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Andrew Winton

Committed environmentalist and animal rights advocate Andrew Winton is Vice President of Marketing at Kaspersky. A father of three boys, he also enjoys running ultra marathons.

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forests VR

Virtual reality promises the earth, and it might just deliver

  • Technology
  • min read
    • In the last 8,000 years alone, we've destroyed around 80 percent of our forest. In 2018, 3.6 million hectares of rainforest disappeared – an area the size of Belgium. Trees are not just for decorating golf courses. Forests are vital to life on earth. Habitat for plants, animals and insects, they even maintain the climate. There will be children alive today who've never seen a forest and probably never will. But virtual reality may change that. It could allow anyone to experience and learn about forests and habitats that up until now, only a few have been able to see. Deforestation still on the rise In 2019 the Australian bushfires roared through 26 million acres of woodland – an area the size of South Korea. Despite protest, the Amazon is being replaced by crops and cattle at an alarming rate. It shows no sign of slowing. Brazilian Amazon deforestation is now at its highest rate in more than a decade. It can't go on. Forests are nature's nursery and its factory. They're home to billions of species, including humans. People live in forests and rely on their resources. One of these is respite. People of all walks of life use forests to escape, a contrast with increasingly sprawling cities. The world in a headset While deliberate destruction of forests isn't slowing, even those who love natural landscapes can do them harm. A new word only a few years ago, "overtourism" has damaged everything from farms to fragile ecosystems around the world, leading authorities to close sites indefinitely. Add questions posed by the climate impact of air travel, and you might conclude we should simply avoid more trips altogether. That's where virtual reality (VR) comes in. Here's one example of what learning about forests can look like in VR. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JvJCvdqvYs 360-degree film Under the Canopy takes viewers into the depths of the Amazon as if there in person. It's not just about beautiful views. The film's message is, this landscape will be destroyed unless we work hard to protect it. Why VR is learning's powerhouse It's long been known in the study of education that immersive learning, or learning by doing, is optimal for speed and retention of learning at all ages. VR changes learning about into learning through. It's the difference between watching a video that shows how all the parts of an engine fit together, versus taking an engine apart and putting it back together yourself. The 'reality' of virtual reality is also a learning linchpin. If we respond emotionally to what we see and hear, we stay focused longer and remember more. Emotional engagement even improves reasoning and problem solving. Filmmakers and advocacy groups are also using VR to help people understand the need to respond to climate emergency. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaKcbOgtXek The four-part film This is Climate Change explores deforestation, fires and famine. Viewers experience first-hand how civilization suffers as a consequence. It's an emotional ride that leaves you wanting to do more. Business can unlock VR's environmental potential If VR can make such an impact on each one of us, it could bring enormous positive change. Big tech firms and the organizations responsible for forest protection must work together to make environmental learning through VR that's accessible to as many as possible. Tech companies have the platforms and resources to deliver on what VR promises to the planet. The earth won't wait. This article was published in April, 2020.
kinetic energy

Move over, fossil fuels – kinetic energy is the carbon-neutral future

  • Technology
  • min read
    • Kinetic energy is the propelling force behind the movement of any object or living thing. When you walk, kick a ball or knock something off a table, that's kinetic energy. We don't talk about it much. Its lack of PR hides great potential to release us from our reliance on fossil fuels. If harnessed in the right way, kinetic energy can be a crucial source of clean energy and weapon in the fight against climate change. The kinetic revolution has already begun The 67 countries and eight US states working towards carbon net neutral targets need to identify and implement cleaner energy solutions as soon as possible. As set out by the World Economic Forum in 2017, many countries are also working to reduce their numbers of petrol and diesel cars by 2040. UK and Norway look likely to achieve their target years sooner. Can kinetic energy help? It already does. As of 2020, every London Uber driver must use a fully electric or hybrid car. Most hybrid cars are powered in part by kinetic energy. When the driver uses the breaks, the car stores the kinetic energy produced in its battery, then reuses it to propel the car forward. This technology doesn't come cheap. At home, you may not be able to afford a hybrid or electric car, but for business, cleaner vehicle options are fast gaining popularity. It's not just reduced running costs – lower noise, vibration and exhaust mean better health and safety for employees. There are many more ways to use kinetic energy in daily life. Take charging devices. There are already phone chargers that use a hand crank, others by your running shoes' movement while you jog. There are many more kinetic energy products now available, and a wider variety soon to hit the market. Businesses wanting to be net carbon neutral need to make the right choice in when and where they use kinetic technology. The obvious place to start is switching to self-charging hybrids for fleet cars, but the options are getting more interesting by the day. One of my favorites is the self-charging floor, powering street lighting in part of Las Vegas's 'the strip.' One company, Energy Floors, is hoping to apply the kinetic energy floor in offices and other commercial premises. Storing renewable energy has always been a tough problem. Kinetic energy has a solution there too. Flywheel, or mechanical, batteries store energy by way of a constantly accelerating and decelerating rotor. They're made mostly from easily recycled steel, so don't use the environmentally damaging ingredients in lead or lithium-ion batteries, and are much more hard-wearing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QLEERYS5C8 How mechanical batteries work and how they can be used Start-ups get movement energy moving Some start-ups have come up with unique ways to use kinetic energy. Kitemill is looking at using kites to generate electricity. Flying high in the sky, they can take advantage of more powerful and consistent wind speeds. They estimate the technology could generate renewable energy for around half the cost of conventional wind power. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfBceLa3pvQ Kite power uses a kite, a tether and a ground-based generator. American Wind has invented the world's smallest wind turbine, "slightly smaller than a standard basketball." Portable and designed for commercial settings, it generates more energy, more quickly than other renewable solutions of the same size, such as solar panels. Constructis have invented a sort of energy-harvesting speed bump. It can be embedded in road surfaces and collect kinetic energy from every vehicle that drives over it. Even at slow speeds, the Roadway Energy X platform makes every car pass into a kilowatt of energy. As consumers and as part of the organizations we work for, we have a responsibility to change how we use energy. We need to move to greener energy solutions fast. This is only the start of the kinetic energy road. When we get there, it will be a bright future.
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