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Tineco Recognized as Global Leader in Emerging Floor Washer CategoryLike the steam engine and electricity, artificial intelligence (AI) is a general-purpose technology that could profoundly transform the global economy and the world’s energy system. Though key uncertainties remain, it stands to have major impacts. High on the list is its potential role in accelerating innovation. Impressive technological advancements – both incremental and radical – have helped drive down the cost of key energy technologies in recent years. But to achieve global energy security and emissions goals, existing clean energy technologies need to keep improving, and novel energy technologies must reach the market. AI will enhance the capacity and creativity of scientists in generating and testing new ideas. But for AI-accelerated innovation to really deliver for the energy sector, policymakers and the scientific community need to build a common understanding of the most promising applications and key enablers – and address critical gaps. This is a key focus of the IEA’s new workstream on energy and AI, which also involves analysing how the adoption of AI will affect electricity consumption by data centres and how AI can be applied to optimise complex parts of energy systems, such as electricity networks. The upcoming Global Conference on Energy & AI, which is bringing together leaders from government, the energy sector, the tech industry and civil society to discuss these topics for the first time, will provide a space to kickstart and advance public-private dialogues on these subjects at a critical moment. For energy analysts, a fundamental question is whether the application of AI will cause the rate of technology progress to deviate from current projections. In the field of semiconductors, Moore’s Law – an observation from the 1960s that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles about every two years, which proved startlingly accurate for several decades – is well known. Similarly, for many energy technologies, it is common to project cost reductions for each doubling of cumulative deployment, known as the “learning rate.” However, progress in the semiconductor sector has slowed, and Moore’s Law has not been a good guide for technological development since around 2010. Experts question whether the learning rate for a technology like electric vehicle batteries, which IEA analysis projects at 15%, can be maintained over future decades. Recent inflation in technology prices, partly caused by mismatches between supply and demand for critical material inputs, are a reminder that factors such as manufacturing capacity and trade can also impede the innovation process. Some analysts see AI as a means to keep current learning rate projections on track despite these concerns. Others see it as a more disruptive force that could make today’s rates look very conservative. To inform this debate, it is necessary to take a closer look at the specific ways in which AI could boost the pace of innovation. Early examples of AI discoveries on energy-related materials are very promising... Finding a higher-performing material for a task, or one that does not contain certain undesirable inputs, has typically relied on human ingenuity and knowledge of how different compounds behave. But the number of possible options is often vast. AI techniques are already excellent at solving problems by optimising for well-understood relationships across large and well-structured data sets. In July 2024, researchers from a US government laboratory and Microsoft published results of a study that used AI to assess 32.5 million possible new solid-state electrolytes for lithium-based batteries and found 23 new ones with the right characteristics. Scientists in Sweden recently screened 45 million potential new battery cathode molecules and found nearly 4 600 promising candidates. Other teams have achieved similar results, and one has pursued their findings through to synthesis and testing. Notably, these types of techniques are increasingly attracting financing: Anionics, an AI start-up, recently partnered with the battery manufacturing subsidiary of Porsche, while Mitra Chem has raised USD 80 million with its promise of shortening the lab-to-production timeline by over 90%. Recent breakthroughs have not only been battery-related. Researchers using AI tools have also found they can engineer enzymes for biofuel synthesis, predict high-yielding biofuel feedstocks, identify industry-beating catalysts for hydrogen-producing electrolysers and generate materials for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture. And as AI becomes an increasingly indispensable part of the research process for energy technologies, innovators will be also benefit from developments in adjacent areas, including improved robotics and automation. A recent study of the impact of using AI tools in an industrial research setting showed a 39% increase in patenting by the company in under two years. but major obstacles, such as data availability, remain Still, serious challenges must be overcome before AI techniques can fulfil their full potential on innovation. One key issue is data availability. The datasets used today have incomplete information about possible materials and represent a restricted subset of molecules or reactions. The development of massive, structured, specialised datasets to train AI models, such as such as the Materials Project and Cambridge Structural Database, is underway, but they must