Science

Renewables avoided $480 billion in fossil fuel costs last year. And those savings will continue year after year. This is one of the standout findings from IRENA's latest Renewable Power Generation Costs report. Unlike coal and gas power plants, wind turbines and solar panels don't need a continuous supply of fuel. Once they're built, they continue generating electricity without the ongoing cost of buying coal, gas or oil. And this has three important consequences: ✅ Every unit of renewable electricity generated reduces the need to purchase fossil fuels for power generation. ✅ Those avoided fuel costs accumulate year after year over the lifetime of the asset. ✅ They also reduce exposure to volatile fossil fuel prices and improve energy security. IRENA quantified these savings by comparing actual renewable generation in 2025 with an alternative scenario in which the same electricity was instead generated by each country's existing fossil fuel mix. The result was an estimated $480 billion in avoided fuel costs – and this is just a single year. The economics of renewable energy are often discussed in terms of the cost of building it, but one of its biggest economic advantages comes afterwards. Unlike a one-off saving, avoided fuel costs repeat every year a wind farm or solar farm remains in service.

𝗡𝗮𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗥𝗔𝗚 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼. 𝗜𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝗽. Embed → retrieve → generate looks clean in a notebook. Real requirements break it: → Questions whose answer is spread across many documents → Industry terms that embeddings get wrong → Bad chunks the pipeline never catches → Answers that live in how things connect, not in any single chunk → PDFs full of tables and images a text-only index cannot read These 5 architectures are how serious teams stay ahead in the agentic AI era: 𝟬𝟭 𝗛𝘆𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱 𝗥𝗔𝗚 → Dense vectors find meaning. BM25 finds exact words. → Reciprocal Rank Fusion combines both ranked lists. → A safe baseline for almost every team. 𝟬𝟮 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗥𝗔𝗚 → Pull entities and their relationships into a knowledge graph. → Retrieve subgraphs and community summaries, not chunks. → Best when the answer lives in how things connect. 𝟬𝟯 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗥𝗔𝗚 → A planner agent picks the right tool: vector, web, or SQL. → A reasoner agent keeps trying until the answer is solid. → Retrieval becomes a plan, not a single step. 𝟬𝟰 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗥𝗔𝗚 (𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗚) → Grade every retrieval before you trust it. → Correct → answer. Unclear → rewrite the query. Wrong → search the web. → This is what production RAG actually looks like. 𝟬𝟱 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗔𝗚 → One embedding model (CLIP, ColPali) for text, images, and tables. → One vector index. One multimodal LLM. → No more separate pipelines for PDFs with charts. I built a runnable example for each of the five patterns. GitHub link in the first comment. The best teams in 2026 do not pick one. They combine them — hybrid retrieval inside an agentic loop, with a corrective grader, over a multimodal index. Naive RAG is a starting point, not a finish line. That is why most enterprise GenAI projects stall at the demo. Which of these five becomes the default RAG stack in the next 18 months — and which stays a specialized tool?

𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲. Because most people explain it from the inside out: policies, councils, standards, stewardship. But the business does not buy any of that. The business buys outcomes: → trustworthy KPIs → vendor and partner data you can actually use → faster financial close → fewer reporting escalations → smoother M&A integration → AI you can deploy without creating risk debt Most AI programs fail for boring reasons: nobody owns the data, quality is unknown, access is messy, accountability is missing. 𝗦𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗶𝘁. 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: → ownership → quality → access → accountability 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝟰 𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀: 1. Data Products (what the business consumes) → a named dataset with an owner and SLA → clear definitions + metric logic → documented inputs/outputs and intended use → discoverable in a catalog → versioned so changes don’t break reporting 2. Data Management (how products stay reliable) → quality rules + monitoring (freshness, completeness, accuracy) → lineage (where it came from, where it’s used) → master/reference data alignment → metadata management (business + technical) → access controls and retention rules 3. Data Governance (who decides, who is accountable) → data ownership model (domain owners, stewards) → decision rights: who can change KPI definitions, thresholds, and sources → issue management: triage, escalation paths, resolution SLAs → policy enforcement: what’s mandatory vs optional → risk and compliance alignment (auditability, approvals) 4. Data Operating Model (how you scale across the enterprise) → domain-based setup (data mesh or not, but clear domains) → operating cadence: weekly issue review, monthly KPI governance, quarterly standards → stewardship at scale (roles, capacity, incentives) → cross-domain decision-making for shared metrics → enablement: templates, playbooks, tooling support If you want to start fast: Pick the 10 metrics that run the business. Assign an owner. Define decision rights + escalation. Then build the data products around them. ↓ 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗔𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿: https://lnkd.in/dbf74Y9E

