Debate over origin of COVID highlights catastrophic systemic risks
The debate over COVID’s origin poses vexing questions about potential catastrophic ruin for human society that include the dangers of the genetic manipulation of food crops.
Kurt Cobb
Not just another drought: The American West moves from dry to bone dry
The consequences of climate change and ill-advised development are starting to bite and bite hard in the American West.
The American infrastructure, ancient Rome and ‘Limits to Growth’
The most important thing about ‘infrastructure’ not being discussed is that we keep adding more of it every day. That is already having serious consequences which will only get worse if we stay on our course of endless expansion.
Clean energy minerals shortage: Who knew it could happen?
Will there be enough of the minerals critical for the technology behind the so-called green energy revolution?
Is there an alternative to the modern corporate knowledge grab?
The Linux Model—which on its face seems impossibly badly organized and managed—is, in fact, a highly tuned collaborative system that continuously innovates and spreads knowledge.
Asking the right questions about human genetic engineering
It’s refreshing to find a reporter capable of asking probing questions about the the dangers of human genetic engineering.
Climate change and the “law of acceleration”
Acceleration is a common theme in contemporary culture and generally tinged with the connotation of “progress.” But acceleration shows itself to be a two-edged sword when applied to the alarming trends in our climate.
Geoengineering the climate: The zombie idea that just won’t die
Just when you think the last boomlet for geoengineering the climate has expended itself and we might be rid of any serious consideration of it as a strategy for addressing climate change, it rises zombie-like from the dead and starts roaming the Earth again.
COVID variants reach escape velocity
The dense worldwide transportation network constructed by humans is now powering so-called variants (mutations) of COVID-19 across the world from their countries of origin. The British variant (called B.1.1.7), the Brazilian variant (called P.1) and the South African variant (called B.1.351) are all racing across the globe.
Variations on a theme: COVID-19 mutations turn problematic
We pandemic-weary humans are ready to be done with COVID-19. But apparently, it is not done with us
Nostalgic for 2019
The zeal of the media for a return to life as it was in 2019 is a form of instant nostalgia. Nostalgia is longing for an idealized time in the past that never actually was.
Some thoughts on Chris Smaje’s Small Farm Future
Chris Smaje’s book, “A Small Farm Future,” is a valuable contribution to envisioning the path to a sustainable future.
