{"version":"https://jsonfeed.org/version/1.1","title":"Stephen Ajulu","home_page_url":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/","feed_url":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/tags/sovereignty/feed.json","authors":[{"name":null,"url":null,"avatar":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/"}],"items":[{"id":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/why-divorce-rates-are-through-the-roof/","url":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/why-divorce-rates-are-through-the-roof/","title":"Why Divorce Rates Are Through The Roof","summary":"Why Divorce Rates Are Through The Roof Divorce rates have been steadily increasing over the past few decades. While there are many factors that contribute to the rise in divorce rates, promiscuity, and high body counts are two significant factors that cannot be ignored.\nThe Rise of Divorce Rates Divorce rates have been increasing since the 1960s, when divorce laws were changed to make it easier for couples to end their marriages. Since then, divorce rates have continued to rise, and now nearly half of all marriages end in divorce. There are many reasons why divorce rates have been increasing, including changes in societal norms, the rise of individualism, and the economic independence of women. However, two factors that are often overlooked are promiscuity and high body counts.\n","content_html":"\u003ch2 id=\"why-divorce-rates-are-through-the-roof\"\u003eWhy Divorce Rates Are Through The Roof\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDivorce rates have been steadily increasing over the past few decades. While there are many factors that contribute to the rise in divorce rates, promiscuity, and high body counts are two significant factors that cannot be ignored.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"the-rise-of-divorce-rates\"\u003eThe Rise of Divorce Rates\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDivorce rates have been increasing since the 1960s, when divorce laws were changed to make it easier for couples to end their marriages. Since then, divorce rates have continued to rise, and now nearly half of all marriages end in divorce. There are many reasons why divorce rates have been increasing, including changes in societal norms, the rise of individualism, and the economic independence of women. However, two factors that are often overlooked are promiscuity and high body counts.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"the-impact-of-promiscuity\"\u003eThe Impact of Promiscuity\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePromiscuity is defined as engaging in sexual activity with multiple partners, and it has become more common in recent years. The rise of hookup culture and dating apps has made it easier for people to engage in casual sex without any commitment. However, the impact of promiscuity on relationships should not be underestimated.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStudies have shown that people who engage in promiscuous behavior are more likely to have difficulty with emotional attachment and intimacy. They may also be more likely to cheat on their partners, which can lead to the breakdown of the relationship. In addition, promiscuity can lead to sexually transmitted infections, which can cause health problems and further strain the relationship.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"the-role-of-high-body-counts\"\u003eThe Role of High Body Counts\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHigh body counts, or the number of sexual partners a person has had, can also have a significant impact on relationships. People with high body counts may have a harder time committing to a monogamous relationship, as they may feel that they are missing out on other sexual experiences. This can lead to infidelity and the breakdown of the relationship.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn addition, high body counts can also lead to a lack of trust in the relationship. If one partner has had many sexual partners in the past, the other partner may feel insecure or jealous. This can lead to arguments and further strain the relationship.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"the-importance-of-communication\"\u003eThe Importance of Communication\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile promiscuity and high body counts can have a significant impact on relationships, it is important to remember that communication is key. Couples who are open and honest with each other about their past sexual experiences and their expectations for the relationship are more likely to have a successful and fulfilling partnership.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is also important for couples to be aware of the potential impact of promiscuity and high body counts on their relationship. By being mindful of these factors and taking steps to address any issues that arise, couples can work together to build a strong and lasting relationship.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"conclusion\"\u003eConclusion\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn conclusion, divorce rates have been increasing for a variety of reasons, including the impact of promiscuity and high body counts on relationships. While these factors are not the only reasons for the rise in divorce rates, they cannot be ignored. By being aware of the potential impact of promiscuity and high body counts on relationships, and by communicating openly and honestly with each other, couples can work together to build a strong and lasting partnership that is less likely to end in divorce.\u003c/p\u003e\n","date_published":"2023-02-24T11:00:00+03:00","tags":["Sovereignty"]},{"id":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/understanding-the-power-of-gpt-4-the-future-of-ai-language-models/","url":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/understanding-the-power-of-gpt-4-the-future-of-ai-language-models/","title":"Understanding the Power of GPT-4: The Future of AI Language Models","summary":"Have you ever imagined a language model that can generate natural-sounding, coherent, and fluent sentences with almost human-like accuracy, or even surpass it? In this article, we\u0026rsquo;ll discuss one that has done precisely that.\nGPT-4 In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has become an essential part of our daily lives. AI-powered virtual assistants, search engines, and chatbots have revolutionized the way we interact with technology. One of the key advancements in this field has been the development of language models, which can understand and generate human-like language. Among the most promising of these models is GPT-4, the fourth iteration of the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) series. In this article, we will explore the capabilities of GPT-4, and how it is set to revolutionize the field of AI language modeling.\n","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eHave you ever imagined a language model that can generate natural-sounding, coherent, and fluent sentences with almost human-like accuracy, or even surpass it? In this article, we\u0026rsquo;ll discuss one that has done precisely that.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"gpt-4\"\u003eGPT-4\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has become an essential part of our daily lives. AI-powered virtual assistants, search engines, and chatbots have revolutionized the way we interact with technology. One of the key advancements in this field has been the development of language models, which can understand and generate human-like language. Among the most promising of these models is GPT-4, the fourth iteration of the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) series. In this article, we will explore the capabilities of GPT-4, and how it is set to revolutionize the field of AI language modeling.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIntroduction Artificial intelligence is a rapidly growing field, and language models have played a significant role in advancing it. Language models are machine learning algorithms that are designed to understand and generate human-like language. They are trained on vast amounts of text data and use that data to generate new text. The most advanced language models in use today are based on transformer architectures, which use attention mechanisms to understand the context of each word in a sentence.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"what-is-gpt-4\"\u003eWhat is GPT-4?\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGPT-4 is the fourth iteration of the GPT series of language models developed by OpenAI. It is set to be the most powerful language model yet, with the ability to understand and generate natural language with unparalleled accuracy and fluency. GPT-4 will be built on the transformer architecture and will be pre-trained on an even larger corpus of text data than its predecessor, GPT-3.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"gpt-4-capabilities\"\u003eGPT-4 Capabilities\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eImproved Language Understanding GPT-4 is expected to have a better understanding of human language than any other language model to date. It will be able to understand complex sentence structures and infer meaning from context, making it useful for a wide range of applications, from chatbots to content creation.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEnhanced Creative Writing GPT-4 is expected to be able to generate human-like creative writing with a high level of accuracy. This means that it will be able to generate high-quality content for a variety of purposes, including marketing copy, social media posts, and even fiction writing.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMultilingual Capabilities GPT-4 is expected to be able to understand and generate text in multiple languages, making it a valuable tool for businesses that operate globally. It will be able to translate text accurately and fluently, making it possible to communicate with customers and partners around the world.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eImproved Efficiency GPT-4 is expected to be able to generate text faster than any other language model to date. This means that it will be able to generate large amounts of high-quality text in a short amount of time, making it a valuable tool for content creators, marketers, and businesses that need to produce large volumes of text.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBetter Accuracy GPT-4 is expected to have better accuracy than its predecessors, thanks to improvements in its training data and algorithms. This means that it will be able to generate text that is more coherent and more relevant to the task at hand, making it a valuable tool for businesses that need high-quality text for their websites, marketing materials, and other applications.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"conclusion\"\u003eConclusion\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn conclusion, GPT-4 is set to be the most powerful language model yet, with a range of capabilities that make it an invaluable tool for businesses and individuals alike. Its improved language understanding, enhanced creative writing abilities, multilingual capabilities, improved efficiency, and better accuracy make it a versatile and valuable tool for a wide range of applications. As AI continues to advance, we can expect to see even more impressive language models in the years to come, but for now, GPT-4 represents the state of the art in AI language modeling.\u003c/p\u003e\n","date_published":"2023-02-24T09:38:00+03:00","image":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/images/photo-1675557009285-b55f562641b9.webp","tags":["Sovereignty"]},{"id":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/the-future-of-daily-tech-everything-is-wireless/","url":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/the-future-of-daily-tech-everything-is-wireless/","title":"The Future of Daily Tech: Everything is Wireless","summary":"As technology evolves, the world is moving towards a future where everything is wireless. From charging to data transfer to controllers to electric car charging to the insides of electrical devices, the need for cords and cables is becoming obsolete. In this article, we will explore the latest advancements in wireless technology and how they will shape the future of daily tech.\nWireless Charging: Cutting the Cord Wireless charging is already gaining widespread adoption, with major smartphone manufacturers like Apple and Samsung integrating wireless charging capabilities into their latest devices. This technology uses electromagnetic fields to transfer power from a charging pad to a device without the need for a physical connection. In the future, we can expect to see this technology integrated into other daily devices such as laptops, wearables, and even kitchen appliances.\n","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eAs technology evolves, the world is moving towards a future where everything is wireless. From charging to data transfer to controllers to electric car charging to the insides of electrical devices, the need for cords and cables is becoming obsolete. In this article, we will explore the latest advancements in wireless technology and how they will shape the future of daily tech.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWireless Charging: Cutting the Cord\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWireless charging is already gaining widespread adoption, with major smartphone manufacturers like Apple and Samsung integrating wireless charging capabilities into their latest devices. This technology uses electromagnetic fields to transfer power from a charging pad to a device without the need for a physical connection. In the future, we can expect to see this technology integrated into other daily devices such as laptops, wearables, and even kitchen appliances.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col start=\"2\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Rise of 5G: Faster, More Reliable Wireless Data Transfer\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe fifth generation of mobile networks, or 5G, is set to revolutionize the way we connect to the internet. With download speeds of up to 20Gbps, 5G is over 100 times faster than its predecessor 4G. This technology will not only provide faster data transfer but also enable new technologies like augmented reality and the internet of things (IoT).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col start=\"3\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWireless Controllers: Gaming without the Tangle of Wires\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWireless controllers have already become a standard in the gaming industry, with consoles like PlayStation and Xbox offering wireless controllers as a default option. However, with the advent of cloud gaming, the need for wireless controllers will only continue to grow. Cloud gaming services like Google Stadia and Microsoft xCloud allow gamers to play games on any device with an internet connection, eliminating the need for gaming consoles altogether.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col start=\"4\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWireless Electric Car Charging: Convenient and Sustainable\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eElectric cars have become increasingly popular in recent years, but the inconvenience of finding a charging station and plugging in the car has remained a barrier to mass adoption. Wireless electric car charging, where electric cars can be charged without physical contact with a charging station, could change that. This technology is still in its infancy, but it has the potential to make electric cars more convenient and sustainable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col start=\"5\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Future of Wireless: Inside the Devices\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWireless technology is not only changing the way we interact with devices but also the way devices are designed. As wireless technology becomes more advanced, the need for physical ports and connectors will decrease. This will allow for devices to become more compact and streamlined, with fewer points of failure and more room for other components.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFAQs\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eQ: How does wireless charging work? A: Wireless charging uses electromagnetic fields to transfer power from a charging pad to a device without the need for a physical connection.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eQ: What is 5G? A: 5G is the fifth generation of mobile networks, offering faster and more reliable data transfer.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eQ: What is cloud gaming? A: Cloud gaming is a service that allows gamers to play games on any device with an internet connection, eliminating the need for gaming consoles.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eQ: What is wireless electric car charging? A: Wireless electric car charging is a technology where electric cars can be charged without physical contact with a charging station.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eQ: How will wireless technology change the design of devices? A: As wireless technology becomes more advanced, the need for physical ports and connectors will decrease, allowing devices to become more compact and streamlined.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConclusion\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe future of daily tech is wireless, and the latest advancements in technology are only bringing us closer to that reality. From wireless charging to 5G to wireless controllers and electric car charging, the need for cords and cables is becoming a thing of the past. As we continue to push the boundaries of wireless technology, we can expect to see even more changes in the way we interact with technology and the impact of wireless technology on the environment and human health\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith the widespread adoption of wireless technology, there are growing concerns about its impact on the environment and human health. Let us examine these issues in greater detail.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEnvironmental concerns\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the primary environmental concerns associated with wireless technology is electronic waste. Electronic waste, or e-waste, refers to discarded electrical or electronic devices. Many of these devices contain hazardous materials, such as lead, mercury, and cadmium, which can pollute the environment if not disposed of properly. Moreover, the production of electronic devices requires significant amounts of energy, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnother environmental concern associated with wireless technology is the proliferation of radiofrequency radiation. Radiofrequency radiation is a type of electromagnetic radiation emitted by wireless devices, such as cell phones and Wi-Fi routers. While the effects of radiofrequency radiation on human health are still being studied, some studies have suggested a link between radiofrequency radiation and cancer.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHuman health concerns\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eApart from environmental concerns, wireless technology has also raised concerns about its impact on human health. One of the main concerns is the potential harm caused by radiofrequency radiation. Studies have suggested that prolonged exposure to radiofrequency radiation can increase the risk of brain cancer and other health problems.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnother health concern associated with wireless technology is its impact on sleep. Exposure to the blue light emitted by electronic devices can disrupt the body\u0026rsquo;s natural sleep cycle and lead to sleep disorders, such as insomnia.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConclusion\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn conclusion, wireless technology has revolutionized the way we live and work, offering the convenience and flexibility that was once unimaginable. However, the widespread adoption of wireless technology has also raised concerns about its impact on the environment and human health. As we move forward, it is essential to take a cautious approach and ensure that we use wireless technology responsibly to minimize its impact on the environment and human health.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFAQs\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAre there any health risks associated with wireless technology? Ans: Yes, there are concerns about the potential harm caused by radiofrequency radiation and its impact on sleep.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhat is electronic waste? Ans: Electronic waste refers to discarded electrical or electronic devices, many of which contain hazardous materials that can pollute the environment.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIs it safe to use wireless devices? Ans: While the effects of radiofrequency radiation on human health are still being studied, it is recommended to use wireless devices responsibly and limit exposure.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHow does wireless technology impact the environment? Ans: Wireless technology can contribute to electronic waste and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the proliferation of radiofrequency radiation.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhat can be done to mitigate the impact of wireless technology on the environment and human health? Ans: Responsible use of wireless technology and proper disposal of electronic devices can help minimize the impact on the environment. Limiting exposure to radiofrequency radiation can also help reduce potential health risks.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n","date_published":"2023-02-14T15:30:00+03:00","image":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/images/lowres-wireless-charging-header-jpg_729188885.webp","tags":["Sovereignty"]},{"id":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/the-importance-of-internet-of-things-iot-in-smart-cities-and-home-automation/","url":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/the-importance-of-internet-of-things-iot-in-smart-cities-and-home-automation/","title":"The Importance of Internet of Things (IoT) in Smart Cities and Home Automation","summary":"The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of physical devices, vehicles, buildings, and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and connectivity which enables these objects to connect and exchange data.\nSmart cities and home automation are two areas where IoT is making a significant impact.\nAdvantages of IoT in Smart Cities Improved Quality of Life: IoT-enabled smart cities can improve the quality of life for citizens by providing them with real-time information and services such as traffic management, air quality monitoring, and public safety. Increased Efficiency: IoT can help cities operate more efficiently by automating tasks such as waste management, energy management, and public transportation. Cost Savings: IoT can help cities save money by reducing the need for manual labor and increasing the efficiency of city services. Disadvantages of IoT in Smart Cities Privacy Concerns: IoT-enabled smart cities generate a large amount of data about citizens and their activities, which raises privacy concerns. Security Risks: IoT devices are vulnerable to hacking and cyber attacks, which can compromise the security of city infrastructure and personal data. Implementation Costs: Implementing IoT in a city can be costly and requires significant investment in infrastructure and technology. Examples of IoT in Smart Cities Singapore: The city-state of Singapore is considered a leader in the implementation of IoT in smart cities. Singapore has implemented a range of IoT-enabled solutions, including smart lighting, smart waste management, and traffic management. Barcelona: The city of Barcelona has implemented a range of IoT-enabled solutions, including smart parking, air quality monitoring, and water management. Amsterdam: The city of Amsterdam has implemented a range of IoT-enabled solutions, including smart lighting, smart waste management, and traffic management. Advantages of IoT in Home Automation Increased Convenience: IoT-enabled home automation allows homeowners to control and monitor their homes remotely using their smartphones or other devices. Energy Savings: IoT-enabled home automation can help homeowners save money on their energy bills by automating tasks such as lighting and temperature control. Improved Security: IoT-enabled home automation can improve security by allowing homeowners to monitor their homes remotely and receive alerts if something is amiss. Disadvantages of IoT in Home Automation Privacy Concerns: IoT-enabled home automation generates a large amount of data about homeowners and their activities, which raises privacy concerns. Security Risks: IoT devices are vulnerable to hacking and cyber attacks, which can compromise the security of personal data and home security. Implementation Costs: Implementing IoT in a home can be costly and requires significant investment in devices and technology. Examples of IoT in Home Automation Amazon Echo: Amazon\u0026rsquo;s Echo is a popular IoT-enabled device that allows homeowners to control their homes using voice commands. It can be used to control lighting, temperature, and other smart devices. Nest Learning Thermostat: The Nest Learning Thermostat is an IoT-enabled device that allows homeowners to control their heating and cooling remotely. It can learn homeowners\u0026rsquo; schedules and adjust the temperature accordingly. Philips Hue: Philips Hue is an IoT-enabled lighting system that allows homeowners to control their lights remotely and create customized lighting scenes. Conclusion IoT is playing an increasingly important role in smart cities and home automation. It offers a range of benefits such as improved quality of life, increased efficiency, and cost savings. However, it also poses some challenges such as privacy concerns and security risks. As technology continues to evolve, it will be important for cities and individuals to address these challenges and find ways to effectively implement IoT in a way that maximizes its benefits while minimizing its drawbacks.\n","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eThe Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of physical devices, vehicles, buildings, and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and connectivity which enables these objects to connect and exchange data.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSmart cities and home automation are two areas where IoT is making a significant impact.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"advantages-of-iot-in-smart-cities\"\u003eAdvantages of IoT in Smart Cities\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eImproved Quality of Life: IoT-enabled smart cities can improve the quality of life for citizens by providing them with real-time information and services such as traffic management, air quality monitoring, and public safety.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIncreased Efficiency: IoT can help cities operate more efficiently by automating tasks such as waste management, energy management, and public transportation.