10 Billion Tree Tsunami’ project.
Eucalyptus affects the soil fertility, it kills the microorganisms that are vital for biodegradation, it also ruptures the natural process of germination, oil on its leaves is highly flammable and prevents birds from building nests which in turn pose threat to biodiversity and above all the water consumption, which can deplete a country from water if it is already having acute shortage of water. These cons were not considered by the policymakers as well as their emphasis on its timber value in the reforestation program is also of great concern.
Eucalyptus plant is planted in different countries because of its commercial value. It boosts paper Pulp and Timber industries. It is not favorable for usage in Environmental reforestation policies. This plant is native to Australia where the soil is not very fertile and climate is quite harsh than Pakistan, which is suitable for its growth but its plantation in highly fertile soil can be counterproductive. Patterns of rainfall are already disturbed in Pakistan due to Global Climate Change under such circumstances eucalyptus tree will only add fuel to the fire.
If the current situation continues there is little chance of improvement and the millions of dollars and thousands of hours put into the reforestation program will all be for naught. Therefore, it must be asserted with environmental and technical considerations. In this regard model of china can be adopted which is also using eucalyptus for its afforestation program but is also taking steps to manage its impacts on biodiversity and its water consumption.
It is now essential that Pakistan start acknowledging the effects this foreign tree is causing and take immediate actions by drafting proper policies and planning to turn this situation around in its favor to provide prosper and healthy environment to its generation to come as it initially was meant to.
