Ed Dowding

Category: Science & Technology

Stop the domino effect concept for business solution and interve

Civilisation Continuity Planning

I was thinking about how governments respond to ‘surge capacity’ issues like this.  Part of the reason they don’t drill for BIG things as well as they could is that they’re TOO complex. So rather than work out and maintain relationships with tonnes of organisations which you’re ‘very unlikely’ to  need, you create emergency laws ...

This won’t hurt a bit, but you may feel a bit of a prick.

If you’re the type to shut up do what you’re told, do one of the things on this page (ie complete this form) and give it to your GP. If you think you’re not the type to shut up do what you’re told, you should realise that by NOT doing what’s asked in the previous sentence, the Government ...

The changing nature of human communication. And all the cool things which happen now.

wThis is summary notes from an essay (“Forthcoming Major Revolution in Global Dialogue“) which goes quite deeply into the opportunities for robots / artificial intelligence to engage meaningfully with us. However in reading it, it became obvious that there was more to it than that. It is a great analysis of the modes and capabilities of ...

Do-It-Yourself Brain Stimulation Has Scientists Worried – Slashdot

“Dave Siever always fancied himself as something of a musician, but also realized he did not necessarily sing or play in perfect key. Then he strapped on the electrodes of a device made by his Edmonton company, and zapped his brain’s auditory cortex with a mild dose of electricity. The result, he claims, was a ...

Why doesn’t Monsanto fix energy?

There’s a very simple way we can tell that GMO companies (a) don’t understand genetic modification very well, and (b) aren’t interested in solving humanity’s biggest challenges. Ask yourself what you would do if you ran Monsanto. If it was me, I’d look at the reasons people don’t like my work: it’s tampering with complex ...

Evidence-based policies

Let’s face it, we know a lot of stuff now. Every day, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data — so much that 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone. This data comes from everywhere: sensors used to gather climate information, posts to social media ...

A speech by HRH The Prince of Wales to the Future for Food Conference, Georgetown University, Washington DC

“President de Gioia, Ladies and Gentlemen. Having such fond memories of my last visit, it is a great joy to be invited back to Georgetown to speak at this conference. It certainly makes a change from making embarrassing speeches about my eldest son during wedding receptions…!” Source: https://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/media/speeches/speech-hrh-the-prince-of-wales-the-future-food-conference-georgetown-university

The Scale of Genuine Civilisation

14 big trends to watch in 2013

http://radar.oreilly.com/2012/12/14-trends-for-2013.html

The 32 most alarming charts from the government’s climate change report | Grist

Oh Jesus.. There is nothing to see here. Move along. Everything will be fine. Keep flying, buying stuff you don’t keep, and eating meat at least 5 times per week. I SAID MOVE ALONG: NOTHING TO SEE HERE. The 32 most alarming charts from the government’s climate change report | Grist.

The world is on track for disaster. Who wants to buy a farm?

Written by MIT researchers for an international think tank, the Club of Rome, the study used computers to model several possible future scenarios. The business-as-usual scenario estimated that if human beings continued to consume more than nature was capable of providing, global economic collapse and precipitous population decline could occur by 2030. However, the study ...

Manifestos for life

Posters in the Hub Westminster with typographical design by Robert Reed. Source: This is Reed

Please watch these two films.

Overview OVERVIEW from Planetary Collective on Vimeo. http://www.overviewthemovie.com/ Chasing Ice This is the trailer – there are UK screenings happening now. http://www.chasingice.co.uk

Staples To Offer 3D Printing Services

This is a big (albeit totally expected) deal. Sit up and pay attention if you aren’t already. As Chris Anderson (Mr TED talks / Wired) recently said: 3D printing is going to be bigger than the internet. Mcor and Staples announced today a deal in which Mcor will supply their paper-based 3D printers to Staples ...

And this is only talking about cars

Watch from the 30 minute marker for about 10 minutes. The average American car uses 100 times its weight in ancient plants (converted to oil). 7/8th of the energy never gets to the weheel is lost in engine, idling, driveline, etc 1/2 of the remaining 1/8th heats tyres, road, air Only 1/20th of the mass ...

Sustainable shipping

Beautiful. \ Beautiful design, inspirational engineering, powerful performance, technically and commercially viable 100% renewable powered 3000dwt sailing cargo ships. Created from proven, off-the-shelf technology B9 Ships are ready-to-go. B9 Ships showcase the economic opportunities arising from the need to transition to a circular low carbon economy. Their construction creates manufacturing jobs and their operation reduces ...

Two more quotes from Forty days of Rain

It takes no great skill to decode the world system today. A tiny percentage of the population is immensely wealthy, some are well off, a lot are just getting by, a lot more are suffering. We call it capitalism, but within it lies buried residual patterns of feudalism and older hierarchies, basic injustices framing the ...

How to make legal documents interesting

http://www.legislation.gov.uk Ok.. maybe it’s not interesting, but it’s certainly a big step towards better.

Give And Take: a proposal for ad-hoc micro-volunteering

This was my hastily written (5 min) idea suggestion to www.seedhack.com last night: Just come from a meeting with many amazing businesses, most of whom have small tasks which they’d like completing. And they have supporters who really want to give them help. But managing the relationship takes time end effort. Maybe we can help ...

How algorithms shape our world

Kevin Slavin argues that we’re living in a world designed for — and increasingly controlled by — algorithms. In this riveting talk from TEDGlobal, he shows how these complex computer programs determine: espionage tactics, stock prices, movie scripts, and architecture. And he warns that we are writing code we can’t understand, with implications we can’t ...