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCost Savings: IoT can help cities save money by reducing the need for manual labor and increasing the efficiency of city services.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"disadvantages-of-iot-in-smart-cities\"\u003eDisadvantages of IoT in Smart Cities\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePrivacy Concerns: IoT-enabled smart cities generate a large amount of data about citizens and their activities, which raises privacy concerns.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSecurity Risks: IoT devices are vulnerable to hacking and cyber attacks, which can compromise the security of city infrastructure and personal data.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eImplementation Costs: Implementing IoT in a city can be costly and requires significant investment in infrastructure and technology.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"examples-of-iot-in-smart-cities\"\u003eExamples of IoT in Smart Cities\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSingapore: The city-state of Singapore is considered a leader in the implementation of IoT in smart cities. Singapore has implemented a range of IoT-enabled solutions, including smart lighting, smart waste management, and traffic management.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBarcelona: The city of Barcelona has implemented a range of IoT-enabled solutions, including smart parking, air quality monitoring, and water management.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAmsterdam: The city of Amsterdam has implemented a range of IoT-enabled solutions, including smart lighting, smart waste management, and traffic management.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"advantages-of-iot-in-home-automation\"\u003eAdvantages of IoT in Home Automation\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIncreased Convenience: IoT-enabled home automation allows homeowners to control and monitor their homes remotely using their smartphones or other devices.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEnergy Savings: IoT-enabled home automation can help homeowners save money on their energy bills by automating tasks such as lighting and temperature control.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eImproved Security: IoT-enabled home automation can improve security by allowing homeowners to monitor their homes remotely and receive alerts if something is amiss.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"disadvantages-of-iot-in-home-automation\"\u003eDisadvantages of IoT in Home Automation\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePrivacy Concerns: IoT-enabled home automation generates a large amount of data about homeowners and their activities, which raises privacy concerns.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSecurity Risks: IoT devices are vulnerable to hacking and cyber attacks, which can compromise the security of personal data and home security.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eImplementation Costs: Implementing IoT in a home can be costly and requires significant investment in devices and technology.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"examples-of-iot-in-home-automation\"\u003eExamples of IoT in Home Automation\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAmazon Echo: Amazon\u0026rsquo;s Echo is a popular IoT-enabled device that allows homeowners to control their homes using voice commands. It can be used to control lighting, temperature, and other smart devices.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNest Learning Thermostat: The Nest Learning Thermostat is an IoT-enabled device that allows homeowners to control their heating and cooling remotely. It can learn homeowners\u0026rsquo; schedules and adjust the temperature accordingly.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilips Hue: Philips Hue is an IoT-enabled lighting system that allows homeowners to control their lights remotely and create customized lighting scenes.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"conclusion\"\u003eConclusion\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIoT is playing an increasingly important role in smart cities and home automation. It offers a range of benefits such as improved quality of life, increased efficiency, and cost savings. However, it also poses some challenges such as privacy concerns and security risks. As technology continues to evolve, it will be important for cities and individuals to address these challenges and find ways to effectively implement IoT in a way that maximizes its benefits while minimizing its drawbacks.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOverall, IoT has the potential to greatly improve the way we live and work, making our cities and homes more connected, efficient, and sustainable. By leveraging the power of IoT, smart cities and home automation can create more livable and resilient communities, improve energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact. As technology continues to advance, we can expect to see even more innovative and impactful uses of IoT in the future.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTags: Internet of Things, IoT, Smart Cities, Home Automation, Advantages, Disadvantages, Examples, Quality of Life, Efficiency, Cost Savings, Privacy Concerns, Security Risks, Implementation Keywords: Internet of Things, IoT, Smart Cities, Home Automation, Quality of Life, Efficiency, Cost Savings, Privacy Concerns, Security Risks, Implementation, Real-world Examples, Tips.\u003c/p\u003e\n","date_published":"2023-01-19T15:00:00+03:00","image":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/images/design-tech-homes-best-of-high-tech-homes-and-smart-home-technology-of-design-tech-homes-min.webp","tags":["Sovereignty"]},{"id":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/unlocking-the-potential-of-machine-learning-in-business-applications-benefits-and-challenges/","url":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/unlocking-the-potential-of-machine-learning-in-business-applications-benefits-and-challenges/","title":"Unlocking the Potential of Machine Learning in Business: Applications, Benefits","summary":"Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence that enables computers to learn from data and make predictions or decisions without explicit programming. It has become increasingly important in the business world, as organizations strive to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge. In this essay, we will explore the role of machine learning in business, including its applications in various industries, the benefits it can provide, and the challenges that must be overcome for its successful implementation.\n","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eMachine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence that enables computers to learn from data and make predictions or decisions without explicit programming. It has become increasingly important in the business world, as organizations strive to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge. In this essay, we will explore the role of machine learning in business, including its applications in various industries, the benefits it can provide, and the challenges that must be overcome for its successful implementation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"applications-of-machine-learning-in-business\"\u003eApplications of Machine Learning in Business\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMachine learning can be applied to various business functions, including marketing, sales, customer service, and supply chain management. In marketing, machine learning can be used to analyze customer data and predict buying patterns, allowing organizations to target their marketing efforts more effectively. In sales, machine learning can be used to predict which leads are most likely to convert, allowing sales teams to focus on the most promising opportunities. In customer service, machine learning can be used to automate responses to common customer inquiries, reducing the workload of customer service representatives. In supply chain management, machine learning can be used to optimize inventory levels and predict demand, reducing costs and improving efficiency.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor more comprehensive applications with examples:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePredictive analytics and forecasting\u003c/strong\u003e: Machine learning algorithms are used to analyze historical data and make predictions about future events. This can be used in various areas such as sales forecasting, demand forecasting, and financial forecasting. For example, retailers can use predictive analytics to forecast demand for certain products, allowing them to optimize their inventory levels. Similarly, financial institutions can use predictive analytics to identify credit risks and detect fraudulent activities.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCustomer segmentation and personalization\u003c/strong\u003e: Machine learning can be used to analyze customer data and segment customers into different groups based on their characteristics and behavior. This can be used to provide personalized experiences, such as targeted marketing campaigns and personalized product recommendations. For example, an e-commerce website can use machine learning to personalize product recommendations for each customer, increasing the likelihood of a sale.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMarketing automation and optimization\u003c/strong\u003e: Machine learning can be used to automate repetitive marketing tasks, such as lead scoring, and optimize marketing campaigns. For example, machine learning can be used to predict which leads are most likely to convert, allowing sales teams to focus on the most promising opportunities. Additionally, Machine learning algorithms can be used to optimize ad targeting and bid on pay-per-click (PPC) ads to increase the ROI of marketing campaigns.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSales and lead generation\u003c/strong\u003e: Machine learning can be used to automate sales processes and generate leads. For example, using machine learning algorithms, a company can identify potential customers and then automatically reach out to them with personalized sales messages. This can improve the efficiency of the sales process and increase the number of leads generated.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSupply chain optimization and inventory management\u003c/strong\u003e: Machine learning can be used to optimize supply chain operations and inventory management. For example, machine learning algorithms can be used to predict demand for certain products, allowing organizations to optimize their inventory levels. This can lead to reduced costs and improved efficiency.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFraud detection and risk management\u003c/strong\u003e: Machine learning can be used to detect and prevent fraud in various areas such as financial transactions, credit card transactions, and insurance claims. For example, a credit card company can use machine learning to detect patterns of fraudulent activity and prevent fraud before it occurs.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHuman resource management and recruitment\u003c/strong\u003e: Machine learning can be used to automate recruitment processes and identify the best candidates for a job. For example, machine learning algorithms can be used to analyze resumes and identify the candidates that are most likely to be a good fit for the job. Additionally, machine learning can be used to predict employee turnover, allowing organizations to take proactive steps to retain valuable employees.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChatbots and virtual assistants\u003c/strong\u003e: Machine learning can be used to create chatbots and virtual assistants that can interact with customers and provide them with information and assistance. For example, a retail company can use a chatbot to answer customer inquiries and recommend products.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eQuality control and process optimization\u003c/strong\u003e: Machine learning can be used to improve quality control and optimize business processes. For example, machine learning algorithms can be used to identify patterns in production data and identify areas where improvements can be made. Additionally, machine learning can be used to detect defects in products, reducing the number of defective products that are shipped to customers.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePredictive maintenance and asset management\u003c/strong\u003e: Machine learning can be used to predict when equipment and assets will need maintenance, allowing organizations to schedule maintenance at the most appropriate time. This can lead to reduced downtime and improved efficiency. For example, a manufacturing company can use machine learning to predict when a machine is likely to break down, allowing them to schedule maintenance before the machine breaks down.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"benefits-of-machine-learning-in-business\"\u003eBenefits of Machine Learning in Business\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe benefits of machine learning in business are numerous. One of the main benefits is the ability to process large amounts of data quickly and accurately. This can lead to improved decision-making, as organizations can gain insights from data that would be impossible to discern manually. Additionally, machine learning can automate repetitive tasks, freeing up employees to focus on more complex and strategic tasks. This can lead to improved efficiency and productivity.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMachine learning can also improve customer engagement and satisfaction by providing personalized experiences and recommendations. This can lead to increased sales and customer loyalty.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 id=\"challenges-of-machine-learning-in-business\"\u003eChallenges of Machine Learning in Business\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDespite the benefits of machine learning in business, there are still several challenges that must be overcome for its successful implementation. One of the main challenges is the lack of data science expertise. Many organizations lack the skills and resources to effectively implement and utilize machine learning. Additionally, the cost of implementing machine learning can be high, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnother challenge is data quality and accuracy, as machine learning algorithms are only as good as the data they are trained on. Incomplete, inaccurate, or biased data can lead to poor results.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"conclusion\"\u003eConclusion\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMachine learning is a powerful tool that can help organizations improve efficiency, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge. Its applications in various industries and business functions are numerous, and it can provide numerous benefits. However, the lack of data science expertise and the cost of implementation can be significant challenges that must be overcome. Nevertheless, with the right approach and resources, businesses can reap the benefits of machine learning and stay ahead of the competition.\u003c/p\u003e\n","date_published":"2023-01-19T14:25:00+03:00","image":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/images/istock-1313024657-scaled.webp","tags":["Sovereignty"]},{"id":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/what-causes-alzheimer-s-scientists-are-rethinking-the-answer/","url":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/what-causes-alzheimer-s-scientists-are-rethinking-the-answer/","title":"What Causes Alzheimer’s? Scientists Are Rethinking the Answer.","summary":"It’s often subtle at first. A lost phone. A forgotten word. A missed appointment. By the time a person walks into a doctor’s office, worried about signs of forgetfulness or failing cognition, the changes to their brain have been long underway — changes that we don’t yet know how to stop or reverse. Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, has no cure.\n“There’s not much you can do. There are no effective treatments. There’s no medicine,” said Riddhi Patira, a behavioral neurologist in Pennsylvania who specializes in neurodegenerative diseases.\n","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eIt’s often subtle at first. A lost phone. A forgotten word. A missed appointment. By the time a person walks into a doctor’s office, worried about signs of forgetfulness or failing cognition, the changes to their brain have been long underway — changes that we don’t yet know how to stop or reverse. Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, has no cure.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“There’s not much you can do. There are no effective treatments. There’s no medicine,” said Riddhi Patira, a behavioral neurologist in Pennsylvania who specializes in neurodegenerative diseases.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat’s not how the story was supposed to go.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThree decades ago, scientists thought they had cracked the medical mystery of what causes Alzheimer’s disease with an idea known as the amyloid cascade hypothesis. It accused a protein called amyloid-beta of forming sticky, toxic plaques between neurons, killing them and triggering a series of events that made the brain waste away.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe amyloid cascade hypothesis was simple and “seductively compelling,” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.neurology.columbia.edu/profile/scott-small-md\"\u003eScott Small\u003c/a\u003e, the director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Columbia University. And the idea of aiming drugs at the amyloid plaques to stop or prevent the progression of the disease took the field by storm.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDecades of work and billions of dollars went into funding clinical trials of dozens of drug compounds that targeted amyloid plaques. Yet almost none of the trials showed meaningful benefits to patients with the disease.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat is, until September when the pharmaceutical giants Biogen and Eisai \u003ca href=\"https://investors.biogen.com/news-releases/news-release-details/lecanemab-confirmatory-phase-3-clarity-ad-study-met-primary\"\u003eannounced\u003c/a\u003e that in phase 3 clinical trial, patients taking the anti-amyloid drug lecanemab showed 27% less decline in their cognitive health than patients taking a placebo did. Last week, the companies revealed the data, now published in the \u003cem\u003eNew England Journal of Medicine\u003c/em\u003e, to an excited audience at a meeting in San Francisco.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/Circle-1-1.webp\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBecause Alzheimer’s disease progresses over 25 years, the hope is that lecanemab, when given to people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, will slow that progression, said \u003ca href=\"https://atri.usc.edu/faculty/paul-aisen/\"\u003ePaul Aisen\u003c/a\u003e, a professor of neurology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. By extending the milder stages of the disease, the drug could give people more years of independence and more time to manage their finances before being institutionalized. “To me, that’s really important,” he said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome are less hopeful that the results will show any meaningful difference. “It’s nothing different [from] what we saw in the earlier trials,” Patira said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“The clinically important difference is probably not there,” said \u003ca href=\"https://depts.washington.edu/mbwc/about/profile/eric-larson\"\u003eEric Larson\u003c/a\u003e, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington. On the scale, the companies used to test the efficacy — calculated from interviews with the patient and their caregivers on their memory, judgment, and other cognitive functions — their results were statistically significant but modest. And statistical significance, which means the results were likely not due to chance, does not always equate to clinical significance, Larson said. The difference in the rate of decline, for example, might be unnoticeable to caregivers.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat’s more, reports of brain swelling in some participants and two deaths — which the companies deny are due to the drug — have some concerns about the safety of the drug. But Alzheimer’s medicine is a field more accustomed to disappointment than success, and even the announcement by Roche that a second much-awaited drug, gantenerumab, failed in phase 3 clinical trials didn’t diminish the excitement over the lecanemab news.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDo these results mean the amyloid cascade hypothesis was right?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot necessarily. It does suggest to some researchers that with more coaxing, targeting amyloid could still lead to effective therapeutics. “I’m thrilled,” said \u003ca href=\"https://brain.harvard.edu/?people=rudolph-e-tanzi\"\u003eRudy Tanzi\u003c/a\u003e, an investigator at Massachusetts General Hospital. Lecanemab doesn’t offer a “stellar effect,” he acknowledged, but it’s a “proof of concept” that could potentially lead to more effective drugs or more effective if taken earlier.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany researchers, however, aren’t convinced. To them, the small to nonexistent effect sizes in these trials and earlier ones suggest that amyloid plaques are not the cause of the disease. Amyloid is “more the smoke, not the fire … which continues to rage inside neurons,” said Small.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"not-dead-but-insufficient\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNot Dead but Insufficient\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe underwhelming effects of lecanemab neither surprised nor impressed \u003ca href=\"http://cdr.rfmh.org/PersonalPages/Nixon.html\"\u003eRalph Nixon\u003c/a\u003e, the director of research at the Center for Dementia Research at the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research in New York. “If that was your goal, to reach this point in order to claim victory of that hypothesis, then you’re using the lowest possible bar I can think of,” he said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/RalphNixon-byMonicaAlmeida-1-scaled.webp\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe researcher Ralph Nixon points to an abnormal blob amid the brain tissue of an Alzheimer’s patient in a microscopy image taken in the 1990s.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKaren Dias for Quanta Magazine\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"introduction\"\u003eIntroduction\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNixon has worked in the trenches of Alzheimer’s disease research since the earliest days of the amyloid cascade hypothesis. But he has been a leader in exploring an alternative model for what causes the disease’s dementia — one of many other possible models that were largely ignored in favor of the amyloid explanation despite its lack of useful results, according to many researchers.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA stream of recent findings has made it clear that other mechanisms may be at least as important as the amyloid cascade as causes of Alzheimer’s disease. To say that the amyloid hypothesis is dead would be overstating it, said \u003ca href=\"https://www.weaverlab.ca/drweaver/\"\u003eDonald Weaver\u003c/a\u003e, a co-director of the Krembil Brain Institute in Toronto, but “I would say that the amyloid hypothesis is insufficient.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe emerging new models of the disease are more complex than the amyloid explanation, and because they are still taking shape, it’s not clear yet how some of them may eventually translate into therapies. But because they focus on fundamental mechanisms affecting the health of cells, what’s being learned about them might someday pay off in new treatments for a wide variety of medical problems, possibly including some key effects of aging.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany in the field, including some who still stand behind the amyloid cascade hypothesis, agree that there’s a more complex story taking place in the folds of the brain. While these alternate ideas were once hushed and thrown under the rug, now the field has broadened its attention.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the wall of Nixon’s office hangs a set of framed microscopy photos, images from an Alzheimer’s patient’s brain that were snapped almost 30 years ago in his lab. Nixon points to a bulky purple blob in the photos.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“We saw the same things that we saw recently … back in the 1990s,” Nixon said. But because of preconceptions about amyloid plaques, he and his colleagues couldn’t recognize the blobs for what they really were. Even if they had, and if they had told anyone, “we would have been run out of the field back then,” he said. “I was able to survive long enough to now have people believe.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-suspicious-plaques\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Suspicious Plaques\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eScientists studying Alzheimer’s disease often bring a deep passion to their work, not just because it’s addressing a major health burden, but because it’s one that often strikes close to home. That’s certainly the case for \u003ca href=\"https://alleninstitute.org/what-we-do/brain-science/about/team/staff-profiles/kyle-travaglini/\"\u003eKyle Travaglini\u003c/a\u003e, an Alzheimer’s researcher at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn a hot August day in 2011, when Travaglini was starting his freshman year at the University of California, Los Angeles, he welcomed his grandparents for a college visit. As a boy, he had spent many happy hours walking with his grandmother in San Diego’s Japanese Friendship Garden, so it seemed only right that they should tour the UCLA campus together.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/KyleTravagliniWithGrandmother2015_fromKyleTravaglini.webp\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy the time the researcher Kyle Travaglini graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2015, his grandmother had an advanced cognitive decline from Alzheimer’s.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCourtesy of Kyle Travaglini\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe and his grandparents strolled among the university’s giant pines and across its vast, open plazas. They peered up at the beautiful brick-and-tile facades of buildings built in the Romanesque style. His beaming grandparents asked him about everything they passed. “What’s this building?” his grandmother would ask.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThen she’d face the same building and ask again. And again.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“That tour was when I first started to notice … something is really kind of wrong,” Travaglini said. In the following years, his grandmother often blamed her forgetfulness on being tired. “I don’t think she ever really wanted us to see it,” he said. “It was a lot of masking.” Eventually, his grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, just as her own mother and tens of millions of other people around the world have been.