Bytes & Backpacks #99 🪼

Cars, we're still dealing with cars. Gasoline? Diesel? Electric? But the much more interesting change in the whole market is happening somewhere else. Waymo's self-driving taxis (owned by Google) have driven over 35 million miles, are operating in several major US cities, and already make over 100,000 trips a week. Completely self-driving, no one sits inside except the customer in the back seat. They have become a major tourist attraction in San Francisco, but more importantly, data shows that they are much safer to ride than humans. They have 84 % fewer serious accidents than human cars. Basically all serious accidents, another (human) was at fault. So we can argue in Europe about whether internal combustion engines should be produced for another 5 years or 50, but in the whole battle we can only see the tail lights of a runaway train. Unfortunately.Luxury is no longer in vogue with the young. The trend is to be sustainable. There are apps behind it again. How you move, how you sleep, what you eat, how you travel, to record everything and understand how to live better. Here's an overview of some sustainable fashion brands.What do scientists say is the healthiest vegetable? Watercress!Proof that there is still plenty of unexplored wilderness in Canada is the story of Joel. He was looking for a campsite on Google maps and came across an undiscovered asteroid crater.Speaking of camping, how about a proper trek in the Himalayas? Or 100 kilometers through Kyrgyzstan? Would you like to see an atom? Here are probably the best quality photos we have so far.And you want to see what it looks like deep in the sea? Like, really deep?Italy is full of abandoned villages. Nowadays, there are no jobs there anymore, so young people are moving to the cities. Sardinia is a great example of what can be done with an abandoned village. They have set up a training centre where they learn how to make good pasta and preserve other traditions. Well done!China has its own AI video generator. And it works very well. You can even try to generate something for free. Just translate the prompt into Chinese. Adobe is also trying to catch this train with Firefly.First data, then crypto, now AI. Data and computing centres are growing like mushrooms after the rain, and so is energy consumption. Recent findings show that the data centre emissions of the big tech players are much higher than reported.Finally, I have 135 compliments for your partner. It's like something out of a Saturday tabloid magazine, but you can never have enough compliments!In our Bohemian Switzerland we are already slowly preparing for autumn...Wait for 100th issue. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newsfromthewoods.substack.com