Technology – Page 5 – Nullius in Verba

Sunday Funnies

Deep Optimism About Today and Tomorrow

Matt Ridley spoke in March 2011 at the Long Now FoundMatt Ridley spoke in March 2011 at the Long Now Foundation. Dr Ridley was the science editor for the Economist and has written several books. The latest is The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves.. Ridley makes compelling arguments that for me made sense, and forContinue reading “Deep Optimism About Today and Tomorrow”

Earth Hour 2011: In the dark, again

“I am ashamed at the number of things around my house and shops that are done by animals—human beings, I mean—and ought to be done by a motor without any sense of fatigue or pain. Hereafter a motor must do all the chores.” – Thomas Edison. During the World Exposition of 1873 in Vienna, ZénobeContinue reading “Earth Hour 2011: In the dark, again”

Run for your lives! It’s lunchtime at Dr. Strangefood’s

One evening, during the drearily sodden summer of 1816, Lord Byron and his friends read Fantasmagoriana, (a French translation of a German book of ghost stories—they were intellectuals after all) in his Villa Diodati in Switzerland (they were rich intellectuals). Afterward, Byron suggested they all write a horror story. Everyone did except Mary, the wifeContinue reading “Run for your lives! It’s lunchtime at Dr. Strangefood’s”

Self-sufficiency = poverty

In a recent letter to our local paper, a fellow wrote in that we should buy American products: “Americans all want to make top dollar for their labor but insist on buying the cheapest goods that they can find often made by countries with very low wages and lax environmental protections…We should always try toContinue reading “Self-sufficiency = poverty”

Driving Missed Daily: London to Edinburgh by electric car

According to the BBC, it “took 4 days, some serious thermal underwear, and copious amounts of waiting” to make the journey from London to Edinburgh (405 miles) by electric car (Mini adventure: how far can electric car go?). Such a trip should take seven to eight hours when driving a car powered by gas. ChristoperContinue reading “Driving Missed Daily: London to Edinburgh by electric car”

Are biotechnology and sustainable agriculture complementary or contradictory?

The Economist is hosting an online debate. At issue, biotechnology. The statement is: “This house believes that biotechnology and sustainable agriculture are complementary, not contradictory.” Defending the motion is Pamela Ronald, a professor of plant pathology, University of California, Davis. The number of people on Earth is expected to increase from the current 6.7 billionContinue reading “Are biotechnology and sustainable agriculture complementary or contradictory?”

A pox on humanity…and just in time for the holidays too!

The Fate of the World rests in your chip-laden hands. The holidays have arrived and you still don’t know what to get that dystopian gamer in the family, do you? You know the one: the moody, militant, and misanthropic neo-Malthusian who says that SimCity is for pussies. He’s sure that humanity is sucking down theContinue reading “A pox on humanity…and just in time for the holidays too!”

Is Africa turning its back on a green revolution?

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) says that West African farmers do not like what Kofi Annan’s AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa) is selling. What AGRA is selling is principally the tenets of Dr. Norman Borlaug’s Green Revolution: hybridized seeds, irrigation, and chemical pesticides and fertilizers for farmers. The WestContinue reading “Is Africa turning its back on a green revolution?”

Run for your lives–the killer Canola has escaped!

In mid August, a host of frantic tweets on Twitter reported a great disturbance in the Force. Being the intrepid green chronicler that I am, I immediately sprang into action—and made coffee. The disturbance? Well right now, as you read this, genetically modified rape plants (Brassica spp., a European plant of the mustard family) rampageContinue reading “Run for your lives–the killer Canola has escaped!”