Technology is more than an abstract concept associated with advanced tools and systems. It also shapes the way people behave, grow and develop, both within their own lives and in their relationships with others. While technology has developed over thousands of years, the last century has seen an explosion in technology that has influenced fundamental changes in how humans see the world and interact with others. Specifically, the Internet and mobile devices have completely changed the way people interact with each other. There has been a debate going on whether technology is benefiting human communication or ruining (破坏) it.

Undoubtedly, technology is helping people build newer and necessary communication skills. In business, office employees and managers use technology to send emails to one another, which is considered a communication skill. On social media, just share a few of your images and people start communicating on and about your images according to their viewpoint. With the outbreak of COVID-19, in order to work on the projects, the students use their phones to reach their teachers and classmates.

However, technology is sometimes considered to disconnect people from others around them. With cell phones, most people think that it’s easier and more convenient to text instead of meeting in person. Lucas Lengacher, an undergraduate from Huntington University, claims in his article that at least 42.91% people respond to messages immediately yet only 2.83% people don’t check their phones in the morning. In his research he found that almost 60 percent of people felt disconnected from others around when they were on their phones.

It is well-known that earthquake is one of the most serious natural disasters. Because of its sudden nature, the traditional earthquake prediction method is often difficult to predict it accurately, and has always been a difficult problem in the field of earth science. Recently, artificial intelligence is showing promise in earthquake prediction, challenging the long-held belief that it is impossible. Researchers at the University of Texas, Austin, have developed an AI algorithm (算法) that correctly predicted 70% of earthquakes a week in advance during a trial in China and provided accurate strength calculations (强度计算) for the predicted earthquakes.

The research team believes their method succeeded because they used a relatively simple machine learning approach. The AI was provided with a set of statistical features based on the team’s knowledge of earthquake physics (地震物理学), and then instructed to train itself using a five-year database of earthquake recordings. Once trained, the Al provided its prediction by listening for signs of incoming earthquakes within the background sounds in the Earth.

This work is clearly a milestone in research for AI-driven earthquake prediction. “You don’t see earthquakes coming,” explains Alexandros Savvaidis, a senior research scientist who leads the Texas Seismological Network Program (TexNet). “It’s a matter of milliseconds, and the only thing you can control is how prepared you are. Even with the 70% accuracy, that’s a huge result and could help minimize economic and human losses and possibly improve earthquake preparation worldwide.”

While it is unknown whether the same approach will work at other locations, the researchers are confident that their AI algorithm could produce more accurate predictions if used in areas with reliable earthquake tracking networks. The next step is to test artificial intelligence in Texas, since UT’s Bureau TexNet has locations and over six years worth of continuous records, making it an ideal location in 300 earthquakes for these purposes.

Eventually, the authors hope to combine the system with physics-based models. This strategy could prove especially important where data is poor or lacking. “That may be a long way off, but many advances such as this one, are what moves science forward,” says Scott Tinker, the bureau’s director.

Trees naturally absorbed CO₂ through photosynthesis (光合作用), releasing oxygen, storing carbon for decades, or even centuries. Biotechnology firm Living Carbon says lab trials of its genetically-changed poplar trees take up more carbon and grow 1.5 times faster than unchanged ones. The team added genes from pumpkin to the poplars, which makes their photosynthesis more efficient, turning more carbon dioxide into sugars to create wood biomass (生物量).

Though the firm’s lab results are promising, biologists warn that high growth rates are not guaranteed in the wild as the poplars compete for sunlight with other plants and trees. Genetically-modified (GM) super trees may also need much watering and fertilizer to keep their rapid growth.

The results are important given the rate of climate change and climbing CO₂ levels in the atmosphere. But critics say there are risks to planting GM trees in the wild if they reproduce with other trees, or negatively affect other plant and animal species. Living Carbon says trees are a hybrid that can only reproduce from cuttings, so they cannot cross-pollinate (授粉) with wild trees.

If the field trials are successful then it will still take time to get approval from the government. One sixth, around 135, tree species in the US may face extinction due to climate change, foreign insect species, or disease. And even though field trials of a GM chestnut tree have shown its ability to resist some foreign disease that wiped out billions of American chestnuts, it still has not been approved for planting.

If CO₂ storage is the aim then there are species that is already available. California’s Redwood trees store more carbon than any other species. Redwoods are not suitable for every forestry plot, so creating climate adaptable trees through reproducing programs that fit into local ecosystems is the goal. But in the rush to fix the climate crisis, increase the absorption of CO₂, and carbon storage, GM super trees may be part of that solution.