Cement production releases more CO2 than all the world’s trucks. The more humans there are, the more cement is needed to make residences, workplaces, and recreational buildings for them.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-23/green-cement-struggles-to-expand-market-as-pollution-focus-grows
Sweden burns most of its non-recyclable trash, generating energy in the process and possibly producing less air pollution than burying the waste in landfills.
https://energynews.us/2013/10/17/midwest/is-burning-garbage-green-in-sweden-theres-little-debate/
One important climatology assumption is that human industrial activity has made the skies cloudier, which has partly offset global warming since white clouds reflect light back into space, keeping the planet cooler. The assumption might be wrong, in which case climatologists have overestimated how much CO2 heats up the planet.
https://www.nature.com/news/cloud-seeding-surprise-could-improve-climate-predictions-1.19971
Some astronomers think we could find intelligent alien life by looking for planets that have lots of air pollution (e.g. – unnatural methane concentrations and gases like CFCs). I think it’s a bad strategy, as advanced aliens would probably use clean energy and would have found ways to cleanse their atmospheres of pollutants. VERY advanced aliens that were non-organic could also live on almost any planet or moon, so it makes little sense to even focus our gaze on Earth-like planets. Our Moon could have ancient, underground cities full of alien machines for all we know.
https://www.astrobio.net/alien-life/unintelligent-life-cfcs/
Ten years ago, a survey of American children revealed that 1/3 of them didn’t think the planet would be habitable by the time they grew up. Most of them are 18 or older now.
https://www.treehugger.com/culture/no-kidding-one-in-three-children-fear-earth-apocalypse.html
Here’s a funny roundup of past predictions that flopped.
https://www.boredpanda.com/posts-that-did-not-age-well/
Fifty years ago, the Cuyahoga River “caught on fire,” helping to impel the modern American environmentalist movement. Monumental progress has been made since then.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a28106182/cuyahoga-river-fire-cleveland-epa/
The vast majority of plastic waste found in the oceans comes from China and a handful of other Asian countries. For its size, the U.S. does a good job preventing its plastic waste from going this route.
https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/17969/Plastic_waste_inputs_from_land_into_the_ocean.pdf
Robert Downey Jr. thinks we could have robots pick up all the trash on Earth in as little as a decade. His timeline is of course wrong, but I’ve predicted that it will happen during the 22nd century. Having seemingly ingenious insights like this gets a lot easier once you start thinking of robots as humans that work for free, and then you start listing all the things that humans can do (like picking trash off the ground).
https://www.businessinsider.com/robert-downy-jr-will-use-robotics-ai-to-clean-earth-2019-6
If we stopped caring about aesthetics and only cared about efficiency, would be cover the exterior walls of our buildings with vertical solar panels? It’s the sort of thing Skynet would do.
https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2017/07/wall-mounted-solar-trend/
A dirty secret about solar panels is that they break after 25-30 years, can’t be fixed, and are expensive to recycle. Today’s solar power boom will probably cause a huge increase in electronic waste starting in the 2030s.
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/what-will-happen-solar-panels-after-their-useful-lives-are-over
Conversely, battery recycling is extremely efficient. Close to 100% of the metals in a battery–both in the power-storing cells and in the structural casings–can be recovered through standard processes. Fears of a “global lithium shortage” once electric cars become popular are overblown.
http://www.mdpi.com/2032-6653/6/4/1039/pdf
A team funded by Google has re-done several of the most (in)famous lab experiments from around 30 years ago that “proved” cold fusion worked, and confirmed with high certainty that none of them work.
https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2019/06/11/google-investigates-cold-fusion
Several copies of the Soviet-built “RBMK” nuclear reactor that was shown in the recent HBO docu-series Chernobyl are still in use in Russia. They were upgraded after the nuclear meltdown and have operated without incident.
http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-power-reactors/appendices/rbmk-reactors.aspx
While the Fukushima nuclear reactor melted down during the 2011 earthquake/tsunami, the Onagawa reactor didn’t, even though it was closer to the epicenter. This was mostly due to Onagawa being built on higher ground, so the wave couldn’t flood and cripple its vital machinery.
https://thebulletin.org/2014/03/onagawa-the-japanese-nuclear-power-plant-that-didnt-melt-down-on-3-11/
Before we build autonomous robot butlers, we might have remote-controlled robot butlers piloted by humans. Manual labor jobs could be outsourced to anyone with an internet connection.
