BIG Exclusives
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How can small-language AI models perform better than large-language models?
The idea that a small language model (SLM) can perform better than a large language model (LLM) for generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications is counterintuitive. Larger is better in many disciplines and products. More information technology capacity is better for search, data analytics, and transaction processing. However, while LLMs are more effective for large, general-purpose AI applications, SLMs offer many advantages for small, specialized AI applications. Language models are AI computational models that can generate natural...
India’s energy future – scenarios, security, and strategic challenges to 2047
India’s military skirmishes with neighbour Pakistan have dominated regional headlines of late, but today we take a look at the energy future of the world’s most populous country. The Indian government’s National Institute for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog collaborated with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay to update the India Energy Security Scenario (IESS) 2047 model. This amendment was accompanied by the release of the IESS 2047 Outlook, which explores future scenarios of plausible...
Today’s arms race – a new era of great power conflict and hybrid warfare
The spectre of large-scale conflict between three great nations – United States, China, and Russia – looms larger than at any time since the Cold War ended. The post-9/11 era, described initially as the War on Terror, has morphed into a complex web of escalating military tensions, regional proxy wars, and unprecedented arms races, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. The War on Terror, launched after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S., saw the U.S....
Energy humanism – power with a pulse, progress with a conscience
Energy humanism is a philosophy that seeks to reconcile humanity’s growing need for energy with the pressing need to preserve the natural world. It is not just about watts and grids; it is about ensuring that the pursuit of energy improves, rather than harms, the lives of 4 billion people living in energy poverty. Energy humanism is a powerful force for good. While technological leaps and purported climate crises are everywhere in the daily news,...
Nigeria’s energy dilemma – how to foster growth while participating in transition
Nigeria, a major oil and gas producer that in 1971 became the 11th member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has committed to every climate change agreement since 1992. The oil and gas industry is important to the African country as a source of substantial revenue, domestic energy supply, sociocultural identity, and geopolitical leverage. However, as proponents of the energy transition look to minimize the share of oil and gas in the global...
Moving past many decades of conflict is daunting challenge for the Congo
Earlier this month, the United States and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) engaged in talks about a deal that would see the U.S. invest billions of dollars to explore minerals while helping to end years of conflict in the central African nation. The potential deal is seen by some as exploitative and retrogressive to the Congo, and it is important to know why. In a perfect world, the DRC would be on your...
Challenges abound in making real progress with alternative energy sources
Sitting at an airport as I return from a technical conference presents a great opportunity to reflect on interesting presentations and conversations with people who are working hard on new and exciting initiatives. The second North American Helium and Hydrogen Conference, hosted by the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists in Denver, built on its first conference in 2023. Geologists, engineers, marketing and downstream (processing) people attended to share stories about their work and projects, and...
If you want peace, prepare for war – through air superiority
The past demonstrates that geopolitics is a dynamic vector – its power and path shaped, more often than not, by the evolution of sophisticated military technology. The 20th century through present day shows that the rise of the United States as a global hegemon during the Second World War hinged on achieving air supremacy in both the European and Pacific theatres. Specifically, the development of both the P-51 Mustang and P-38 Lightning air superiority fighters,...
Africa making gains in historically lacking mental health care
The tumultuous years of the COVID-19 pandemic sparked a long-overdue shift in mental health conversations across Africa. For decades, mental health had been a taboo subject on the continent. It was only whispered about in private family conversations, rooted in colonial-era myths of African intellectual inferiority that wrongly suggested Africans were less prone to mental illness. These harmful stereotypes, shaped policies and perceptions, with mental health laws even being weaponized to suppress dissent. In Kenya...
Trump’s U.S.-first policies and what they mean for the EU, NATO, and Ukraine
As the war in Ukraine enters its fourth year since Russia launched a massive invasion of its neighbour in February 2022, it has been made clear that the steady stream of foreign aid Ukraine had been receiving from former president Joe Biden’s administration will not be continued by the office of President Donald Trump. Since the start of the war, the U.S. congress has appropriated or otherwise made available nearly $183 billion USD for Operation...