Monthly Archives: June 2017

Startling In Eleven Dimensions: Forever Restless Brain

Posted on 30 June, 2017 by alfin2101

The Blue Brain Project in Lausanne is opening a new window on the mammalian brain: Multi-dimensional algebraic topology. They are still in the early stages of using this tool, but their discoveries are already startling — in 11 dimensions! According … Continue reading →

Posted in Connectome, Discovery, Human Brain | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Solar Panels: 300X More Toxic Waste Than Nuclear

Posted on 29 June, 2017 by alfin2101

Governments of Europe and California are willing to lay waste to their economies in pursuit of unreliable and destructive forms of energy — big solar and big wind. We already knew that these untrustworthy forms of energy bring instability to … Continue reading →

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How Reality is Like a Circle, and Not Politically Correct

Posted on 24 June, 2017 by alfin2101

Reality as it is incorporated into the brain is neither tame nor sequential. It is cyclical and wild. The sooner we learn to equip our young to deal with the evolving world as it is — rather than an idealised … Continue reading →

Posted in Childhood Development, Education | Tagged | 6 Comments

This’ll Kill Ya: They’re Coming For Your Electric Power

Posted on 22 June, 2017 by alfin2101

Up to 90% of the inhabitants of advanced nations would die within one year, if all electrical power were lost. No, I Am Not Talking About Electromagnetic Pulse Although both North Korea and Iran are steadily working to build the … Continue reading →

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Even in Gas-Rich USA, Nuclear Energy is the Future

Posted on 17 June, 2017 by alfin2101

Nuclear demand is high where air pollution is at its worst and where economic activity is fast and furious — in Asia generally, and in China and India in particular… China and India are building half of the 60 new … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Nuclear Power | Tagged | 11 Comments

Astounding Ghost Towers of Shanghai

Posted on 14 June, 2017 by alfin2101

A dangerous proportion of China’s vaunted GDP is based upon capital misallocation, overproduction, and “broken window” style investments. The “demolish and build” cycle so prominent in many Chinese cities is only one case in point. The era of economic reform … Continue reading →

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For the Good of the Species: Older Men Mating with Younger Babes

Posted on 13 June, 2017 by alfin2101

Re-published from the “Al Fin, You Sexy Thing!” blog Research published in PNAS reveals that the sperm of older men tends to have longer telomeres, conferring an advantage in longevity to offspring. Dr Dan Eisenberg and colleagues from the Department … Continue reading →

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Emerging Ghost Malls, Hotels, Office Buildings and Cities of Africa

Posted on 12 June, 2017 by alfin2101

We usually think of China when contemplating “ghost cities” and other ghost real estate properties. But the Chinese propensity to build infrastructure far in advance of actual demand is not limited to the Middle Kingdom. The Chinese Communist Party wants … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, China, Maintenance | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Why College Students & Recent Grads Can’t Think

Posted on 10 June, 2017 by alfin2101

Freshmen and seniors at about 200 colleges across the U.S. take a little-known test every year to measure how much better they get at learning to think. The results are discouraging . From a report: At more than half of … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Groupthink, University | Tagged | 4 Comments

On the Verge of an AI-pocalypse?

Posted on 5 June, 2017 by alfin2101

For 70 years we have been told that we are on the verge of a machine apocalypse — the near-total replacement of humans by machines across society. But the gap between the reality and the hype remains wide. Artificial Intelligence: … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Brain, Machine Intelligence | Tagged | 2 Comments

The 3 Empires of the 21st Century

Posted on 2 June, 2017 by alfin2101

Just over 100 years ago at the dawn of the 20th century, the world was awash in empires. Once strong empires such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Tsarist Russian Empire, The British Empire, The German Empire, The … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Empire, Europe, Peter Zeihan, Russia | Tagged , | 2 Comments