https://qz.com/1642691/richard-baldwin-on-the-inhumanely-fast-next-phase-of-globalization/
Facebook is planning to make a digital currency called “Libra.”
https://apnews.com/e072208933054935a14a749800f4983d
A “deepnude” app that can allegedly interpolate a woman’s nude body onto a real photo of her has been created (and shut down after an uproar). It’s only a matter of time before other apps can do this realistically by combining different images of the same woman, taken from different angles.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48799045
Walmart is using an AI camera surveillance system to catch thieves who don’t scan all their items at self-checkout kiosks.
https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-tracks-theft-with-computer-vision-1000-stores-2019-6?r=US&IR=T
Some Las Vegas casinos are planning to start using “robot bartenders” for lack of a better term, that can precisely make hundreds of different types of alcoholic drinks. Predictably, casino workers unions are enraged.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2019/06/10/mgm-resorts-las-vegas-jobs-machines-robots/1415103001/
Unmanned boats and submarines could be used soon to make high-res maps of the seafloor. Someday, there will be a 1:1 virtual copy of the Earth.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48473701
An app that changes the appearances of a person’s eyes during videophone calls so it seems like they’re looking at the person on the other end has been created. I think this will be very beneficial.
https://youtu.be/rDUtBZXWrsE
After seeing the problems Samsung had with its prototype foldable smartphones, Huawei has wisely decided to delay the debut of its own. This is a great case study of the risks of being a “first-mover.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48636452
Samsung has patented a “rollable phone.”
https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/12/18663094/samsung-patent-rollable-phone-displays
Samsung has unveiled a wall-sized, 8K TV that ‘is designed to never turn off and can change into a digital canvas best matching the owner’s interior needs and mood… [It] will display a variety of “curated art”, including paintings, photographs and video art, as well as customisable pictures with digital frames.’ I’ve predicted this sort of device will become common in middle-class households in the 2030s.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/9284646/samsung-292-inch-8k-tv-release-date-price/
The director of Google’s Quantum AI Lab predicts “quantum supremacy” will be achieved by the end of this year.
https://www.quantamagazine.org/does-nevens-law-describe-quantum-computings-rise-20190618/
Cryogenically frozen human sperm has no known “shelf life.” It stays good indefinitely.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-06/esoh-ldo062019.php
A man has used California’s assisted suicide law to arrange his cryogenic freezing. This is the best way to do it, since the time between death and preservation is kept to a minimum, so the fewest possible brain cells die.
https://gizmodo.com/california-man-becomes-the-first-death-with-dignity-p-1831652934
Here’s an interesting graphic showing the statuses of all drugs and therapies that might extend human longevity.
https://www.lifespan.io/the-rejuvenation-roadmap/
Sea urchins don’t seem to age and might be naturally immortal.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0531556519300592
The evidence of a genetic link between high intelligence and some types of mental illness has grown stronger.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00175/full
The theory of Lamarckian evolution is actually partly right.
https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2019/06/19/unto-the-fourth-generation-in-nematodes
Here’s a list of known human genetic disorders that are caused by mutations to single genes or to small numbers of genes. Whenever human genetic engineering becomes common, we should start out by using it to purge these mutations from the genepool, rather than by trying to make super-geniuses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_genetic_disorders
The long-term “human limit” to high-intensity physical exertion is about 2.5 times of the baseline energy expenditure. In other words, if your body burns 2,000 calories per day under normal conditions, then you could adopt a lifestyle where you burned up to 5,000 calories a day and sustain it indefinitely. More than that, and you’d physically break down.
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-48527798
The U.S. Army wants American companies to start making copies of Russian guns and ammo so we can supply them to armed groups overseas that are used to them. A secondary goal might be to undermine Russia’s arms exports.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/us-army-wants-american-companies-make-ammo-russian-designed-weapons-60582
China is quickly making amphibious transport dock ships. It now has eight “Type 071” ships, which are very similar in terms of size and capabilities to America’s San Antonio class transport dock ships.
https://www.janes.com/article/89152/china-increases-construction-rate-of-amphibious-assault-ships
Clear, color photos show an Iranian patrol boat removing a dud mine from the hull of a Japanese-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/28574/u-s-releases-new-evidence-of-irans-involvement-in-tanker-attacks
Iran shot down a U.S. spy drone over the Persian Gulf, and President Trump surprisingly did not retaliate. Maybe he has inside knowledge that the drone had actually strayed into Iranian airspace as they claim, or that the attack was ordered by a rogue commander and not by the Iranian government.
