Homo laeviculus — "Clueless Man" Australian science writer Julian Cribb believes a strong case can be made for renaming the human species, which Linnaeus dubbed Homo sapiens (Latin, meaning "wise man") in the 18th century. I heartily concur. Cribb laid out his compelling arguments in The case for re-naming the human race. It is time the human race had a new name. I should note that the 18th century human and the 21st century human are exactly the same human. Thus we in the 21st century get to see the full expression of the human species. Cribb lays out a number of points for us to consider as we contemplate the name change. Humans are presently engaged in the greatest act of extermination of other species by a single species, probably since life on Earth began. Cribb makes some telling, straightforward observations about our shortsighted, destructive behavior. The human species does an excellent job of creating and applying technology, and that's about it. You too can play the renaming game. Bonus Video
Scenario 2030: Open Designs and Distributed Manufacturing Scenario 2030: Open Designs and Distributed Manufacturing Michel Bauwens 12th October 2011 Excerpted from John Robb: “Here’s what the simplistic model for the what most manufacturing will look like in twenty years is: 1) Design everywhere. 2) Platforms to standardize the design/quality and match demand with supply. 3) Manufacture everywhere/anywhere it is convenient/inexpensive (download the specs and get to work). First thing to note is that China doesn’t factor into the above. Second thing to note is that this is that the organizations that will emerge in this space will either be HUGE or very small. Is this system resilient? Very much so. The only question is whether your community is participating in this or not.
The creative class is a lie Someday, there will be a snappy acronym for the period we’re living though, but right now — three years after the crash of 2008 — American life is a blurry, scratched-out page that’s hard to read. Some Americans have recovered, or at least stabilized, from the Great Recession. Corporate profits are at record levels, and it’s not just oil companies who are flush. For many computer programmers, corporate executives who oversee social media, and some others who fit the definition of the “creative class” — a term that dates back to the mid-’90s but was given currency early last decade by urbanist/historian Richard Florida — things are good. The creativity of video games is subsidized by government research grants; high tech is booming. But for those who deal with ideas, culture and creativity at street level — the working- or middle-classes within the creative class — things are less cheery. It’s happening at all levels, small and large. “Main Street U.S.A. is suffering,” he says.
iPhones Detect Radiation Levels And Reports It Via Twitter Scosche Industries, award-winning innovator of electronic accessories, released its latest gadget for iPhones – a Geiger counter. The Scosche RDTX is a radiation detector attached via cable to an iPhone, instantly reporting radiation levels in the surrounding area. It can be set up to display the results using a detailed digital scale, or a simple analog style meter set to green, yellow and red zones. Additionally, the meter will record average levels and total dosage over an extended period of time, and sounds an alarm if levels get too high. It can even upload the results directly to Twitter or Facebook, or to Google Maps to help develop radiation maps that show hot zones. Scosche
Who Will Eclipse America? - Simon Johnson Exit from comment view mode. Click to hide this space WASHINGTON, DC – According to Voltaire, the Roman Empire fell “because all things fall.” It is hard to argue with this as a general statement about decline: nothing lasts forever. But it is also not very useful. In thinking, for example, about American predominance in the world today, it would be nice to know when it will decline, and whether the United States can do anything to postpone the inevitable. Contemporary commenters despaired of the Roman Empire for several hundred years before it finally collapsed. In terms of providing an essential structure for discussion of this problem, Arvind Subramanian’s new book, Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of China’s Economic Dominance, is a major contribution. In particular, Subramanian develops an index of economic dominance that should become a focus of conversation anywhere that people want to think about changes in world economic leadership. The basic facts are incontrovertible.
SUBSCRIBE Subscribing to JAFSCD is Simple! Just pick your annual membership category and follow the registration instructions. You can pay by PayPal or credit card, or pay by check using our order form. You can also request to be invoiced by filling out and returning the order form. 25% Discount Offer JAFSCD is already a bargain, but you can get an even better deal when you join AgDevOnline FIRST, a community of practice website for food system and agriculture development professionals.
