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A Vision for Getting to 2012

John L. Petersen — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:24:53 -0700

This essay is excerpted from A Vision for 2012: Planning for Extraordinary Change, published here with permission from Fulcrum Publishing.

We first imagine our future.

After that, we live it.

Until now, this discussion has been largely descriptive.

Acoustic Black Holes

Bill Machon — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:02:32 -0700

Acoustic black holes have been created artificially by physicists in an attempt to prove the existence of Hawking radiation. The sound-trapping black holes are made "...by coaxing a material to move faster than the speed of sound in that medium, so that sound waves traveling within it cannot keep up, like fish swimming in a fast-moving stre

SF's Recycling Revolution

Jessica Pherson — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:55:22 -0700

The Board of Supervisors in San Francisco has recently voted for the most vigorous recycling laws in the United States. The new set of laws, which involves separating waste into three different colored receptacles, will take full effect in fall, 2009. Fines for the failure to have receptacles range from $100-500, although a cessation on fines lasting until July 2011 will be put in place for specific properties in an effort to assist people getting used to the new program.

Beyond Life Inc: Talking with Douglas Rushkoff

Peggy Nelson — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:32:31 -0700

In his new book, Life Inc., media ecologist and author Douglas Rushkoff tells the story of how the corporation has made us over into its own image, how we have altered our reality to serve its needs, and how we can take it back. In this conversation, Douglas illuminates the Dark Ages, reveals why there's a God on our money, and explains what we're really buying into when we buy that mortgage. We have the code to open-source everything, he says. Time to go to work!

Evolver Spores: Beyond Money

Daniel Pinchbeck — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:51:46 -0700

"Beyond Money: What Comes Next?"

The current financial meltdown has revealed deep structural flaws in the Capitalist system that have yet to be addressed by governments or institutions. What alternatives do we as individuals and communities have when faced with money issued by a centralized authority that props up military expansion, maintains artificial scarcity, and feeds the insatiable greed of a tiny financial elite?

Caribou Crash

Matt Toussaint — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:54:46 -0700

A recent study published in Global Change Biology reports an average of a 60 percent reduction in caribou populations worldwide. Investigators looked at 58 different herds from Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia, and Siberia, and found that at least 34 were in serious decline. While a few herds are increasing in size, some are taking much larger losses. For example, a herd in Labrador that was 50,000 strong in the mid 20th century has shrunk to less than 1,000 animals. There are many contributing fact

Quantum Teleportation

Kovvy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:49:51 -0700

Quantum entanglement links particles together in such a way that the changes in one particle, no matter how far away it is, can be measured by studying the changes in the other particle. Usually, doing this requires many light sources and many receivers, but Australian scientists recently discovered a way to make do with one source and one receiver.

Strategies for 2012

Marisa Smith — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:00:30 -0700

A Vision for 2012: Planning for Extraordinary Change has been pronounced "required reading for the next president," by Senator Gary Hart. In his latest book, John L. Peterson, of the futurist think tank The Arlington Institute, combines empowerment with practical suggestions for how governments and businesses can adopt a new paradigm for our rapidly changing world.

Biomimicry: Designing with Nature

Gil Friend — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:15:14 -0700

This article is excerpted from The Truth About Green Business, available now from FT Press.

Biomimicry: learning from life

Lick the Frog

Tollevin S Williams — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:38:54 -0700

Self-Aware Plants

Jessica Pherson — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:13:02 -0700

According to research published in Ecology Letters, a UC-Davis experiment reveals that sagebrush have the ability to “look out for their own kind.” It appears that damaged plants (ones that had their branches clipped) were able to recognize the fact that they had lost a part of them, and consequently, reacted by sending out a type of unseen chemical to drive away predators, such as grasshoppers.

Open Source Farming

Nathan Clark — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 06:53:01 -0700

The Open Source Ecology movement is bringing individuals together through the Internet to develop tools that can create replicable "resilient communities." One of the main goals of this collaboration is to reduce the cost of building such communities to that of scrap metal and labor. Their online ebook, The Global Village Construction Set gives instructions on just how to do this.

Cosmovision: An Aya Odyssey

Rak Razam — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:32:55 -0700

The following is an excerpt from Aya: A Shamanic Odyssey now available from Icaro Publishing.

"The vine has spread her tendrils across the world and a genuine archaic revival was underway. My bags were packed; South America beckoned, and the ancient mysteries of the rainforest awaited. I wanted in on it..."

Turbines on a Wire

Remi Gurak — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:57:23 -0700

Existing power lines could become home to wind turbines thanks to a design concept from Victoria University in New Zealand. The design takes a series of spiral wind turbines and places them onto power lines, generating electricity through electromagnetic induction and putting that energy right back into the power grid.