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis grandfather initially resisted the idea that she had Alzheimer’s disease, as spouses of patients often do, according to Patira. That denial eventually turned into the frustration that there wasn’t anything they could do, Travaglini said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOld age doesn’t guarantee the development of Alzheimer’s disease — but it’s the greatest risk factor. And as the global average life span increases, Alzheimer’s disease endures as a major public health burden, and one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of modern medicine.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStarting with memory impairment and cognitive decline, the disease eventually affects behavior, speech, orientation, and even a person’s ability to move. Because the living human brain is complex and experiments on it are largely impossible, scientists often have to rely on rodent models of the disease that don’t always translate to humans. What’s more, patients with Alzheimer’s disease often have other types of dementia at the same time, which makes it difficult to tease apart what exactly is happening in the brain.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThough we still don’t know what causes Alzheimer’s, our knowledge about the disease has grown dramatically since 1898, when Emil Redlich, a doctor at the Second Psychiatric Clinic of the University of Vienna, first used the word “plaques” to describe what he saw in the brains of two patients diagnosed with “senile dementia.” In 1907 the German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer described the presence of plaques, tangles, and atrophy visualized by a silver staining technique in the brain of Auguste Deter, a woman who had died at the age of 55 from “presenile dementia.” That same year, the Czech psychiatrist Oskar Fischer reported 12 cases of plaques, which he referred to as “drusen” after the German word for a cavity in a rock with an interior lined with crystals.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/Tryptich-Alzheimer-Plaque-Fischer-scaled.webp\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom left: Alois Alzheimer, an illustration by Alzheimer of the plaques appearing in the brains of patients with dementia, and Oskar Fischer.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom left: Science Source; Reprinted from Current Biology, 6/21, Ralf Dahm, Alzheimer’s discovery, 5, Copyright (2006), with permission from Elsevier; Courtesy of Filip em\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"introduction-1\"\u003eIntroduction\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy 1912, Fischer had identified dozens of dementia patients with plaques, and he had described their cases in unprecedented detail. Yet Emil Kraepelin, a founder of modern psychiatry and Alzheimer’s boss at a psychiatric clinic in Munich, Germany, decreed that the condition was to be named “Alzheimer’s disease.” Fischer and his contributions were lost for decades after he was arrested by the Gestapo in 1941 and taken to a Nazi political prison, where he died.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOver the next several decades, more knowledge about the disease trickled in, but it remained a niche area of interest. Larson recalls that when he was a medical student in the 1970s, Alzheimer’s disease was still mostly ignored by researchers — as was aging in general. It was accepted that when you got old, you stopped being able to remember things.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe “treatments” for these conditions of old age could be harrowing. “People were tied in chairs, and people were given drugs that made them worse,” Larson said. Everyone thought dementia was just a consequence of getting old.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll of that changed in the 1980s, however, when a series of papers established the critical finding that the brains of elderly patients with dementia and the brains of younger patients with presenile dementia looked the same. Physicians and researchers realized that dementia might be not just a consequence of old age but a discrete and potentially treatable disease. The attention started pouring in. “The field has just been bursting at the seams for decades now,” Larson said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt first, there were many vague, untestable theories about what might be causing Alzheimer’s disease, ranging from viruses and aluminum exposure to environmental toxins and a nebulous idea called “accelerated aging.” A turning point came in 1984, when George Glenner and Caine Wong at the University of California, San Diego discovered that the plaques in Alzheimer’s disease and the plaques in the brains of people with Down syndrome (the chromosomal disorder trisomy 21) were made of the same amyloid-beta protein. The formation of amyloid plaques in Down syndrome was genetically driven, so might that mean the same was true of Alzheimer’s disease?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhere this amyloid-beta came from was unclear. Maybe it was released by the neurons themselves, or maybe it came from elsewhere in the body and infiltrated the brain through the blood. But suddenly researchers had a likely suspect to blame for the neurodegeneration that ensued.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGlenner and Wong’s paper drew attention to the idea that amyloid might be a root cause of Alzheimer’s. But it took a seminal genetic finding by \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucl.ac.uk/uk-dementia-research-institute/john-hardy\"\u003eJohn Hardy\u003c/a\u003e’s laboratory at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London to electrify the research community.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-curse-on-family-23\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Curse on Family 23\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt began one night in 1987, as Hardy was sifting through a pile of letters on his desk. Because he had been trying to uncover genetic mutations that might lead to Alzheimer’s disease, he and his team had posted an advertisement in an Alzheimer’s Society newsletter, seeking the assistance of families in which more than one individual had developed the disease. The letters had arrived in response. Hardy began reading from the top of the stack, but the first letter the team had received — the one that changed everything — was at the bottom.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I … think my family could be of use,” read the letter from Carol Jennings, a schoolteacher in Nottingham. Jennings’ father and several of her aunts and uncles had all been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in their mid-50s. The researchers sent a nurse to collect blood samples from Jennings and her kin, whom Hardy anonymized in his work as Family 23 (because Jennings’ letter was the 23rd that he read). Over the next few years, they sequenced the family’s genes, searching for a shared mutation that could be the Rosetta stone for understanding the condition.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/Tryptich-Hardy-Letter-Jennings-1-scaled.webp\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe letter that Carol Jennings wrote in 1986 to the researcher John Hardy, pictured at left, led to the pivotal discovery that a single mutation caused her family’s inherited early-onset form of Alzheimer’s. At right is a photo, taken in 1992, of Carol Jennings, her husband Stuart, and their two children.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom left: Courtesy of UCL QS IoN Medical Illustration; Courtesy of the BBC and Stuart Jennings; Ross Kinnaird/PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"introduction-2\"\u003eIntroduction\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn November 20, 1990, Hardy and his teammates stood in the office of their lab, listening to their colleague \u003ca href=\"https://www.michaeljfox.org/researcher/marie-christine-chartier-harlin-phd\"\u003eMarie-Christine Chartier-Harlin\u003c/a\u003e describe the latest results of her genetic sequencing. “As soon as she found the mutation, we knew what it meant,” Hardy said. Jennings’ family had a mutation in the gene for the amyloid precursor protein (APP), which researchers had isolated for the first time only a few years before. As its name suggests, APP is the molecule that enzymes break apart to form amyloid-beta; the mutation caused an overproduction of the amyloid.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHardy hurried home that day, and he remembers telling his wife, who was breastfeeding their first child as she listened to his news, that what they’d just found “was going to change our lives.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA few months later, around Christmas, Hardy and his team organized a conference at the geriatric clinic in a hospital in Nottingham to present their findings to Jennings and her family. There was one sister, Hardy remembers, who kept saying, “Thank goodness, it’s missed me.” But it was obvious to Hardy after spending a bit of time with her that it hadn’t; everyone else in the family already knew that she had the disease as well.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJennings’ family was mildly religious, Hardy said. They kept saying that maybe they were chosen to help in the research. They were distressed but proud of what they had contributed — as they should be, Hardy said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe following February, Hardy and his team \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/349704a0\"\u003epublished their results\u003c/a\u003e in \u003cem\u003eNature\u003c/em\u003e, cluing in the world to the \u003cem\u003eAPP\u003c/em\u003e mutation and its significance. The form of Alzheimer’s disease that the Jennings family has is rare, affecting only around 600 families worldwide. People with a parent who carries the mutation have a 50% chance of inheriting it and developing the condition — if they do, it’s almost certain that they will develop it before the age of 65.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo one knew how far the similarities might go between the Jennings’ kind of inherited Alzheimer’s disease and the much more common late-onset form that typically occurs after the age of 65. Still, the discovery was suggestive.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe following year, over a long weekend, Hardy and his colleague Gerald Higgins typed up \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1566067?url_ver=Z39.88-2003\u0026amp;rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org\u0026amp;rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed\"\u003ea landmark perspective\u003c/a\u003e that used the term “amyloid cascade hypothesis” for the first time. “I wrote what I thought was a simple article saying, basically, if amyloid causes the disease in this case, maybe amyloid is the cause in all cases,” Hardy said. “I just typed it, sent it off to \u003cem\u003eScience\u003c/em\u003e and they took it without any changes.” He didn’t foresee how popular it would become: It has now been cited over 10,000 times. It and an earlier review published by \u003ca href=\"https://selkoelab.bwh.harvard.edu/biography/\"\u003eDennis Selkoe\u003c/a\u003e, a researcher at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, became foundational documents for the new amyloid cascade hypothesis.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLooking back on those early days, “I thought that anti-amyloid therapies would be like a magic bullet,” Hardy said. “I certainly don’t think that now. I don’t think anybody thinks that.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"leaky-bags-of-acid\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLeaky Bags of Acid\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResearchers soon started flocking to the beauty and simplicity of the amyloid cascade hypothesis, and a collective goal of targeting the plaques and getting rid of them as a remedy for Alzheimer’s started to emerge.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the early 1990s, the field became “monolithic in its thinking,” said Nixon. But he and some others were unconvinced. The idea that amyloid killed neurons only after it was secreted and formed deposits between the cells made less sense to him than the possibility that the amyloid accumulated inside neurons and killed them before it was released.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/RalphNixon-byMonicaAlmeida-2-scaled.webp\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter the amyloid cascade hypothesis was proposed, the field of Alzheimer’s research became “monolithic in its thinking,” said Nixon.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKaren Dias for Quanta Magazine\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"introduction-3\"\u003eIntroduction\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNixon was following the thread of a different theory at Harvard Medical School. At the time, Harvard had one of the very first brain banks in the nation. When anyone died and donated their brain to science, it was cut into slices and frozen at minus 80 degrees Celsius for later examination. “It was a huge operation,” Nixon said, and one that made Harvard a hub for Alzheimer’s research.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne day, Nixon switched on a microscope and aimed it at a slice of brain stained with antibodies against certain enzymes. Through the microscope’s light, he could see that the antibodies were congregating on plaques outside the cells. It was immensely surprising: The enzymes in question were usually only seen in the organelles called lysosomes. “That suggested to us that the lysosome was abnormal and was leaking out these enzymes,” Nixon said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Belgian biochemist \u003ca href=\"https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1974/duve/facts/\"\u003eChristian de Duve\u003c/a\u003e, who discovered lysosomes in the 1950s, sometimes referred to them as “suicide bags” because they are instrumental in a vital (but at the time poorly understood) process called autophagy (“self-eating”). Lysosomes are membrane vesicles holding an acidic slurry of enzymes that break apart obsolete molecules, organelles, and anything else the cell doesn’t need anymore, including potentially harmful misfolded proteins and pathogens. Autophagy is an essential process, but it’s especially critical for neurons because unlike nearly all the other cells in the body, mature neurons do not divide and replace themselves. They must be able to survive for a lifetime.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWere parts of the adjacent neurons degenerating and leaking the enzymes? Were the neurons falling apart entirely? Whatever was happening, it hinted that the plaques were not simply products of amyloid accumulating in the space between neurons and killing them. Something might be going wrong inside the neurons themselves, maybe even before the plaques formed.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut Selkoe and other colleagues at Harvard didn’t share Nixon’s enthusiasm about the lysosomal findings. They weren’t hostile to the idea, and they all stayed collegial. Nixon even served on the thesis committee for Tanzi, who had named the \u003cem\u003eAPP\u003c/em\u003e gene and been one of the first to isolate it, and who had become an ardent advocate for the amyloid cascade hypothesis.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“All of these people were friends. … We just had different views,” Nixon said. He recalls that they were congratulatory about work well done but with an undertone, he said, of “we don’t personally think it’s as relevant to Alzheimer’s as the amyloid-beta story. And we don’t frankly care.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"no-alternatives-allowed\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNo Alternatives Allowed\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNixon was hardly the only one nurturing alternatives to the amyloid cascade hypothesis. Some researchers thought that the answer might lie in the tau tangles — abnormal bundles of proteins inside neurons that are also hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease and even more closely linked to the cognitive symptoms than amyloid plaques are. Others thought that excessive or misplaced immune activity might be inflaming and damaging delicate neural tissue. Still, others began suspecting dysfunctions in cholesterol metabolism or in the mitochondria that power neurons.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut notwithstanding the range of alternative theories, by the end of the 1990s, the amyloid cascade hypothesis was the clear darling of the biomedical research establishment. Funding agencies and pharmaceutical companies were beginning to pour billions into the development of anti-amyloid treatments and clinical trials. At least in terms of relative funding, the alternatives were swept under the carpet.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/AUTOPHAGYbyMerrillSherman_560-Mobile.svg\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMerrill Sherman/Quanta Magazine\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s worth considering why. Although major elements of the amyloid hypothesis were still a cipher, such as where the amyloid came from and how it killed neurons, the idea was in some ways gloriously specific. It pointed to a molecule; it pointed to a gene; it pointed to a strategy: Get rid of these plaques to stop the disease. To everyone desperate to end the misery of the Alzheimer’s scourge, it at least offered a plan of action.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn contrast, other theories were still relatively shapeless (in no small part because they hadn’t gotten as much attention). Faced with the choice of either chasing cures based on amyloid or pursuing a nebulous something-more-than-amyloid, the medical and pharmaceutical communities made what seemed like the rational choice.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“There was a kind of Darwinian competition of ideas about which ones are going to be tested,” Hardy said, “and the amyloid hypothesis won.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBetween 2002 and 2012, 48% of Alzheimer’s drugs were under development, and 65.6% of the clinical trials were focused on amyloid-beta. A mere 9% of the drugs were aimed at tau tangles, the only targets other than amyloid that were considered potential causes of the disease. All the rest of the drug candidates aimed to protect neurons from degeneration to cushion against the effects of the disease after it started. Alternatives to the amyloid cascade hypothesis were scarcely in the picture.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf only the amyloid-focused drugs had worked.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/RalphNixon-byMonicaAlmeida-3-scaled.webp\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn his laboratory at the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Nixon and his colleague Philip Stavrides look at microscopy images of Alzheimer’s brain tissue.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKaren Dias for Quanta Magazine\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"introduction-4\"\u003eIntroduction\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"drugs-and-dashed-hopes\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDrugs and Dashed Hopes\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt didn’t take long for disappointing results to start rolling in from the drug trials and experimental tests of the amyloid hypothesis. In 1999, the pharmaceutical company Elan created a vaccine that was meant to train the immune system to attack amyloid protein. The company stopped the trial in 2002, however, because some patients receiving the vaccine developed dangerous brain inflammation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the following years, several companies tested the effects of synthetic antibodies against amyloid and found that they caused no changes in cognition in the Alzheimer’s patients receiving them. Other drug trials took aim at the enzymes that cleaved amyloid-beta from the parent APP protein, and some tried to clear out existing plaques in patients’ brains. None of these worked as hoped.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy 2017, 146 drug candidates for treating Alzheimer’s disease had been deemed unsuccessful. Only four drugs had been approved, and they treated the symptoms of the disease, not its underlying pathology. The results were so disappointing that in 2018, Pfizer pulled out of Alzheimer’s research.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA 2021 \u003ca href=\"https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n156.full\"\u003ereview\u003c/a\u003e that compared the results of 14 of the major trials confirmed that reducing extracellular amyloid did not greatly improve cognition. There were also failures in trials that focused on targets other than amyloid, like inflammation and cholesterol, though there were far fewer trials for these alternatives, and thus far fewer failures.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/Dyptich-JessicaYoung_Endosomes-785x1720.webp\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJessica Young studies dysfunctions of the endosomal-lysosomal pathway in cells that may cause or contribute to Alzheimer’s. In a micrograph of her work on stem cells derived from Alzheimer’s patients, the enlarged endosomes inside neurons appear as green dots.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom top: University of Washington; Allison Knupp/Young Lab\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“It was just so dismal,” said \u003ca href=\"https://dlmp.uw.edu/faculty/young\"\u003eJessica Young\u003c/a\u003e, an associate professor at the University of Washington. As she went through school, first pursuing cell biology, then neurobiology, and finally Alzheimer’s research specifically, she watched as clinical trial after clinical trial failed. It was “disheartening to younger scientists who really wanted to try to make a difference,” she said. “Like, how do we get over this? It’s not working.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere was one brief bright spot, however. In 2016 an early trial of aducanumab, a drug developed by Biogen, showed promise for reducing amyloid plaques and slowing the cognitive decline of Alzheimer’s patients, the authors \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/nature19323\"\u003ereported in \u003cem\u003eNature\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut in 2019 Biogen shut down their phase 3 clinical trial, saying that aducanumab didn’t work. The following year, after reanalyzing the data and concluding that aducanumab did work in one of the trials after all — modestly, in a subset of patients — Biogen requested approval for the drug from the Food and Drug Administration.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe FDA approved aducanumab in 2021 over the objections of its scientific advisers, who argued that its benefits seemed too marginal to outweigh its risks. Even several researchers who were loyal to the amyloid hypothesis were infuriated by the decision. Medicare decided not to cover the cost of the drug, so the only people taking aducanumab are in clinical trials or able to pay for it out of pocket. After three decades of global research primarily centered on the amyloid hypothesis, aducanumab is the only approved drug that aims at the underlying neurobiology to slow the progression of the disease.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“You can have the most beautiful hypothesis, but if it doesn’t play out with therapeutic efficacy, then it’s not worth anything,” Nixon said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"just-one-more-experiment\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘Just One More Experiment’\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOf course, the failures of clinical trials don’t necessarily mean that the science they are based on is invalid. In fact, amyloid-hypothesis supporters have often argued that many of the attempted therapies could have failed because patients enrolled in the trials didn’t get the anti-amyloid drugs early enough in the progression of their disease.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe problem with that defense is that since no one knows for certain what causes Alzheimer’s disease, there’s no way of knowing how early the interventions need to be. Risk factors might arise when you’re 50 years old, or when you’re 15. If they happen very early in life, are they definitive causes of a condition that occurs decades later? And how useful can a potential treatment be if it needs to be prescribed that early?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“The amyloid hypothesis has evolved over time so that every time there’s a new set of findings that questions some aspect of it, it morphs into a different hypothesis,” Nixon said. But the fundamental premise, that extracellular amyloid plaques are the trigger for all the other pathologies, has stayed the same.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eToo Small, a researcher who works on alternate theories, a few of the amyloid cascade supporters who continue to hold their breath for encouraging results have “moved from being dispassionate scientists to being a little bit more ideological and religious,” he said. “They’re in this sort of self-fulfilling world of always ‘just one more experiment.’ It doesn’t make scientific sense.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMoreover, Small notes that while the drug trials were floundering, new scientific findings were poking holes in the fundamental hypothesis as well. Neuroimaging studies, for example, were confirming previous autopsy findings that some people who died with extensive amyloid deposits in their brains never suffered from dementia or other cognitive problems.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe failures also lend more significance to an “anatomical mismatch” that Alzheimer \u003ca href=\"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02866241\"\u003enoted\u003c/a\u003e more than a hundred years ago: The two brain regions where the neural pathology of Alzheimer’s disease starts — the hippocampus and the nearby entorhinal cortex — generally show the least accumulation of amyloid plaques. Instead, amyloid plaques first get deposited in the frontal cortex, which gets involved in later stages of the disease and doesn’t show a lot of cell death, Small said. Decades can pass between the first appearance of amyloid and tau deposits and the neural death and cognitive decline seen in the disease — which raises questions about the causal connection between them.