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Singularity Summit 2010
The possibility that accelerating scientific developments in information technology, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence might converge into a “singularity” has been the subject of science and science fiction writing for some time. The idea most simply described is that at some point, perhaps by the year 2030, developments in these fields will reach a point [...]
Full StorySpaceX Falcon 9 Launch – success!
Update on previous post: The SpaceX company of Elon Musk launched its Falcon 9 into orbit for the first time today – this is one of the private spacecraft that NASA is counting on for future access to space. After one aborted launch attempt that shut down automatically when telemetry readings were not correct, a [...]
Full StorySpaceX Launch of Falcon 9 today – watch it
The SpaceX company of Elon Musk is scheduled to launch its Falcon 9 for the first time today – this is one of the private spacecraft that NASA is counting on for future access to space. Live launch video feed is available right now. Watch if you can…
Full StoryUnderwater view is not clear
If you missed it today, this underwater diving expedition for ABC news by Philippe Cousteau Jr. and Sam Champion is worth watching. I have a foreboding that humans will sacrifice just about anything to acquire the last drops of oil, no matter the risks or the alternatives. I am not sure why we are so [...]
Full StoryFuture of Energy
I just finished a day of consulting with GHD Engineering in Kuala Lumpur (I am doing a long range planning project with them) and we discussed, among many trends, the future of energy. As I flew back and forth I was reading the recent book by James Hansen, Storms of My Grandchildren. In it he [...]
Full StoryWorkforce Health 2010: New Deal, New Dividend
This week I am in San Diego to attend and provide a closing keynote to the Employee Health Care Conference, a program of the Conference Board and Coopers and Towers Watson. In February we presented the same event in New York. My topic is 21st Century Health Care. While health care reform was up in [...]
Full StoryThe Future of Outsourcing
Recently I had the chance to sit down with Kate Vitasek, author of the new book, Vested Outsourcing, with Mike Ledyard and Karl Manrodt. Outsourcing is a controversial but fundamental business activity – as Kate notes Peter Drucker used to say “Do what you do best and outsource the rest,” and the idea of finding [...]
Full StoryClimate Science Video – Is it Convincing?
As we watched the last days of the Olympics the past few days, I zeroed in on television ads sponsored by the American Oil & Gas industry – lots of these ads – and by the American coal industry. Both emphasized, with patriotic overtones, how important they are to creating jobs, and to achieving national [...]
Full StoryBack to the Future Transportation
One of the amusing, and sad, things about discussions of the future of transit in the U.S. is that it is so often discussed in one of two ways, both intended to make it seem rather outlandish. First, it is discussed as something vaguely foreign – sure, they have widespread transit in Europe, but we [...]
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