-
Is Artificial Intelligence good for humans?
Our understanding of how the brain and AI work has advanced considerably. The best model of the human brain we have today dates from the 1970s and is based on neural networks. For each characteristic, a knowledge or emotion is associated. We reconstruct concepts whenever we need them. Our memories are linked to each other…
-
Price ceilings and price floors
Food, housing, energy, education, health and arms cannot be left to the market. We need to control prices. These are not consumer goods. They are commodities essential to human needs. The very reason for civilization is to be able to provide these necessities. They are not goods to enrich a part of the population. People…
-
When might is right
The main consequences of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza are: It’s time for the West to act with legitimate force to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine within its 2014 borders, and to impose a ceasefire in Gaza. This is in the interests of the people on the ground, and in the interests of…
-
Stop the all-concrete approach
Concrete dominates today’s buildings. And yet it has major shortcomings. It consumes a lot of water and energy, produces a lot of CO2 and lasts only 80 years at best for reinforced concrete. What’s more, it doesn’t provide sufficient protection from the heat, leading to increased use of air conditioning, which in turn exacerbates global…
-
Solar Oven
Secretive energy startup backed by Bill Gates achieves solar breakthrough-CNN: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/19/business/heliogen-solar-energy-bill-gates/index.html Before that: This climate problem is bigger than cars and much harder to solve – Vox: https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/10/10/20904213/climate-change-steel-cement-industrial-heat-hydrogen-ccs
-
Why wait 2000 years to adopt a natural and more efficient way to grow food?
“The recycling of organic wastes was perfected over centuries in Europe. But their Nitrogen content is only 0.5% and the heavy labor of collecting and distributing up to 40 tons of wastes per acres of city execra resulted in an overall loss of 60% of energy loss per cultivated acre. Green manuring was used by…
-
Energy and Civilization – Vaclav Smil
How energy makes life possible – Bill Gates: https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Energy-and-Civilization?WT.mc_id=12_15_2017_07_EOYBooks2017EnergyCivilization_BG-TW_&WT.tsrc=BGTW&linkId=45942398 Energy and Civilization – Vaclav Smil
-
Tomorrow – Chap 2: L’énergie
#demainlefilm: https://www.demain-lefilm.com Trailer: https://youtu.be/NUN0QxRB7e0 Demain présenté à la COP 21: http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/environnement/demain-le-road-movie-citoyen-de-melanie-laurent-est-presente-a-la-cop-21_1741493.html Annonce de l’accord de Paris: https://youtu.be/F0EZPC0gka8 “Demain”, un phénomène de société – Le Monde: http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2016/02/03/demain-un-phenomene-de-societe_4858559_3244.html French actress Mélanie Laurent steps behind the camera for ‘Tomorrow,’ an environmental doc that offers solutions – LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-melanie-laurent-tomorrow-20170419-story.html Où voir le film: https://www.demain-lefilm.com/ou-voir-le-film