Rapping about the Masculine

Propaganda Anonymous — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:33:48 -0700

Bread and Circuses

Renee Verdier — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:35:02 -0700

"Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions -- everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses." -- Juvenal, Roman Satirist

The Eight-Circuit Brain

Antero Alli — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:22:36 -0700

The following is an excerpt from The Eight-Circuit Brain: Navigational Strategies for the Energetic Body, forthcoming from Vertical Pool Publishing.

"We soared, we crashed, we burnt out, we're tuning back in."

Be Your Own Best Guinea Pig!

Evolver Health Editor — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:11:42 -0700

Dear Reality Sandwich readers,

We invite you to participate in an experiment with us.

In the months and years to come, we intend to use our new social network, Evolver.net, as a place to assess the claims and test the value of many alternative health products, treatments, and services.

Exorcising Consumerism

Erin Shaw — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:31:01 -0700

Crop Circle Ceremonial Complex

Bridget Algiere — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:17:47 -0700

When an array of circles popped up in a rural farm near the village of Damerham, the U.K. government’s historic preservation society English Heritage investigated. They found that the circles are the result of buried archaeological structures interfering with plant growth and not the vast designs created by flattening crops. That fact however does not diminish the remarkable discovery.

New Energy Now

Remi Gurak — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:01:09 -0700

The New Energy Movement is an organization that has set out to promote the use of advanced, clean and sustainable energy sources across the planet. It seeks to bring the search for energy sources away from the corporations and into the hands of the public; hoping to foster a shift to using cleaner energy sources. Believing education to be the key to this change, the organization is hosting conferences to encourage discussions on the topic, as well holding briefings for journalists, policymakers and investors.

The Devil Made You Do It. Again

Lisa Kirchner — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:54:57 -0700

It wasn't the sexiest event that day -- Alan Alda was touting new inventions over at Baruch while our favorite Paul Miller (aka DJ Spooky) was putting in his time exploring parallel universes at NYU. But it wouldn't be fair to say World Science Festival's debate at the 92 Street Y was the opposite of sexy. If nothing else, taking on one of the most vexing questions of all time -- do humans have free will? -- in front of a New York audience took chutzpah.

The Luna-Bomber

Marisa Smith — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:35:42 -0700

Last Thursday NASA launched two spacecrafts destined for the moon. The first, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, has just entered the moon’s orbit . For the next year it will hover 31 miles above the surface of the moon in order to gather high-resolution 3-D maps of the moon’s surface. Compiling data on lunar resources, features, and topography is a crucial step in plans to build a human outpost there by 2020.

Doing More With Less

Nathan Clark — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:08:27 -0700

From the insulated concrete foundations made from recycled waste wood to their creative use of rainwater harvesting, Seattle's Case Architects are re-examining materials and resource consumption with the completion of Columbia City Green. These single-family homes also feature green roofs made out of plants to help prevent runoff, solar pre-heating water systems, and radiant floor heating systems. Case believ

The Ubiquitous Matrix of Lies

Charles Eisenstein — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:37:46 -0700

Let's begin with beer. Near my home I drive past a billboard advertisement for Coors Light. The slogan is, "Coors rocks Harrisburg." Now, does anybody actually believe that Coors does in fact "rock Harrisburg?" No. Does the Coors corporation itself believe it? No. Does anyone believe that Coors believes it? No. It is a lie, everyone knows it is a lie, and no one cares. Everyone automatically writes it off as an ad slogan, an image campaign.

Beehive Cities

Marisa Smith — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:48:32 -0700

"Meshworking evolutionary intelligences in the global village for global wellbeing" summarizes Dr. Marilyn Hamilton's revolutionary thinking in her latest book Integral City: Evolutionary Intelligences for the Human Hive.

E-Bikes Plugged Into China

Kovvy — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:33:47 -0700

Electric pedal-bikes are quiet, have no emissions, and are much cheaper than cars. That, and the fact that the government encourages the bikes by making them an official technology and putting in extensive bicycle lanes, is why they outnumber cars in China four to one.

Big Discovery in Little China

Jessica Pherson — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:44:57 -0700

Fossils of a 159 million year old limusaurs inextricabilis in China fills a missing gap between the evolution of dinosaurs and birds. The creature was from the theropod herbivore family, one of the dinosaurs found to suggest a previous connection of Asia to other continents such as Africa, supporting the Pangaea theory.

Craigslist for Volunteers

Tollevin S Williams — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:28:36 -0700

Part search engine, part aggregator, All For Good is a new attempt at bridging the gap between the supply and demand of community service.

The Iron Law of Fantasy Finance

Les Leopold — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:50:15 -0700

The following is an excerpt from The Looting of America: How Wall Street's Game of Fantasy Finance Destroyed Our Jobs, Pensions, and Prosperity—and What We Can Do About It, by Les Leopold, now available from Chelsea Green.