Time to ditch Kyoto : Article : Nature

Time to ditch Kyoto : Article : Nature: "The notion that emissions mitigation is a global commons problem, requiring consensus among more than 170 countries, lies at the heart of the Kyoto approach. Engaging all of the world's governments has the ring of idealistic symmetry (matching global threat with universal response), but the more parties there are to any negotiation, the lower the common denominator for agreement — as has been the case under Kyoto."

Time to ditch Kyoto : Article : Nature

Time to ditch Kyoto : Article : Nature: "Climate change is not amenable to an elegant solution because it is not a discrete problem. It is better understood as a symptom of a particular development path and its globally interlaced supply-system of fossil energy. Together they form a complex nexus of mutually reinforcing, intertwined patterns of human behaviour, physical materials and the resulting technology. It is impossible to change such complex systems in desired ways by focusing on just one thing."

Time to ditch Kyoto : Article : Nature

Time to ditch Kyoto : Article : Nature: "Influenced by three major policy initiatives of the 1980s, the Kyoto strategy is elegant but misguided. Ozone depletion, acid rain and nuclear arms control are difficult problems, but compared to climate change they are relatively simple. Ozone depletion could be prevented by controlling a small suite of artificial gases, for which technical substitutes could be found. Acid rain was mainly caused by a single activity in a single industrial sector (power generation) and nuclear arms reductions were achieved by governments agreeing to a timetable for mutually verifiable reductions in warheads. None of this applies to global warming."

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR)

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR): "India imports more than 70 percent of its oil consumption and half of its gas consumption. At the same time, India's energy dilemmas are shared by many states in East Asia. Asia accounts for a quarter of the world's energy consumption, meets 41 percent of its energy needs from burning coal, holds 3.5 percent of the world's proven oil reserves while having the world's second-, third-, fifth- and sixth-largest oil importers, namely Japan, China, South Korea and India."

Apocalypse Now? - Empire? - Global Policy Forum

Apocalypse Now? - Empire? - Global Policy Forum: "One reason for Johnson's end-of-days gloom is that he can identify no power center capable of resisting the forces that currently drive American foreign policy. He claims that because of the costliness of re-election campaigns and the insidious influence of Congressional lobbyists, 'the legislative branch of our government is broken.' An elected body that owes its incumbency partly to military contractors (who, in turn, provide not only campaign funding but also jobs for voters in swing districts) cannot reasonably be expected to swivel around and eliminate the corruption that nourishes it. In Johnson's words, 'our political system may no longer be capable of saving the United States as we know it, since it is hard to imagine any president or Congress standing up to the powerful vested interests of the Pentagon, the secret intelligence agencies, and the military-industrial complex.'"

$2.2 Million Grant Calls for Designing Computer Software to Predict the Unpredictable | UANews

$2.2 Million Grant Calls for Designing Computer Software to Predict the Unpredictable | UANews: "“The goal is to handle conflict areas in a manner that leads to stability and support so war is not necessary,” Rozenblit said. “That’s the philosophy behind much of the ATRAP effort.”"

$2.2 Million Grant Calls for Designing Computer Software to Predict the Unpredictable | UANews

$2.2 Million Grant Calls for Designing Computer Software to Predict the Unpredictable | UANews: "“Deep Blue is a good analogy because it illustrates the complexity of the problems, but in chess you have a finite court and a well-defined set of operations,” Rozenblit added. “Therefore, a move constitutes a valid move. But what we’re dealing with now is a world with no rules, with infinite possibilities and moves that defy logic, such as total disregard for the basic instinct of self preservation.”|"

$2.2 Million Grant Calls for Designing Computer Software to Predict the Unpredictable | UANews

$2.2 Million Grant Calls for Designing Computer Software to Predict the Unpredictable | UANews: "Deep Blue, the first computer program to beat a world chess champion, is an example of how ATRAP can respond to changing factors, Ten Eyck explained. “Every time its opponent made a move, Deep Blue recalculated all the possibilities and likely courses of action, eventually settling on the fittest move that would achieve its goal of winning the game.” However, chess is not an exact analogy because only two players are involved and the end goal is for one player to win. In unstable areas, winning often means establishing an environment in which the factions co-exist in a win-win situation or at least in an equilibrium in which there are no rewards, and some penalties, for disturbing the status quo, Rozenblit said."

$2.2 Million Grant Calls for Designing Computer Software to Predict the Unpredictable | UANews

$2.2 Million Grant Calls for Designing Computer Software to Predict the Unpredictable | UANews: "Genetic algorithms analyze situations in an evolutionary context, where actions with the highest “fitness factor” (chance of achieving the greatest success) gravitate toward one another, produce offspring and eventually rise to the top. Co-evolutionary algorithms analyze how the actions of one group affect the other groups and how those other groups adapt, or co-evolve, in response to the changing situation. For instance, if one group becomes more influential in an area where ethnic factions are vying for supremacy, the other groups will respond in ways that will try to make that first faction less influential, Rozenblit said. The algorithms are designed to recognize links and patterns within the data and to find connections, much as an investigative reporter might do when examining financial records - but on a vastly more complex and detailed scale."

