Winding Down
An idiosyncratic look at, and comment on, the week's net, technology, science and other news
by Alan Lenton
2 February 2025
Welcome back to this week’s Winding Down. As I was writing it news came in of the mid-air collision over Washington. I, like a lot of people, was disgusted at the sight of politicians not comforting the bereaved, but trying to make political capital. Fortunately, I discovered that the BBC had a piece on the problems with the crash avoidance technology at low heights – like approaching landing.
Other items covered are a new way of exploring population trends from the UK government, and a look at the news of the Chinese DeepSeek AI, and its implications for the US tech industry.
The quote is from UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson in the 1960s, and the pictures are a dozen fanciable things that might, or more likely might not, happen in London in the coming year. My favourite is the marmalade one!
Scanner points the way to items concerning COVID vaccine fraud, twins, global warming cooling the UK, a cosmology theory crisis, the Salem witch trials, and Microsoft virtual employees. Coda looks at Lord of the Rings...
Why didn’t technology prevent the deadly air collision over Washington?
As I write news is still coming in about the deadly mid-air collision over Washington. Needless to say, various politicians are airing their views on politically biased opinions of what caused the crash. Very few of them take any consideration of the technology involved. Fortunately, Science Alert has looked into the problem. It seems that, for technical reasons, the standard aircraft safety system, TCAS, doesn’t work very well at low altitudes. And, of course, the crash happened at low altitudes – as the airliner was coming in to land.
Not, of course, that this will prevent those with axes to grind from trying to make political capital out of the tragedy...
https://www.sciencealert.com/why-didnt-technology-prevent-the-deadly-air-collision-over-washington
UK population projection explorer
The UK government has published a population exploration tool on its web site. You can use the tool and information from the 2021 census to explore the implications of different changes in life expectancy, net migration, and fertility over relatively long periods.
An interesting experiment!
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/
populationprojections/articles/ukpopulationprojectionexplorer/2025-01-28
China’s DeepSeek AI shakes industry and dents America’s swagger
The headlines said it all last Tuesday. The US mega companies were absolutely convinced of their superiority, and they had all backed Trump, seduced as they were by his determination to prevent China from acquiring the high tech/high value chips used for AI (which is certainly artificial, and far from intelligent).
China’s DeepSeek shows AI’s centre of power could shift away from US, and this is what the big tech companies fear most. US big tech has boosted its income and influence over the past few years and suddenly it’s all at risk, and their stocks are sliding.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd643wx888qo (The news item)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9w5d9new0yo (An analysis of the implications)
Quotes worth remembering:
In late 1967 the UK’s sterling currency was in a balance of payments crisis. The then Labour Government devalued sterling by 14.3%. The Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, went on television and told the public that devaluation “does not mean, of course, that the pound here in Britain, in your pocket or purse, or in your bank, has been devalued”.
Needless to say, this obviously inaccurate statement was to haunt him for the rest of his political career.
Pictures
12 Predictions For London In 2025. Humorous pictures based on predictions for each month of the new year!
https://londonist.com/london/best-of-london/12-predictions-for-london-in-2025
Scanner
How Vladimir Putin was able to change Russia’s constitution and become ‘president for life’
https://theconversation.com/how-vladimir-putin-was-able-to-change-russias-constitution-and-become-president-for-life-247654
Two accused of COVID-19 vaccine fraud under Computer Misuse Act
https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/10/covid19_vaccine_fraud_charges/
Why more twins are being born than ever before – even though birthrates are falling
https://theconversation.com/why-more-twins-are-being-born-than-ever-before-even-though-birthrates-are-falling-246297
Could the UK actually get colder with global warming?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn938ze4yyeo
Hubble tension is now in our cosmic backyard, sending cosmology into crisis
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/hubble-space-telescope/hubble-tension-is-now-in-our-cosmic-backyard-sending-cosmology-into-crisis
A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-the-salem-witch-trials-175162489/
Microsoft plans to enable companies to create their own AI-powered virtual employees
https://readwrite.com/microsoft-plans-to-enable-companies-to-create-their-own-ai-powered-virtual-employees/
Coda
From the Ansible 451 Sci-Fi Newsletter
20 Years Ago, the Independent newspaper gave us a Lord of the Rings plot summary: ‘The plucky hobbits cross treacherous mountains to stop the evil Lord Saruman obtaining the ring he needs for world domination.’
So now you know, without having to plough through three heavy duty volumes containing the details!
https://news.ansible.uk/a451.html
Footnote:
Please send suggestions for stories to alan@ibgames.com and include the words Winding Down in the subject line, unless you want your deathless prose gobbled up by my voracious Thunderbird spam filter...
Alan Lenton
alan@ibgames.com
2 February 2025
Alan Lenton is a retired on-line games designer, programmer and sociologist (among other things), the order of which depends on what he is currently working on! His web site is at http://www.ibgames.com/alan/index.html.
Past issues of Winding Down can be found at http://www.ibgames.com/alan/winding/index.html.
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