#12: GERMANY INVENTS "CLIMATE WATT HOURS"
Thought police in Australia + "gelbots" that can enter the human body + Apple Watch is racist + MORE!
GERMANY INVENTS NEW UNIT OF MEASUREMENT: “CLIMATE WATT HOURS”
In an interview in the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine, Minister of Economics and Climate Action Robert Habeck coined the term “climate watt hours” while discussing federal wind energy initiatives.
Germany is aiming to increase the number of wind turbines in the country to meet an energy production target of 10 gigawatts of wind power per year.
"Ten gigawatts of new construction per year is of course a really high number," explained Habeck.
The target would amount to approximately 2,000 windmills built per year. To sweeten the deal for localities, Habeck said that financial incentives will allow residents to renovate their swimming pools.
“The municipalities can then use this financial participation of the municipalities in the amount of 0.2 cents per climate watt hour for other things, for example to renovate the swimming pool or outdoor pool,” explained Habeck.
91% OF ASYLUM APPLICATIONS WERE MEN
New statistics released by Austria’s Ministry of Interior reveal that the vast majority of asylum applications in the country were made by men.
Unlike claims by NGOs and mass migration advocates, women and children do not make up the bulk of migrant intakes.
Of the 101,755 asylum applications received, 92,854 were submitted by men. Meanwhile, women only accounted for 8,903 applications – or 8.7%.
AUSTRALIA POLICE WANTS CITIZENS TO RAT ON “ANTI-GOVERNMENT” NEIGHBOURS
As if Australia’s insane crackdowns on pandemic protesters in the last two years weren’t enough, police in Queensland want citizens to inform on those holding “anti-government” or “conspiracy” beliefs.
“We welcome any information, as I said before, if there’s anybody out there that knows of someone that might be showing concerning behaviour around conspiracy theories, anti-government, anti-police, conspiracy theories around Covid-19 vaccination as we’ve seen with the pandemic, we want to know that,” said a Queensland Police spokesperson.
This comes after a shooting saw two police officers and three suspects killed. Authorities have claimed that the perpetrators were motivated by conspiracies.
THE RISE OF THE “GELBOTS”
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have invented a new type of miniature gelatinous robot that could soon be used to deliver medical treatment inside of people’s bodies.
Besides looking horrifying, researchers claim the robots have a “kind of intelligence” that is powered solely by changes in temperature.
"It seems very simplistic but this is an object moving without batteries, without wiring, without an external power supply of any kind—just on the swelling and shrinking of gel," said biomolecular engineering professor David Gracias.
"Our study shows how the manipulation of shape, dimensions and patterning of gels can tune morphology to embody a kind of intelligence for locomotion."
Scientists envision that the robots can be trained to react to physiological biomarkers and even be embedded with cameras and sensors.
THE APPLE WATCH IS RACIST
A lawsuit before the Southern District of New York claims that Apple encoded a “racial bias” into its Apple Watch which discriminates against people with darker skin tones.
In particular, New York resident Alex Morales claims that the watch’s Blood Oxygen App "purported to measure blood oxygen levels and he believed it did this without regard to skin tone.”
However, according to Morales, research during the pandemic proved that there was a “clinical significance of racial bias of pulse oximetry.”
"For decades, there have been reports that such devices were significantly less accurate in measuring blood oxygen levels based on skin color," reads the lawsuit.
"The 'real world significance' of this bias lay unaddressed until the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic, which converged with a greater awareness of structural racism which exists in many aspects of society."
TENFOLD INCREASE IN ELECTRICITY BILLS FOR FRENCH BAKERY
Europe’s energy crisis continues to wreck small businesses struggling to get by. A recent feature by Le Parisien details how a bakery in Feucherolles, France will see its electricity bills increase by tenfold in March 2023.
“When I opened the mail sent by (the government) at the end of October, I took a blow to the head,” said baker Nathalie.
“We will go from 3,000 euros to 30,000 euros per month of electricity. I don't know at all what will become of us…”
As large consumers of energy, bakeries have been hit particularly hard by market turbulence. Overall electricity bills for industries in France are expected to climb by a whopping $3.5 billion euros next year.
Nathalie and her husband Jean-Marc could soon be out of business, despite the meager government relief being offered.
“Even with the 35% state aid, we will never afford it. Especially since the price of raw materials has already increased, I will not continue to work like crazy to get into debt,” said Jean-Marc.
“So if nothing is done for us, it’s not worth it. I’m putting the key under the door and I’m changing jobs.”
HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE OUTER EDGE
The OUTER EDGE is only two months old and it’s already grown more than I could hope for!
Thanks for coming along for the ride! In 2023 I hope to expand the newsletter to include exclusive interviews and to explore the opportunity for some merchandise.
With that, I wish you a happy new year!