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe hypothesis took another hit last July when \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/content/article/potential-fabrication-research-images-threatens-key-theory-alzheimers-disease\"\u003ea bombshell article\u003c/a\u003e in \u003cem\u003eScience\u003c/em\u003e revealed that data in the influential \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/nature04533\"\u003e2006 \u003cem\u003eNature\u003c/em\u003e paper\u003c/a\u003e linking amyloid plaques to cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease may have been fabricated. The connection claimed by the paper convinced many researchers to keep pursuing amyloid theories at the time. For many of them, the new exposé created a “big dent” in the amyloid theory, Patira said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/HISTORY-OF-ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE_byMerrillSherman_1300-Desktop6.svg\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMerrill Sherman/Quanta Magazine\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"introduction-5\"\u003eIntroduction\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAisen acknowledges that science should encourage researchers to take different approaches. “But of course, in academic medicine and in commercial science, everybody has a lot riding on the outcome,” he said. “Careers are dependent upon the answer.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd there was a lot riding on the amyloid hypothesis. It takes on average more than a decade and $5.7 billion to develop a single drug for Alzheimer’s disease. “Pharmaceutical companies are not shy in saying that they’ve invested many billions of dollars in this,” Nixon said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePerhaps because of those heavy commitments and the near-lock that the amyloid hypothesis had on public attention, some researchers faced pressure to accept it even after its unsuccessful track record was clear.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Travaglini was a first-year graduate student at Stanford University in 2015, he was drawn to Alzheimer’s research as a focus for his doctoral thesis. It felt like a natural choice: His grandmother had been officially diagnosed with the disease, and he had already spent dozens of hours scouring the medical literature for information that might help her. He sought out the advice of two professors who were teaching a cell biology class he was taking.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“They were like, ‘Don’t even focus your class project on that,’” Travaglini said. They assured him that Alzheimer’s was basically already solved. “It’s going to be amyloid,” he remembers them saying. “There’s going to be anti-amyloid drugs that are going to work in the next two or three years. Don’t worry about it.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTravaglini then went to a third professor who also told him to steer clear of Alzheimer’s, not because it was going to be solved but because “it’s just too complicated.” Tackle Parkinson’s instead, the professor said: Scientists had a much better sense of that disease, and it was a much simpler problem.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTravaglini shelved his plans to work on Alzheimer’s disease and instead did his thesis on mapping the lung.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResearchers who were already committed to non-amyloid approaches to Alzheimer’s say that they ran into a lot of resistance. There were many people who “suffered under the yoke of the amyloid people,” Small said. They couldn’t get grants or funding — and they were, in general, discouraged from pursuing the theories they really wanted to pursue.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“It was frustrating trying to get different stories out there,” Weaver said. It’s been “an uphill struggle” to get funding for his non-amyloid work.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen \u003ca href=\"https://www.utsa.edu/sciences/neuroscience-developmental-regenerative-biology/faculty/GeorgePerry.html\"\u003eGeorge Perry\u003c/a\u003e, a professor at the University of Texas, San Antonio put forth his theory that amyloid was coming from inside the neurons, “everybody hated it,” he said. “I discontinued the work because I couldn’t get funding for it.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/CerebralAmyloidAngiopathy_byNephron.webp\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExtracellular amyloid plaques (dark fibers) in brain tissue are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNephron\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“There isn’t some great conspiracy or anything” to ban alternative approaches, said \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucl.ac.uk/child-health/people/iris-profile-rick-livesey\"\u003eRick Livesey\u003c/a\u003e, a professor of stem cell biology at University College London. But he notes that “there are some issues around innovation in dementia research.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2016, \u003ca href=\"https://www.unimedizin-mainz.de/pathobiochemie/research/behl-group.html?L=1\"\u003eChristian Behl\u003c/a\u003e, a professor of biochemistry at the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in Germany, took the bold step of organizing a meeting called “Beyond Amyloid,” an open-ended discussion of new ideas about the causes of Alzheimer’s disease. “I personally got quite some criticism from different colleagues out of the amyloid fields that disliked the idea to do such a meeting,” he said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"enlarged-endosomes\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEnlarged Endosomes\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDespite the obstacles, some non-amyloid-cascade research did make landmark progress during the early 2000s. In particular, a critical finding around the turn of the millennium reinvigorated interest in the lysosomal explanation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnne Cataldo, a postdoctoral fellow in Nixon’s lab, was studying the properties of organelles called endosomes in Harvard’s donated brains. Endosomes are a highly dynamic network of vesicles that sit under the cell membrane and aid lysosomes. Their job is to take in proteins and other materials from outside the cell, sort them, and ship them where they need to go — sometimes to the lysosomes for autophagy. (Think of endosomes as a cell’s version of FedEx, said, Young.)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCataldo noticed that in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, the endosomes in neurons were abnormally large, as though the endosomes were struggling to process the proteins they were picking up. If molecules slated for destruction don’t get labeled, recycled, or shipped properly, that disruption of the endosomal-lysosomal pathway can trigger a cascade of problems both inside and outside cells. (Imagine unsorted, undelivered packages piling up in the fleet of FedEx trucks.)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe endosome enlargement might have seemed like just a consequence of the increasing brain pathology except for two important points: It didn’t happen in the brains of people with other neurodegenerative diseases that they examined, only Alzheimer’s. And the enlargement started happening before amyloid plaques were deposited.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“That finding was very pivotal,” Nixon said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFurthermore, Cataldo showed that the endosomes were enlarged in people who did not yet have symptoms of Alzheimer’s but who carried a mutation, \u003cem\u003eAPOE4\u003c/em\u003e, that affected how their body handles cholesterol. \u003cem\u003eAPOE4\u003c/em\u003e is the most significant genetic risk factor ever found for late-onset Alzheimer’s. (It’s the mutation that the actor Chris Hemsworth, famous as the movie superhero Thor, recently learned that he carries.) People who have one copy of \u003cem\u003eAPOE4\u003c/em\u003e have a two- to the threefold elevated risk of developing Alzheimer’s; people like Hemsworth who have two copies have an eight-to twelvefold elevated risk.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCataldo, Nixon, and their colleagues \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1850219/\"\u003epublished their findings\u003c/a\u003e in 2000. Since then, evidence has implicated lysosomal disruptions in problems ranging from neurodegenerative diseases to “lysosomal storage diseases,” in which toxic molecules pile up in lysosomes instead of breaking down. It was also discovered that when APP is cleaved to make amyloid-beta in neurons, it happens inside their endosomes. And studies have shown that the endosomal-lysosomal system routinely starts to slow down and malfunction in aging cells — a fact that has made these organelles hot topics for longevity research.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/RalphNixon-byMonicaAlmeida-4-scaled.webp\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNixon suspects that the endosomal-lysosomal pathway, the amyloid cascades, neuroinflammation, and other processes all contribute to Alzheimer’s as elements of a disease model that he sometimes calls “the elephant.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKaren Dias for Quanta Magazine\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"introduction-6\"\u003eIntroduction\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCataldo died in 2009, and work on endosomes in Nixon’s lab and with his collaborators stalled. But Small and his team were knee-deep in this research area at the time. In 2005, they \u003ca href=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ana.20667\"\u003efound evidence\u003c/a\u003e that in certain endosomes, a complex of proteins known as a retromer might be malfunctioning in Alzheimer’s disease and triggering endosomal traffic jams that cause amyloid to accumulate in neurons.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-persuasive-power-of-genetics\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Persuasive Power of Genetics\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJust as the genetics experiments in Hardy’s lab and others first helped propel the amyloid cascade hypothesis to prominence, genetics did something similar for the alternative hypotheses over the past 15 years. “Genetics is definitely seen as the anchor for people to try and make sense of stuff,” Livesey said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5563735/\"\u003eStarting in 2007\u003c/a\u003e, massive statistical studies of the genome identified dozens of new genetic risks for Alzheimer’s. These genes were generally far weaker in their effects than \u003cem\u003eAPOE4\u003c/em\u003e, but they all increased the likelihood that someone might develop Alzheimer’s. They also directly connected the late-onset forms of the disease to multiple biochemical pathways in cells, including the immune system, cholesterol metabolism, and the endosomal-lysosomal system. Many of these genes were also among the earliest to become active in Alzheimer’s disease. These discoveries were when others started to believe “this is meaningful,” Nixon said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe endosomal-lysosomal hypothesis was not only becoming more concrete; it was looking increasingly likely to be an essential piece of the Alzheimer’s puzzle.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/Circle-2-1.webp\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSupporters of the amyloid cascade hypothesis, however, still believe genetics are on their side. The only three genes known to directly cause Alzheimer’s, rather than just increasing the risk for it, are the proteins APP (the bane of the Jennings family), presenilin 1, and presenilin 2 — and mutations in all three of them cause pileups of amyloid.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Anybody who looks at that and says amyloid is not causative is just either hiding their head in the ground, or they’re being disingenuous,” Tanzi said. “Genetics will set you free.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut studies have also suggested that those genes could be involved in ways that don’t depend on the amyloid hypothesis. For example, in 2010, Nixon and his team \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20541250/\"\u003ereported\u003c/a\u003e that mutations in presenilin 1 disrupted lysosomal function. Evidence also suggested that all three causal genes are involved in making endosomes swell.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe debates about what the findings mean are still fierce, but many researchers in the Alzheimer’s field are feeling a rumbling beneath their feet as the field shifts toward the idea that “amyloid is not unimportant, but it’s not the only thing,” Nixon said. “Now there’s a sufficient number of people [on board] that I think the message is, ‘Do your own thing now.’”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"flowers-of-dementia\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFlowers of Dementia\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn Nixon’s desk is a copy of the June issue of \u003cem\u003eNature Neuroscience\u003c/em\u003e, and next to it a mug that has the issue’s cover printed on it, given to him by the lead author of the study.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the cover feature of that issue, Nixon and his team reported one of the most powerful pieces of evidence yet that the simple version of the amyloid hypothesis is wrong and that something deeper within neurons is fundamentally malfunctioning. If their findings in mice and a handful of human tissues hold true in follow-up studies, they could critically change our understanding of the origins of Alzheimer’s disease.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUsing a novel probe, they fluorescently labeled lysosomes involved in autophagy in mice that had been genetically induced to develop Alzheimer’s disease. The probe allowed the researchers to watch the disease progress in living mice under a giant confocal microscope. The first of the resulting micrographs was “the most spectacular image that we’ve ever collected,” Nixon said. “It was so out of the realm of anything I had seen.” It showed structures in the brain that looked like flowers.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese “flowers” turned out to be neurons bulging with toxic accumulations of proteins and molecules. After a contest among the team members, the team decided to name these neurons “PANTHOS,” from the ancient Greek word for flower (ánthos) with an added “p” for poison.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/Polyptich-PANTHOSCells_2_byNixonLab.webp\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNixon and his group discovered that lysosomal dysfunctions can cause diseased neurons to erupt into structures they called PANTHOS. In micrographs, PANTHOS neurons look astonishingly like flowers, but they are dying cells.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJu-hyun Lee\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"introduction-7\"\u003eIntroduction\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFurther work revealed that the PANTHOS neurons were products of autophagy gone wrong. Normally in autophagy, highly acidic lysosomes carrying digestive enzymes fuse with vesicles carrying waste. The fusion results in a structure known as an autolysosome, in which the waste is digested and then recycled into the cell. In mice with Alzheimer’s, however, the autolysosomes were swelling with accumulations of amyloid-beta and other waste proteins. The lysosomes and autolysosomes were not acidic enough for the enzymes to digest the waste.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe neurons kept making more and more autolysosomes, each of which grew bigger and bigger. Soon they were poking into the cell membrane, pushing it outward to form the “petals” of the flower shapes that Nixon had seen. Engorged autolysosomes also accumulated in the center of the neuron, fusing with the organelles there and forming piles of amyloid fibrils that started to look like plaques.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEventually, the autolysosomes burst and released their toxic enzymes, damaging and slowly killing the cell. The dead cell’s contents then leaked into the surrounding space — and started poisoning nearby cells, which in turn also became PANTHOS neurons before exploding. Microglia, cells that are part of the brain’s immune system, swooped in to clean up the mess, but in the process, they also started damaging nearby neurons.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNixon and his co-workers also realized something else: With traditional staining and imaging methods, the masses of proteins accumulating in the autolysosomes inside PANTHOS neurons would have looked exactly like classic amyloid plaques outside of cells. The extracellular amyloid plaques weren’t killing the cells — because the cells were already dead.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTheir discovery implied that anti-amyloid therapies would be futile. “It’s like trying to cure a disease in someone who’s buried in the cemetery,” Nixon said. “Removing the plaque is removing the tombstone.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBecause their initial findings were in mice, the team searched for similar PANTHOS neurons in human samples. Knowing what to look for, they found them easily. Sitting at the controls of the confocal microscope that filled half of a dark and dusty room in Nixon’s lab, the research scientist \u003ca href=\"https://www.nki.rfmh.org/faculty/philip-stavrides-ms\"\u003ePhilip Stavrides\u003c/a\u003e toggled the field of focus up and down over one of the human Alzheimer’s brain samples. Bright bursts of the greens, reds, and blues of the poisonous “flowers” filled the microscope’s screen.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/WHEN-AUTOPHAGY-GOES-WRONG560_byMerrillSherman_Mobile.svg\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMerrill Sherman/Quanta Magazine\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“It is really a very interesting paper, and a step closer to the cause,” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.amsterdamumc.org/en/research/researchers/charlotte-teunissen.htm\"\u003eCharlotte Teunissen\u003c/a\u003e, a professor of neurochemistry at the Amsterdam University Medical Centers. Understanding the mechanisms of early disruptions in Alzheimer’s disease could help not only in developing drugs but also in identifying biomarkers, she added. The paper “was exceptional,” said Perry.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePeople have long debated which form of amyloid is most toxic and where it does the most damage, and this study provided ample evidence that intracellular amyloid may play an important role in the disease, Aisen said. What could be interesting now, he said, would be for neuropathologists to check how frequently and extensively these abnormalities appear in Alzheimer’s brains. For drug therapy research, he thinks there’s now “all the more reason to continue exploring small molecules that can penetrate into the cell and actually inhibit the enzymes that generate the amyloid-beta.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince the PANTHOS paper was published, Nixon and his team may have discovered why the lysosomes in Alzheimer’s patients are not acidifying properly. When APP is being digested in the endosome, one of the byproducts is amyloid-beta, but another one is a protein called beta-CTF. Too much beta-CTF inhibits the lysosome’s acidification system. Beta-CTF could therefore be another important potential target for drug development that has generally been ignored, Nixon said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"all-the-parts-of-the-elephant\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAll the Parts of the Elephant\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA week after he published the PANTHOS paper, Nixon and several other researchers were awarded the Oskar Fischer Prize, an award given at the University of Texas, San Antonio for novel ideas that gaze beyond prevailing theories of Alzheimer’s disease.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe award was originally intended to be for the one person who came up with the most comprehensive explanation of the causes of Alzheimer’s disease. But the founders eventually broke it up into multiple prizes “because it’s impossible to capture every different aspect” of such a complex disease, Nixon said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNixon won for his description of problems in the ability of endosomes to traffic proteins and lysosomes to clear proteins. Others won for their work on abnormalities in cholesterol metabolism, mitochondria, neural stem cells, and neuron identities.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe hypothesized sequence of events in the pathology is murky; various arguments can be made for what comes first, second or third. But all the dysfunctional pathways — involving the endosomes and lysosomes, the immune system, cholesterol metabolism, mitochondria, neural stem cells, and the rest — might be intertwined pieces of a single gigantic puzzle.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“They, in my mind, can all be integrated into one entity, which I call the elephant,” Nixon said. Endosomal-lysosomal dysfunctions, for example, could easily influence all the other pathways and send disruptions rippling throughout individual cells and the brain. But if the dysfunctions are intertwined, there might not be a single definitive trigger for Alzheimer’s disease.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOther researchers are also beginning to see Alzheimer’s disease less as a single discrete disorder than as an assortment of processes that go wrong together. If that’s true, treatments that target just one protein in this cascade, such as amyloid, might not have much of a therapeutic benefit. But a cocktail of drugs — say, one that targets the elephant’s legs, one that targets its tail, and one that targets its trunk — might be enough to knock the animal down.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/RalphNixon-byMonicaAlmeida-5-scaled.webp\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNixon hopes to uncover the proteins other than amyloid that play a major role in endosomal-lysosomal dysfunction.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKaren Dias for Quanta Magazine\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"introduction-8\"\u003eIntroduction\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStill, too many people insist on casting the debate over what causes Alzheimer’s as an either-or problem, Nixon said. They chide him, arguing that his beliefs about the importance of the endosomal-lysosomal mechanism must mean that he doesn’t believe amyloid-beta has any role in the disease. “It’s like you can’t hold two relevant ideas in juxtaposition,” he said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid-beta may be one killer, but there could be a range of toxic accumulating proteins that are equally important in killing the cell, he said. Amyloid-beta is like a banana peel in a garbage can. “There’s a whole host of other garbage that might be even more disgusting than the banana peel,” Nixon said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSmall agrees that it could make the most sense for the endosomal-lysosomal hypothesis, the neuroinflammation hypothesis, and the amyloid cascade hypothesis to combine at some point into one larger theory. “You can Occam’s-razor this,” he said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe implications of taking this broader perspective could reach beyond the Alzheimer’s field. Clues gleaned from Alzheimer’s could help our understanding of other neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease) — and aging. The reverse could also apply: Weaver often reads the ALS and Parkinson’s literature as well, hoping that their insights “will flip over to our world,” he said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"new-drugs-new-theories\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNew Drugs, New Theories\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEnthusiasm for explanations beyond the amyloid cascade hypothesis doesn’t mean that people have lost interest in the anti-amyloid drugs now being tested. Aisen and many other researchers are still optimistic that we can build on the moderate success of lecanemab. Even if the drugs address only part of what’s wrong with Alzheimer’s disease, any improvement could be a lifeline for patients.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Patients need something,” Weaver said. “And I really hope that one of these [ideas] turns out to be right.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/Brain-microglia-engulfing-synapses.webp\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe magenta structures in this micrograph outline the lysosomes inside a microglial cell, a part of the brain’s immune system. The green inside the lysosomes is material from synapses that the cell has consumed while cleaning up damaged neurons.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJavier Rueda-Carrasco/Soyon Hong lab/UK DRI at UCL\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter so many years of drug failures, the lecanemab results were welcome news for Hardy. He flew from London to San Francisco so he could be present when the results were presented at the end of November at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease conference. He could have watched the results from home online, but he wanted to be part of the excitement and “to hear what other people think of the results.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEven though Hardy helped to launch the amyloid cascade hypothesis decades ago and still believes in its power, he has also always been extremely receptive to evolving ideas.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2013, Hardy and his team discovered that mutations in a gene involved in the immune system could increase the risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Since then, he has shifted the focus of his lab to studying microglia. He suspects that amyloid deposits might activate microglia directly to cause damaging inflammation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo many researchers, the immune system offers an appealingly flexible explanation for Alzheimer’s, one that fits with both the amyloid hypothesis and other ideas. A report in the July 2020 issue of \u003cem\u003eThe Lancet\u003c/em\u003e listed the variety of known risk factors for dementia, ranging from air pollution to repetitive head trauma to systemic infections. “I mean, it goes on and on,” Weaver said. “They’re different as night and day.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe thread that connects them, he continued, is the immune system. If you bang your head and damage tissues, the immune system steps in to clean up the mess; if you get infected by a virus, your immune system wakes up to fight it; air pollution activates the immune system and causes inflammation. Studies have shown that even social isolation can lead to inflammation of the brain, and depression is a known risk factor for dementia, Weaver said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe immune system is also intimately connected to the lysosomal system. “How cells use the lysosomal pathway to internalize, degrade or recycle proteins is critical to how a neuroimmune response may occur,” Young said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut the endosomal-lysosomal network is also very finely tuned and has a multitude of moving parts that work differently in different types of cells. That makes it trickier to target, Young said. Still, she’s hopeful that there will be a burst of new clinical trials targeting this network in the next few years. Young, Small, and Nixon are all working on targeting different aspects of this network.