Category: Environment | Page 3

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News
Date
November 13, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Environment

Tagged
Science fiction}

When Oxygen Becomes the Most Precious Commodity — Sci-fi Saturday

_{This sci-fi riff on what where atmospheric pollution could lead us offers beautiful renderings of abandoned advanced civilizations, housed in caves} _{News
November 13, 2021

23

Arts & Culture, Environment}

“Life support” at DUST by Saleh Jamsheer (at DUST November 12, 2021, 6:02 min, animated) A seeker finds himself distressed by his dependencies and is constantly searching for a way to survive without his life support. Review: The story is set in an age of atmosphere meltdown. Space-suited humans live in caves and, when things go wrong with their air supply, they are rescued by aerial drones. Favorite line from rescue drone: “Would it be a bad time to say I told you so?” (Shaykha Sayyar as N.O.V.A. and Voice of Authority) Um, yes, N.O.V.A. Now please ask us a challenging question. The central character, 178 (Saleh Jamsheer), finds himself in the ruins of a civilization started by drone hybrids Read More ›

Jim Tour at COSM 2021 on our zero carbon future

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Casey Luskin
Date
November 12, 2021

Categorized
Environment

Tagged
Featured, Graphene, James Tour, Rare earth elements (REE)}

Flash Graphene: Born Again Plastic Is Planet-Friendly

_{Chemist James Tour outlined a new approach to carbon waste at COSM 2021: Use electricity to turn it into graphene, to be recycled as new materials} _{Casey Luskin
November 12, 2021

5

Environment}

Remember that mindblowing scene in Back to the Future II where Doc Brown shows up in his flying Delorean and throws trash into the “Mr. Fusion” unit in the back — and it’s instantly converted into fuel? We aren’t quite there yet. But if what Rice University synthetic chemist James Tour told COSM 2021 proves right, then we can take current trash — e-waste, food waste, useless wood, discarded plastic, old tires, etc. — and reclaim it at low cost to make materials that we can incorporate into many technologies. Tour and his team have developed methods for turning carbon waste into graphene, an allotrope of carbon that can be stacked to form graphite (best known as the “lead” in Read More ›

Man in front of the universe with his arms raised

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News
Date
October 30, 2021

Categorized
Environment, Religion, Science, Spirituality

Tagged
Copernican Principle}

Physicist: If Humans Died Out, the Galaxy Might Lose All Meaning

_{Ahead of a big climate change conference, Brian Cox assesses the prospect of other habitable planets or their civilizations much more soberly than we often hear} _{News
October 30, 2021

4

Environment, Religion, Science, Spirituality}

Ahead of the big climate change conference COP 26 (31 Oct – 12 Nov 2021), physicist and broadcaster Brian Cox offers an ominous warning which also raises some questions. Speaking in connection with his new series, Universe, he presents a starkly different picture from much that we hear: Humans might be the only intelligent beings in our galaxy, so destroying our civilisation could be a galactic disaster, Prof Brian Cox has warned leaders in the run-up to Cop26. Speaking at the launch of his new BBC Two series Universe, the physicist and presenter said that having spoken to the scientists around the world advising the show, he thought that humans and sentient life on Earth “might be a remarkable, naturally Read More ›

Japanese red maple keys in our own backyard. These are beautiful signs of spring.

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News
Date
October 25, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Environment, Surveillance}

Could Tiny Flying Computer Chips Monitor the World? They’re here!

_{A team at Northwestern University has developed a model based on the design of seed dispersal in nature} _{News
October 25, 2021

4

Artificial Intelligence, Environment, Surveillance}

A Northwestern University team is developing electronic chips as small as a grain of sand, equipped with wings like those of wind-dispersed seeds. The hope is that these microfliers will monitor pollution and contamination — and surveil crowds via ultra-miniaturized equipment: About the size of a grain of sand, the new flying microchip (or “microflier”) does not have a motor or engine. Instead, it catches flight on the wind — much like a maple tree’s propeller seed — and spins like a helicopter through the air toward the ground. By studying maple trees and other types of wind-dispersed seeds, the engineers optimized the microflier’s aerodynamics to ensure that it — when dropped at a high elevation — falls at a Read More ›

Big data analytics through machine learning, Artificial Intelligence concept background, Using deep learning algorithms for neural network data analysis, Abstract AI 3d illustration

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News
Date
October 20, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Environment

Tagged
ai-limits}

Researchers: Is the Cost of Improving Deep Learning Sustainable?