be further expanded if real-world scientific problems are to be solved. While the creation of “synthetic data” to train models can overcome some of the data gaps, there is no substitute for experimental data, and the fastest route to large and reliable experimental datasets is co-operation between laboratories, including at the international level. The Mission Innovation M4E platform is an example of an international initiative that could demonstrate how governments can support common protocols and jointly curated data. Another challenge is finding ways for AI to optimise results for more than just a narrow set of characteristics and incorporate considerations that are essential for a material to be integrated into a functional product. Today, substantial human checking and testing is still required – for example, to assess performance at different temperatures or interactions with all other components of a device. Also, working out the recipe for manufacturing the materials designed by AI can create considerable follow-on work. Having AI perform these more complex tasks appears feasible, but it leads to high computational requirements and costs that must be assessed. If discovery is accelerated but testing and commercialisation are not, then half the challenge will stay unaddressed Identifying a new material for an energy application via a computer-based method is less than half of the innovation task. Prototyping, followed by commercialisation, mass manufacturing and widespread market uptake, can take years or even decades. Yet other AI-related tools in development could compress these timetables, too. One is known as the self-driving lab. The A-Lab at the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory contains a series of robots that, since February 2024, can synthesise the energy storage chemicals predicted by computer calculations to offer major performance improvements. This self-driving laboratory can process up to 100 times more samples per day than a human-run equivalent. For large, complex systems, a computer-based aid known as a “digital twin” can significantly reduce the costs and risks of design and scale-up. Digital twins, which are virtual representations of all the elements of a specific facility or process, have been used to optimise manufacturing for over a decade but are now being powered by AI and applied to innovation. In sectors such as nuclear fusion, they are helping design and test equipment. The hope is that the costs of complex engineering design will be sharply reduced, particularly for expensive, first-of-a-kind projects. This could be a significant fillip for innovators of industrial decarbonisation technologies, geothermal energy. synthetic fuel processes and CO2 capture and storage. However, difficulties also persist in applying AI to this phase of the innovation process. Currently, these tools are not all widely accessible to innovators in the scale-up stage. Additionally, skills gaps could be an issue in a fast-moving field, while responsive regulatory and standards frameworks will be necessary to support and accommodate new approaches to testing and commercialising products and services. There is clear potential for AI to enhance and accelerate innovation to tackle a wide range of energy technology challenges. There are exciting examples of this happening already, but the full potential of AI in this area will not be realised unless governments focus on some key emerging issues upfront. To drive scientific discovery towards the most impactful outcomes, there is a need to invest in searchable databases that follow common protocols and are widely accessible, including by interconnecting laboratories across international borders. Investments in skills and equipment will also be required, and policy makers can guide efforts to the most pressing technological needs. To support commercialisation, policy makers should also consider how to make new digital tools widely available to innovators and help investors to adjust to the resulting reductions in project risk. At the same time, the computing and energy needs of AI for these important tasks, as well as potential risks such as those related to intellectual property, must be discussed in multilateral fora. If successful, AI will not only accelerate and improve innovation outcomes but also deliver economic competitiveness, too. Once new products are ready for market, analysis with AI of data generated by new products can raise their value to consumers. Better decision-making by software for controlling new technologies can likewise reduce risks and add value for their users. The benefits will be shared by all countries, their innovators, investors and firms if efforts are anticipated, directed and cooperative. Source: IEAmagical rasp star ocean 2 。

