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Schlagwort: Zukunft

Carnegie Mellon Lecture: Global Climate Change

Published on 28. März 2008

On YouTube I stumbled upon this actual lecture about Climate Change. It is mainly in three parts:

  • Facts about climate change from an environmental point of view
  • Needs and possibilities to master the challenge
  • Economical views on the subject

The question of why America sends annual 300 Mrd $ to foreign countries for oil, which is answered with Lenin’s quote „The capitalists are so hungry for profits that they will sell us the rope to hang them with.“, and the addition „…and they will send us the money to buy the rope“ is a very typical view for Americans somehow, I think. Cowboy Smiley

Nevertheless, with todays technics our vehicles could be 50 %, buildings 80 % more efficient without change in lifestyle. Acting is not a question of money or ideology, but of intelligence.

What not comes in numbers here is the benefit in public health due to better air and water quality. Nothing is really new here, but the arguments may help you out in the field…

(Dr. Lester Lave, Co-Director Carnegie Mellon Electrical Industry Center; Dr. M. Granger Morgan, Director of the Climate Decision Making Center; Edward Rubin, Professor in Engineering and Public Policy and Mechanical Engineering, 1:15)

If you wanna know it really exactly, watch the following video too, which outlines the research and the process behind the Global Climate Change Report to the Bush administration in 2002. So yes, they know: Global warming is fact, it’s due human activities, without sun activities being a reason etc.

(And yes, this is a very dry one, but gives an excellent overview on the complexity of the matter, if you’d like to be fed with data, numbers and formulas by Ralph Cicerone, Chancellor of the University of California at Irvine, 1:10)

Published inEcologyScience

The Nokia Morph Concept

Published on 1. März 2008

Here’s a small view in our communication future. Imagine a piece of plastic film which fulfills all your needs in every days live:


(Seen on futur.plomlompom.de)

Some thought about this:

  • body related:
    • To have a solar powered smart phone, a palmtop, a mp3-player, an environment and health analyzer, a camera, a memory device, a paycard and eventually a folded flying carpet in a plastic film is a beautiful concept. You don’t have to lock it away if you go swimming.
    • I definitely wouldn’t like to have it hardwired to my brain. Unless the hotline to Manitou is integrated too.
    • They don’t say anything about the expected SAR-value. Even in five or ten years I wouldn’t like my wrist cooked.
    • Nice to have a device to warn me about pollution in the apple I’m about to eat or in the air I’m breathing – but can it act as a mask too?
    • I like most the unbreakable touchscreen and the superhydrophobic surface.
    • Please no Windows 3000 CE!
  • mind related
    • Such devices should get a overall function lock: To prevent brain degeneration you must enter every day some reflecting thoughts about your life or your surrounding world, play some chess, be creative with it in an artistic way or sit down/meditate quietly for some time – otherwise you’ll get a bluescreen.
    • If I ask for time, it should make me guess first to train my intuition.
    • If I think of paying my tea – can it send a remark on the waiters to-do-list?
  • soul related
    • If I’m getting angry because the waitress is not coming – can it automatically send a GPS-location from me to her Nokia Morph with an acoustic beep, overriding her bluescreen? Ideally with a navigation path for her.
    • I miss the ability to generate an automated playlist depending on my mood.
    • If a Morph-wearing child or woman is mistreated, it should inform the next social worker or the police at once.
    • The mistreating person should get an electroshock.
    • Once an emotional network is established, it can inform me «Caution: Angry racer behind!», «Distracted manager ahead!» or «Grandpa in gateway!» while flying on it.

Seriously, I believe technology can help to save our future – especially with efficiency. Also I believe in the importance to stay in focus with the real problems. What advantage do I have if I’m connected with the whole world but loose the connection to myself.

Maybe it’s evolutions way that we need to play around until it gets boring – so we can turn in searchers for truth again. Hopefully nature gives us enough time.

Published inScienceSocietyThink!

Growth and exponential functions

Published on 18. August 2007

«The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function.»

Watch this dissertation from Dr. Albert A. Bartlett, professor emeritus of physics at the university of Boulder, Colorado (8 parts, each approx. 9 min):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-QA2rkpBSY

Mankind is growing with approx. 1.6 percent a year. This means, in 780 years we’ll have an one-squaremeter-society: on every squaremeter land is one person living. And in 2500 years mankind will weigh the same as the whole earth (dear Albert is a joker for shure).

Albert A. BertlettOr think of bacteria living in a bottle. It’s eleven o’clock. They double their volume once a minute. What time is it, when they realize that the bottle is half full and they’re getting a place problem? Right, it’s exact 11:59. If they become aware of the fact when the bottle is one eighth full? It’s 11:57. Ok, they start a big search now and can find 3 more bottles by the time when the first is one fourth full, witch gives an amazing amount of space: 16 times the room they use now! Problem solved, you think? Wait until 12:02…

Click above – this is the most important video you’ll ever see! Find out why it seems that most politicians, economists and even scientists are unable to do simple math we all did back in school.

And while you are at it, asking yourselt why we should act today to save our tomorrow, have a quick look at this video (9 min).

Published inEcologyEconomyPoliticsSocietyThink!