By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 26 Jul 22
Mock up of future development of Sri Lanka’s port city of Colombo (Source: YouTube) Sri Lanka is deeply embroiled in a crisis. Fuel shortages have led to protests. Food protests have led to riots. The President fled the country and then resigned by email. A new President was just elected on Wednesday, July 20, but he is no outsider – he has been Prime Minister six times already. The crisis appears to be the result of a convergence of factors, all hitting simultaneously in just the past couple of years: a collapse in tourism revenue due to COVID, greater fossil
Mock up of future development of Sri Lanka’s port city of Colombo (Source: YouTube) Sri Lanka is deeply embroiled in a crisis. Fuel shortages have led to protests. Food protests have led to riots. The President fled the country and then resigned by email. A new President was just elected on Wednesday, July 20, but he is no outsider –
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 30 Jun 22
For most of human history, it was not routine for people to brush their teeth. But by the 1960s, majorities of most Western countries had a daily oral hygiene routine. Because oral hygiene is so central to wider health, the mainstreaming of dental care had a huge impact on the global disease burden, reducing the risks and prevalence of diabetes, respiratory infections, death from pneumonia and heart disease. The humble toothbrush played a key role in improving global health and quality of life. But the mainstreaming of toothbrushing took place quite quickly, over just a few decades before and shortly
For most of human history, it was not routine for people to brush their teeth. But by the 1960s, majorities of most Western countries had a daily oral hygiene routine. Because oral hygiene is so central to wider health, the mainstreaming of dental care had a huge impact on the global disease burden, reducing the risks and prevalence of diabetes,
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 4 May 22
In August of 2021, Elon Musk revealed the Tesla Bot at the company’s “AI Day” event. At the time the announcement was so unexpected that some journalists, pundits, and analysts believed it to be a joke. But Musk subsequently clarified not only that the humanoid robot is a real product in development, but that the Tesla Bot, nicknamed Optimus, “[has] the potential to be more significant than the vehicle business.” On a recent earnings call, Musk said, “I was surprised that people did not realize the magnitude of the Optimus robot program … The importance of Optimus will become apparent
In August of 2021, Elon Musk revealed the Tesla Bot at the company’s “AI Day” event. At the time the announcement was so unexpected that some journalists, pundits, and analysts believed it to be a joke. But Musk subsequently clarified not only that the humanoid robot is a real product in development, but that the Tesla Bot, nicknamed Optimus, “[has]
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 24 Mar 22
A global food crisis is looming, with high natural gas prices driving up the cost of ammonia fertilizer and the war in Ukraine threatening this year’s crops from both there and Russia. The consequences of mishandling this crisis could be dire. Research by complexity theorist Yaneer Bar-Yam suggests that high food prices are directly connected to riots. High food prices precipitated the 2011 ‘Arab Spring’, the 2007 Mexican ‘tortilla riots’, and numerous other incidents of unrest. Now we might be on the cusp of a new wave of chaos if we are not able to manage the global supply. To
A global food crisis is looming, with high natural gas prices driving up the cost of ammonia fertilizer and the war in Ukraine threatening this year’s crops from both there and Russia. The consequences of mishandling this crisis could be dire. Research by complexity theorist Yaneer Bar-Yam suggests that high food prices are directly connected to riots. High food prices
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 14 Mar 22
Industry in Russia Conventional analysts are looking at the Russian invasion of Ukraine through the lens of military strategy and geopolitical rivalry. But the invasion and its geopolitical consequences can only be properly understood in the context of wider transformations in the global economy, driven by disruptions unfolding across every major sector, namely, energy, transportation, food, information and materials. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is, in other words, symptomatic of a much wider process: the economic and military unwinding of the age of extraction as an entirely new system emerges. Six years ago, RethinkX’s co-founders Tony Seba and James Arbib
Industry in Russia Conventional analysts are looking at the Russian invasion of Ukraine through the lens of military strategy and geopolitical rivalry. But the invasion and its geopolitical consequences can only be properly understood in the context of wider transformations in the global economy, driven by disruptions unfolding across every major sector, namely, energy, transportation, food, information and materials. The
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 10 Feb 22
