Rho AI | Software Engineer | Data Scientist | Remote (US based) | Full-time
Rho AI is a team of engineers and data scientists building machine learning based software solutions for real-world problems. Our core product, Pit Rho, was created in 2012 as a tool for enabling motorsports teams to make real-time strategy decisions, and is used on race day by teams at Richard Childress Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, and more.
We have since expanded into other domains that we care about (healthcare, energy, climate change, etc.) with a mixture of products we own and services we offer. And as a self-funded and 100% remote company, we retain an enormous amount of freedom to do things our way.
We’re looking for software engineers and data scientists who want to hone their craft by building tools that actually get used, and with people who you’ll actually enjoy collaborating with.
I love the focus. Starting at the base level data and working to normalize it is definitely the most difficult piece. How far back have you assembled data?
Feel free to reach out to me individually (email in profile), I'm working on operationalizing climate data like this and would like to look at this together!
Can someone with knowledge of this particular experiment explain how they've overcome the regulations that have stopped Oxitec / Intrexon with their aedes aegypti solution? They key regulatory factors cited against Oxitec, especially in their Florida Keys trials in the past year, were centered around controlling for the release of only males (which do not bite humans), thus avoiding transmission of any kind from the genetically modified varieties, or bacterially modified varieties in this case.
Oxitec has worked for years to filter their mosquitoes so only ~0.2% of the released mosquitoes are female[1]. They then had to demonstrate that and more in many trials before being allowed to release their mosquitoes in the wild in Panama and Florida.
Otherwise, it's great that Google can overstep the other factors that would stop this solution like NIMBYism and working with county / municipal boards. These solutions are great.
It's mostly because circuitous jurisdictional turf battles. The bacterial approach involves applying something to the mosquitos to kill them, rather than modifying the mosquitos, so it apparently counts as a pesticide, which puts it under EPA purview. Producing genetically modified animals is subject to FDA review instead. Apparently the EPA has a lighter touch, as the Wolbachia mosquitoes got approved by the EPA for use in the same area that was originally going to be the site of an Oxitec test in the Keys that got squashed by the FDA.
Not mentioned in these comments is the actual method they cite in capturing the solid CO2. The method involves bubbling CO2 through water and hydrogen sulfide, which is incredibly toxic. Not sure if there's a better way to do it, but their current process is both economically infeasible and dangerous.
I don't think 'incredibly toxic' is the best word for a smell most people are familiar with.
Industry uses toxic chemicals all the time. It's not a big deal. This is a chemical that's relatively easy to notice and where prolonged non-acute exposure doesn't have known harms. It's better than most.
When flying, spotting anything from a higher elevation is very difficult - you essentially have to track the differential velocity of the bird / plane with respect to the ground. That's the reason why generally, the right of way in air goes to the airplane with higher elevation.
Adding additional things to spot in the air, especially slow moving objects like drones, demands focus and divert attention away from flying. Other airplanes in the air are fine to spot because they move quickly, and in unrestricted airspace, generally communicate on a universal radio channel. Drones have none of these capabilities and are essentially high flying birds to avoid.
In non-urban spaces, airspace above 500ft is always a potential manned aircraft flight path.
Those minimum orders are astronomical it's almost funny. Does anybody actually purchase manufacturing-level quantities of goods on alibaba? Genuinely asking.
Yes. It isn't like an eBay type transaction though, it's not 'just swipe your credit card'.
I never did oil, but I did do other commodities. It goes something like (in my experience, a typical Alibaba experience):
1. See a supplier with OK terms. Instantly distrust them.
2. Seek some kind of sample if this is first-time contact. Smell out how close they are to actual origination (usually far, far away, most easily detected by response time for sample, if so, avoid).
3. Experience pain waiting for sample then joy getting a sample and seeing it is consistent with claims.
4. Write contact with the correct incoterms based on sample above, which hopefully has been tested by an independent 3rd party that specialise in these things (this article is about oil, how about the same scale, but sun-dried tomatoes? Specialists exist, but are costly). Always use letter of credit for anything big, as the bank will bear responsibility, unless you really trust the other party and choose not to pay a fee state of mind. Make sure the contact is aligned to the letter of credit and you interests so the bank doesn't pass the buck to you if you didn't bother to write a decent contract. The bank will not hesitate to point out that the reason the coal was soaked as it was loaded at the incorrect point, or the required seal on the jars of the tomatoes didn't have a seal to stop them from from spoiling. There are limits to this, but the contract is enforced from terms and measures deemed 'reasonable' between corresponding banks, and for those that work in LC or trade in banking, 'reasonable' is a practical, not an academic, concept.
5. Profit (or bust, depending on how the above were done).
Alibaba doesn't make money on the cut (well some, not in the above, its too politically hot to handle), it makes it from both sides as an introduction fee. Due diligence is your business, not Alibaba's, and they explicitly make no promise for this.
How do people handle QC issues with Alibaba orders? I dipped my toe in when ordering a crate of allegedly "CE marked" chargers that turned out to be obviously unsafe, and haven't been back.
You receive samples first and check them. Another option is having an agent in find on your behalf perform QC before you pay the balance on your initial deposit. That's what I do..
