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.
Kurt Cobb
Wars and rumors of wars: Iran edition
An attack on Iran appears imminent. Here’s why I think it’s unlikely that we’ll see President Trump “TACO” this time.
The chemical society and its discontents: Ozone layer edition
The solutions to our problems so often simply create more and different problems.
World oil and natural gas consumption vs discoveries: Diverging trends mean trouble
In the oil and natural gas industry it is a truism that you can’t produce what you haven’t discovered. Here’s why current trends are disturbing.
Venezuela’s goo-in-the-ground isn’t usable oil at current prices (and may never be)
Venezuela’s supposedly vast reserves of crude oil aren’t what they seem to be.
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?
Ditching Dualism #6: Maybe Monism?
The idea that we are stardust, and made of the same stuff that all the plants, animals, and Earth itself contain is a very unifying truth. Everybody plays by the same rules.
Ditching Dualism #5: Revolutions
Let us humbly receive the minimal (experimentally validated) foundation that can plausibly account for everything we experience, even if we can’t ourselves connect all the dots. Trust the universe, not our brains.
Humanity’s Six Foundational Technologies
Consider the staggering impact that the invention of cordage and textiles has had on human development. Hank Green has added them to his list of the ‘foundational’ technologies of our species. (Plus a note on the use of AI.)
The fusion future that may never arrive
Fusion is periodically touted as the next big thing in energy. Even if it proves commercially feasible someday, that day is far off.
Informers: The new drive to get Americans to spy on one another
We are now witnessing at least the fourth attempt in the United States in the last century or so to create a vast network of citizen spies.
