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NASA, Partners Conduct Fifth Asteroid Impact Exercise, Release Summary

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WASHINGTON, June 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — For the benefit of all, NASA released a summary Thursday of the fifth biennial Planetary Defense Interagency Tabletop Exercise. NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, in partnership with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and with the assistance of the U.S. Department of State Office of Space Affairs, convened the tabletop exercise to inform and assess our ability as a nation to respond effectively to the threat of a potentially hazardous asteroid or comet.

Although there are no known significant asteroid impact threats for the foreseeable future, hypothetical exercises provide valuable insights by exploring the risks, response options, and opportunities for collaboration posed by varying scenarios, from minor regional damage with little warning to potential global catastrophes predicted years or even decades in the future.

“The uncertainties in these initial conditions for the exercise allowed participants to consider a particularly challenging set of circumstances,” said Lindley Johnson, planetary defense officer emeritus NASA Headquarters in Washington. “A large asteroid impact is potentially the only natural disaster humanity has the technology to predict years in advance and take action to prevent.”

During the exercise, participants considered potential national and global responses to a hypothetical scenario in which a never-before-detected asteroid was identified that had, according to initial calculations, a 72% chance of hitting Earth in approximately 14 years. The preliminary observations described in the exercise, however, were not sufficient to precisely determine the asteroid’s size, composition, and long-term trajectory. To complicate this year’s hypothetical scenario, essential follow-up observations would have to be delayed for at least seven months – a critical loss of time – as the asteroid passed behind the Sun as seen from Earth’s vantage point in space.

Conducting exercises enable government stakeholders to identify and resolve potential issues as part of preparation for any real-world situation. It was held in April at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, and brought together nearly 100 representatives from across U.S. government agencies and, for the first time, international collaborators on planetary defense.

“Our mission is helping people before, during, and after disasters,” said Leviticus “L.A.” Lewis, FEMA detailee to NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office. “We work across the country every day before disasters happen to help people and communities understand and prepare for possible risks. In the event of a potential asteroid impact, FEMA would be a leading player in interagency coordination.” 

This exercise was the first to use data from NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission, the first in-space demonstration of a technology for defending Earth against potential asteroid impacts. The DART spacecraft, which impacted the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos on Sept. 26, 2022, confirmed a kinetic impactor could change the trajectory of an asteroid. Applying this or any type of technology to an actual impact threat would require many years of advance planning.

To help ensure humanity will have the time needed to evaluate and respond to a potentially hazardous asteroid or comet, NASA continues the development of its NEO Surveyor (Near-Earth Object Surveyor), an infrared space telescope designed specifically to expedite our ability to discover and characterize most of the potentially hazardous near-Earth objects many years before they could become an impact threat. The agency’s NEO Surveyor’s proposed launch date is set for June 2028.

NASA will publish a complete after-action report for the tabletop exercise later, which will include strengths and gaps identified from analysis of the response, other discussions during the exercise, and recommendations for improvement.

“These outcomes will help to shape future exercises and studies to ensure NASA and other government agencies continue improving planetary defense preparedness,” said Johnson.

NASA established the Planetary Defense Coordination Office in 2016 to manage the agency’s ongoing planetary-defense efforts. Johns Hopkins APL managed the DART mission for NASA as a project of the agency’s Planetary Missions Program Office. 

To learn more about planetary defense at NASA, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/planetary-defense/

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SOURCE NASA

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JA Solar with 23 Leading Solar Companies unveils the first Initiative for Global Solar Sustainable Alliance at UNGC’s summit

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JAKARTA, Indonesia, May 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — On May 25, 2025, at the UN Global Compact (UNGC)’s Inaugural Global Business Summit in Jakarta, a total of 24 global leading solar companies including JA Solar, Jinko Solar, Tongwei, LONGi, GCL Group and other core upstream suppliers, collectively released the initiative for “Global Solar Sustainable Alliance (GSSA)”.

Distinguished leaders across government, industry and academia attended the summit, including United Nations Global Compact Assistant Secretary-General and CEO Sanda Ojiambo, United Nations Resident Coordinator in China Siddharth Chatterjee , Chairman of the National Economic Council of the Republic of Indonesia H.E. Luhut B. Pandjaitan, Founder and co-chairman of Bridgewater Associates Ray Dalio, President of the China Electricity Council Bao’an Xin, Chairman of Xiamen Airlines Dong Zhao, Founder and Chairman of GCL Gongshan Zhu.

At this critical juncture of global energy transition, the solar industry, as a cornerstone of renewable energy, serves as a pivotal solution to combat climate change and achieve carbon neutrality goals. Amid rapid industry growth, leading enterprises have jointly launched this initiative to address social and environmental challenges and advance sustainable development. Committed to delivering clean energy globally, the Initiative aims to strengthen sustainability across the entire value chain — promoting green mineral sourcing from the source, protecting ecosystems and biodiversity, building an equitable society for common good, and driving inclusive growth.

