The notion of the Anthropocene was first proposed twenty-four years ago by the atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen. It denotes a geological epoch defined by human activity, and remains an unofficial designation, with the International Commission on Stratigraphy—whose processes appear to be geologically slow—yet to approve it for technical use. Nevertheless, in that quarter of a... Continue Reading →
Science
23 November 2024 This book tells three stories about the impact of machines on the human condition: on the way we work, on our freedom, and on our physical survival. Each story contains within it a vision of heaven and hell: the promise of relief from work, freedom to think our own thoughts, and almost … Continue reading Presentation for the Miami Book Fair – Mindless
America’s new chief of health, Robert Kennedy Jr, has promised to review the Nation’s health policies and make leeching great again. ”America is a great country, but, we’ve gone off the rails a little,” said Junior. ”We’re vaccinating this and... Read More ›
There’s been a a certain amount of negativity floating around lately. So, let’s talk about a toxic, venomous freak of nature and the parasite that afflicts it. Biology warning, this gets slightly squicky. Let’s start with the toxic, venomous freak of nature: the Portuguese man-o’-war. If you’ve spent a lot of time in warm ocean […]
https://paradigmshifton4zzz.com/2024/07/15/s2e30-technocriticism-with-richard-king/
By the excellent Bruce Menzies, in The Fremantle Shipping News:
"Bilbies are one of Australia’s most popular native marsupial species, but sadly also one of its most threatened, so those that look after bilbies are very important."
An astonishing thing is happening at sea, but the government, backed by an entire “scientific” discipline, seems determined to stifle it. By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 27th September 2024 Over the past three weeks, I’ve been watching one of the greatest natural spectacles on Earth, here in south Devon. At a certain station […]
So my wife took this picture in our garden yesterday, here in Kigali, Rwanda: Take a close look. This little bird — about the size of an American cardinal, or a European robin — is facing us. It’s also facing the sun, though you can’t see that. It is holding two twigs with its little […]
So in the last couple of decades we’ve discovered that many plants rely on networks of soil fungi to bring them critical trace nutrients. This is a symbiotic relationship: the fungal network can access these nutrients much better than plants can, and in return the plants provide the fungus with other stuff — particularly energy, […]