The brainchild of seventeen-year-old Anika Puri, ElSa (short for Elephant Savior) is a tool that analyses thermal videos, trying to find elephant poachers in real-time. After seeing how differently elephants and humans moved, she realised that we might be better off analysing their movements rather than the video’s visuals; the thermal video is analysed by AI that’s been trained to differentiate between elephant and human movement. Thanks to this, ElSa can use a low-resolution thermal camera that hooks up to an iPhone 6 mounted to a drone. Read full article here
Societal Issues
To curb drug deaths, communities turn to Reddit, texts and wastewater
With drug overdose deaths on the rise, authorities are attempting to curb the epidemic by tracking and sharing information in real time. In one unique effort, a nonprofit in New York City is using drug-testing equipment and stamping or marking habits of dealers to identify drug batches that may endanger users. Other approaches are also being used, such as monitoring drug-related chatter on Reddit and analyzing local wastewater for opioid and other drug levels. With the combination of these efforts, researchers hope to put a dent in the opioid crisis and reduce overdose deaths. Read full article here
Merv
June 1, 2023
