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The Collapse of Science: We Need a new Paradigm for the Third Millennium

The Collapse of Science: We Need a new Paradigm for the Third Millennium I am not saying that all science is corrupt, but if images like the one above exist, it means that there is a serious problem of corruption in science. And note that it comes from “Scientific American” — not exactly your average tabloid! It […]

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Who is the Emperor of the World? The New Age of Epistemic Dominance

Who is the Emperor of the World? The New Age of Epistemic Dominance King Kamehameha 1st of Hawai’i (1736 – 1819) practiced the art of gift-giving during his reign, as it is typical of kings and rulers. It is remembered that he said, “E ‘oni wale no ‘oukou i ku’u pono ‘a’ole e pau.” “Endless is […]

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Climate Change and Resource Depletion. Which Way to Ruin is Faster?

Climate Change and Resource Depletion. Which Way to Ruin is Faster? What could bring down the industrial civilization? Would it be global warming (fire) or resource depletion (ice)? At present, it may well be that depletion is hitting us faster. But, in the long run, global warming may hit us much harder. Maybe the fall […]

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Dust thou art, and unto Dust shalt thou return. The Collapse of Concrete Buildings

Dust thou art, and unto Dust shalt thou return. The Collapse of Concrete Buildings We don’t know yet what could be the causes of the recent collapse of the condo building in Surfside, Florida. But it is likely that the corrosion of the reinforced concrete was one of the main reasons that weakened the structure of the […]

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Four Scenarios for a Catastrophic Future: Part III (final)

Four Scenarios for a Catastrophic Future: Part III (final) This is the third and final part of Rutilius Namatianus’ (RN) reassessment of some scenarios for the future originally proposed by David Holmgren. RN takes a position that goes against the standard interpretation that sees our problems originating mainly by climate change. Instead, RN believes that […]

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Four Scenarios for a Catastrophic Future (part II)

Four Scenarios for a Catastrophic Future (part II) This is the second part of the series of posts by “Rutilius Namatianus” (RN) that re-examines the 4 scenarios of the future proposed by David Holmgren in 2009 (first part). In general, you may find that RN’s interpretations are rather extreme, but I do believe that there is some […]

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Four Scenarios for the Future (part one)

Four Scenarios for the Future (part one) Ten years ago, David Holmgren brought out a thesis he titled ‘future scenarios,’ wherein he laid out some reasoning for two main axes along which the next few decades could be characterized and developed four main scenarios which corresponded to the four general quadrants laid out by his axes of […]

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Stereocene: The Future of Earth’s Ecosystem

Stereocene: The Future of Earth’s Ecosystem During the “golden age” of science fiction, a popular theme was that of silicon-based life. Above, you can see a depiction of a silicon creature described by Stanley Weinbaum in his “A Martian Odyssey” of 1934. The creature was endowed with a metabolism that would make it “breathe” metallic […]

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The Next Ten Billion Years

The Next Ten Billion Years This is a post that I published on “Cassandra’s Legacy” in 2012. It was one of the most successful posts ever published on that blog, it was reposted, discussed, and criticized in several places, including a long rebuttal by John Michael Greer, “The ArchDruid.” I commented on Greer’s comments here. I think it […]

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The Long Term Perspectives of Nuclear Energy: Revisiting the Fermi Paradox

The Long Term Perspectives of Nuclear Energy: Revisiting the Fermi Paradox This is a revisitation of a post that I published in 2011, with the title “The Hubbert hurdle: revisiting the Fermi Paradox“ Here, I am expanding the calculations of the previous post and emphasizing the relevance of the paradox on the availability of energy for […]

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The Great Turning Point for Humankind: What if Nuclear Energy had not been Abandoned in the 1970s?

The Great Turning Point for Humankind: What if Nuclear Energy had not been Abandoned in the 1970s? The Italian translation of Walt Disney’s book, “Our Friend, the Atom,” originally published in 1956. It was a powerful pitch of the nuclear industry to sell a completely new energy system to the world. It could have been […]

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Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and you’ll find that he already knew that better than you

Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and you’ll find that he already knew that better than you Image from “Pexels” The UN program “The Ocean Decade” is starting this year. It is supposed to be ten years of research, assessment, and development of […]

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Waiting for the end of the world – Sugar and the Information Paradox.

Waiting for the end of the world – Sugar and the Information Paradox. Amelia the Amoeba is the protagonist of a chapter of my book ” Before the Collapse ” (Springer 2019). She is a Naegleria Fowleri who has the rather nasty habit of devouring human brains but, apart from this, she kindly lent herself to be […]

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Cataclysms and the Megamachine: Is History a Cycle or a Progression?

Cataclysms and the Megamachine: Is History a Cycle or a Progression? This image by the Tuscan painter Piero della Francesca exudes such power that it may truly blow your mind. Apart from the mastery of the composition, the perfection of the details, the fascination of the human figures, a canvas in the hands of a […]

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The Future of the Oceans: The two Souls of the Club of Rome

The Future of the Oceans: The two Souls of the Club of Rome I was very happy when I finally managed to find a copy of the old report to the Club of Rome, “The Future of the Oceans” by Elizabeth Mann Borgese. A book published in 1986, one of a long series of reports that the […]

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