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Category Archives: Science
Gravity Didn’t Turn Off (and sadly, neither did the internet)
I recently met up with a friend for lunch to catch up. He mocked me. “It didn’t fail,” he said, struggling to contain himself. “What didn’t fail?” I asked. “Gravity. It didn’t turn off.” Then he laughed uncontrollably. This was … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Science
Tagged Albert Einstein, August 12, conspiracy theory, Erwin Schrödinger, general relativity, geodesic, gravity, Isaac Newton, Max Planck, Niels Bohr, Philipp von Jolly, physics, relativity, Richard Feynman, science, spacetime, Werner Heisenberg, Wolfgang Pauli
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Paleolithic Software and Molecular Magic: The Biohacks of 2126
In response to my A Second Look at Life Expectancy: What the 1918 Flu Tells Us About the COVID-19 Pandemic, I received a fascinating question: “The 1918 flu had no ICU, no mRNA platform, not even a flu shot. We … Continue reading
Posted in Science
Tagged 1918, 2020, 2126, biohack, biology, COVID-19, epidemic, flu, future, history, immunology, immunotherapy, influenza, longevity, medicine, mRNA, pathogen, psychology, science, Spanish Flu, vaccination, virology, virus
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The Retirement Problem: What Happens When You Don’t Have to Die?
Recently, we waded into the deep end of the genetic pool to talk about extreme human longevity. We looked at how medical engineering is steadily rewriting the limits of human life, and what happens to a finite planet when humans … Continue reading
Posted in Science, Society
Tagged compound interest, compounding, death, economy, employment, generational wealth, immortality, longevity, retirement, science, Social Security, wealth
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Beyond Death: When Longer Lives Meet a Finite Planet
One of the comments I received after writing “The Age of Re-engineering: How Science Is Rewriting the Limits of Human Life” sparked a fascinating, if sobering, question. It was both simple and profound: “What happens if we actually succeed? What … Continue reading
Posted in Science
Tagged birth rate, death rate, Dyson Sphere, Dyson Swarm, Earth, elves, environment, generational spacecraft, homesteading, immortality, JRR Tolkien, lifespan, longevity, Mars, medicine, Moon, mortality, overpopulation, population decline, population explosion, recycling, reproduction, science, space, terraforming, Venus
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Magic of the Future or Just Another Green Mirage?
In response to my recent piece on a civilization poisoned by progress, a reader commented: “Just as we’ve had better energy options, like sodium ion batteries, there’s been fossil fuels alternatives that are far more sustainable. Just algae tech alone … Continue reading
Posted in Science, Technology
Tagged algae, energy, environment, food, kelp, plastic, pollution, public health, recycling, science
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A Second Look at Life Expectancy: What the 1918 Flu Tells Us About the COVID-19 Pandemic
My recent article on the evolution of life expectancy generated a fascinating series of questions that I will attempt to address in the coming weeks. One reader pointedly asked about the historical U.S. life expectancy chart. If you look at … Continue reading
Posted in Science
Tagged 1918, 2020, COVID-19, epidemic, flu, Germ Theory of Disease, history, influenza, life expectancy, longevity, medicine, miasma, mortality rates, mRNA, pandemic, pathogen, science, Spain, Spanish Flu, vaccination, virology, virus, World War I
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Laying Track in the Cloud: Why AI is the Railroad Mania of Our Time
Two centuries ago, the world was intoxicated by the smell of burning coal and the screech of iron wheels. It was the dawn of the railroad era. A blinding convergence of new technology and aggressive westward expansion that forged the … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Science, Technology
Tagged AI, artificial intelligence, economy, future, gold rush, innovation, railroads
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The Age of Re-Engineering: How Science Is Rewriting the Limits of Human Life
Just a century ago, the average human life expectancy in the United States hovered around 65 years. When the Social Security Act was signed into law in 1935, that exact age was chosen as the baseline for eligibility. The choice … Continue reading
Posted in Science
Tagged aging, Aubrey de Grey, biology, CRISPR, DNA, gene editing, gene therapy, genetics, genome, healthspan, life, life expectancy, lifespan, longevity, longevity escape velocity, medicine, Shinya Yamanaka, Steven Austad
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Beyond Plastic: Rediscovering the Materials That Served Humanity for Millennia
When I recently wrote about our civilization quietly poisoning itself with microplastics, one reader asked a perfectly reasonable question: “If not plastic, then what?” It’s the right question. We’ve become so accustomed to plastic that many people can’t imagine life … Continue reading
Posted in Science, Society, Technology
Tagged cast iron, ceramics, chemistry, cookware, glass, history, microplastics, nanoplastics, plastic, pollution, public health, science, silicone, steel, technology
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A Civilization Poisoned by Progress: From Lead Pipes to Microplastics
History rarely repeats itself perfectly, but it often rhymes in chilling ways. We often look back at the giants of the past and wonder how a civilization so advanced, so structured and so dominant could simply dissolve. No collapse comes … Continue reading
Posted in Science, Society
Tagged dystopia, economy, extinction, future, history, Imperial Rome, lead, microplastics, nanoplastics, plastic, pollution, public health, science, technology
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