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A scruffy little fugitive is on the lam again in New Orleans, gaining fame as he outwits a tenacious band of citizens armed with night-vision binoculars, nets and a tranquilizer rifle. Scrim, a 17-pound mutt that's mostly terrier, has become a folk hero, inspiring tattoos, T-shirts and even a ballad as he eludes capture from the posse of volunteers. And like any antihero, Scrim has a backstory: Rescued from semi-feral life at a trailer park and adopted from a shelter, the dog broke loose in April and scurried around the city until he was cornered in October and brought to a new home. Weeks later, he'd had enough. Scrim leaped out of a second-story window, a desperate act recorded in a now-viral video. Since then, despite a stream of daily sightings, he's roamed free. The dog’s fans include Myra and Steve Foster, who wrote “Ode to Scrim” to the tune of Ricky Nelson’s 1961 hit, “I’m a Travelin’ Man.” Leading the recapture effort is Michelle Cheramie, a 55-year-old former information technology professional. She lost everything — home, car, possessions — in Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and in the aftermath, found her calling rescuing pets. “I was like, ‘This is what I should be doing,’” Cheramie said. “I was born to rescue.” She launched Zeus’ Rescues, a nonprofit shelter that now averages 600 cat and dog adoptions a year and offers free pet food to anyone who needs it. She helped Scrim find the home he first escaped from. It was Cheramie's window Scrim leaped from in November. She's resumed her relentless mission since then, posting flyers on telephone poles and logging social media updates on his reported whereabouts. She's invested thousands of dollars on wildlife cameras, thermal sensors and other gear. She took a course offered by the San Diego Zoo on the finer points of tranquilizing animals. And she's developed a network of volunteers — the kind of neighbors who are willing to grid-search a city at 3 a.m. People like writer David W. Brown, who manages a crowd-sourced Google Map of all known Scrim sightings. He says the search has galvanized residents from all walks of life to come together. As they search for Scrim, they hand out supplies to people in need. “Being a member of the community is seeing problems and doing what you can to make life a little better for the people around here and the animals around you,” Brown said. And neighbors like Tammy Murray, who had to close her furniture store and lost her father to Parkinson's disease. This search, she says, got her mojo back. “Literally, for months, I’ve done nothing but hunt this dog,” said Murray, 53. “I feel like Wile E. Coyote on a daily basis with him.” Murray drives the Zeus' Rescues' van towards reported Scrim sightings. She also handles a tactical net launcher, which looks like an oversized flashlight and once misfired, shattering the van's window as Scrim sped away. After realizing Scrim had come to recognize the sound of the van's diesel engine, Murray switched to a Vespa scooter, for stealth. Near-misses have been tantalizing. The search party spotted Scrim napping beneath an elevated house, and wrapped construction netting around the perimeter, but an over-eager volunteer broke ranks and dashed forward, leaving an opening Scrim slipped through. Scrim's repeated escapades have prompted near-daily local media coverage and a devoted online following. Cheramie can relate. “We’re all running from something or to something. He's doing that too,” she said. Cheramie's team dreams of placing the pooch in a safe and loving environment. But a social media chorus growing under the hashtag #FreeScrim has other ideas — they say the runaway should be allowed a life of self-determination. The animal rescue volunteers consider that misguided. “The streets of New Orleans are not the place for a dog to be free,” Cheramie said. “It’s too dangerous.” Scrim was a mess when Cheramie briefly recaptured him in October, with matted fur, missing teeth and a tattered ear. His trembling body was scraped and bruised, and punctured by multiple projectiles. A vet removed one, but decided against operating to take out a possible bullet. The dog initially appeared content indoors, sitting in Cheramie's lap or napping beside her bed. Then while she was out one day, Scrim chewed through a mesh screen, dropped 13 feet to the ground and squeezed through a gap in the fence, trotting away. Murray said Cheramie's four cats probably spooked him. “I wholeheartedly believe the gangster-ass cats were messing with him,” Murray said. Cheramie thinks they may have gotten territorial. Devastated but undeterred, the pair is reassessing where Scrim might fit best — maybe a secure animal sanctuary with big outdoor spaces where other dogs can keep him company. Somewhere, Murray says, “where he can just breathe and be.” Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96

Cam Carter put LSU ahead for good with a jumper 1:08 into the third overtime and the Tigers came away with a wild 109-102 win over UCF on Sunday in the third-place game of the Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. Carter's make sparked a 5-0 spurt for LSU (5-1), which mounted a ferocious second-half rally that began after Darius Johnson drilled a 3-pointer to put the Knights up 52-34 with 12:57 to play in regulation. UCF (4-2) got back within two in the third overtime, but it never found a way to draw even. Vyctorius Miller and Jordan Sears sealed the victory, combining for three buckets down low that gave the Tigers a 106-99 cushion with 17 seconds remaining. Carter was the late-game hero for LSU, scoring the final four points of regulation to forge a 70-70 tie. He also knocked down a go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:19 left in the first extra session to give the Tigers a 76-75 advantage. Sears gave LSU a four-point edge with a triple of his own with 2:10 to go, but the Tigers failed to stay in front, and UCF's Keyshawn Hall kept the game going by sinking two free throws with six seconds remaining to make it 82-82. Neither team led by more than three in the second overtime, with Hall again coming to the Knights' rescue. He made two layups in the final 52 seconds of the frame to knot things at 93 and send the teams to a third OT. Few could have predicted 15 minutes of extra basketball after UCF put together a 25-3 first-half run that lifted it to a 38-18 advantage with 2:12 left until the break. LSU responded with seven unanswered points, but the Knights still led comfortably, 40-25, at intermission. Sears finished with a game-high-tying 25 points to go along with nine boards, while Jalen Reed recorded a 21-point, 13-rebound double-double for the Tigers. Carter netted 20 points, Miller had 16 and Dji Bailey chipped in 14. Johnson collected 25 points, six rebounds, eight assists and five steals for UCF. Hall totaled 21 points and 10 boards, and Jordan Ivy-Curry supplied 20 points. LSU outshot UCF 43.2 percent to 40.7 percent and had narrow advantages from behind the arc (12 made shots to 10) and the free-throw line (21-18). --Field Level Media