Having bad data is worse than not having data at all. No data → You rely on intuition. Bad data → You make confident decisions that are simply wrong. In Software Engineering, quality checks are normal. In Data, somehow they’re often skipped. Here are 10 basic checks that will save your day: 𝟭. 𝗡𝗨𝗟𝗟𝗦 Stop letting missing values break your averages. 𝟮. 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦 Imagine doubling the revenue by accident! 𝟯. 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗚𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗬 (𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹) Every order_id must link back to a valid customer. 𝟰. 𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗘𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗨𝗘𝗦 Don’t let “weird” statuses creep into your reports. 𝟱. 𝗙𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗥𝗨𝗟𝗘𝗦 Check business rules that should never be broken. 𝟲. 𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘 Catch outliers before they skew the entire quarter. 𝟳. 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗔 𝗧𝗬𝗣𝗘 Prevent the “Text vs Integer” nightmare. 𝟴. 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗛𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦 No more stale dashboards. 𝟵. 𝗧𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗬 Time should move forward, not backward! 𝟭𝟬. 𝗡𝗨𝗟𝗟 𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗞𝗘 Spot sudden drops in data quality before they bite. Good Data is a company’s most powerful asset. Bad Data is worse than no data at all. Take Data Quality seriously! I prepared the SQL implementation👇 --- ♻️ Repost if you found it useful, please Follow 👉🏻 José for more about Data, SQL, and AI!

Today, I’m thrilled to share what I believe is the biggest breakthrough in microbiome science for a decade. Nature Magazine, the world's most influential scientific journal, has just published a scientific paper by ZOE's scientists, establishing the first reliable, repeatable, global way to measure the health of an individual’s gut microbiome. It represents the culmination of eight years of work at ZOE. Scientists have been trying to solve this puzzle for more than 20 years, right back to when they first discovered how important our gut microbes are for our health. It’s been achieved only because more than 34,000 ZOE members took part in this research. We’ve known for a long time that the microbiome is linked to cholesterol, inflammation, blood sugar control and even how we store fat. But we’ve never had a clear, evidence-based way to measure how healthy a microbiome actually is. This analysis finally delivers it, revealing a global ranking of microbes that works across populations, diets and environments. The insights are remarkable. Among the top 50 “good microbes” linked with better health, 22 were completely unknown to science until today, and most of the others have never been successfully grown in a lab. We also discovered clear links between these good microbes and health outcomes: healthy individuals carry around 3.6 more of these beneficial species, and people at a healthy weight carry about 5.2 more than those living with obesity. We also found a strong connection to diet. People eating healthier diets consistently have microbiomes that score better on this ranking. What we eat shapes our gut health, and now we can measure this relationship with unprecedented clarity. ZOE was created to enable microbiome research at a scale that traditional science has been unable to fund, and use this research to create actionable advice that can transform our gut health. This is a major milestone in that journey. I’m delighted to say that as a result, this breakthrough science is immediately available for the public to investigate their own microbiome through ZOE’s new Gut Health Test in the UK, and this is coming soon in the US. You can now receive not only a reliable measurement of how healthy your microbiome is as you change their diet, but also discover the health of clusters of gut microbes in your gut affecting metabolism, inflammation and more. To all our amazing ZOE members who have participated in our science: you made this possible. You are transforming our understanding of the microbiome. Thank you so much. I hope you feel as proud and excited as I do. I should note that your research is now published in Nature, which is the ultimate scientific accolade, and you can definitely brag about that with your friends! If you think this science could help others understand their health, I’d love for you to share it. You’ll find links to more details from our findings and access to the paper in the comments.

Today in Cell, we published new research showing how AI can help accelerate cancer discovery. With GigaTIME, we can now simulate spatial proteomics from routine pathology slides, enabling population-scale analysis of tumor microenvironments across dozens of cancer types and hundreds of subtypes.   Developed in partnership with Providence and the University of Washington, our hope is that this work helps scientists move faster from data to insight, revealing new links between genetic mutations, immune activity, and clinical outcomes, and ultimately improving health for people everywhere. https://lnkd.in/dSpPdtzz

Could this simple technique help transform deserts into greenery? It's called a straw checkerboard, and China has been using it to reclaim land from the desert! Here's the problem: deserts are expanding rapidly. The Sahara has grown by 10% in the last century, and China's Gobi desert is growing by 3,600 square kilometers every year. This threatens food security, destroys habitats, and forces communities to migrate. But straw checkerboards are changing that! Leftover rice straw is dug deep into the sand, sand is then piled on to hold them in place against strong winds. Hardy desert shrubs are then planted inside each square, along with fertilizer to help them grow. The straw walls stop the sand from blowing away and protect young plants while they develop deep roots. This means they can reach water underground and survive without being blown away! Plants grown this way have a 90% survival rate! In Baijitan National Nature Reserve, this technique pushed the desert back from just 5 kilometers away from the nearest city to 40 kilometers away in just 20 years, protecting 300,000 people from air pollution and advancing sands. The technique has now been adopted in Egypt, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa! Would you like to see more nature-based solutions like this?