_{At IEEE: System designers may have to go back to relying on experts again to tell them what matters, rather than on massive databases} _{News
October 20, 2021

6

Artificial Intelligence, Environment}

Deep Learning is an approach to computer programming that attempts to mimic the human brain (artificial neural networks) so as to enable systems to cluster data and make accurate predictions (IBM). It’s the dominant AI system today, used to predict how proteins fold and analyse medical scans as well as to beat humans at Go. And yet, four Deep Learning researchers recently wrote in IEEE Spectrum that “The cost of improvement is becoming unsustainable.” As part of their special report, “The Great AI Reckoning,”they explain: While deep learning’s rise may have been meteoric, its future may be bumpy. Like Rosenblatt before them, today’s deep-learning researchers are nearing the frontier of what their tools can achieve. To understand why this will Read More ›

Group of demonstrators on road, young people from different culture and race fight for climate change - Global warming and enviroment concept - Focus on banners

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Caitlin Cory
Date
October 14, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Environment, Social Media

Tagged
Climate change, Google, Joe Biden, Mark Zuckerberg, Section 230, YouTube}

Google and YouTube Demonetize Climate Change Skeptics

_{But how did Google acquire the authority to declare what is "misinformation" or "scientific consensus"?} _{Caitlin Cory
October 14, 2021

4

Censorship, Environment, Social Media}

The Google Ads team announced a new policy last week banning the monetization of content critical of a current consensus around climate change. Beginning in November, both Google and YouTube will: …prohibit ads for, and monetization of, content that contradicts well-established scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climate change. This includes content referring to climate change as a hoax or a scam, claims denying that long-term trends show the global climate is warming, and claims denying that greenhouse gas emissions or human activity contribute to climate change. Google Ads team, “Updating our ads and monetization policies on climate change,” posted October 7, 2021 This does not mean that Google and YouTube will block any and all content that denies Read More ›

Full moon on desert mountain peaks at sand storm

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News
Date
September 4, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Environment, Science

Tagged
Science fiction}

When the Robot Discovers Nature — Sci-Fi Saturday

_{On a ruined planet, a dog robot get caught in a time warp} _{News
September 4, 2021

18

Arts & Culture, Environment, Science}

“Genesis” (2020) at DUST May 2, 2021 Constantin Kormann(4:00 min, animated) Our protagonist lands on a foreign planet, finds an alien artifact and travels back into a time, where the planet was covered by a lush forest. Review: The “protagonist” is actually a dog robot who finds itself trapped in a time warp. The big question would, of course, be — why go back to techno-civilization, especially if you are just a dog anyway? Cute. But what happens when the battery runs out? Curiously, we think we should make robots like the animals we know. Think of Boston Dynamics’s controversial police “dogs.” Nature seems to have thought of everything first — an argument, if you like, for intelligent design. Anyway, Read More ›

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News
Date
September 1, 2021

Categorized
Environment, Ethics, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

Mushrooms Have Minds? Well, If You Doubt Humans Are Exceptional…

_{… it is a short step to thinking that mushrooms have minds. A Miami University biologist has taken that step} _{News
September 1, 2021

4

Environment, Ethics, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

It’s pretty daring to claim that mushrooms have minds. But, in the light of what we have learned about plant communications, we should perhaps pause a moment to at least listen. Miami University biologist Nicholas P. Money, argues: Given the magical reputation of the fungi, claiming that they might be conscious is dangerous territory for a credentialled scientist. But in recent years, a body of remarkable experiments have shown that fungi operate as individuals, engage in decision-making, are capable of learning, and possess short-term memory. These findings highlight the spectacular sensitivity of such ‘simple’ organisms, and situate the human version of the mind within a spectrum of consciousness that might well span the entire natural world. Nicholas P. Money, “The Read More ›

Green sprouts on blurred city background, environmental concept

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News
Date
August 28, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Environment, Information Theory, Science

Tagged
Dystopia, Science fiction}

It’s 2075! Our Motto: “Ignorance is Bliss” — Sci-fi Saturday

_{This animated short asks us to consider a future world in which information is reduced to a sort of haze} _{News
August 28, 2021

18

Arts & Culture, Environment, Information Theory, Science}

“Kernel” at DUST by Olly Skillman-Wilson (August 25, 2021, 5:12 min, animated) The world has become a place where information is tightly filtered and controlled, expelled into the air like a thick smog. Leonard Paisley is an ageing neurobotanist, his life work to preserve the knowledge of the past in his biome. When some equipment malfunctions his commitment is tested. Review: It’s 2075 AD and freedom of the press is not even remembered. Against a background of futuristic skyscrapers, a billboard advises us, “Not Knowing Is a Virtue.” Another that “Ignorance Is Bliss.” And “‘Tis Folly To Be Wise” Well, at least they are not telling us to Love Big Brother Or Else. Except for the fact that the landscape Read More ›

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News
Date
August 21, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Environment