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePart of the allure of the amyloid cascade hypothesis was that it offered a simple solution to Alzheimer’s disease. Some of these other hypotheses bring in extra layers of complexity, but it’s a complexity that scientists — and a growing number of startups — now seem willing to tackle.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"waiting-for-relief\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWaiting for Relief\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTravaglini went back to Alzheimer’s research at a late stage of his doctoral work. In October 2021, he started at the Allen Institute, sifting through slices of brain samples from people who had died of the disease. He and his team are compiling the \u003ca href=\"https://portal.brain-map.org/explore/seattle-alzheimers-disease\"\u003eSeattle Alzheimer’s Disease Cell Atlas\u003c/a\u003e — a reference that will detail the effects of the disease on the brain’s diverse mix of cells. As part of that work, they are analyzing changes in the activity of more than a hundred kinds of cells in the cortex during the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“The cellular face of the disease is so important because it puts all of these molecular changes and hypotheses into the context of the cell that they’re actually occurring in,” Travaglini said. If you put amyloid or tau protein on cells in a dish, the cells start to deteriorate and die. “But it’s not been so clear how different kinds of cells are changing.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis work has already turned up interesting insights, such as the fact that the neurons most vulnerable to the disease are those that have made extra-long connections across the cortex of the brain — where much of our cognitive ability arises. Something about that type of cell could make it more susceptible to the disease, he said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTravaglini and his co-workers have also seen an increase in the number of cells such as microglia, adding even more evidence to the idea that neuroinflammation is a major part of the process. They have also already uncovered a number of genes that are expressed improperly in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease, including genes linked to the lysosomal-endosomal network. Eventually, their work could help to uncover the timing of when things go wrong in specific cells, teasing apart one of the greatest mysteries of the disease.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/KyleTravagliniWithFamily2021_fromKyleTravaglini.webp\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKyle Travaglini, his brother Colin, his grandmother, and his grandfather.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCourtesy of Kyle Travaglini\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTravaglini has tried to visit his grandparents as often as possible. A while ago, his grandmother needed to be moved into an assisted-living memory home; his grandfather went too. “He wanted to be with her,” Travaglini said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey were constant companions since they met in Philadelphia in college; they married more than 60 years ago in Japan, where he was stationed for military service. It has always been hard on him to see her slip away, but it became even harder recently when he too was diagnosed with dementia, although not Alzheimer’s. He would speak lovingly of her, but then add “she doesn’t really like me anymore,” Travaglini said. The family would remind him that wasn’t true, that it was the disease.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEarly in the morning of December 1, Travaglini’s grandmother died. She was 91.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHer Alzheimer’s had progressed too far for her to understand what her grandson was working on, but his grandfather at least had a chance to know that Travaglini pursued research in the dementia field. “He was really proud of that,” Travaglini said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFamily support matters to researchers like Travaglini in more ways than one. Millions of families are volunteering to help test new drugs and new ideas to advance understanding of Alzheimer’s disease, knowing full well that the results likely won’t materialize soon enough to help them.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUntil effective treatments are found, Patira will continue to treat the dementia patients in her care by holding their hands through the journey and helping them navigate their evolving relationships with their families. Her patients’ biggest fear is that they will no longer be able to recognize their grandchildren. “That’s painful to think for yourself,” she said. “And that’s painful to think for the loved ones.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResearch in the field, now more open to other alternatives, will continue to move along, with both good and bad news. “Even if the studies don’t work, you learn something from the failures,” Patira said. “It’s frustrating as a clinician, but it’s good for science.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"carol-knew-the-implications\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘Carol Knew the Implications’\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShortly after Hardy’s discovery that the \u003cem\u003eAPP\u003c/em\u003e gene was why her family was so afflicted with Alzheimer’s, Carol Jennings quit her job as a teacher to work full-time supporting and advocating for Alzheimer’s disease research. In the following decades, she worked closely with Hardy and then with other researchers at University College London.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://d2r55xnwy6nx47.cloudfront.net/uploads/2022/12/Stuart.webp\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCarol and Stuart Jennings, like many other volunteers from families touched by Alzheimer’s, have made tremendous contributions to the research.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCourtesy of Stuart Jennings\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJennings never took the genetic test for the \u003cem\u003eAPP\u003c/em\u003e mutation that led to her father, three aunts and an uncle — five out of the 11 people in her family — developing Alzheimer’s disease. “She didn’t think it was worthwhile, because there was nothing that we could do,” said Stuart Jennings, Carol’s husband, who is a Methodist minister and historian. “She would say, ‘I could get run over by a bus tomorrow; why worry about something that’s going to happen in 30 years’ time?’” Their two children have likewise not been tested.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2012, Carol Jennings was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 58 years old.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCarol Jennings is one of the very small fraction of people whom researchers can look at and say exactly why her brain has deteriorated. The brains of the vast majority of Alzheimer’s patients, whose disease isn’t tied to a specific gene, are more open to interpretation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“The interesting thing is that the early symptoms were [that] the things that she did badly got worse,” Stuart Jennings said. “We all used to joke she could get lost going from the bedroom to the bathroom.” Eventually, that became literally true. She had always procrastinated, but she became very last-minute.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThen the things she was good at, like packing and organizing, started to deteriorate. It took years for her to get a formal diagnosis, but once she did, it was traumatic for the first couple of days, Stuart said: “Carol knew what the implications were.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo she started giving instructions. When she dies, she told Stuart, her brain must be donated to the brain bank run by the team at University College London, as the brains of her other afflicted family members have been. She told him that he didn’t have to keep her at home if he couldn’t cope, but he must keep her clean. All the little details were ironed out. “She was brilliant. She got it all organized. I just supported her, really,” Stuart said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe has managed to keep her at home, and UCL researchers continue to follow the Jennings family. Carol and Stuart’s son John works closely with them now, too.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs he spoke over Zoom, Stuart sometimes patted Carol’s head from his seat beside her, as she lay in bed with a cold. Because of her Alzheimer’s, she can’t get out of bed or talk anymore other than to give yes or no answers to certain prompts. During the conversation, she drifted in and out of sleep — but when she was awake and watching the interview, it didn’t feel as though she was silent.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMaybe in those moments some part of her was back onstage lecturing about Alzheimer’s disease, stringing words together with ease, inspiring and awing an audience. In her talks, she would stress the idea that “this is about families, not about test tubes and labs,” Stuart said. “That was quite powerful, I think, for the drug reps to hear.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCarol wasn’t bothered that disease-altering treatments didn’t arrive in time to help her — to her, that was a small point. “Carol’s always worked on the principle that it’s for the children and for the next generations,” Stuart said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"source-quanta-magazine\"\u003eSource: \u003ca href=\"https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-causes-alzheimers-scientists-are-rethinking-the-answer-20221208/\"\u003eQuanta Magazine\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n","date_published":"2022-12-24T10:00:00+03:00","image":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/images/alzheimer-byharolbustos-lede-scaled-1.webp","tags":["Sovereignty"]},{"id":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/the-art-of-war-listed/","url":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/the-art-of-war-listed/","title":"The Art of War(Listed)","summary":" “According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one’s plans.” “All warfare is based on deception. Hence when able to attack we must seem unable. When using our forces we must seem inactive. When we are near we make the enemy believe we are far away. When far away we must make the enemy believe we are near.” “Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.” “If he is superior in strength, evade him.” “Attack him where he is unprepared. Appear where you are not expected.” “The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand.” “There is no instance of a country having benefitted from prolonged warfare.” “A wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy. One cartload of the enemy’s provisions is equivalent to twenty of one’s own.” “Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.” “The worst strategy of all is to besiege walled cities.” “There are five essentials for victory: He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.” “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself, but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” “One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.” “In war, the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won.” “In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack: the direct and indirect.” “An army may march great distances without distress if it marches through country where the enemy is not.” “You can be sure in succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended.” “Military tactics are like water. For water, in its natural course, runs away from high places and hastens downwards. So, in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and strike at what is weak.” “Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move fall like a thunderbolt.” “Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.” “A clever general, therefore, avoids an army when its spirit is keen, but attacks it when it is sluggish and inclined to return.” “It is a military axiom not to advance uphill against the enemy nor to oppose him when he comes downhill.” “The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy not coming, but on our readiness to receive him.” “Make your way by unexpected routes and attack unguarded spots.” “If they will face death, there is nothing they will not achieve.” “The principle on which to manage an army is to set up one standard of courage which all must reach.” “If it is to your advantage, make a forward move. If not, stay where you are.” ","content_html":"\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one’s plans.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“All warfare is based on deception. Hence when able to attack we must seem unable. When using our forces we must seem inactive. When we are near we make the enemy believe we are far away. When far away we must make the enemy believe we are near.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“If he is superior in strength, evade him.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“Attack him where he is unprepared. Appear where you are not expected.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“There is no instance of a country having benefitted from prolonged warfare.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“A wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy. One cartload of the enemy’s provisions is equivalent to twenty of one’s own.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“The worst strategy of all is to besiege walled cities.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“There are five essentials for victory: He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself, but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“In war, the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack: the direct and indirect.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“An army may march great distances without distress if it marches through country where the enemy is not.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“You can be sure in succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“Military tactics are like water. For water, in its natural course, runs away from high places and hastens downwards. So, in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and strike at what is weak.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move fall like a thunderbolt.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“A clever general, therefore, avoids an army when its spirit is keen, but attacks it when it is sluggish and inclined to return.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“It is a military axiom not to advance uphill against the enemy nor to oppose him when he comes downhill.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy not coming, but on our readiness to receive him.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“Make your way by unexpected routes and attack unguarded spots.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“If they will face death, there is nothing they will not achieve.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“The principle on which to manage an army is to set up one standard of courage which all must reach.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“If it is to your advantage, make a forward move. If not, stay where you are.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n","date_published":"2021-08-09T16:19:00+03:00","image":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/images/theartofwar.webp","tags":["Sovereignty"]},{"id":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/5-must-have-microsoft-edge-browser-extensions/","url":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/5-must-have-microsoft-edge-browser-extensions/","title":"5 Must Have Microsoft Edge Browser Extensions","summary":"Microsoft recently(January 15, 2020) unveiled The Edge Browser based on Chromium(Chrome without Google). It took the internet by storm and Today, I\u0026rsquo;d like to talk about the extensions I believe are a must-have in Edge.\n1. uBlock Origin uBlock Origin is to put it simply an ad \u0026amp; tracking blocker. It\u0026rsquo;s the best in the bunch and I recommend it for security. But I also recommend it for pleasure. To be honest, no one likes watching content with ads in between unless of course, it\u0026rsquo;s relevant, but I rarely encounter relevant ads. I believe in supporting the Youtuber or Blogger trying to make money through ads but the fact that most ads are a pain as they are not relevant and just come in at the wrong times. So uBlock Origin helps keep them at bay, I suggest dedicating time to allow ads to run only on your favorite channels(Psst Including mine) and blogs.\n","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eMicrosoft recently(January 15, 2020) unveiled The Edge Browser based on Chromium(Chrome without Google). It took the internet by storm and Today, I\u0026rsquo;d like to talk about the extensions I believe are a must-have in Edge.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"1-ublock-origin\"\u003e1. \u003ca href=\"https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/detail/odfafepnkmbhccpbejgmiehpchacaeak\"\u003euBlock Origin\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003euBlock Origin is to put it simply an ad \u0026amp; tracking blocker. It\u0026rsquo;s the best in the bunch and I recommend it for security. But I also recommend it for pleasure. To be honest, no one likes watching content with ads in between unless of course, it\u0026rsquo;s relevant, but I rarely encounter relevant ads. I believe in supporting the Youtuber or Blogger trying to make money through ads but the fact that most ads are a pain as they are not relevant and just come in at the wrong times. So uBlock Origin helps keep them at bay, I suggest dedicating time to allow ads to run only on your favorite channels(Psst \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC043ZXL-t3yqtgcIxJmkHuA?view_as=subscriber\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIncluding mine\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e) and blogs.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"2-picture-in-picture-by-google\"\u003e2. \u003ca href=\"https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/picture-in-picture-extens/hkgfoiooedgoejojocmhlaklaeopbecg\"\u003ePicture in Picture by Google\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI mean, what can I say, there\u0026rsquo;s no greater joy than watching a video as you work. Especially now, working while watching a video on YouTube(at 1.5 the speed) is the true meaning of productivity. It\u0026rsquo;s even great for coding tutorials.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"3-grammarly\"\u003e3. \u003ca href=\"https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/detail/grammarly-for-microsoft-e/cnlefmmeadmemmdciolhbnfeacpdfbkd\"\u003eGrammarly\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this day and age, people are losing their grammar and no I\u0026rsquo;m not kidding. It\u0026rsquo;s a real problem. So why not add Grammarly to Edge and watch your grammar problems fly away?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTheir quote: \u0026ldquo;\u003cstrong\u003eTo err is human; to edit, divine.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"4-bitwarden\"\u003e4. \u003ca href=\"https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/detail/bitwarden-free-password/jbkfoedolllekgbhcbcoahefnbanhhlh\"\u003eBitwarden\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter the recent leak of Lastpass data and the memory problems of the human brain, I now recommend everyone to not only get a password manager but to specifically get BitWarden. BitWarden has been the password manager of choice for 2 years now and I have no issues or regrets. I mean, it\u0026rsquo;s great and I am recommending it to you. It\u0026rsquo;s cross-platform, there\u0026rsquo;s an extension for major browsers, there are apps for your mobile phone and there\u0026rsquo;s even desktop software. Get it!\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"5-wappalyzerspecifically-for-web-devs-and-curios-people\"\u003e5. \u003ca href=\"https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/wappalyzer/gppongmhjkpfnbhagpmjfkannfbllamg\"\u003eWappalyzer\u003c/a\u003e(Specifically for Web Devs and Curios people)\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWappalyzer lists website software. Nowadays there is so much software you can use to build and host websites. Wappalyzer helps you by listing these technologies for you to better understand your favorite website.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"bonus-https-everywhere\"\u003eBonus: \u003ca href=\"https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/detail/https-everywhere/fchjpkplmbeeeaaogdbhjbgbknjobohb\"\u003eHTTPS Everywhere\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n","date_published":"2021-04-10T19:10:00Z","image":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/images/re4ncja.webp","tags":["Sovereignty"]},{"id":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/starlink-elon-musk-s-satellite-internet-will-soon-be-launched-in-kenya/","url":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/starlink-elon-musk-s-satellite-internet-will-soon-be-launched-in-kenya/","title":"Starlink, Elon Musk's Satellite Internet Will Soon Be Launched in Kenya","summary":"Starlink, SpaceX’s project that involves deploying thousands of satellites to space for internet access may be coming to Kenya.\nIf you check the order page and input a Kenyan location like Syokimau, Starlink gives you this notice:\n“Starlink is targeting coverage in your area in 2022. Availability is limited. Orders will be fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis.”\nThe Starlink constellation of satellites is one of the many interesting things that Elon Musk and His Company, SpaceX is working on. Their goal with Starlink is to deliver high speed and low latency broadband internet across the world.\n","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eStarlink, SpaceX’s project that involves deploying thousands of satellites to space for internet access may be coming to Kenya.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you check the \u003ca href=\"https://www.starlink.com/preorder/\"\u003eorder page \u003c/a\u003eand input a Kenyan location like Syokimau, Starlink gives you this notice:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Starlink is targeting coverage in your area in 2022. Availability is limited. Orders will be fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis.”\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/images/web-capture_1-3-2021_141730_www-starlink-com.webp\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Starlink constellation of satellites is one of the many interesting things that Elon Musk and His Company, SpaceX is working on. Their goal with Starlink is to deliver high speed and low latency broadband internet across the world.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCurrently it is on beta and they claim that users can expect to see data speeds vary from 50Mb/s to 150Mb/s and latency between 20ms and 40ms. That is really good for satellite internet and competes favorably with fixed data broadband that people have locally like fiber connections. Currently, there are 1035 Starlink satellites with plan to deploy nearly 12,000 more this year. They also plan to extend that number to 42,000 satellites that orbit in different heights.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn order to use Starlink, you will need equipment to connect to the Starlink satellites in space. The Starlink kit has the Starlink dish, mounting tripod, Wi-Fi router, power supply and cables. The dish, which they call the Starlink terminal is of particular interest since as per Elon Musk’s tweet,\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eit has motors to self orient for optical view angle with satellites.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf the 2022 deployment of Starlink is true, this may be a gamechanger worldwide. Elon Musk said that Starlink will serve the hardest to serve customers that telecommunications companies otherwise have trouble doing with landlines. This could be a better bet for governments to serve the underserved, like in Kenya with the failed Google Loon.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe biggest problem will be cost. Currently, it costs Kshs 10,900 for a deposit for selected regions in the beta and will charge you Kshs. 54,775 plus tax for the Starlink kit mentioned above. This costs could change in the future.\u003c/p\u003e\n","date_published":"2021-03-01T11:21:00Z","image":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/images/starlinkcharcoal.webp","tags":["Sovereignty"]},{"id":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/markdown-formatting-demo/","url":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/markdown-formatting-demo/","title":"Markdown Formatting Demo","summary":" Typographic replacements Enable typographer option to see result.\n(c) (C) (r) (R) (tm) (TM) (p) (P) +-\ntest.. test\u0026hellip; test\u0026hellip;.. test?\u0026hellip;.. test!\u0026hellip;.\n!!!!!! ???? ,, \u0026ndash; \u0026mdash;\n\u0026ldquo;Smartypants, double quotes\u0026rdquo; and \u0026lsquo;single quotes\u0026rsquo;\nEmphasis This is bold text This is bold text This is italic text\nThis is italic text\nStrikethrough\nBlockquotes Blockquotes can also be nested\u0026hellip;\n\u0026hellip;by using additional greater-than signs right next to each other\u0026hellip;\n\u0026hellip;or with spaces between arrows.\n","content_html":"\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"typographic-replacements\"\u003eTypographic replacements\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEnable typographer option to see result.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e(c) (C) (r) (R) (tm) (TM) (p) (P) +-\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003etest.. test\u0026hellip; test\u0026hellip;.. test?\u0026hellip;.. test!\u0026hellip;.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e!!!!!! ???? ,,  \u0026ndash; \u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Smartypants, double quotes\u0026rdquo; and \u0026lsquo;single quotes\u0026rsquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"emphasis\"\u003eEmphasis\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"this-is-bold-text\"\u003eThis is bold text\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"this-is-bold-text-1\"\u003eThis is bold text\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis is italic text\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis is italic text\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cdel\u003eStrikethrough\u003c/del\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"blockquotes\"\u003eBlockquotes\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBlockquotes can also be nested\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026hellip;by using additional greater-than signs right next to each other\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026hellip;or with spaces between arrows.