RWER issue 57: Ted Trainer For 50 years literature has been accumulating pointing out the contradiction between the pursuit of economic growth and ecological sustainability, although this has had negligible impact on economic theory or practice. A few, notably Herman Daly (2008), have continued to attempt to get the notion of a steady-state economy onto the agenda but it has only been in the last few years that discussion has begun to gain momentum. Jackson’s Prosperity Without Growth(200) has been widely recognised, there is now a substantial European ”De-growth” movement (Latouche, 2007), and CASSE (2010) has emerged. The argument in this paper is that the implications of a steady-state economy have not been understood at all well, especially by its advocates. Before offering support for these claims it is important to sketch the general “limits to growth” situation confronting us. The “limits to growth” case: An outline The following points drive home the magnitude of the overshoot.
Limits to Keynesianism Last week in the FT Martin Wolf sounded a Keynesian battle cry, passionately urging governments to redouble their efforts to use cheap funds to raise future wealth and so improve the fiscal position in the long run: It is inconceivable that creditworthy governments would be unable to earn a return well above their negligible costs of borrowing, by investing in physical and human assets, on their own or together with the private sector. Equally, it is inconceivable that government borrowings designed to accelerate a reduction in the overhang of private debt, recapitalise banks and forestall an immediate collapse in spending cannot earn a return far above costs. Mr Wolf is of course incorrect. What has the United States won for itself, after a decade of Keynesian largesse and cheap money policy? But the greatest flaw with Keynesianism now is that, like the economy itself, it has run squarely into the energy limit. –Gregor
OpenProcessing - Share Your Sketches! Economic Issues 11--Does Globalization Lower Wages and Export Jobs? Does Globalization Lower Wagesand Export Jobs? Matthew J. Slaughter and Phillip Swagel ©1997 International Monetary Fund September 1997 PDF File (112k) also available. Use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view pdf files. [Preface] [Does Globalization Lower Wages and Export Jobs?] [Basic Facts][Does Import Competition Affect Wages?] Preface The Economic Issues series aims to make available to a broad readership of nonspecialists some of the economic research being produced in the International Monetary Fund on topical issues. The following paper draws on material originally contained in IMF Working Paper 97/43, "The Effect of Globalization on Wages in the Advanced Economies, " by Matthew J. Does Globalization Lower Wagesand Export Jobs? Globalization—the international integration of goods, technology, labor, and capital—is everywhere to be seen. Basic Facts It is best to start with the facts. Global Integration Labor Market Developments Does Import Competition Affect Wages? Synthesis
The long slow make This weekend, World Maker Faire opens at the NY Hall of Science in Queens, our second annual event. Last year, I ran into Anil Dash at World Maker Faire and had a short conversation with him. Afterwards, he wrote a wonderful article, “Make the Revolution“. Yesterday, I sat down with Anil at the offices of his media consulting firm, Activate, to get some long-term thinking on the Maker movement. This conversation with Anil touches on the social context of making, and what it means for individuals, families and communities. The Flight of the Pringle - Past News Tom Lange knows more about flying Pringles than probably anyone alive. As director of modeling and simulation at Procter & Gamble Co., it's Lange's job to use finite element analysis to predict what something will smell like, whether a bottle will break, and if a Pringles chip will take flight. "We break things into a million little parts and then write simple math equations about how each little part affects the other parts," says Lange, who is responsible for the economic, as well as structural, analysis of different materials. His latest challenge was to analyze airflow around the unique double-saddle design of Pringles chips. "Air flow over Pringles has some very unusual behavior," says Lange. Though he won't say what modifications they made, "we were able to speed things up," says Lange, who adds, "I have the coolest job."
Interactive The World of Seven Billion The map shows population density; the brightest points are the highest densities. Each country is colored according to its average annual gross national income per capita, using categories established by the World Bank (see key below). Some nations— like economic powerhouses China and India—have an especially wide range of incomes.