Month: June 2011

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Now Even Macho Dudes Are Fighting for Justice

The San Francisco Giants posted its "It Gets Better" video on YouTube, becoming the first professional sports team to join the online campaign against gay bullying and homophobia.

Five Giants appear in the 58-second video — pitchers Matt Cain, Barry Zito and Sergio Romo, centerfielder Andres Torres, and batting coach Hensley "Bam Bam" Meulens.

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What if There Are Modes of Intelligence We Can’t Perceive Yet?

Consciousness pervades the universe

Could it be that consciousness is an equally important part of the consistent picture of our world, despite the fact that so far one could safely ignore it in the description of the well-studied physical processes? Will it not turn out, with the further development of science, that the study of the universe and the study of consciousness are inseparably linked, and that ultimate progress in the one will be impossible without progress in the other?

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There May Be Future Innovations We Can’t Imagine Yet

Nano-electrodes may lead to phones that charge in seconds, electric cars in minutes

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a three-dimensional nanostructure for battery cathodes that allows for dramatically faster charging and discharging without sacrificing energy storage capacity, says professor Paul Braun.

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Radical Optimism Is the Most Rebellious Stance You Can Take

“We are becoming healthier, cleaner, smarter, kinder, happier, and more peaceful.”

Matt Ridley gave a talk at the Long Now Foundation’s Seminar of Long Term Thinking called “Deep Optimism”. Ridley is the author of a recent book, The Rational Optimist, where he makes the case that human culture was created not by language (conventional wisdom) but by the exchange of ideas. That’s a useful theory, but not upsetting. Much more provocative and powerful is Ridley’s larger thesis that progress is real, enduring, widely spread, and for the near future, unlimited. In other words, civilization as a whole is (and has been) experiencing real progress, in most dimensions, and for most people, not just the privileged. And further, this goodness shows no signs of stopping.

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Justice Is Spreading

Bolivia passes laws granting the natural world basic rights

Bolivia is set to pass the world’s first laws granting all nature equal rights to humans. The Law of Mother Earth, now agreed by politicians and grassroots social groups, redefines the country’s rich mineral deposits as “blessings” and is expected to lead to radical new conservation and social measures to reduce pollution and control industry.

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Pronoia Means Expanding the Possibilities

Transgender rights grow in Pakistan, of all places

There has been little opposition to the decision by Pakistan’s Supreme Court to allow a third gender category, apart from male or female, on the national identity card. The BBC’s Aleem Maqbool meets transgendered people in Karachi buoyed by the ruling, but sceptical about whether it can really end the isolation they face.

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Every Now and then, Bathe Yourself in Glory

Get your minimum daily requirement of beauty

This was filmed between 4th and 11th April 2011. I had the pleasure of visiting El Teide. Spain´s highest mountain @(3718m) is one of the best places in the world to photograph the stars and is also the location of Teide Observatories, considered to be one of the world´s best observatories…The goal was to capture the beautiful Milky Way galaxy along with one of the most amazing mountains I know El Teide.