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"lists\"\u003eLists\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnordered\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCreate a list by starting a line with \u003ccode\u003e+\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003e-\u003c/code\u003e, or \u003ccode\u003e*\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSub-lists are made by indenting 2 spaces:\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMarker character change forces new list start:\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAc tristique libero volutpat at\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFacilisis in pretium nisl aliquet\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNulla volutpat aliquam velit\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVery easy!\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOrdered\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLorem ipsum dolor sit amet\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConsectetur adipiscing elit\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInteger molestie lorem at massa\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou can use sequential numbers\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026hellip;or keep all the numbers as \u003ccode\u003e1.\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStart numbering with offset:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col start=\"57\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003efoo\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ebar\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"code\"\u003eCode\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInline \u003ccode\u003ecode\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIndented code\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cpre\u003e\u003ccode\u003e// Some comments\nline 1 of code\nline 2 of code\nline 3 of code\n\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBlock code \u0026ldquo;fences\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"highlight\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"chroma\"\u003e\n\u003ctable class=\"lntable\"\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd class=\"lntd\"\u003e\n\u003cpre tabindex=\"0\" class=\"chroma\"\u003e\u003ccode\u003e\u003cspan class=\"lnt\"\u003e1\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"lntd\"\u003e\n\u003cpre tabindex=\"0\" class=\"chroma\"\u003e\u003ccode class=\"language-fallback\" data-lang=\"fallback\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"line\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cl\"\u003eSample text here...\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eSyntax highlighting\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"highlight\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"chroma\"\u003e\n\u003ctable class=\"lntable\"\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd class=\"lntd\"\u003e\n\u003cpre tabindex=\"0\" class=\"chroma\"\u003e\u003ccode\u003e\u003cspan class=\"lnt\"\u003e1\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"lnt\"\u003e2\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"lnt\"\u003e3\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"lnt\"\u003e4\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"lnt\"\u003e5\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"lntd\"\u003e\n\u003cpre tabindex=\"0\" class=\"chroma\"\u003e\u003ccode class=\"language-js\" data-lang=\"js\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"line\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"kd\"\u003evar\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"nx\"\u003efoo\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"o\"\u003e=\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"kd\"\u003efunction\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"p\"\u003e(\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"nx\"\u003ebar\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"p\"\u003e)\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"p\"\u003e{\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"line\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cl\"\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"k\"\u003ereturn\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"nx\"\u003ebar\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"o\"\u003e++\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"p\"\u003e;\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"line\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"p\"\u003e};\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"line\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cl\"\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"line\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"cl\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"nx\"\u003econsole\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"p\"\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"nx\"\u003elog\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"p\"\u003e(\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"nx\"\u003efoo\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"p\"\u003e(\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mi\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"p\"\u003e));\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\u003ch2 id=\"tables\"\u003eTables\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003ctable\u003e\n  \u003cthead\u003e\n      \u003ctr\u003e\n          \u003cth\u003eOption\u003c/th\u003e\n          \u003cth\u003eDescription\u003c/th\u003e\n      \u003c/tr\u003e\n  \u003c/thead\u003e\n  \u003ctbody\u003e\n      \u003ctr\u003e\n          \u003ctd\u003edata\u003c/td\u003e\n          \u003ctd\u003epath to data files to supply the data that will be passed into templates.\u003c/td\u003e\n      \u003c/tr\u003e\n      \u003ctr\u003e\n          \u003ctd\u003eengine\u003c/td\u003e\n          \u003ctd\u003eengine to be used for processing templates. Handlebars is the default.\u003c/td\u003e\n      \u003c/tr\u003e\n      \u003ctr\u003e\n          \u003ctd\u003eext\u003c/td\u003e\n          \u003ctd\u003eextension to be used for dest files.\u003c/td\u003e\n      \u003c/tr\u003e\n  \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRight aligned columns\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable\u003e\n  \u003cthead\u003e\n      \u003ctr\u003e\n          \u003cth style=\"text-align: right\"\u003eOption\u003c/th\u003e\n          \u003cth style=\"text-align: right\"\u003eDescription\u003c/th\u003e\n      \u003c/tr\u003e\n  \u003c/thead\u003e\n  \u003ctbody\u003e\n      \u003ctr\u003e\n          \u003ctd style=\"text-align: right\"\u003edata\u003c/td\u003e\n          \u003ctd style=\"text-align: right\"\u003epath to data files to supply the data that will be passed into templates.\u003c/td\u003e\n      \u003c/tr\u003e\n      \u003ctr\u003e\n          \u003ctd style=\"text-align: right\"\u003eengine\u003c/td\u003e\n          \u003ctd style=\"text-align: right\"\u003eengine to be used for processing templates. Handlebars is the default.\u003c/td\u003e\n      \u003c/tr\u003e\n      \u003ctr\u003e\n          \u003ctd style=\"text-align: right\"\u003eext\u003c/td\u003e\n          \u003ctd style=\"text-align: right\"\u003eextension to be used for dest files.\u003c/td\u003e\n      \u003c/tr\u003e\n  \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"links\"\u003eLinks\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://dev.nodeca.com\"\u003elink text\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://nodeca.github.io/pica/demo/\" title=\"title text!\"\u003elink with title\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutoconverted link \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/nodeca/pica\"\u003ehttps://github.com/nodeca/pica\u003c/a\u003e (enable linkify to see)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"images\"\u003eImages\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e(note: redacted this section cause images were too big)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- \n![Minion](https://octodex.github.com/images/minion.webp)\n![Stormtroopocat](https://octodex.github.com/images/stormtroopocat.webp \"The Stormtroopocat\")\n\nLike links, Images also have a footnote style syntax\n\n![Alt text][id]\n\nWith a reference later in the document defining the URL location:\n\n[id]: https://octodex.github.com/images/dojocat.webp  \"The Dojocat\" --\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"plugins\"\u003ePlugins\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe killer feature of \u003ccode\u003emarkdown-it\u003c/code\u003e is very effective support of\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.npmjs.org/browse/keyword/markdown-it-plugin\"\u003esyntax plugins\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"emojies\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://github.com/markdown-it/markdown-it-emoji\"\u003eEmojies\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eClassic markup: :wink: :crush: :cry: :tear: :laughing: :yum:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShortcuts (emoticons): :-) :-( 8-) ;)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003esee \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/markdown-it/markdown-it-emoji#change-output\"\u003ehow to change output\u003c/a\u003e with twemoji.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"subscript--superscript\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://github.com/markdown-it/markdown-it-sub\"\u003eSubscript\u003c/a\u003e / \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/markdown-it/markdown-it-sup\"\u003eSuperscript\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e19^th^\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eH\u003cdel\u003e2\u003c/del\u003eO\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"ins\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://github.com/markdown-it/markdown-it-ins\"\u003e\u0026lt;ins\u0026gt;\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e++Inserted text++\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"mark\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://github.com/markdown-it/markdown-it-mark\"\u003e\u0026lt;mark\u0026gt;\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e==Marked text==\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"footnotes\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://github.com/markdown-it/markdown-it-footnote\"\u003eFootnotes\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFootnote 1 link\u003csup id=\"fnref:1\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#fn:1\" class=\"footnote-ref\" role=\"doc-noteref\"\u003e1\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFootnote 2 link\u003csup id=\"fnref:2\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#fn:2\" class=\"footnote-ref\" role=\"doc-noteref\"\u003e2\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInline footnote^[Text of inline footnote] definition.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuplicated footnote reference\u003csup id=\"fnref1:2\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#fn:2\" class=\"footnote-ref\" role=\"doc-noteref\"\u003e2\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"definition-lists\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://github.com/markdown-it/markdown-it-deflist\"\u003eDefinition lists\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eTerm 1\u003c/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDefinition 1\nwith lazy continuation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eTerm 2 with \u003cem\u003einline markup\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDefinition 2\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cpre\u003e\u003ccode\u003e{ some code, part of Definition 2 }\n\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThird paragraph of definition 2.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/dd\u003e\n\u003c/dl\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCompact style:\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTerm 1\n~ Definition 1\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTerm 2\n~ Definition 2a\n~ Definition 2b\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"abbreviations\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://github.com/markdown-it/markdown-it-abbr\"\u003eAbbreviations\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is HTML abbreviation example.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt converts \u0026ldquo;HTML\u0026rdquo;, but keep intact partial entries like \u0026ldquo;xxxHTMLyyy\u0026rdquo; and so on.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e*[HTML]: Hyper Text Markup Language\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"custom-containers\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://github.com/markdown-it/markdown-it-container\"\u003eCustom containers\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e::: warning\n\u003cem\u003ehere be dragons\u003c/em\u003e\n:::\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnotes\" role=\"doc-endnotes\"\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli id=\"fn:1\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFootnote \u003cstrong\u003ecan have markup\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eand multiple paragraphs.\u0026#160;\u003ca href=\"#fnref:1\" class=\"footnote-backref\" role=\"doc-backlink\"\u003e\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli id=\"fn:2\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFootnote text.\u0026#160;\u003ca href=\"#fnref:2\" class=\"footnote-backref\" role=\"doc-backlink\"\u003e\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\u003c/a\u003e\u0026#160;\u003ca href=\"#fnref1:2\" class=\"footnote-backref\" role=\"doc-backlink\"\u003e\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n","date_published":"2020-09-13T12:49:27+06:00","image":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/images/feature-image.webp","tags":["Sovereignty"]},{"id":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/10-anonymity-rules/","url":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/10-anonymity-rules/","title":"10 Anonymity Rules","summary":" Use Tor (Encrypted Browser, Proxy and Protocol). Use Tails (Secure OS). Use Signal (Secure Messaging App). Use Burner Emails. Use a VPN (A Non Logging and Non 14 Eyes Virtual Private Network). Don’t Log In Unnecessarily. Use Private Browsing Modes. Use Duck Duck Go (Secure Search Engine with a Strict No Following Rule). Disable Telemetry Everywhere When Possible. Pair a VPN with something else, because VPNs don’t make you anonymous. 11. Bonus: Check out this site for more information and practical guides: PrivacyTools.io\n","content_html":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUse Tor (Encrypted Browser, Proxy and Protocol).\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUse Tails (Secure OS).\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUse Signal (Secure Messaging App).\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUse Burner Emails.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUse a VPN (A Non Logging and Non 14 Eyes Virtual Private Network).\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDon’t Log In Unnecessarily.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUse Private Browsing Modes.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUse Duck Duck Go (Secure Search Engine with a Strict No Following Rule).\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDisable Telemetry Everywhere When Possible.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePair a VPN with something else, because VPNs don’t make you anonymous.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e11. Bonus: Check out this site for more information and practical guides: \u003ca href=\"https://privacytools.io\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePrivacyTools.io\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","date_published":"2020-03-28T06:55:00Z","image":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/images/anonymity.webp","tags":["Sovereignty"]},{"id":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/basic-data-security/","url":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/basic-data-security/","title":"Basic Data Security","summary":"WHAT IS DATA SECURITY? is the process of keeping data secure and protected from not only unauthorized access but also corrupted access. The main focus of data security is to make sure that data is safe and away from any destructive forces. Data is stored as rows and columns in its raw form in the databases, PCs as well as over networks. While some of this data may be not that secretive, other might be of private value and importance. But unauthorized access to such private information or data can cause many problems such as corruption, leakage of confidential information and violation of privacy.\n","content_html":"\u003ch2 id=\"what-is-data-security\"\u003eWHAT IS DATA SECURITY?\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eis the process of keeping data secure and protected from not only unauthorized access but also corrupted access. The main focus of data security is to make sure that data is safe and away from any destructive forces. Data is stored as rows and columns in its raw form in the databases, PCs as well as over networks. While some of this data may be not that secretive, other might be of private value and importance. But unauthorized access to such private information or data can cause many problems such as corruption, leakage of confidential information and violation of privacy.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThus, the importance of \u003ca href=\"https://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/security-privacy/\"\u003eData Security\u003c/a\u003e comes into play. Data Security is in the form of digital privacy measures that are applied to avoid this unauthorized access to websites, networks and databases. There are many ways of protecting or securing data which is important and some of them include encryption, strong user authentication, backup solutions and data erasure. There are many international laws and standards that govern data security measures. Data Protection Acts are implemented to ensure that personal data is accessible to those whom it may concern.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"1-full-diskphone-encryption\"\u003e1. FULL DISK/PHONE ENCRYPTION\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDisk encryption is one of the most commonly opted for data security technology or methods. This is a technology through which encryption of data on a hard disk drive takes place. This technology takes place in two major ways – software or hardware. In disk encryption, data is converted into unreadable codes that cannot be accessed or deciphered by anyone who is unauthorized. There are several ways and tools to carry out disk encryption, and these tools may vary in the security offered and features used. Even though there are many benefits of using this method, there are also certain weaknesses or vulnerabilities.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat many don’t realize is how important this is. You have to encrypt your hard drive. Imagine if your laptop gets stolen right now and you had sensitive data in the hard drive. Bypassing Windows/MacOs login screen is easy but decrypting a hard drive isn’t. It is important to do this it keeps your files secure and locked from prying eyes. Do the same with your phone. All android phones come with encryption. For Windows try \u003ca href=\"https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4502379/windows-10-device-encryption\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBitlocker\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e or \u003ca href=\"https://www.veracrypt.fr/en/Downloads.html\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVeraCrypt\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e. For MacOS try \u003ca href=\"https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204837\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFile Vault\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e. For Android try the \u003ca href=\"https://www.howtogeek.com/141953/how-to-encrypt-your-android-phone-and-why-you-might-want-to/\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInbuilt Version\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"2-data-backup\"\u003e2. DATA BACKUP\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the easiest yet most effective ways to avoid data loss or to lose important and crucial files is by taking a backup of your data regularly. There are many ways to take backup and it is up to you how many copies of your data you wish to keep. While external hard disks are a common way to take backup, these days cloud computing too proves to be a cheap and easy way to maintain a backup of all files at a safe location. Of course, a backup won’t prevent data loss but would at least ensure that you don’t lose any information of importance.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"3-data-masking\"\u003e3. DATA MASKING\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eData masking is another data securing technology that can be brought into use by those who wish to secure their data. Another term that is used to refer to data masking is data obfuscation and is the process through which one can hide original data with random characters, data or codes. This method is especially very useful for situations where you wish to protect classified data and do not want anyone to access it or read it. This is a good way to let the data be usable to you but not to the unauthorized \u003ca href=\"https://ajulusthoughts.wordpress.com/2019/01/05/types-of-hackers-which-hat-fits-you/\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ehacker\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e or user.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"4-data-erasure\"\u003e4. DATA ERASURE\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eData erasure, which is only known as data wiping and data clearing is a software-based method of overwriting information or data and aims to totally destroy all data which may be present on a hard disk or any other media location. This method removes all data or information but keeps the disk operable. Many OSes especially Windows dont have this feature built in so you’ll need to look for a reputable software to do this. I’ll update this section when i find one. Erase your data 8 times! Check this post out: \u003ca href=\"https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-completely-erase-a-hard-drive-2626173\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow to Securely Wipe Drives\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"5-strong-passwords\"\u003e5. STRONG PASSWORDS\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first step that every business or individual must most take is to establish strong passwords for all your accounts, bank details and other kinds of accounts. Also, one must try to keep very strong passwords that may not be easily guessed by anyone. The passwords must be a combination of characters and numbers. The password must be easy to remember for you but should not be your birthday, your name, or any other personal detail that anyone else could guess. The password must be between 8-12 characters long, at least. My recommendation? 20 characters long. Or instead opt for a Passphrase instead of a password. Check out my other posts on passwords: \u003ca href=\"https://ajulusthoughts.wordpress.com/2018/08/24/the-key-to-uncrackable-passwords-the-best-password-guide/\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Ultimate Guide to Creating “Uncrackable” Passwords\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and How \u0026amp; Wh\u003ca href=\"https://ajulusthoughts.wordpress.com/2020/01/24/why-big-tech-is-trying-to-get-rid-of-your-passwords/\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ey Big Tech is Trying To Ditch Passwords\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"6-anti-malwarevirus\"\u003e6. ANTI MALWARE/VIRUS\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot every virus out there is out to destroy your computer or encrypt it. Some try to steal your files and send them to the attacker/maker. So you have to have policies set in place to protect against this. No 1 on that list is consider getting a reputable and good anti malware protection software. Whether it is paid or free, make sure it is good. With one search online you can find good ways to test your antivirus e.g there are reputable sites from big companies with viruses easy to get rid of that can test your defenses. Like a vaccine to an immune system. I suggest you dont try this but if you believe that you are truly tech savvy, it could offer some insights. Check out my post on \u003ca href=\"https://ajulusthoughts.wordpress.com/2019/06/05/top-5-free-windows-antivirus/\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTop 5 Free Windows Antivirus Software\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"7-good-browsing-practices\"\u003e7. GOOD BROWSING PRACTICES\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou wont believe how many people download viruses willingly(but unknowingly). The no 1 culprit? Cracked and/or Pirated Games and Software. Trust me i know. I have done it way more times than am willing to admit. Especially with games. But what people don’t get is that there’s always a catch. To crack that software, someone needs to buy it first. They then need to invest time cracking it. And as obvious not everyone can crack a game or software, only programmers and guess what? most hackers are programmers! You cant know how to hack without knowing how to program unless you are a script kiddie and it is highly unlikely that script kiddies can crack software. To hack something you need to know the insides and outsides of something. I am one**(\u003ca href=\"https://ajulusthoughts.wordpress.com/2019/01/05/types-of-hackers-which-hat-fits-you/\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ea good one\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e)**, i know. So i understand no matter how many warnings people give, many of us can never truly give up this habit. So i am your guy. Try virtualization. Download whatever cracked game on a virtual machine. Scan it with as many anti viruses as possible, then move it to your host PC, or just get a virtual machine lock it down and play the games there or try sand boxing it. Also one can be hacked even without downloading things so be careful. Don’t enter sites that seem off or dangerous. Try browsing with Tor or Firefox. Check this guide on how to browse securely and safely: \u003ca href=\"https://ajulusthoughts.wordpress.com/2019/01/01/privacy-anonymity-and-security-the-wonderful-threes/\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wonderful 3s: Privacy, Security and Anonymity\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"8-data-disposal\"\u003e8. DATA DISPOSAL\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou need to learn proper data disposal. Hackers do something called Dumstar/Trash Diving.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/NKuwB12Fbe0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt is where we physically come near our target and check his trash for anything we might need to exploit them. This doesn’t just apply to documents even drives that you didn’t wipe well. There’s a saying: Another mans trash is another mans treasure(Haha i know, moving forward). Buy a shredder and shred sensitive files or burn them, the less you leave the better, shredding is great but if the hacker is really into exploiting you, trust me he/she will get back to their place and stick the little pieces together even if it takes them days. I have done it(and no, not illegally). So shred and burn, just shredding should be fine unless you have ultra sensitive information on those documents. As for hard drives, put screws in them.