$2.2 Million Grant Calls for Designing Computer Software to Predict the Unpredictable | UANews

$2.2 Million Grant Calls for Designing Computer Software to Predict the Unpredictable | UANews: "University of Arizona Professor Jerzy Rozenblit has received a $2.2 million grant to design computer software that will analyze volatile political and military situations. The software will predict the actions of paramilitary groups, ethnic factions, terrorists and criminal groups, while aiding commanders in devising strategies for stabilizing areas before, during and after conflicts. It also will have many civilian applications in finance, law enforcement, epidemiology and the aftermath of natural disasters, such as hurricane Katrina. The Asymmetric Threat Response and Analysis Project, known as ATRAP, is a massively complex set of computer algorithms (mathematical procedures) that sift through millions of pieces of data, considering many factors including social, political, cultural, military and media influences, said Rozenblit, who holds the Raymond J. Oglethorpe Endowed Chair in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the UA. The software can handle data loads that would overwhelm human analysts, while dispassionately exploring actions and behaviors based solely on the data, sidestepping human cultural biases that might prematurely rule out unorthodox or seemingly bizarre courses of action."

The Future of Electronic Paper - TFOT

The Future of Electronic Paper - TFOT: "Thirty-five years in the making, electronic paper is now closer than ever to changing the way we read, write, and study — a revolution so profound that some see it as second only to the invention of the printing press in the 15th century. Made of flexible material, requiring ultra-low power consumption, cheap to manufacture, and—most important—easy and convenient to read, e-papers of the future are just around the corner, with the promise to hold libraries on a chip and replace most printed newspapers before the end of the next decade."

The Future of Electronic Paper - TFOT

The Future of Electronic Paper - TFOT: "Thirty-five years in the making, electronic paper is now closer than ever to changing the way we read, write, and study — a revolution so profound that some see it as second only to the invention of the printing press in the 15th century. Made of flexible material, requiring ultra-low power consumption, cheap to manufacture, and—most important—easy and convenient to read, e-papers of the future are just around the corner, with the promise to hold libraries on a chip and replace most printed newspapers before the end of the next decade."

Computerworld - BT Futurist: AI entities will win Nobel prizes by 2020

Computerworld - BT Futurist: AI entities will win Nobel prizes by 2020: "I do a lot of reading. I try to keep in touch with what's happening. I read some business and news magazines and technology journals and Web sites, to try to keep up with what's happening around the world. And then I spend a lot of time listening to other people and giving them insights on what they think will happen on their respective fields. Reading consumes a lot of my time as well as being in touch with another people, one way or another. Then I spend a long time daydreaming, thinking about how the thing interacts, and gradually I come up with a view of the future. When I talk with other people about it of course they argue with me sometimes. For example someone can say: 'That is a very stupid conclusion,' and I think again. This allows me to refine my ideas by sharing it with other colleagues, and find better conclusions."

India, China to be world's new R&D hub- Indicators-Economy-News-The Economic Times

India, China to be world's new R&D hub- Indicators-Economy-News-The Economic Times: "LONDON: The focus of global research and development is shifting from the US to Asia, specifically India and China, a new study shows. In 10 years, the global research and development activity will shake loose the near-domination that the US has held for the past 50 years, and be split into thirds between the US, EU, and China and India in terms of efforts , funds and activity. The shift, finds the study, is not just in terms of expenditures and investments, but a structural upheavals in the R&D enterprise and the complex interplay between funders and performers."

Sam Harris: OnFaith on washingtonpost.com

Sam Harris: OnFaith on washingtonpost.com: "Now, it just so happens that religion has more than its fair share of bad ideas. And it remains the only system of thought, where the process of maintaining bad ideas in perpetual immunity from criticism is considered a sacred act. This is the act of faith."

Earth Policy Institute Book Byte - The Nature of the New World

Earth Policy Institute Book Byte - The Nature of the New World: "The world is facing the emergence of a geopolitics of scarcity, which is already highly visible in the efforts by China, India, and other developing countries to ensure their access to oil supplies. In the future, the issue will be who gets access to not only Middle Eastern oil but also Brazilian ethanol and North American grain. Pressures on land and water resources, already excessive in most of the world, will intensify further as the demand for biofuels climbs. This geopolitics of scarcity is an early manifestation of civilization in an overshoot-and-collapse mode, much like the one that emerged among the Mayan cities competing for food in that civilization’s waning years."

Gmail - [World Beat] We Get Religion

Gmail - [World Beat] We Get Religion: "The 19th century was the age of nations; the 20th century the age of ideologies; the 21st century is shaping up to be the age of fundamentalism. Thanks to Bush, Christian fundamentalism has attained political power in the United States. Jewish fundamentalism resists a political solution in Arab-Israeli conflict. Hindu fundamentalism has reshaped Indian politics. And Muslim fundamentalism has somehow blotted out the diversity of Islam in both politics and media. Communism is largely gone; liberalism is under attack; globalization is rampant. Fundamentalism offers a comforting set of bedrock truths at a time of flux and uncertainty."