🚛 WHEN TRANSPORT LEARNS TO THINK GREEN I came across a concept today that stopped me — an autonomous hydrogen truck-trailer drone designed for long-distance freight. At first, it looked like another futuristic vehicle. But then it hit me: this isn’t just transport evolving — it’s intent evolving. For decades, we’ve designed logistics around speed and scale. Now we’re finally designing around sustainability. This new concept merges autonomy, aerodynamics, and hydrogen power to do something radical: → Eliminate carbon emissions in heavy freight. → Cut operational energy costs through intelligent routing. → Reduce highway congestion with coordinated drone convoys. It’s not just engineering — it’s a shift in philosophy. A move from moving faster to moving responsibly. We often talk about “green tech” as a feature — but the real shift happens when sustainability becomes the invisible infrastructure behind innovation. It’s not an addition to progress. It is progress. What’s needed now isn’t more invention — it’s integration. We need to: ✅ Build networks where clean energy and automation reinforce each other. ✅ Redefine “efficiency” to include environmental balance. ✅ Shift from carbon offsetting to carbon prevention at design level. Because the next breakthrough won’t come from faster engines — but from systems that make waste impossible by design. That’s when technology stops being an experiment in innovation… and becomes an expression of intelligence. So here’s the question I keep returning to — 👉 Will the next era of transport be powered by fuel — or by foresight? #Innovation #Sustainability #Hydrogen #AutonomousVehicles #GreenTech #Logistics #FutureThinking

Every person should have one folder in their computer that is the "In Case of Death" folder... and this is how it is structured... The folder is used to manage and pass on one's assets to successors easily... and to avoid any legal hassles. This folder is divided into 5 parts: 1/ Personal IDs - Birth Certificate - Marriage Certificate - Aadhaar and Passport - Divorce Decrees - Change of Name Affidavits 2/ Legal & Estate Management Documents - Last Registered Will with notarized copy - Succession Certificates for Movable Assets - Guardianship Documents for minor children / dependants 3/ Financial Assets and Accounts - Bank Account details and statements - Demat Account, Shares, Mutual Funds, Investment Portfolio - Insurance Policy Documents with Beneficiaries - Outstanding loan documents - Bank Locker or Safe Deposit Locations and Access details 4/ Property Documentation - Real Estate and Business - Property Deeds and Titles for Real Estate - Mortgage Documents - Rental Agreements - Business Ownership Documents and Succession Plan 5/ Digital Assets and Access Information - Email with recovery information - Social media contact and legacy contact preferences - Domain names, Cloud Storage - Digital Subscriptions of material value The best way to manage passwords here is to provide access to Password Managers where you can add an Emergency Contact who can access all passwords in case of such conditions. There are apps like 1Password, NordPass and Keeper which offer printable PDF documents for emergency access that can be kept in this folder. These apps allow a waiting period from last activity after which the emergency contacts can use the data. Also, please ensure that you submit all such documents for probate and get them drafted by a trusted lawyer. I would also hope you would tell trusted family members about where you have stored this information so that they can access it when required. Above all, wish you all a long and healthy life. #casarthakahuja

Rick Rubin went on stage in Helsinki the day after my talk. Someone asked how he resolves creative differences with artists. His answer was simple: change the conversation from "I disagree" to "let's build it." Then he shared a story: An artist played him a song. The transition didn't work. Rubin told him so. The artist said, "We'll just cut that part in half." Rubin thought to himself: What a dumb idea. But he didn't say that. He said, "Let's try it." The artist played it. It worked. Rubin is a legend. He's produced everyone from Johnny Cash to Jay-Z. Instead, he bit his tongue and let the artist prove him wrong. The principle: when you make an idea tangible, it stops being the person's idea. It becomes something you can both look at objectively and improve together. Once you build it, the truth is obvious. Here's what this looks like in practice: Your designer wants to change the entire homepage layout. You think it's too risky. Instead of three meetings debating it, you say: "Let's build a prototype and test it with 50 users this week." Your sales team wants to restructure the pricing page. Instead of blocking it because you're worried about conversions, you say: "Let's run it as an A/B test on 20% of traffic for two weeks." Your engineer wants to rebuild a core feature from scratch. You think it's overengineered. But instead of killing it in the planning phase, you say: "Spike it out in three days and show me if the performance gain is real." You're not saying yes to everything. You're saying, "Let's find out." Rubin also said something that stuck with me: "If there's disagreement, I always side with the artist's vision. Because to them, it's their career. To me, it's just one piece of my portfolio." Most leaders think backing down makes them look weak. Rubin knows that siding with the person who has the most at stake makes better work happen. Your job isn't to be right. It's to create the conditions where the best idea wins. Stop debating. Start building. P.S. This insight is from this week's newsletter where I break down why Yamaha dominates while Steinway got sold to private equity: https://lnkd.in/efSqP_9K P.P.S. Access additional research links, the podcast, and the full archive in the first comment 👇 Thank you to Nordic Business Forum!