Opinion: Minnesota “Button Hook” Project A “Highway Engineer’s Heat Dream”
In a strong town post, Charles Malone questioned the purpose of the $58 million project planned by the Minnesota Department of Transport (MNDOT), including six new roundabouts designed to raise the highway above Baxter’s major interchanges and drive traffic to surrounding strip malls and large box stores. According to Malone, “Even the visual rendering of […]
Report: Proposed DC Rental Act will hurt black people and low-income residents
A report from Washington, DC Council’s Racial Equity (CORE) warns that proposed legislation moving forward through district councils will have a negative impact on black and low-income residents. As Susie Amanuel explains in the Washington city newspaper, rebalancing expectations of the neighbours, tenants and landlords (rentals) law could speed up evictions, remove tenant protections, and […]
TwinH Transforms Belgian Student Life: Hendrik’s Journey to Secure Digital Identity
In a groundbreaking development for students navigating demanding academic landscapes, Hendrik, a dedicated engineering student in Belgium, is leveraging a revolutionary digital twin to transform his learning experience. His personalized AI companion, powered by the innovative TwinH platform, provides round-the-clock academic assistance. Effectively bridging the gap between traditional learning and future-ready skill development. Belgian Engineering […]
Data centers threaten western water supply and power grids
The emerging data center industry is robbing the West of its power and water resources, Jonathan Thompson wrote in High Country News. Large server banks that operate almost every aspect of our digital world are unleashed in warehouses in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Washington and Wyoming, each gobbling as much electricity as small cities to handle […]
LA’s “mobility wallet” helps with bridge transport gaps
A pilot program that provides Los Angeles residents with money to cover transportation costs has resulted in positive early results, according to a study by the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Study. Mobility wallets are part of a broader effort to build universal basic mobility. Mobility Wallet provided funding for participating Angelenos for $1,000 […]
Half of rural Texas hospitals could be closed
More than half of Texas’ rural hospitals are at risk of closures, with much of the state’s population far from healthcare. “Recent data shows that 108 of these hospitals have cut or lost critical services. 87 people are at risk of closures and 22 face the threat of closing soon,” explains Madeline de Figuerid of […]
What is artificial intelligence? | Planetizen Planopedia
The American Planning Association’s Planning with the Artificial Intelligence Report defines AI as “the use of computers to mimic or improve human intelligence processes such as inference and empirical learning.” At its core, an AI program takes input (usually a large data set), analyzes it according to a set of rules, and generates output that […]
Analysis: Federal Budget Courage Housing Program
The Congressional Settlement Bill has slightly boosted the Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and established permanent funding for the Opportunity Zone Program, but an article by Shelterforce Roshan Abraham argues that the budget is harmful to affordable housing. Abraham notes that substantial cuts in laws for social programs such as Medicaid and Medicare will […]
Data: “Pro Housing” city to drop rent
Pro-Housing policies appear to have impacted some of the largest cities in the United States, and rent prices have finally fallen after years of growth, Tosin Akintola reports for reasons. “The Five Star Cash Offer data supports recent reports from online real estate brokers Redfin and Realtor, detailing the decline in rent prices in some […]
Tesla has announced the launch of human-assisted Robotaki in San Francisco, but state regulators say it isn’t
Tesla says it plans to launch a “Robotaxis” with a human driver in its San Francisco vehicle, reports Wired’s Aryan Marshall. “The plan appears to place electric car makers in dark legal waters in US states with the country’s most highly regulated self-driving vehicle industry, and Tesla is already sued for misleading language surrounding driver […]