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI mean literally drill holes in them, burn them, break the disks, microwave it, smash it with a hammer(very good for letting go of stress, you should try it 🤣🤣) Why go to such extremes, well like i have just told you. Simply pressing the delete button doesn’t always guarantee that the data is gone. The best way to be sure is just wreck the hard drive till it stops looking like a hard drive. There are plenty of ways data can be recovered both through the use of software and through hardware. This applies to even RAM, SD Cards and even SIM Cards. Just do all the steps together. Drill Holes, Burn, Break, Microwave and Smash! Check the videos below!\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/mh3AQuhQO8U\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/jYsonW7dXyk\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 id=\"9-authenticate-and-authorize\"\u003e9. AUTHENTICATE AND AUTHORIZE\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou have to authenticate and authorize. What i mean is restrict access to only the trusted/required few. Especially in the business environment. It usually takes 1 computer to bring down an entire organization. Limit how much access each individual or level has. Remember that someone from the organization is most likely to hack and steal trade secrets. Most organizations are brought down by their own employees so you need to set up data protection policies and ensure they are followed. Not everyone in the organization needs the same level of access. This also applies to individuals don’t just give your laptop to everyone you think is your friend. Someone who i thought was a good classmate and trusted once stole my assignment right from my computer and presented it as his own. Limit access. Only allow what is needed for efficient work flow.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"10-train-employeesyourself-on-security\"\u003e10. TRAIN EMPLOYEES/YOURSELF ON SECURITY\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is mainly for organizations. Remember Human Beings are always the weakest link. Train employees or yourself(for individuals) in basic security. Trust me it doesn’t take more than 3 weeks to know how to protect oneself and the organization.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"11-updates\"\u003e11. UPDATES\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKeep all software up to date. Each day more than 10 vulnerabilities are discovered in popular softwares at-least some have introduced bug bounties that help them stay alert and discover potential vulnerabilities before they go world wide. Update software as soon as they come out. I know this, many popular software have some Automatic Update Feature. Enable it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"12-monitor\"\u003e12. MONITOR\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKeep system logs and constantly monitor your organization network and whatever systems in place. Create an incident response plan and ensure it is feasible. If you have to, create a Security Operation Center that monitors all kinds of logs and changes. You must always keep track of your data, know which data is stored where and use good monitoring tools that can help prevent data leakage. The data leakage software that you choose must have set up of key network touchpoints that help to look for specific information coming out of internal network. Such software can be easily configured or customized to look for codes, credit card numbers or any other kind of information which is relevant to you.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"13-2fa3fa\"\u003e13. 2FA/3FA\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSetting up two factor authentication is really a life saver. This means it requires 2 things to log you in. Many a times it’s your Password and Phone. For accessing systems with especially sensitive information, consider implementing some form of strong, multi-factor authentication.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"14-security-experts\"\u003e14. SECURITY EXPERTS\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConsider hiring cyber/information security experts to help strategies and implement plans that will steer you in the right direction. There is a reason that business people go to doctors when they are ill and don’t try to perform surgery on themselves, and utilize the services of lawyers if they are being sued or accused of a crime. You need experts on your side. Remember, the criminals who are targeting your data have experts working for them – make sure that you are also adequately prepared. I recommend \u003ca href=\"https://owlsectechnologies.co.ke\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOwlSec Technologies\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https://zillahtechnologies.co.ke\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eZillah Technologies\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e. They are the best in the market, especially for small businesses, for corporations and large businesses i recommend \u003ca href=\"https://swiftintellect.org/\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSwift Intellect\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"15-oversharing\"\u003e15. OVERSHARING\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou’d be surprised by how much information one can gather online especially in social networks. Full Names, DOB, Precise Location and more. These days almost every tech enthusiast has a “i want to be a hacker” moment.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are literally thousands of tutorials out there teaching people how to hack, and this is not necessarily bad. Actually it’s good. But with this comes people interested in hacking for fun, thrill and profit. Keep the information you share to a minimum.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGet some exif data cleaner software that can wipe your images of metadata such as location. I wrote an article on Metadata. Go check why it is important, how hackers can use them for harm and how to prevent security risks arising from them: \u003ca href=\"https://ajulusthoughts.wordpress.com/2019/07/01/data-about-data-metadata/\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMetadata: Data about Data\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e. It is important to keep the data you share on social media to a minimum unless absolutely necessary. Also check out this other post by Veronica Rose over at \u003ca href=\"https://techknow.co.ke\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTechknow\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e: \u003ca href=\"https://techknow.co.ke/2020/01/26/data-privacy-day-2020/\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData Privacy Day – 2020\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"16-have-an-incident-response-plan\"\u003e16. HAVE AN INCIDENT RESPONSE PLAN\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen reputation, revenue, and customer trust is at stake, it’s critical that an organization can identify and respond to security incidents and events. Whether a breach is small or large, organizations need to have an incident response plan in place to mitigate the risks of being a victim of the latest cyber-attack.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIncident response strategies and plans layout what defines a breach, the roles and responsibilities of the security team, tools for managing a breach, steps that will need to be taken to address a security incident, how the incident will be investigated and communicated, and the notification requirements following a data breach.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe faster your organization can detect and respond to a data breach or even security incidents the less likely it will have a significant impact on your data, customer trust, reputation, and a potential loss in revenue. If your organization doesn’t have an incident response process in place, consider leveraging a third-party managed security services provider to implement a customized approach for your business.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"to-avoid-all-of-this-an-incident-response-plan-should-be-developed-that-includes-the-following-actions\"\u003eTo avoid all of this, an incident response plan should be developed that includes the following actions:\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHave a quality monitoring system in place\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIdentify the potential incident\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRespond to the incident in a timely manner\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAssess the situation, analyzing the severity of the incident\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNotify the appropriate parties about the incident\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTake appropriate measures to protect sensitive data and minimize impact\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOrganize, prioritize and escalate the incident response activities accordingly\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePrepare for adequate business recovery support in the wake of any damage caused in the interim\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReview process, making necessary adjustments, to prevent future similar incidents and improve the way they’re handled\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFind an in depth security guide here: \u003ca href=\"https://digitalguardian.com/blog/101-data-protection-tips-how-keep-your-passwords-financial-personal-information-safe\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e101 Data Protection Tips\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStay safe everyone! Data Security 101, a more in depth guide coming soon for both Businesses and Individuals.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI will appreciate it, if you take 10 seconds of your time to check out my donations page and donate to the blog and other causes. 40% of the donation goes to buying this blog an official domain name, the rest goes to charity eg supporting children homes. Any amount received will be shown, from whom and to where it went. I will also include screenshots of inflow and outflow. So go check it out: \u003ca href=\"https://ajulusthoughts.wordpress.com/donate/\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDonations\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and donate! You can also buy me something via the wishing list. Thank you and have a wonderful day.\u003c/p\u003e\n","date_published":"2020-01-22T09:00:00Z","image":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/images/datasec.webp","tags":["Sovereignty"]},{"id":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/data-the-new-gold/","url":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/data-the-new-gold/","title":"Data, The New Gold!","summary":"Just recently i posted an article on Why Big Tech Firms Want A Piece of Finance\nAnd after research i concluded that it’s not all about money. Yes they want profits and to provide value and solve society’s problems but also it’s about data! Imagine if you knew what people buy, where they buy it from, what time they buy it and what they actually buy. This kind of data is potentially worth millions even billions if sold to advertisers and used by G.A.F.A.M.\n","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eJust recently i posted an article on \u003ca href=\"https://ajulusthoughts.wordpress.com/2020/01/17/why-big-tech-firms-want-a-piece-of-finance/\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhy Big Tech Firms Want A Piece of Finance\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd after research i concluded that it’s not all about money. Yes they want profits and to provide value and solve society’s problems but also it’s about data! Imagine if you knew what people buy, where they buy it from, what time they buy it and what they actually buy. This kind of data is potentially worth millions even billions if sold to advertisers and used by G.A.F.A.M.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBefore we even go far.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"what-is-data\"\u003eWhat is data?\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eData is a record which can be either be of an individual or of any organization or of some. A record that contains some information and/or some value associated with that person or company/organization. It helps in identifying various other things related to any individual or business. Initially, it was less and it had very less information, but today it has increased to a next level and the more data you have, the richer you can be.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEverybody loves gold. It’s shiny and is perceived to have a value and status, due in part to its relative rarity. But data doesn’t have the same allure. Unlike gold, data is everywhere and doesn’t have the same mass appeal, but is it worth just as much?\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe ancient Egyptians were the first to smelt gold over five thousand years ago. Since those early days, mankind has been captivated by the precious metal, and the desire to own it has led to great gold rushes and wars. Relatively speaking the data rush is only just beginning, the data war hasn’t started yet.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo obtain value from gold, it needs to be minted into coins, fashioned into jewellery, or increasingly used in technology thanks to its conductivity. This productisation creates a valuable entity that drives business profit. Data collected in isolation has no value, so like gold, it needs to be manipulated and analysed to get the most out of it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTherefore like gold, data is a commodity. And it is the insight mined from this valuable resource that is the currency that gives you and your company the means to drive organic growth. Therefore while it is critically important to collect data (Like our forefathers mining for gold), the real impact comes from analysing the data you collect and hold in your vault.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Big Data’ is a topic that has plateaued in the last couple of years, bigger isn’t always better, big insights are more important than big data. We have had more data at our fingertips than we can reasonably use for a few years now and in contrast to this abundant data, insights remain relatively rare.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFinding these insights requires different people, technology, and skills. Insights derived from the smart use of data are hugely powerful, if they are smart and actionable they will have a real impact on your business. Brands and companies that are able to develop smart actionable insights, from any type of data will be winners. An experienced goldsmith with the right tools is going to add more value to the raw material than an apprentice with a hammer.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLike gold, the quality of data is also important, you can’t make an 18 karat ring from a 9 karat nugget. The lower grade material might be cheaper, but it won’t last as long. In the gold world ‘hardness’ does not equal ‘durability’. The same is true of data. Garbage in equals garbage out. High-quality data is fundamental to producing reliable models and insights. Regardless of how good your models are, if the data used to create them is poor, incomplete, outdated, biased or otherwise inaccurate, then the resulting predictions have little chance of being accurate, reliable or impactful.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFacebook’s most valuable asset is not the software that connects people, which can easily be replicated, but the data of the over two billion active users it connects.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe most valuable asset of Uber, the ride-hailing service that does not own a single taxi, is the data of the people who use it. The prime asset of Google, the largest library, which owns no physical library, is the index that takes customers to their desired websites.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTherefore, the new valuable asset is not gold but it is data. Data has become the new gold! With a population of 1.3 billion people and a total purchasing power parity gross domestic product (GDP) of $6.74 trillion, the population of Africa is growing at the rate of 2.6%.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMuch of Africa’s demographic is youthful. Much of this population is increasingly connected to the internet.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2017, Facebook had 170 million subscribers, which constitutes approximately 15% of the total population of Africa and this subscription is growing. Companies such as Google reportedly give accounts in exchange of subscriber data. These companies have been reported to have sold this data to entities such as advertisers, political parties etc. The exchange of personal data for an account is unfair trade because the value of personal data is far greater than the value of an account.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur world has never been more interconnected. Amazing leaps in technology have made a global community feel local in scale. The devices we carry in our pockets today have more computing power than the entire NASA space program did when we landed on the moon. Millions of Americans connect daily on social media, shop online for products and services they love, and find new opportunities they had never even considered. Each click, like, and share creates new data in the world, much of which can be used to deliver relevant marketing information and bring increased value to consumer audiences. Put simply, data is the new gold.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs the world becomes ever more data-driven, smart businesses look to fully realize the benefits of the data revolution, from streamlining internal processes and communicating more ably with current and potential customers, to lowering costs and creating jobs.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhether you realize it, all of these benefits start in one place: your marketing department. Within your business, smart and strategic use of data in marketing can make your efforts lean and agile, bringing operating costs down while giving more power and punch to your efforts. When data is shared across departments, from marketing to customer service to IT, it paints a full, rich picture of your customer base and the challenges and opportunities presented. With this data readily available right inside your business, and shared across departmental lines, you no longer need to operate with one eye closed.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith the use of data-driven marketing and consumer engagement through a range of channels, businesses have never been closer to their customers. The barriers of entry for startups have also never been lower, given the ability to target and tailor messages to specific audiences.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnly data can’t help you get rich, but the way you understand data and the way you organize it and manage it is very important. The process on how you manage your data is crucial and if you get that right, you can gain higher value and turn your business into huge profits. The data that you get commercially or which is freely available is majorly unprocessed and noisy. Noisy meaning, the data contains null values, values which might harm the overall system and other spam values too. So to overcome this, data management is really very important.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"to-conclude-the-worlds-most-valuable-resource-is-no-longer-oil-or-gold-but-processed-and-analyzed-data\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eTo conclude: The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil or gold, but processed and analyzed data.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n","date_published":"2020-01-18T09:00:00Z","image":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/images/is-data-the-new-gold-1.webp","tags":["Sovereignty"]},{"id":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/most-hyped-technologies-of-2020/","url":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/posts/most-hyped-technologies-of-2020/","title":"Most Hyped Technologies Of 2020","summary":"It’s 2020, new technologies are emerging and the most hyped technologies of 2019 that failed have been set up to succeed this year.\nWe are amidst the 4th Industrial Revolution, and technology is evolving faster than ever.\nCompanies and individuals that don’t keep up with some of the major tech trends run the risk of being left behind.\nUnderstanding the key trends will allow people and businesses to prepare and grasp the opportunities.\n","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eIt’s 2020, new technologies are emerging and the most hyped technologies of 2019 that failed have been set up to succeed this year.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://ajulusthoughts.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/2018-gartner-hype-cycle.webp?w=850\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://ajulusthoughts.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/2019-garnter-hype-cycle-a.webp?w=850\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe are amidst the 4th Industrial Revolution, and technology is evolving faster than ever.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCompanies and individuals that don’t keep up with some of the major tech trends run the risk of being left behind.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnderstanding the key trends will allow people and businesses to prepare and grasp the opportunities.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs a business and technology futurist, it is my job to look ahead and identify the most important trends. In this post, I give you the most hyped technologies and trends everyone should get ready for in 2020.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"5g\"\u003e5G\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAh yes! More speed! We Need More Internet Speeds!\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 5th generation of mobile internet connectivity is going to give us super-fast download and upload speeds as well as more stable connections. While 5G mobile data networks became available for the first time in 2019, they were mostly still expensive and limited to functioning in confined areas or major cities eg China. 2020 is likely to be the year when 5G really starts to fly, with more affordable data plans as well as greatly improved coverage, meaning that everyone can join in the fun.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSafaricom was recently seen testing 5G thanks to Huawei. You can read more about this here: \u003ca href=\"https://techweez.com/2020/01/14/safaricom-spotted-testing-5g-kenya/\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSafaricom Planning To Launch 5G\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://ajulusthoughts.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/safaricom-huawei-5g.webp?w=540\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSuper-fast data networks will not only give us the ability to stream movies and music at higher quality when we’re on the move. The greatly increased speeds mean that mobile networks will become more usable even than the wired networks running into our homes and businesses. Companies must consider the business implications of having super-fast and stable internet access anywhere. The increased bandwidth will enable machines, robots, and autonomous vehicles to collect and transfer more data than ever, leading to advances in the area of the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart machinery.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2018 we saw the first deployments of 5G for home and commercial use. Major telecomm and device companies have been preparing for inevitable full rollout of 5G and have been releasing and planning products around it. This is the time, according to Gartner, when early adopters will jump onto the 5G hype train. It remains to be seen however where 5G will find itself having the biggest impact\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoth 5G and Wi-Fi 6 are built from the same foundation and will co-exist to support different use cases\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"wifi6\"\u003eWiFi6\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWi-Fi 6 is the next-generation wireless standard that’s faster than 802.11ac. More than speed, it will provide better performance in congested areas, from stadiums to your own device-packed home. It’s coming in 2019.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.wi-fi.org/discover-wi-fi/wi-fi-certified-6\"\u003eWi-Fi 6 certification\u003c/a\u003e began on September 16, 2019. That’s a big sign that \u003ca href=\"https://www.howtogeek.com/fyi/get-ready-for-wi-fi-6-certification-launches-in-q3-2019/\"\u003ehardware is on the way\u003c/a\u003e! For example, Apple’s new \u003ca href=\"https://www.apple.com/iphone-11/\"\u003eiPhone 11\u003c/a\u003e devices will support Wi-Fi 6 when they launch on September 20\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYes, Wi-Fi now has version numbers! Even those old confusing Wi-Fi standard names like “802.11ac” have been renamed to user-friendly names like “Wi-Fi 5.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere are the versions of Wi-Fi you’ll be seeing:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWi-Fi 4\u003c/strong\u003e is 802.11n, released in 2009.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWi-Fi 5\u003c/strong\u003e is 802.11ac, released in 2014.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWi-Fi 6\u003c/strong\u003e is the new version, also known as 802.11ax. It’s scheduled for release in 2019 but will see wide spread adoption in 2020.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"8k-tech-on-smartphones\"\u003e8K Tech on Smartphones\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile announcing its snapdragon 865 SoC chips, Qualcomm promises that the chip will enable smartphone cameras to record up to 8K videos. Since the chips will be released in the first quarter of 2020, it is likely that android phones manufacturers will rush to use the chip. Current Constraints however tell us that 8K isn’t really needed since average users cant differentiate between 8K and 4K. Let’s not forget the storage needs. But we hope this will be the basis for 8K VR and AR.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://ajulusthoughts.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/djiasfhji.webp?w=300\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"autonomous-driving\"\u003eAutonomous Driving\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile we still aren’t at the stage where we can expect to routinely travel in, or even see, autonomous vehicles in 2020, they will undoubtedly continue to generate a significant amount of excitement.