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- ⚡️ Google's war on traffic jams
⚡️ Google's war on traffic jams
PLUS: Building infrastructure on the moon
Rowan Cheung
October 18, 2023
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Welcome, Tech enthusiasts.
Google’s ‘Project Green Light’ is optimizing traffic lights for less road congestion and reduced emissions.
Will those long morning commutes soon be a thing of the past? Let’s dig in…
In today’s tech rundown:
🚦 Google optimizing traffic with ‘Project Green Light’
🌚 Melting moon dust could enable lunar roads
🛠️ 8 New products
📰 7 quick stories
Read time: 3 minutes
TODAY’S HEADLINES
Image source: Google
The Rundown: Google is using AI to analyze the company’s Maps data and suggest adjustments to traffic light timing — aiming to cut driver waits, stops, and emissions.
The details:
The "Project Green Light" system is active in over 10 cities, with Google prioritizing larger cities with existing smart infrastructure.
It studies traffic patterns and recommends tweaks to light duration and coordination between intersections.
In trials, Google's suggestions reduced stops by up to 30% and emissions by up to 10% for 30 million cars per month.
The system is free for cities, leveraging Google's unmatched trove of navigation data — with suggestions remotely applied by city engineers.
Our thoughts: Smarter traffic flow is a clear win-win for cities, drivers, and the environment — and Project Green Light is a clear example of AI's potential for impactful sustainability applications.
TOGETHER WITH THE GIST
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What it covers:
Experience inclusive and progressive sports news that explores the social and cultural impact of sports.
The newsletter offers bite-sized, entertaining, and humorous insights.
Covers the biggest headlines, including the social and cultural impact of sports
SPACE TECH
Image source: Nature
The Rundown: A new experiment shows concentrated sunlight can melt lunar soil into solid slabs, a technique that could potentially pave the way for building infrastructure on the moon.
The details:
Fine lunar dust erodes suits and clogs equipment, making mobility difficult on the loose surface.
Tests melted simulated dust to 1600°C with a laser, forming interlocking tiles that could create paved spacecraft landing and driving areas.
But scaling up would need huge, expensive lens arrays flown to the moon.
The relevance: Harsh environments necessitate creative solutions like this one — especially with NASA's ambitious 2030 lunar base goals. Moon lasers used to be a Dr. Evil fantasy — but now emerge as a serious potential solution.
NEW PRODUCTS
⌚ AStime- Track your time with this project management tool (link)
📱 Socyal- A modern app for workplace performance management (link)
👨💻 Komiser- An open-source cloud environment inspector (link)
💼 Taplio- All-in-one AI-powered tool for creating, managing, and growing your personal brand on LinkedIn (link)
⚙️ Bardeen- A no-code automation tool to enhance workflow productivity (link)
🧠 Taskade- Five AI-powered tools in one to supercharge your team productivity (link)
📚 Morise AI- Reads your videos and generates everything in seconds (link)
🐦 Postwise- Craft viral Tweets in seconds (link)
Browse the most popular tools ever featured with our tool database.
SNIPPETS
The Biden administration is tightening restrictions on China's ability to acquire advanced AI semiconductors from US companies like Nvidia and Intel, aiming to limit China's access due to national security concerns.
PayPal launched package tracking in its app, automatically pulling delivery details to provide status updates on purchases — even if you didn't check out using the service.
Apple introduced a new $79 Apple Pencil with USB-C charging, marking the company’s cheapest iPad stylus option yet.
Reddit is shutting down its blockchain-based Community Points program due to challenges with scaling and resources, opting instead for rewards initiatives like its Contributor Program.
Qualcomm and Google are collaborating on a new RISC-V-based platform for Wear OS smartwatches.
YouTube is rolling out a major update that includes a new "You" section, quicker video searching, a mobile lock screen, and over 30 other changes.
Cruise's self-driving cars are being investigated after two pedestrian injuries and surfaced videos involving the vehicles encroaching on people crossing streets in San Francisco.
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THAT’S A WRAP
If you have anything interesting to share, please reach out to us by sending us a DM on Twitter: @rowancheung & @therundowntech
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