This is a paid political advertisement. The views expressed here are solely those of the advertiser and do not reflect the editorial position of Donegal Daily. Charles Ward sits in the front room of a couple’s home—a place that should be filled with warmth, love, and memories. Instead, it is freezing. Snow is falling outside, but inside, the cold bites just as hard. The couple, not young, sit wrapped in coats, hats, and gloves, huddled together against the bitter chill. The air reeks of damp and mould. The smell is so overpowering that Charles struggles to breathe, his throat catching as his eyes water. This is Ireland in 2024, a wealthy nation that prides itself on progress. But behind these walls, there is no progress—only heartbreak. The couple cannot afford the shortfall required to rebuild their defective home. The government’s redress scheme, hailed as “strong” and “good,” has left them stranded in a house they cannot fix, yet cannot leave. They have worked their entire lives, paid their taxes, and done everything asked of them. And this is their reward: to spend their golden years in a cold, crumbling house, inhaling mould, and fighting despair. One room in their home is completely unusable. Closed off. Unsafe. Charles understands their pain in a way few politicians ever could because his own family has had to seal off parts of their house too. “I know what this feels like,” he says, his voice cracking. “I know the sleepless nights, the frustration, the heartbreak. I know what it’s like to see your safe place turn into a source of constant trauma. And worst of all, I know what it’s like to feel abandoned.” Home is meant to be where we find peace, comfort, and safety. But for thousands of families across this country, home has become a nightmare. The defective concrete crisis has shattered lives, stolen dreams, and left families grappling with impossible choices: rebuild or send their kids to school, pay the shortfall or keep the lights on. These are not just numbers or statistics. They are real people. People who have worked hard, loved their families, and trusted that their government would stand by them in their hour of need. Instead, they are left to fend for themselves while the system congratulates itself on “300 commencements.” Commencements are not completions. They are not warm homes. They are not hope. You cannot live in a commencement. When Charles raises these truths—when he speaks about the suicides, the marriages torn apart, the families broken—he is met with discomfort. A radio presenter recently apologised for referencing these very realities. But what is more offensive? Acknowledging the pain or pretending it doesn’t exist? Ignoring the suffering of your own people is not just offensive—it is unforgivable. To those who say, “Why Charles? What can one man do?” ask yourself this: Who has more right to stand up for themselves and their community than someone living this reality every single day? Charles isn’t running for personal ambition. He’s running because he has no choice. Because if he didn’t fight, he would break. Because every family abandoned by this scheme deserves someone in their corner. He’s running because he understands the trauma, the exhaustion, the endless uphill battle in a way no one else can. This crisis doesn’t end here. It could be you next. It could be your children, your grandchildren, sitting in freezing, damp homes, inhaling rot, and wondering why no one fought for them when it mattered. And to those saying Charles shouldn’t run, or that he’s “stealing” a seat—ask yourselves: Who do these seats belong to? The establishment? Career politicians? Or the people? Seats in the Dáil are not owned. They are earned by those with the courage to stand up and demand better for their communities. This election is a moment of reckoning. It is about sending a message—not just to the government but to the entire country—that we will not be ignored. The defective concrete crisis is not over. The redress scheme is not working. And despite what you’ve been told, we have not been sorted. “I am asking you to vote differently, just this once,” Charles says. “Not for me, but for the couple shivering in their own living room. For the thousands still waiting for justice. For every family who deserves to have their pain acknowledged, their trauma addressed, and their future restored.” This is more than an election. It’s a fight for dignity, for humanity, for the very idea that no one in a country as wealthy as Ireland should be forced to live like this. The people abandoned by this crisis are not giving up. And neither is Charles Ward. Let this election be the moment we stood together, spoke up, and said: Enough.NoneAlabama flips RB Jace Clarizio from Michigan State