Tagged
Fred Hoyle, Origin of life}

Paper: Culture, Computing Should Be Considered “Life Forms”

_{The idea of broadening the definition of life isn’t wholly new. Astronomer Fred Hoyle wrote a sci-fi novel about intelligent gaseous clouds} _{News
August 21, 2021

3

Artificial Intelligence, Environment}

Some researchers are urging us to broaden our definition of life, which may have an impact on the search for life on exoplanets. In a new paper, published in the Journal of Molecular Evolution, Santa Fe Institute researchers Chris Kempes and David Krakauer argue that in order to recognize life’s full range of forms, we must develop a new theoretical frame. Santa Fe Institute, ” New theory of life’s multiple origins” at ScienceDaily Although there are many definitions of life, they all assume a strict separation between life and non-life — and that is what the researchers challenge: Culture, computation, and forests are all forms of life in this frame. As Kempes explains, “human culture lives on the material of Read More ›

burning wires on the computer power on a black background, close-up, burnt computer equipment

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News
Date
August 20, 2021

Categorized
Environment, Global Technology, Military, Science

Tagged
electromagnetic pulses (EMPs), EMPs (defense expenses), Featured, Robert J. Marks, Sarah Seguin}

EMPs From the Sun Can Wipe Computers — and Streetlights

_{Electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) can do that as accidents of nature. But they can also be weaponized. Russia and China both have the technology to detonate at EMP from space.} _{News
August 20, 2021

17

Environment, Global Technology, Military, Science}

In “Are your electronics protected against sudden surges?, Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks spoke with electrical engineer Sarah Seguin about electromagnetic pulses. (August 5, 2021) Whether natural or designed, these surges can wreck unexpected havoc with electronics. In this second podcast, “EMPs. Be afraid. Be very afraid,” Marks, himself a computer and electrical engineer, and Seguin delve further into the risks (August 12, 2021). For example, in 1989, an electromagnetic coronal mass ejection from the sun infiltrated power plants across North America and northern Europe and destroyed a nuclear power plant’s transformer: https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-147-Sarah-Seguin.mp3 This portion begins at 00:13 min. A partial transcript, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow. Robert J. Marks: Welcome to Mind Matters News. I’m your Read More ›

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News
Date
July 24, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Environment, Science}

Would You Become an Animal to Save a Species? — Sci-fi Saturday

_{The animation is good and the question raised is interesting} _{News
July 24, 2021

15

Arts & Culture, Environment, Science}

“Floreana” at DUST by Louis Morton (Jul 23, 2021), 4:13 min, originally at IMDB 2019 “On a remote island in the future, people are training for an important mission. Take a look at the mechanics of this training facility and the creatures within.” Review: Floreana is an animated film which offers a genuine surprise in terms of how humans in the future might propose to deal with the issue of endangered wildlife. It’s a bit unrealistic (how many people would really go along with living inside animals?) but worth thinking about. Just the right length to get across the basic idea. Films reviewed are sorted roughly by length so you can choose films based on how much time you have. Read More ›

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News
Date
June 19, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Environment

Tagged
Science fiction}

Landing Back on Earth as the Sole Inhabitant — Sci-fi Saturday

_{Unless we count the cat} _{News
June 19, 2021

13

Arts & Culture, Environment}

“Origin” at DUST by David Parrella (Jun 17, 2021), 12:24 min) An astronaut from an interstellar colony returns to Earth to determine why they lost contact. Review: The production values here are good but the plot is quite confusing. The heroic sacrifice never results in information as to the cause of the loss of contact. Trying not to introduce spoilers here but: Any outfit that could found an interstellar colony should be onto glitches like the one on which the story’s crisis turns. Also, as one commenter put it, “too many plotholes.” For example, why does the car even start and where does the gasoline come from? How did the cat survive? If the cat survived, why isn’t everything else Read More ›

3d rendered medically accurate illustration of a grey alien holding the earth

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post

News
Date
May 29, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Environment, Law

Tagged
Science fiction}

When the Human Race Is Down to Its Final Offer … Sci-fi Saturday

_{The downbeat human lawyer and the alien corporate lawyer in Final Offer achieve artful comedy by the too-little used technique of witty dialogue, NOT gags} _{News
May 29, 2021

13

Arts & Culture, Environment, Law}

“Final Offer” at DUST by Mark Slutsky (July 19, 2018, 11:23 min) “A down-on-his-luck lawyer awakes in a doorless room to find he’s been selected to negotiate on behalf of the human race.” Review: Henry, a lawyer accustomed to late night barhopping, wakes up in a strange boardroom: “Henry, you have been selected to represent your species in what is almost surely the biggest trade agreement in the history of your planet.” “My planet?” Well, it’s science fiction. The corporate lawyer (Anna Hopkins) announces that her client — an alien the very sight of which causes our hero (Aaron Abrams) to retch — wishes to “acquire” Earth’s oceans. Or appropriate them if a few minutes of negotiations don’t work for Read More ›