Aligned with the UNGC Ten Principles and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Initiative outlines 9 actionable pathways across three pillars, advancing ESG progress across the solar value chain and promoting its positive impact on the international market.

The GSSA initiative has garnered strong endorsement from the UNGC. Meng Liu, UNGC China Representative, stated: “We commend the global solar industry, particularly Chinese photovoltaic enterprises, for their contributions to advancing the global energy transition, and we welcome the launch of this initiative. Closely aligned with the principles of the United Nations Global Compact, the Initiative underscores corporate responsibilities in environmental protection, human rights safeguards, and sound governance. We look forward to the solar industry setting an exemplary model for global sustainable development through collective action.”

Jing Li, Vice President of Branding and Sustainability Officer of JA Solar, officially launched this GSSA Initiative at the event, and introduced JA Solar’s newly constructed responsible supply chain strategy with the theme of “Together Towards Tomorrow”, which aims to promote the multi-stakeholders along the industry’s value chain to evolve towards a sustainable future.

UNGC encourages more solar companies and supply chain partners to join this initiative and jointly advance the sustainable development of the industry. To truly fulfill the summit’s vision of ‘Better Business, Better World: Accelerating the SDGs’, the first co-signatories pledge to collaboratively develop a concrete action roadmap with stakeholder engagement, to ensure effective implementation of the Initiative.

Appendix : Global Solar Sustainable Alliance (GSSA)

As the backbone of renewable energy, the global solar sector provides consumers, industries, and society with affordable and reliable clean energy. It has made remarkable contributions to advancing global energy transition and promoting sustainable development, with immense potential yet to be realized.

On the other hand, after decades of growth, the social and environmental footprints of the solar industry, particularly the associated risks across its supply chain—have increasingly emerged. These challenges pose significant obstacles to unleashing the industry’s full potential and achieving its own sustainable development.

In light of this, we, as the undersigned photovoltaic enterprises and supply chain participants, guided by the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), hereby launch the Global Solar Sustainable Alliance (GSSA). We call on all companies in the industry and its supply chains to adopt sustainability principles and strategies, and actively undertake the following actions:

I. Just Transition: Safeguarding the green ecosystems and environment

a) Reduce pollution, conserve resources, improve environmental management, implement clean production, and promote a circular economy.

b) Cut energy consumption and carbon emissions, adapt to climate change, establish science-based greenhouse gas reduction targets, and achieve net-zero emissions as soon as possible.

c) Protect biodiversity and ecosystems, promoting green mining from origins of materials, ensuring zero deforestation and no net loss of biodiversity.

II. People-Centric Development: Building an Equitable Society for Common Good

a) Respect and protect workers’ fundamental rights, create gender-responsive, diverse, inclusive, safe, and healthy workplaces, and enhance employees’ skills and development potential.

b) Advance responsible procurement and marketing practices, implement human rights due diligence in supply chains, improve value chain transparency, traceability, and collaborative mechanisms, and strengthen supply chain resilience.

c) Plan PV projects in alignment with local conditions, respect the rights of communities and residents, and leverage industry expertise to support community and social development.

III. Governance Enhancement: Driving Inclusive Growth

a) Optimize corporate governance structures, enhance professionalism and diversity in governance mechanisms, improve investor relations management, and protect the rights of minority shareholders.

b) Operate with integrity and compliance, oppose all forms of unfair competition practices, proactively uphold a sound market order, and foster the healthy development of the industry.

c) Strengthen internal and external oversight systems, conduct standardized information disclosure and regular tracking of progress and targets, and establish multi-channel stakeholder engagement and dialogue mechanisms.

Building on the above consensus, we will pool wisdom and resources, engage in full collaboration, and establish a concrete action roadmap with the participation and support of multi-stakeholders to ensure the effective implementation of the GSSA Initiative.

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SOURCE JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd.

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Curotec Unveils Self-Hosted AI Platform That Cuts Dev Time by 70% Without Compromising Security

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With the help of Curotec, companies in regulated industries can now deploy generative AI securely—achieving 3X faster time to market without sacrificing privacy or control.

PHILADELPHIA, May 25, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Curotec, a leader in nearshore software development and AI strategy, announces the launch of its self-hosted large language model (LLM) infrastructure—a cutting-edge approach to generative software development that enables clients to harness AI securely and efficiently, without compromising code, intellectual property, or sensitive data.

“We built our model infrastructure with security, control, and developer productivity at its core,” said Brian Dainis, CEO of Curotec.

As enterprise adoption of generative AI accelerates, so do concerns from CIOs and general counsel over privacy, IP leakage, and regulatory compliance. Curotec’s infrastructure addresses these concerns head-on by deploying the top-performing open-source LLMs entirely within Curotec-owned and controlled environments, avoiding reliance on third-party model providers.

Unlike typical AI development tools that rely on external APIs, Curotec’s models are fully self-contained—running within isolated environments that are hardened for enterprise-grade privacy. This ensures client data never leaves the trusted boundary of Curotec’s infrastructure, making it ideal for highly regulated sectors like FinTech, HealthTech, and SaaS.

