Showing 11 - 20 of 90
Time runs short in India's climate crisis
Oped, Published on 09/08/2023
» 'I have never seen climate carnage on the scale of the floods here in Pakistan. As our planet continues to warm, all countries will increasingly suffer losses and damage from climate beyond their capacity to adapt. This is a global crisis, it demands a global response," wrote UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in his tweet at the end of his two-day solidarity trip to Pakistan in September last year.
'Insect apocalypse' coming to your neighbourhood
Oped, Adam Minter, Published on 03/08/2023
» An unusually large influx of tiny insects called aphids have been sucking on Dallas-area pecan trees in recent weeks. After they've had their fill, they "excrete" the waste out their back ends and onto cars, driveways and sidewalks. "Texas is covered in a sticky, icky goo," declared a Dallas Morning News headline. Other news outlets offered tips on how to clean up the mess.
Live to swim, and swim to live
News, Editorial, Published on 17/07/2023
» Friday was Shark and Ray Awareness Day, an annual reminder to raise awareness of these incredible creatures that roam the oceans. Sharks and rays belong to a group of fish known as elasmobranchs, which includes over 1,200 species.
Greenland's ice sheet cannot wait
Oped, Published on 05/07/2023
» The days in Nuuk, Greenland's capital, are growing longer. Even after setting, the sun lingers below the horizon, casting a glow over the rocky coastal landscape. On sun-drenched days, when the skies are as blue as the ocean, one can admire Greenland's striking mountains. Their jagged summits contrast with the smoothness of their lower slopes, fjords shaped by the relentless force of ancient ice sheets. Here and there, splashes of fragrant brownish-green tundra punctuate the scene. Everywhere, the snow is melting, making for slushy treks through a wet and heavy snowpack.
Can democracy survive the polycrisis?
Oped, George Soros, Published on 16/06/2023
» We are living in troubled times. Too much is happening too fast. People are confused. The Columbia University economic historian Adam Tooze has, indeed, popularised a word for it. He calls it a "polycrisis".
Is AI out for your job?
Life, Tatat Bunnag, Published on 29/05/2023
» Science fiction is an ideal genre for people who wonder about, hope or fear for what can become real one day. One of the most famous themes in this genre is a dystopian future where technology develops malicious intent, and decides to take over the world with catastrophic consequences for humanity. While we're still not there yet, fiction is no longer fiction, and such wild imaginings have become reality, or at least some of them.
Navigating the risks of AI will require a team effort
Oped, Published on 11/03/2023
» Recent months may well be remembered as the moment when predictive artificial intelligence went mainstream. While prediction algorithms have been in use for decades, the release of applications such as OpenAI's ChatGPT3 -- and its rapid integration with Microsoft's Bing search engine -- may have unleashed the floodgates when it comes to user-friendly AI.
The molecular line between life and death
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 01/03/2023
» 'We are but one very small company [among] many hundreds of companies using AI software for drug discovery and de novo design. How many of them have ... the know-how to find the pockets of chemical space that can be filled with molecules predicted to be orders of magnitude more toxic than VX?" This is a warning that requires a little explanation.
Rights under threat from emerging tech
News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 16/11/2022
» A key challenge facing human rights globally today is the advent of emerging technologies that mutate rapidly and potentially beyond human control. The UN Human Rights Council in Geneva has thus singled out for special study during the next couple of years four areas of concern: autonomous weaponry, neurotechnology, cyberbullying, and green technology (inevitably linked with climate change). What are the prospects for enjoying the fruits of such technologies and pre-empting their negative implications?
This Is how tourism must shift to actually address climate change
Published on 14/11/2022
» If you’re concerned about climate change and wondering whether you should travel to far-flung places as often as you used to before the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s a valid question. You’re not going to like the answer.