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News
Date
April 12, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Environment, Global Technology

Tagged
bitcoin, Blockchain, Cloud computing, cryptocurrency, Energy efficiency, Energy use, George Gilder, Jonathan Bartlett}

Cloud Computing? There’s a Lot of Smoke in Those Clouds

_{Big Tech creates many environment issues that we do not often hear about, the way we hear about coal mines and landfills} _{News
April 12, 2021

4

Business and Finance, Environment, Global Technology}

When we think about environment problems, we naturally imagine huge smokestacks turning the sky dark and coating the trees with soot. But glitzy high tech stuff like cloud computing and cryptocurrency use a lot of energy too. Cloud computing, where we use computing resources via the internet without installing and maintaining them, is a huge energy hog we never see: The music video for “Despacito” set an Internet record in April 2018 when it became the first video to hit five billion views on YouTube. In the process, “Despacito” reached a less celebrated milestone: it burned as much energy as 40,000 U.S. homes use in a year. Naomi Xu Elegant, “The Internet Cloud Has a Dirty Secret” at Fortune (September Read More ›

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News
Date
April 10, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Environment, Science

Tagged
Cloning, Dan Robitzski, Dinosaurs, DNA, Ecology, Elephants, Neuralink}

Neuralink Cofounder: We Can Bring “Exotic” Dinosaurs To Life Now

_{Whether Max Hodak can do that or not, many scientists ponder, when SHOULD we try to bring back extinct species?} _{News
April 10, 2021

6

Arts & Culture, Environment, Science}

Neuralink is currently best known for brain-computer interfaces, including a test monkey playing pong ball with his mind. But Elon Musk’s co-founder Max Hodak has a bigger idea: Breed and engineer “super exotic novel species”of dinosaurs: “We could probably build Jurassic Park if we wanted to,” Hodak tweeted on Saturday. “Wouldn’t be genetically authentic dinosaurs but [shrugging emoji]. Maybe 15 years of breeding + engineering to get super exotic novel species.” Dan Robitzski, “Neuralink Co-founder Says We Have the Tech to Build An Actual Jurassic Park” at Futurism Any life forms that resulted from dino DNA studies would not be “genetically authentic” dinosaurs because we don’t have living dinosaur sexual cells to work with. They might, however, be more or Read More ›

electric vehicle of the future using smart electric car charging station at home frontal perspective

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News
Date
March 3, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Environment

Tagged
Apple (company), Autonomous Vehicles, Baidu, Batteries (electric cars), Britain, China, Daimler, Electric vehicles, Jonathan Bartlett, self-driving cars}

Apple Is Once Again Eyeing the Smart Car Market

_{Other firms are jumping in or ramping up and, with the fog from the COVID-19 pandemic clearing, we are looking out at a broader array of new vehicle plans} _{News
March 3, 2021

5

Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Environment}

Early in February, rumor had it that Apple is once again eyeing the smart car market, both electric and self-driving. Improved batteries and new environment regulations might make smart cars a promising new business area. According to USA Today, the “iCar” is certain to be an electric vehicle costing over $40,000. The self-driving part is more of a challenge: But a self-driving car could introduce a “longer timeframe” in part due to Apple CEO Tim Cook’s cautious approach to unveiling new products, Ives said. Automakers and tech companies have yet to solve the thorniest challenges associated with autonomous driving. Nathan Bomey, “Is Apple making an electric, self-driving car? If it does, here are 5 things you could see” at USA Read More ›

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News
Date
February 24, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Environment}

AI May Help Save Endangered Turtles via GPS Tracking “Eggs”

_{InvestEGGator “eggs” look real but they conceal GPS trackers, which could identify turtle egg smugglers} _{News
February 24, 2021

4

Artificial Intelligence, Environment}

It’s an ingenious idea; too bad no one thought of it earlier: Place GPS-enabled decoy sea turtle eggs into nests on the beach and see where a smuggler takes them: The egg decoys, dubbed InvestEggator, were developed by the conservation organization Paso Pacifico to address the illegal trade of endangered sea turtles in Central America, where the eggs are smuggled from beaches and sold to restaurants and bars as a delicacy. Paso Pacifico-affiliated scientist Kim Williams-Guillen conceived and designed the decoys in response to a call for proposals from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge. Cell Press, “Tracking sea turtle egg traffickers with GPS-enabled decoy eggs” at ScienceDaily The paper is open access. Williams-Guillen Read More ›