A wood’s hardness is a measure of how much force it can take before becoming dented, and many of the world’s hardest woods come from tropical trees. Generally, trees have harder woods the closer they are to the equator; however, these are also long-living, slow-growing species. Their slow growth rate coupled with an increasing demand for hardwoods for flooring and furniture has made them endangered. For example, it’s estimated that 85% of Argentina’s quebracho trees (considered the hardest in the world) have been cut down within the last century.
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Societal Issues
AI Predicts Crime A Week In Advance With 90 Per Cent Accuracy
An artificial intelligence model built by Ishanu Chattopadhyay and his colleagues analysed crime data in Chicago from 2014 to 2016 and managed to predict future levels of crime down to the nearest 300 metres, a week before they actually happened. While extremely useful, this artificial intelligence has been shown to expose racial prejudice in law enforcement. Hopefully, as the study’s data and methodology have been made available for others to evaluate, these prejudices can be avoided in the next iteration. Read full article here
Merv
August 15, 2022
