In The News

End of Oil Dependence and Geopolitics: BBC

James Landale January 4, 2020
Technological advances in renewable energy are putting purveyors of fossil fuels on notice. For example, solar energy is advancing with improved site locations, molten salt and mirrors. Battery and electric vehicle technologies are also advancing, and such developments will impact global politics, suggests James Landale. “From that moment, much of the history of the 20th Century can be seen...

Indifference to Muslim Woes: Financial Times

Edward Luce January 2, 2020
The world’s western leaders would express outrage if China detailed a million Christians or if India pointedly excluded refugees who identify as Christians. About 1.8 billion people, a quarter of the world’s population, are Muslim. “By downplaying much larger-scale violations against Muslims, [western leaders] jeopardise what remains of the west’s human rights credibility,” argues Edward Luce for...

Norms for Cyberspace Stability: Project Syndicate

Joseph S. Nye Jr. December 30, 2019
The internet is vital communications infrastructure. The Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace with experts from 16 nations met over three years to consider security challenges, rules and norms for information technology. The aim: encourage safe, secure use of cyber services, manage change in peaceful and organized ways, resolve disputes and reduce tensions while relying on...

A No-Commute Culture: Irish Times

Chris Horn December 27, 2019
Commuting carries economic costs. Businesses of all types should try to be innovative, encouraging remote work arrangements and reducing long commutes. “Cloud computing enables any staff member to access software and data resources from anywhere, provided of course that there is a reasonable internet connection,” writes tech CEO Chris Horn for the Irish Times. “Given that many functions of a...

Satellites Help Solve the Climate Crisis: DW

Olivera Zivkovic December 26, 2019
Over the course of three decades, satellite images from space agencies like NASA and ESA demonstrate how Earth’s changing weather patterns affect land, water and communities. Satellites monitor the rising carbon dioxide levels, rising seas, flooding, global temperatures, tree loss and gains, and more. A mission under development known as the Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program, or EnMap, “...

Slowbalization: Lobe Log

John Feffer December 25, 2019
The slow food movement – relaxing, eating local, focus on tradition – has influenced slowness in other areas of life including education and travel. “To a world addicted to ever greater connection speeds, ever faster modes of transportation, and ever more caffeinated feats of multitasking, the go-slowers recommend a perverse resistance to the frenzied scherzo of modern life in favor of a more...

Questions for a New Era of Business: Fortune

James Manyika and Lareina Yee December 24, 2019
A new era of business, much like the industrial revolution or the internet boom, is underway. Companies that recognize the trends including aging populations, new technologies, growing economies, improved health and increased influence of developing economies will flourish. Challenges include inequality, stagnant incomes, populism, climate change, rivalries that disrupt trade and concentration of...