Technologies

Winter Olympics: No snow, no problems… yet

The Beijing Games use almost 100% artificial snow, as climate change threatens to change winter sports forever.

Organizers of the 2022 Winter Olympics, which officially opened on Friday, have been using dozens of snow generators and hundreds of snowblowers to create 1.2 million cubic meters of powder (or about 42.4 million cubic feet).

The Games in Beijing will mark the first time athletes will compete almost entirely on artificial snow, according to a report from London’s Loughbough University.

That’ll likely become the norm as climate change continues, according to the report’s findings, «starting with lower-altitude slopes and raising pressure and costs on higher-[altitude] resorts.»

But generating fake snow has a high environmental cost, the authors say. «Even if powered by renewables, a huge amount of energy is needed which is both costly and can be a significant drain on water resources.»

And winter athletes say the artificial turf is less safe.

«Artificial snow is icier, therefore faster and more dangerous,» Estonian biathlete Johanna Taliharm told the Associated Press in January. «It also hurts more if you fall outside of the course when there is no fluffy snowbank, but a rocky and muddy hard ground.»

Team USA cross-country coach Chris Grover said landing in it «can feel like falling on concrete.»

Not everyone is critical of the fake stuff. Australian snowboarder Matt Cox, who’s making his Olympic debut at Beijing, told Reuters that «with the cold temps here, it’s dreamy snow.»

Artificial snow is more of a tightly packed frozen slush, made from water droplets that are broken up by a high-pressure pump and then crystalize into frozen flakes.

Read more: How to watch the Beijing Winter Olympics: Everything to know

The International Olympic Committee maintains that artificial snow is used regularly at International Ski Federation competitions «and does not make the courses more dangerous.»

«To the contrary, it creates a more consistent surface from the top to bottom — or start to finish — of a course,» an IOC spokesperson told CNET. «The iciness and density of the surface is dependent on the needs of the given competition and the preparation of the course, not on the source of the snow.»

Most ski and snowboarding events at the Beijing Games will take place in Zhangjiakou, about 110 miles northwest of Beijing, including freestyle, cross-country, ski jumping and biathlon. Skating and several additional snow events are being held at the Capital Indoor Stadium in central Beijing.

Bobsled, luge and Alpine skiing events will be held in Yanqing, a mountainous area about 45 miles from downtown Beijing that’s rich in water resources, according to the IOC. Water supplies for the Olympic venues there will come from the nearby Foyukou Reservoir.

The IOC says that the electricity used to make the snow is from renewable wind and solar energy sources. In addition, water-conservation efforts have been instituted, including snow farming — preserving and relocating previous accumulation — and harvesting melted snow in retaining lakes at the end of the season.

According to the committee, water usage related to snow sports for the Games won’t impact nearby citizens’ consumption or agriculture needs.

«The regions where the snow-sport events will be held are constantly very cold,» the IOC representative said. «This allows a very efficient snow production and does not require the constant reproduction of snow, like in many ski resorts elsewhere in the world where the temperature fluctuations lead to a regular melting of the snow during a season.»

However, another recent study found that, by the year 2080, only one of the past 21 Winter Olympic hosts will still have sufficient winter conditions for the Games.

The ideal conditions for making artificial snow are a «wet-bulb temperature» of about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, representing a combination of the actual temperature and the amount of moisture in the air. But the 2026 Winter Games are slated to be held in Milan, where temperatures rarely dip that low.

The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing opened on Feb. 4 and will run until Feb. 20.

Technologies

Verum Messenger: Don’t follow the future. Define it

In a world where information defines influence, Verum Messenger is building a new architecture of digital communication — intelligent, secure, and ready for tomorrow. Here, technology serves not limitations, but possibilities.

Not being part of change. Leading it. Verum Messenger — the future that speaks first.

Technologies

Verum Finance: Stop Spending Months Opening a Bank Account

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Verum — when freedom matters more than banking rules.

Technologies

Google races to put Gemini at the center of Android before Apple’s AI reboot

Google is using its latest Android rollout to position Gemini as the AI layer across phones, Chrome, laptops and cars.

Google is using its latest Android rollout to make Gemini less of a chatbot and more of an operating layer across the phone, browser, car and laptop, just weeks before Apple is expected to show its own Gemini-powered Apple Intelligence reboot at WWDC.
Ahead of its Google I/O developer conference next week, the company previewed a number of Android updates, including AI-powered app automation, a smarter version of Chrome on Android, new tools for creators, a redesigned Android Auto experience, and a sweeping set of new security features.
Alphabet is counting on Gemini to help Google compete directly with OpenAI and Anthropic in the market for artificial intelligence models and services, while also serving as the AI backbone across its expansive portfolio of products, including Android. Meanwhile, Gemini is powering part of Apple’s new AI strategy, giving Google a role in the iPhone maker’s reset even as it races to prove its own version of personal AI on the phone is further along.
Sameer Samat, who oversees Google’s Android ecosystem, told CNBC that Google is rebuilding parts of Android around Gemini Intelligence to help users complete everyday tasks more easily.
“We’re transitioning from an operating system to an intelligence system,” he said.
As part of Tuesday’s announcements. Google said Gemini Intelligence will be able to move across apps, understand what’s on the screen and complete tasks that would normally require a user to jump between multiple services. That means Android is moving beyond the traditional assistant model, where users ask a question and get an answer, and acting more like an agent.
For instance, Google says Gemini can pull relevant information from Gmail, build shopping carts and book reservations. Samat gave the example of asking Gemini to look at the guest list for a barbecue, build a menu, add ingredients to an Instacart list and return for approval before checkout.
A big concern surrounding agentic AI involves software taking action on a user’s behalf without permissions. Samat said Gemini will come back to the user before completing a transaction, adding, “the human is always in the loop.”
Four months after announcing its Gemini deal with Google, Apple is under pressure to show a more capable version of Apple Intelligence, which has been a relative laggard on the market. Apple has long framed privacy, hardware integration and control of the user experience as its advantages.
Google’s Android push is designed to show it can bring AI deeper into the device experience while still giving users control over what Gemini can see, where it can act and when it needs confirmation.
The app automation features will roll out in waves, starting with the latest Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones this summer, before expanding across more Android devices, including watches, cars, glasses and laptops later this year.
The company is also redesigning Android Auto around Gemini, turning the car into another major surface for its assistant. Android Auto is in more than 250 million cars, and Google says the new release includes its biggest maps update in a decade and Gemini-powered help with tasks like ordering dinner while driving.
Alphabet’s AI strategy has been embraced by Wall Street, which has pushed the company’s stock price up more than 140% in the past year, compared to Apple’s roughly 40% gain. Investors now want to see how Gemini can become more central to the products people use every day.
WATCH: Alphabet briefly tops Nvidia after report of $200 billion Anthropic cloud deal