Could AI lead to the destruction of civilization?
Shouldn’t a technology that its creators admit has a nonzero chance of chance of wiping out human civilization be abandoned? Not according to the titans of AI.
Uncategorized
Venezuela and Greenland: ‘Smash-and-grab’ diplomacy in the age of scarcity
As the natural resources that the modern world depends on become more and more scarce, countries will more and more resort to openly violent methods to secure access to those resources.
Autonomous vehicles: Is necessity really the mother of invention?
What “necessity” is really driving the autonomous vehicle push?
Proposed East Texas water pipeline and the growing thirst for distant water
East Texas farmers and ranchers are finding out to their dismay that water has become a commodity like so many of our daily needs.
Space Case
It’s not news that many in our culture are violently allergic to the notion of limits (and then we all die of limitations). Maybe fear of death is another key driver for space fantasy, but let’s not get into that just now.
From Shanghai with energy
Can China face the challenges awaiting humankind in the near future?
U.S.-China trade dispute resolution leaves China with huge leverage over global electronics industry
Even with the seeming resolution of the China-US trade war, China is still capable of denying key resources to the world’s electronics manufacturers at any time.
Fracking wastewater now endangers both drinking water and the wells that regurgitate the wastewater
There’s an old saying that I won’t spell out completely, but which most readers will certainly have heard at least once in their lives, to wit: “Don’t sh– where you eat.”
Can authoritarians solve our environmental problems?
Frustrated environmental advocates sometimes in frustration think that only a dictator can solve our environmental problems. They should think again.
Saving Okefenokee
There’s a lot to be determined about the fate of wild places in Georgia… We’re going to continue to stay on [the Okefenokee story] and see what happens next, because I don’t think this is the end of potential mining proposals near the swamp.
Two presidents, dementia and the 25th amendment
Two presidents in a row now have stories swirling about regarding dementia. Not a good prospect for the US dealing with climate issues.
The Worst Inventions
The real question is whether all future modes of human living are fundamentally incompatible with ecological sustainability, and I very much doubt we can make such a strongly definitive statement.
