Human extinction: Are we already too late?
A prominent paleontologist and evolutionary biologist thinks that humans are headed toward extinction soon and that nothing will stop it from happening.
Kurt Cobb
U.S. shale oil and gas forecast: Too good to be true?
A new report from Earth Scientist David Hughes seriously undermines rosy long-term forecasts made by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) for U.S. oil and natural gas from shale deposits.
The End of Growth: Ten Years After
In starting to build an economy that prioritizes sustainability and justice, there will be uncountable opportunities to contribute, share, and reconfigure how we go about daily living—and some of those opportunities might just turn out to be deeply fulfilling compared to the rat race of continuous growth.
Technology that “empowers the individual” can threaten all of us
“Empowerment” is a buzzword for our age. But when does empowerment mean catastrophic societal risk?
Review of Plastic: An Autobiography by Allison Cobb
Plastic is a beautifully written, intricate mosaic that weaves memoir, poetry, cultural and scientific history, chemistry, biography, etymology, journalistic reportage and self-reflection into a penetrating rumination on humanity’s relationship with plastic.
Critical minerals problem: Supply chain issues come to the fore
Some familiar metals just moved to a critical minerals lists in the United States as supply chain difficulties made even nickel and zinc supplies problematic. Will bringing manufacturing “back home” really solve the problem?
Can the Green New Deal save us? No it can’t.
Advocates for a Green New Deal are for a collection of admirable goals which it is usually taken for granted can be achieved within a capitalist economy and while the pursuit of economic growth continues. Here is an indication of the main reasons why these assumptions are totally mistaken.
Another extraordinary delusion: Mining helium from the Moon
The obsession with mining the Moon strikes me as the kind of fantasy that enters into civilizations when they are faced with huge, seemingly insurmountable problems—climate change and resource depletion come to mind—and they want magical solutions that allow them to forego having actually to face those problems.
‘Your grocery stores are like museums’: Then and now
Our lavish grocery stores have suddenly become even more like museums, but not in a good way.
Chokepoint democracy: Workers capitalize on global system weak spots
Are production and distribution chokepoints becoming the springboard for better working conditions and pay?
Things do not have to run out for their scarcity to become destabilizing
Those who say we can continuously grow the world economy without any untoward consequences like to use the canard that those of us concerned about limits have never been right about resources “running out.” But that’s not the real issue.
‘Pre-crime’ software and the limits of AI
Law enforcement agencies are increasingly hoovering up data from social media, online shopping sites, and various other online sources to track suspects and to ‘predict’ crime and unrest. The industry providing the software has every incentive to write code that will exaggerate the threats.