The first in a new series about how the ‘pattern of disruption’ explains how our societies and economies change and evolve, and where they might be heading. It’s often assumed that ‘disruption’ is a uniquely modern phenomenon. But it’s not. Technology disruptions can be found at the heart of major societal and civilizational upheavals going back to even the earliest human settlements. At RethinkX, we’ve discovered that the rapid and transformative adoption of new technologies – and with them new ideas, new behaviors, and new business models – has followed a repeatable pattern for at least hundreds of years, maybe
The first in a new series about how the ‘pattern of disruption’ explains how our societies and economies change and evolve, and where they might be heading. It’s often assumed that ‘disruption’ is a uniquely modern phenomenon. But it’s not. Technology disruptions can be found at the heart of major societal and civilizational upheavals going back to even the earliest
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 31 Jan 22
The JP Morgan Asset and Wealth Management Annual Energy Paper is one of the most influential publications among global investment and business leaders in the energy sector. But JP Morgan Chase’s 2021 Annual Energy Paper is a deeply flawed piece of work that promotes some serious misinformation about the clean energy transformation, reinforcing the mistaken belief – often promulgated by fossil fuel companies – that it will be slow, expensive and require onerous state intervention. Coming from JP Morgan Chase – the world’s fifth largest bank, and the largest lender to fossil fuel industries – the paper informs the
The JP Morgan Asset and Wealth Management Annual Energy Paper is one of the most influential publications among global investment and business leaders in the energy sector. But JP Morgan Chase’s 2021 Annual Energy Paper is a deeply flawed piece of work that promotes some serious misinformation about the clean energy transformation, reinforcing the mistaken belief – often promulgated
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 2 Dec 21
We are witnessing the start of the most profound disruption of the energy sector in over a century. Like others throughout history, this disruption is the result of a convergence of several key technologies – namely, solar photovoltaics, onshore wind power, and lithium-ion batteries (SWB). A 100% SWB energy system is possible as soon as 2030 in regions that choose to lead, and because energy accounts for over half of all greenhouse gas emissions, the clean disruption of this sector will be a large part of how we can reduce emissions by 90% by 2035. A common question that arises
We are witnessing the start of the most profound disruption of the energy sector in over a century. Like others throughout history, this disruption is the result of a convergence of several key technologies – namely, solar photovoltaics, onshore wind power, and lithium-ion batteries (SWB). A 100% SWB energy system is possible as soon as 2030 in regions that choose
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 22 Nov 21
This is part 2 of a series. See part 1 on ‘How Prosperity Solves Problems’ Understandable despair The trouble with climate change – as I explained the Part 1 of this series – is that the incumbent authorities to which the public looks for guidance, including most especially the scientific community, have failed to provide a coherent and compelling plan for how to correct course. This understandably leads to despair. Being told that the way to meet the enormous challenge of climate change is with personal sacrifice, lifestyle change, and other forms of individual austerity rather than with collective
This is part 2 of a series. See part 1 on ‘How Prosperity Solves Problems’ Understandable despair The trouble with climate change – as I explained the Part 1 of this series – is that the incumbent authorities to which the public looks for guidance, including most especially the scientific community, have failed to provide a coherent and compelling
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 22 Nov 21
Decision-makers at the COP26 UN climate summit might do well to remind themselves of a game called ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon’. Because only by understanding the interconnection of the world’s problems can we recognize how they can be rapidly solved by addressing them systemically at the root. Invented in the 1990s by three college students, ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon’ was based on the idea that prolific actor Kevin Bacon has appeared in films with a vast number of other actors. For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger was in the movie ‘Dave’ with Laura Linney who was in ‘Mystic River’ with
Decision-makers at the COP26 UN climate summit might do well to remind themselves of a game called ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon’. Because only by understanding the interconnection of the world’s problems can we recognize how they can be rapidly solved by addressing them systemically at the root. Invented in the 1990s by three college students, ‘Six Degrees of Kevin
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