The Coming
| Use attributes for filter ! | |
| Google books | books.google.com |
|---|---|
| Originally published | 2000 |
| Authors | Joe Haldeman |
| Genres | Science Fiction |
| Date of Reg. | |
| Date of Upd. | |
| ID | 2961821 |
About The Coming
Astronomy professor Aurora 'Rory' Bell gets a message from space that seems to portend the arrival of extraterrestrial visitors. . . .
Laura Kuenssberg: Tory party's fate could depend on new Health Secretary Victoria Atkins
... The Health Secretary, is with us in the studio tomorrow and how she fares in The Coming months is absolutely vital for her party s prospects...
What are the Northern Lights? And how can you see them?
... Mr Smith recommended using the Met Office s space weather forecast page, which includes a video predicting the aurora over The Coming days The Coming days...
UK cold snap persists with sub-zero nights to come
... The Coming nights will be the coldest with temperatures later on Thursday widely falling below freezing soon after sunset and dropping down to -3 to -6C overnight...
Every Bitcoin payment 'uses a swimming pool of water'
... Up to three billion people worldwide already experience water shortages, a situation which is expected to worsen in The Coming decades, the study notes...
Israel Gaza: Three-year-old-twins among hostages released by Hamas
... He estimated that up to nine of the remaining hostages were American, and said he hoped they would be among those released in The Coming days...
Fresh pay offer could end NHS consultant strikes
... The BMA is expected to launch its consultation with members in The Coming weeks with a result expected by mid January...
Israel-Gaza: Four-year-old girl among released hostages
... President Biden said Sunday s hostage releases was result of " intensive US diplomacy" adding he was hopeful that more American hostages will be released in The Coming days...
TRNSMT music festival criticised for lack of diversity after headline announcement
... We re still in the process of curating the whole line-up and will have many more updates to share in The Coming months...
Every Bitcoin payment 'uses a swimming pool of water'
By Chris VallanceTechnology reporter, BBC News
Every Bitcoin transaction uses, on average, enough Water to fill " a back yard swimming pool" a new study suggests.
That 's around six million times More Than is used in a typical credit card swipe, Alex de Vries of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, calculates.
The figure is due to the Water used to power and cool The Millions of computers worldwide Bitcoin relies on.
It Comes as many regions struggle with fresh Water shortages.
Up to three billion people worldwide already experience Water shortages, a situation which is expected to worsen in The Coming decades, the study notes.
" This is happening in Central Asia , but it's also happening in the US, especially around California. And That 's only going to get worse as Climate Change Gets Worse , " Mr de Vries told The Bbc .
In total, bitcoin consumed nearly 1,600 billion Litres - also known as gigalitres (GL) - of Water in 2021, the study, published in the journal Cell Reports Sustainability, suggests.
It says the 2023 figure could be More Than 2,200 GL.
Thirsty workThe main reason Bitcoin uses so much Water is because it relies on an enormous amount of computing power, which in turn needs huge amounts of electricity.
Bitcoin is so Power Hungry it uses only marginally less electricity than the entire country of Poland, according.
Water is used to cool the gas and coal-fired plants That provide That much of our power. And large amounts of Water are lost through evaporation from the reservoirs That supply hydroelectric plants.
Some Water is also used to cool The Millions of computers around The World on which Bitcoin transactions rely.
Mr de Vries argues That Bitcoin does not need to use this much Water - singling out the Power Hungry process at its heart, which is known as " Bitcoin mining. "
In simple terms, miners audit transactions in exchange for an opportunity to acquire the digital currency.
But they compete against each other to complete That audit First - Meaning the same transaction is being worked on many times over, by multiple powerful and Power Hungry computers.
" You have millions of devices around The World , constantly competing with each other in a massive game of what I like to describe as 'guess The Number ', " Mr de Vries told The Bbc .
" All of these machines combined are generating 500 quintillion guesses every second of The Day , non Stop - That is 500 with 18 zeros behind it. "
This method is known as " proof of work". But a change to The Way Bitcoin works could cut the electricity use and hence Water consumption dramatically.
The Major cryptocurrency Ethereum did this in Sep 2022, moving to a system called " proof of stake" reducing its power-use by More Than 99% in The Process .
That may not be straightforward though, according to Prof James Davenport, of the University of Bath.
" [It was] only possible because the management of Ethereum is significantly more centralised than That of Bitcoin, " he told The Bbc .
Nonetheless, others say the findings of this research are worrying.
Dr Larisa Yarovaya, associate professor of finance at the University of Southampton, She Said the use of freshwater for Bitcoin mining, particularly in regions already grappling with Water Scarcity , " should be a cause for concern among regulators and the public".
Related TopicsSource of news: bbc.com