Curotec piloted its self-hosted LLM platform with several of its clients in 2025, including growth-stage FinTech and HealthTech companies with stringent SOC 2 compliance requirements. This pilot proved the approach’s efficacy in unlocking significant developer efficiency and the ability to get legal, security, and compliance leaders on board with the data concerns that LLM platforms introduce.

Since implementing this approach across internal and client-facing projects, Curotec has seen up to a 70% reduction in man-hours required for application development projects. These gains translate into a 3X faster speed to market, allowing businesses to outpace competitors without sacrificing security or code quality.

The LLMs assist Curotec developers with:

Generating boilerplate and middleware codeWriting unit tests and documentationRefactoring and debuggingTranslating specifications into working codePrompt-assisted feature scaffolding

This innovation is now part of Curotec’s AI-enhanced development services, detailed here:

curotec.com/services/ai-generative-development

Curotec’s self-hosted model platform marks a new frontier in generative software development—one where efficiency doesn’t require compromise, and where enterprises can trust their AI-powered development pipelines are both powerful and secure.

About Curotec:

Curotec is a software consulting firm that helps companies scale their engineering capacity and adopt transformative technologies. With a strong presence in Latin America, Curotec provides elite nearshore talent and consulting services in AI, software development, and digital transformation. Learn more at www.curotec.com.

Media Contact

Brian Dainis, Curotec, 1 610-450-6599, press@curotec.com, https://www.curotec.com/

View original content:https://www.prweb.com/releases/curotec-unveils-self-hosted-ai-platform-that-cuts-dev-time-by-70-without-compromising-security-302464641.html

SOURCE Curotec

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AB Charity Foundation X AB Blockchain Join Forces to Advance the Global “Tech for Good” Mission

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DUBLIN, May 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — AB Charity Foundation (AB Foundation X AB Blockchain) today announced the addition of 10 internationally influential statespersons and global affairs experts to its Senior Advisory Board, further strengthening its strategic think tank and supporting AB Foundation X AB Blockchain in expanding technology-enabled philanthropy and global collaboration.

Their inclusion means the Foundation’s advisory network now spans five continents and nearly 30 former and sitting heads of state, international organization leaders, and policy experts, forming a cross-cultural, cross-sector, cross-institutional “Global Philanthropy Strategy Engine.”

Bertie Ahern, Chair of the Foundation and former Prime Minister of Ireland, said, “We welcome these visionary and action-oriented advisors to AB. ‘Tech for Good’ is a global cooperative endeavor—only by combining governance expertise with technological innovation can we build a trusted, inclusive, and sustainable global philanthropy ecosystem.”

AB Charity Foundation will continue to broaden its governance network and collaborate with the United Nations system, international NGOs, government agencies, and leading technology firms to drive “verifiable acts of goodwill” in critical areas such as education, healthcare, environmental protection, and humanitarian relief.

New Senior Advisory Board Members:

Olusegun Obasanjo — Former President of Nigeria and former Chairperson of the African Union, renowned for driving economic reform and regional cooperation across Africa.

Victor Yushchenko — Former President of Ukraine, celebrated economist and reform-minded leader instrumental in the country’s democratic transition.

Thomas Axworthy — Distinguished Canadian policy scholar and public administration expert, former Secretary to the Prime Minister (Chief Policy Advisor).

Dzhoomart Otorbaev — Former Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, noted economist and policymaker, leading reformist in Central Asia.

Denzil Douglas — Former Prime Minister and current Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Joanna Nurse — Senior expert at the World Health Organization, with extensive experience in global health policy and public health management.

Maha Ibrahim Mohamed Morsy — Wife of former Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, active leader in Egypt’s social welfare and education sectors.

Kateryna Yushchenko — Wife of Ukraine’s third President Victor Yushchenko; as First Lady she championed healthcare, child welfare, and cultural exchange initiatives.

Antonina Stoyanova — Former First Lady of Bulgaria and spouse of ex-President Petar Stoyanov; legal expert and diplomat who served in various United Nations roles.

Milena Dobronic — Spouse of former Bolivian President Jorge Quiroga; prominent advocate for social services and education in Bolivia.

About AB Charity Foundation

AB Charity Foundation is an independent international NGO registered in Ireland with EU legal status, supported technologically by AB DAO. The Foundation leverages blockchain, AI, and other cutting-edge technologies to build global philanthropic infrastructure, pioneering a “Governance Trust + Technology-Driven” paradigm to serve the public good.

Currently, $AB is available for trading on over a dozen exchanges, including Bitget, HTX, MEXC, Gate, BingX, BitMart, DigiFinex, Lbank, Hotcoin, Biconomy, BTSE, UEEx, WEEX, and 4E.

Learn more at our official website. https://www.ab.org/en/charityFoundation/

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SOURCE AB Foundation

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