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTesla chief Elon Musk has \u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-tesla-full-self-driving-2019-2020-promise/\"\u003esaid\u003c/a\u003e he expects his company to create a truly “complete” autonomous vehicle by this year, and the number of vehicles capable of operating with a lesser degree of autonomy – such as automated braking and lane-changing – will become an increasingly common sight. In addition to this, other in-car systems not directly connected to driving, such as security and entertainment functions – will become increasingly automated and reliant on data capture and analytics. \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/techcrunch.com/2019/09/16/waymos-robotaxi-pilot-surpassed-6200-riders-in-its-first-month-in-california/amp/\"\u003eGoogle’s sister-company Waymo has just completed a trial of autonomous taxis in California, where it transported more than 6200 people in the first month\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt won’t just be cars, of course – trucking and shipping are becoming more autonomous, and breakthroughs in this space are likely to continue to hit the headlines throughout 2020.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://ajulusthoughts.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/p90276442_highres_bmwi-vision-dynamics.webp?w=850\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith the maturing of autonomous driving technology, we will also increasingly hear about the measures that will be taken by regulators, legislators, and authorities. Changes to laws, existing infrastructure, and social attitudes are all likely to be required before autonomous driving becomes a practical reality for most of us. During 2020, it’s likely we will start to see the debate around autonomous driving spread outside of the tech world, as more and more people come round to the idea that the question is not “if,” but “when,” it will become a reality.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eScience fiction promised us we’d be living in a future of flying cars by now. So why shouldn’t we develop flying cars along side autonomous ones?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"cargo-delivery-drones\"\u003eCargo Delivery Drones\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNew sensor technologies and tracking technologies such as SLAM are making wheeled and flying drones better able to navigate obstacles and environments all of the time. Amazon is perhaps the most notable company experimenting with drone delivery. The company \u003ca href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/jilliandonfro/2019/06/05/amazon-new-delivery-drone-remars-warehouse-robots-alexa-prediction/#5e38f3c3145f\"\u003eclaims\u003c/a\u003e it is only months away from launching pilot programs for drone delivery.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOf course cargo drones will take another year to finally reach Kenya but as a country let’s embrace manufacturing and it’s many forms eg Small Scale Home Manufacturing(Post coming soon on this). Over the decades we’ve seen Kenyans create Passenger Drones, hopefully we are not far from Jumia, KiliMall and other from delivering using drones.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://ajulusthoughts.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/jkhferds.webp?w=1024\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"nanoscale-3d-printing\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNanoscale 3D Printing\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThough more than out 10 years from reaching its plateau of productivity, 3D printing at the nanoscale promises to create not only stronger structures, but also to potentially facilitate the development of new and interesting materials. Institutions such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.designnews.com/design-hardware-software/ornl-speeds-3d-printing-nanoscale/42804037445370\"\u003eORNL\u003c/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https://3dprint.com/199184/llnl-nanoscale-3d-printing/\"\u003eLLNL\u003c/a\u003e have been actively conducting research into new methods for 3D printing at the nanoscale.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"blockchain\"\u003eBlockchain\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThanks to Bitcoin, everyone now knows about Blockchain. 2019 has been such a good year for Blockchain. People have developed products and services from this. But what exactly is Blockchain, you ask?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt its most basic level, blockchain is literally just a chain of blocks, but not in the traditional sense of those words. When we say the words “block” and “chain” in this context, we are actually talking about digital information (the “block”) stored in a public database (the “chain”).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Blocks” on the blockchain are made up of digital pieces of information. Specifically, they have three parts:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBlocks store information about transactions like the date, time, and dollar amount of your most recent purchase from Amazon. (NOTE: This Amazon example is for illustrative purchases; Amazon retail does not work on a blockchain principle)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBlocks store information about who is participating in transactions. A block for your splurge purchase from Amazon would record your name along with Amazon.com, Inc. Instead of using your actual name, your purchase is recorded without any identifying information using a unique “digital signature,” sort of like a username.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBlocks store information that distinguishes them from other blocks. Much like you and I have names to distinguish us from one another, each block stores a unique code called a “hash” that allows us to tell it apart from every other block. Let’s say you made your splurge purchase on Amazon, but while it’s in transit, you decide you just can’t resist and need a second one. Even though the details of your new transaction would look nearly identical to your earlier purchase, we can still tell the blocks apart because of their unique codes.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003ch4 id=\"how-blockchain-works\"\u003eHow Blockchain Works\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen a block stores new data it is added to the blockchain. Blockchain, as its name suggests, consists of multiple blocks strung together. In order for a block to be added to the blockchain, however, four things must happen:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA transaction must occur. Let’s continue with the example of your impulsive Amazon purchase. After hastily clicking through multiple checkout prompt, you go against your better judgment and make a purchase.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThat transaction must be verified. After making that purchase, your transaction must be verified. With other public records of information, like the Securities Exchange Commission, Wikipedia, or your local library, there’s someone in charge of vetting new data entries. With blockchain, however, that job is left up to a network of computers. When you make your purchase from Amazon, that network of computers rushes to check that your transaction happened in the way you said it did. That is, they confirm the details of the purchase, including the transaction’s time, dollar amount, and participants. (More on how this happens in a second.)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThat transaction must be stored in a block. After your transaction has been verified as accurate, it gets the green light. The transaction’s dollar amount, your digital signature, and Amazon’s digital signature are all stored in a block. There, the transaction will likely join hundreds, or thousands, of others like it.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThat block must be given a hash. Not unlike an angel earning its wings, once all of a block’s transactions have been verified, it must be given a unique, identifying code called a hash. The block is also given the hash of the most recent block added to the blockchain. Once hashed, the block can be added to the blockchain.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen that new block is added to the blockchain, it becomes publicly available for anyone to view—even you. If you take a look at Bitcoin’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.blockchain.com/btc/blocks\"\u003eblockchain\u003c/a\u003e, you will see that you have access to transaction data, along with information about when (“Time”), where (“Height”), and by who (“Relayed By”) the block was added to the blockchain.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe blockchain ecosystem has evolved tremendously in the past two years. Although most people are unaware of the latest innovations, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cryptonewsz.com/tag/blockchain/\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eblockchain\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e keeps on evolving. The year 2020 seems very promising as major companies plan on releasing their blockchain services. This will bring blockchain in front of many, giving it more credibility and helping this tech thrive in the process.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBlockchain is driving the second major trend identified by Gartner. “Digitalized ecosystem technologies are making their way to the Hype Cycle fast,” Walker said. “\u003ca href=\"https://www.designnews.com/iot/blockchain-prepared-enterprise/25912681256416\"\u003eBlockchain\u003c/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https://www.designnews.com/electronics-test/filament-making-blockchain-iiot-easy-usb/80716323059036\"\u003eIoT\u003c/a\u003e platforms have crossed the peak by now, and we believe that they will reach maturity in the next five to ten years, with digital twins and knowledge graphs on their heels.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs more and more IoT systems and products produce more and more data, it’s becoming increasingly important to not only manage and automate all of this data flow, but to keep it \u003ca href=\"https://www.designnews.com/iot/how-blockchain-key-secure-iot/87877979557738\"\u003esecure\u003c/a\u003e as well. Blockchain offers great potential on both of these fronts for its high level of encryption as well as its ability to automate transactions via secure, verifiable “smart contracts.” “The shift from compartmentalized technical infrastructure to ecosystem-enabling platforms is laying the foundation for entirely new business models that are forming the bridge between humans and technology,” Walker said.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI will soon divulge deeper into this topic. So expect a blockchain article very soon.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"ai-for-everyone\"\u003eAI for Everyone\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://ajulusthoughts.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/nvidia-titan-v.webp?w=850\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe top identified trend by Gartner was “Democratized AI”—essentially, artificial intelligence made widely available. Advancements in robotics, cloud computing, AI Platform as a Service (PaaS), and of course autonomous driving are all driving this trend. According to Mike J. Walker, research vice president at Gartner, “Technologies representing democratized AI populate three out of five sections on the Hype Cycle, and some of them, such as deep neural nets and virtual assistants, will reach mainstream adoption in the next two to five years…Other emerging technologies of that category, such as smart robots or AI PaaS, are also moving rapidly through the Hype Cycle, approaching the peak, and will soon have crossed it.” No doubt the emergence of dedicated processors \u003ca href=\"https://www.designnews.com/electronics-test/battle-ai-processors-begins-2018/212131505757984\"\u003eoptimized for AI\u003c/a\u003e applications, such as the Titan GPUs offered by Nvidia (shown), is playing a big role here.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"graphene-superultra-capacitors-processors-batteries-and-more\"\u003eGraphene Super/Ultra Capacitors, Processors, Batteries and More\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe were promised that graphene could take out silicon from processors and break Moore’s law. We were promised thinner devices. We were promised faster processors. We were promised thin bullet proof clothing.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBefore i get deep into this let me first tell you what this wonder material called graphene truly is.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGraphene\u003c/strong\u003e (/ˈɡræfiːn/)\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene#cite_note-1\"\u003e[1]\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene#cite_note-2\"\u003e[2]\u003c/a\u003e is an \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allotrope\"\u003eallotrope\u003c/a\u003e of \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon\"\u003ecarbon\u003c/a\u003e in the form of a single layer of atoms in a \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2D_Materials\"\u003etwo-dimensional\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexagonal_lattice\"\u003ehexagonal lattice\u003c/a\u003e in which one atom forms each \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertex_(geometry)\"\u003evertex\u003c/a\u003e. It is the basic structural element of other allotropes, including \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphite\"\u003egraphite\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charcoal\"\u003echarcoal\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanotube\"\u003ecarbon nanotubes\u003c/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fullerene\"\u003efullerenes\u003c/a\u003e. It can also be considered as an indefinitely large \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aromaticity\"\u003earomatic\u003c/a\u003e molecule, the ultimate case of the family of flat \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycyclic_aromatic_hydrocarbon\"\u003epolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons\u003c/a\u003e. \u003ca href=\"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Graphene_and_Dirac_Cones.ogv\"\u003ePlay media\u003c/a\u003e Graphene and its \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_band_structure\"\u003eband structure\u003c/a\u003e and Dirac Cones, effect of a grid on \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doping_(semiconductor)\"\u003edoping\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGraphene has a special set of properties which set it apart from other allotropes of carbon. In proportion to its thickness, it is about 100 times stronger than the strongest steel. Yet its density is dramatically lower than any steel, with a surfacic mass of 0.763 mg per square meter. It conducts heat and electricity very efficiently and is nearly transparent.\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene#cite_note-3\"\u003e[3]\u003c/a\u003e Graphene also shows a large and nonlinear diamagnetism,\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene#cite_note-4\"\u003e[4]\u003c/a\u003e even greater than graphite, and can be levitated by \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nd-Fe-B\"\u003eNd-Fe-B\u003c/a\u003e magnets. Researchers have identified the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipolar_junction_transistor\"\u003ebipolar transistor\u003c/a\u003e effect, \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballistic_transport\"\u003eballistic transport\u003c/a\u003e of charges and large \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_oscillations_(experimental_technique)\"\u003equantum oscillations\u003c/a\u003e in the material.\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene#cite_note-5\"\u003e[5]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInterestingly, when graphene is isolated from graphite it takes on some miraculous properties. It is a mere one-atom thick, the first two-dimensional material ever discovered. Despite this, graphene is also one of the strongest materials in the known universe. With a tensile strength of 130 GPa (gigapascals), it is more than 100 times stronger than steel.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGraphene’s incredible strength despite being so thin is already enough to make it amazing, however, its unique properties do not end there. It is also flexible, transparent, highly conductive, and seemingly impermeable to most gases and liquids. It almost seems as though there is no area in which graphene does not excel.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 id=\"potential-applications\"\u003ePotential applications\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf graphene had merely one of its many superlative traits, it would be the subject of intense research into potential uses. Being so remarkable in so many ways, graphene has inspired scientists to think of a wide range of uses for the material, in fields as varied as consumer tech and environmental science.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch5 id=\"flexible-electronics\"\u003eFlexible electronics\u003c/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://icdn7.digitaltrends.com/image/digitaltrends/grapheneflexible-838x559.webp\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://img.digitaltrends.com/image/grapheneflexible-640x640.webp\" alt=\"grapheneflexible\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eBONNINSTUDIO / Shutterstock\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn addition to its powerful electrical properties, graphene is also highly flexible and transparent. This makes it attractive for use in portable electronics. Smartphones and tablets could become much more durable using graphene, and perhaps could even be folded up like paper. Wearable electronic devices have been growing in popularity recently. With graphene, these devices could be made even more useful, designed to fit snugly around limbs and bending to accommodate various forms of exercise.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGraphene’s flexibility and microscopic width provide opportunities beyond mere consumer devices, however. It could also be useful in biomedical research. Small machines and sensors could be made with graphene, capable of moving easily and harmlessly through the human body, analyzing tissue or even delivering drugs to specific areas. Carbon is already a crucial ingredient in the human body; a little graphene added in might not hurt.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch5 id=\"solar-cellsphotovoltaics\"\u003eSolar cells/photovoltaics\u003c/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://icdn8.digitaltrends.com/image/digitaltrends/solarpanelsexample-998x665.webp\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://img.digitaltrends.com/image/solarpanelsexample-640x640.webp\" alt=\"solarpanelsexample\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003ePedrosala / Shutterstock\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGraphene is both highly conductive and transparent. As such, it has great potential as a material in solar cells. Typically, solar cells use silicon, which produces a charge when a photon hits the materials, knocking loose a free electron. Silicon only releases one electron per photon that hits it. Research has indicated that graphene can release multiple electrons for each photon that hits it. As such, graphene could be far better at converting solar energy. Before long, cheaper, more powerful graphene cells could produce a massive surge in renewable energy.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGraphene’s photovoltaic properties also mean that it could be used to develop better image sensors for devices such as cameras.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch5 id=\"semiconductors\"\u003eSemiconductors\u003c/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://icdn9.digitaltrends.com/image/digitaltrends/semiconductor-example-997x665.webp\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://img.digitaltrends.com/image/semiconductor-example-640x640.webp\" alt=\"semiconductor example\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eTorsak Thammachote / Shutterstock\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDue to its high conductivity, graphene could be used in semiconductors to greatly increase the speed at which information travels. Recently the Department of Energy conducted tests that demonstrated that semi-conductive polymers conduct electricity much faster when placed atop a layer of graphene than a layer of silicon. This holds true even if the polymer is thicker. A polymer 50-nanometers thick, when placed on top of a graphene layer, conducted a charge better than a 10-nanometer layer of the polymer. This flew in the face of previous wisdom which held that the thinner a polymer is, the better it can conduct charge.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe biggest obstacle to graphene’s use in electronics is its lack of a band gap, the gap between valence and conduction bands in a material that, when crossed, allows for a flow of electrical current. The band gap is what allows semi-conductive materials such as silicon to function as transistors; they can switch between insulating or conducting an electric current, depending on whether their electrons are pushed across the band gap or not.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResearchers have been testing a variety of methods to give graphene a band gap; if successful, that could lead to much faster electronics built with graphene.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch5 id=\"water-filtration\"\u003eWater filtration\u003c/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://icdn1.digitaltrends.com/image/digitaltrends/waterfiltration-1000x667.webp\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://img.digitaltrends.com/image/waterfiltration-640x640.webp\" alt=\"waterfiltration\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eA_Lesik / Shutterstock\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA_Lesik / Shutterstock\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGraphene’s tight atomic bonds make it impermeable for nearly all gasses and liquids. Curiously, water molecules are an exception. Because water can evaporate through graphene while most other gasses and liquids cannot, graphene could be an exceptional tool for filtration. Researchers at the University of Manchester tested graphene’s permeability with alcohol and were able to distill very strong samples of spirits, as only the water in the samples was able to pass through the graphene.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOf course, graphene’s use as a filter has potential beyond distilling stronger spirits. Graphene could also be immensely helpful in purifying water of toxins. In a study published by The Royal Society of Chemistry, researchers showed that oxidized graphene could even pull in radioactive materials such as uranium and plutonium present in water, leaving the liquid free of contaminants. The implications of this study are massive. Some of the biggest environmental hazards in history, including nuclear waste and chemical runoff, could be cleansed from water sources thanks to graphene.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs overpopulation continues to be one of the world’s most pressing environmental concerns, maintaining clean water supplies will only become more important. Indeed, water scarcity afflicts more than a billion people worldwide, a number that will only continue to rise given current trends. Graphene filters have immense potential to improve water purification, increasing the amount of fresh water available. In fact, Lockheed Martin recently developed a graphene filter called “Perforene,” which the company claims could revolutionize the desalination process.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCurrent desalination plants use a method called reverse osmosis to filter salt out of seawater. Reverse osmosis uses pressure to move water through a membrane. In order to produce large amounts of drinkable water, the pressure involved requires enormous amounts of energy. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-desalination/rpt-pentagon-weapons-maker-finds-method-for-cheap-clean-water-idUSL1N0C0DG520130313\"\u003eLockheed Martin engineer claims\u003c/a\u003e their Perforene filters could reduce the energy requirements a hundred times less than that of other filters.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFiltration is one of graphene’s most obvious uses, and MIT engineers have made great strides in perfecting graphene’s ability to separate molecules. \u003ca href=\"https://news.mit.edu/2018/graphene-sheets-holes-molecular-separation-1009\"\u003eIn 2018\u003c/a\u003e, a team at MIT came up with a method to create tiny, “pinprick” holes in sheets of graphene. MIT’s researchers use a “roll-to-roll” approach to produce graphene. Their setup involves two spools: One spool feeds a sheet of copper into a furnace where it is heated to the appropriate temperature, then the engineers add methane and hydrogen gas, which essentially causes pools of graphene to form. The graphene film exits the furnace, winding onto the second spool.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn theory, this process allows for large sheets of graphene to be formed in a relatively short amount of time, which is crucial for commercial applications. Researchers had to fine-tune the process to get the graphene to form perfectly, and interestingly, the imperfect attempts along the way proved useful later on. As the MIT team tried to create pores in graphene, they started by using oxygen plasma to carve them out. As this process proved time-consuming, they wanted something faster and looked to their previous experiments for solutions. By lowering the temperature during the graphene’s growth, they got pores to appear. What appeared as defects during the development process ended up being a useful way to create porous graphene.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"superconductivity\"\u003eSuperconductivity\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot long after \u003ca href=\"https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/graphene-superconductor/\"\u003escientists at Cambridge demonstrated\u003c/a\u003e that graphene can act as a superconductor (a material with no electrical resistance) when paired with praseodymium cerium copper oxide, researchers at MIT \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-02773-w\"\u003ediscovered\u003c/a\u003e another astounding property: It can apparently function as a superconductor alone, in the right configuration. The researchers stacked two slices of graphene, but offset them by an angle of 1.1 degrees. According to a report published in Nature, “Physicist Pablo Jarillo-Herrero at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge and his team weren’t looking for superconductivity when they set up their experiment. Instead, they were exploring how the orientation dubbed the magic angle might affect graphene.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo let’s hope that this year will be graphene’s year.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat’s it for today guys. Hope you’ve learned something. New Theme so kindly share your thoughts in the comment section and have a good day. I will update this as we proceed into 2020\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"wait-before-you-go-i-am-selling-advertising-spaces-so-be-sure-to-email-me-if-you-want-one-my-email\"\u003eWait! before you go. I am selling advertising spaces. So be sure to email me if you want one. \u003ca href=\"mailto:ajulu@stephenajulu.com\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMy Email\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n","date_published":"2020-01-14T09:00:00Z","image":"https://ajulu.netlify.app/images/sdvsdaa.webp","tags":["Sovereignty"]}]}