https://politi.co/2Y4ANXThttps://politi.co/2Y4ANXT
China’s exported military UAVs are apparently unreliable.
https://www.janes.com/article/89036/jordan-puts-chinese-uavs-on-sale
Pilot error probably caused the rent crash of the Japanese F-35.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/10/asia/japan-f-35-fighter-crash-cause-hnk-intl/index.html
The Northrop B-2 stealth bomber is now a familiar sight, but its early competitor, built by Lockheed, is almost forgotten.
https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/lockheeds-senior-peg-the-forgotten-stealth-bomber-1534057907
Boeing has demonstrated a drop-in kit that lets the UH-60 helicopter fly unmanned.
https://www.janes.com/article/89088/lockheed-martin-flies-unmanned-technology-aboard-uh-60-for-first-time
U.S. spies have allegedly inserted malware into Russia’s power grid in retaliation for Russian hacking against U.S. infrastructure.
https://gizmodo.com/the-us-has-allegedly-placed-malware-deep-in-russias-pow-1835547743
Sarin nerve gas is very hard to make and to weaponize, and the Sarin production equipment that Russia claims it seized from Syrian rebels is almost certainly fake. Russia probably manufactured the exhibit to prop up its long-running claims that nerve gas attacks in Syria are being done by forces other than Bashar al-Assad’s, Russia’s ally.
https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2019/06/21/an-idiotic-exhibit
The last samples of rinderpest–an awful virus that once caused misery to millions of humans and livestock–have been destroyed.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48629469
A scientist debunks a Washington Post exposé about Pfizer allegedly covering up a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease that they found. If one of the premier newspapers in the U.S. is guilty of this kind of scientific illiteracy and alarmism, is it any surprise that average Americans are also so ignorant of science and so taken with conspiracy theories?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/pfizer-had-clues-its-blockbuster-drug-could-prevent-alzheimers-why-didnt-it-tell-the-world/2019/06/04/9092e08a-7a61-11e9-8bb7-0fc796cf2ec0_story.html
The myth that American girls are hitting puberty earlier thanks to hormones or other chemicals in the food supply (mostly the meat supply) is wrong. It is wholly or almost wholly due to rising obesity rates among children and to overdiagnosis by doctors. Body fat produces the hormone “leptin,” and leptin levels determine when puberty starts in girls.
https://www.webmd.com/children/features/obesity#1
Also consider that, thanks to malnourishment and hence low leptin levels, girls in medieval England didn’t start puberty until 14, whereas the average age today is 10.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00766097.2015.1119392
The FDA is finally taking real action against fraudulent “stem cell clinics.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/fda-wins-groundbreaking-case-against-for-profit-stem-cell-company/2019/06/03/498373fa-864e-11e9-98c1-e945ae5db8fb_story.html
The Apollo Program cost at least $288 billion in today’s U.S. dollars.
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/casey-dreier/2019/reconstructing-the-price-of-apollo.html
An ideal airport has long, parallel runways that are spaced far enough apart from each other to let planes use them simultaneously, without risk of collision. Atlanta’s international airport is, by these standards, excellent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QZ3eozyQfU&t=636s
‘Once pollen makes contact with your clothing or your hair, it will likely never leave. Some pollen have spikes, and many are coated in lipids that act like glue. The pollen count may go down a little with each cycle in a washing machine, but they won’t go away.’
https://qz.com/1635897/the-us-is-using-pollen-to-track-illegal-drugs-like-fentanyl/
All the little bumps and squares on the surfaces of space ship models in sci-fi films are called “greebles.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeble
Will future cars have giant, external airbags?
https://www.foxnews.com/auto/external-airbags-could-turn-cars-into-pufferfish-for-safety
Electric car engines are almost silent, making them quieter in operation than gas-powered cars. However, the noise difference between the two steadily shrinks as vehicle speed increases and the overall noise signature is dominated by sounds produced by air friction and tires. This means electric cars will lower the amount of traffic noise in areas where vehicles move slowly–such as cities and suburban neighborhoods–but will do little to make highways quieter.
https://cleantechnica.com/2016/06/05/will-electric-cars-make-traffic-quieter-yes-no/
Over the course of just two days in 1886, a small army of workers changed the gauges of 11,500 miles of railroad track in the southern U.S. to match the rest of the nation.
http://southern.railfan.net/ties/1966/66-8/gauge.html