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I have very little experience in politics or voting but from this limited knowledge I still feel like a majority of the voting territories (precints?) are sufficiently one sided. With that in mind, neither a vote for the majority candidate nor the minority one truly matters. Wouldn't the election be truly more representative of the populace with a popular vote?
Popular
Is the universe a graveyard? This theory suggests humanity may be alone.
Ever since we've had the technology, we've looked to the stars in search of alien life. It's assumed that we're looking because we want to find other life in the universe, but what if we're looking to make sure there isn't any?
10 September, 2018
According to the Great Filter theory, Earth might be one of the only planets with intelligent life. And that's a good thing (NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team [STScI/AURA]).
Surprising Science
Here's an equation, and a rather distressing one at that: N = R* × fP × ne × f1 × fi × fc × L. It's the Drake equation, and it describes the number of alien civilizations in our galaxy with whom we might be able to communicate. Its terms correspond to values such as the fraction of stars with planets, the fraction of planets on which life could emerge, the fraction of planets that can support intelligent life, and so on. Using conservative estimates, the minimum result of this equation is 20. There ought to be 20 intelligent alien civilizations in the Milky Way that we can contact and who can contact us. But there aren't any.
<p>The Drake equation is an example of a broader issue in the scientific community—considering the sheer size of the universe and our knowledge that intelligence life has evolved at least once, there should be evidence for alien life. This is generally referred to as <a href="https://www.space.com/25325-fermi-paradox.html" target="_blank">the Fermi paradox</a>, after the physicist Enrico Fermi who first examined the contradiction between high probability of alien civilizations and their apparent absence. Fermi summed this up rather succinctly when he asked, “Where is everybody"?</p> <p>But maybe this was the wrong question. A better question, albeit a more troubling one, might be “What happened to everybody?" Unlike asking <em>where</em> life exists in the universe, there's a clearer potential answer to this question: the Great Filter.</p> <h2>Why the universe is empty</h2> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODYyNDY1NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyODg2NDQ0N30.CS6fWyn__c2R7ocsfjA84M6v3wxWZxgpPoknhlsXOcw/img.jpg?width=980" id="05357" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="98f8b57216b571b176f890895b8cc8b2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <div class="image-caption"><em>The Very Large Array in New Mexico consists of 27 radio dishes designed to capture information from cosmic phenomena, like galactic collisions, the birth of stars, and others. It was also the point of the first contact form the movie "Contact" (ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)</em></div> <p>Alien life is likely, but there is none that we can see. Therefore, it could be the case that somewhere along the trajectory of life's development, there is a massive and common challenge that ends alien life before it becomes intelligent enough and widespread enough for us to see—a great filter.</p> <p>This filter could take many forms. It could be that having a planet in the Goldilocks' zone—the narrow band around a star where it is neither too hot nor too cold for life to exist—and having that planet contain organic molecules capable of accumulating into life is extremely unlikely. We've observed plenty of planets in the Goldilock's zone of different stars (there's estimated to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/science/cosmic-census-finds-billions-of-planets-that-could-be-like-earth.html" target="_blank">be 40 billion</a> in the Milky Way), but maybe the conditions still aren't right there for life to exist.</p> <p>The Great Filter could occur at the very earliest stages of life. When you were in high school bio, you might have the refrain drilled into your head “mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell." I certainly did. However, mitochondria were at one point a separate bacteria living its own existence. At some point on Earth, a single-celled organism tried to eat one of these bacteria, except instead of being digested, the bacterium <a href="http://bioscience.jbpub.com/cells/MBIO1322.aspx" target="_blank">teamed up with the cell</a>, producing extra energy that enabled the cell to develop in ways leading to higher forms of life. An event like this might be so unlikely that it's only happened once in the Milky Way.</p> <p>Or, the filter could be the development of large brains, as we have. After all, we live on a planet full of many creatures, and the kind of intelligence humans have has only occurred once. It may be overwhelmingly likely that living creatures on other planets simply don't need to evolve the energy-demanding neural structures necessary for intelligence.</p> <h2>What if the filter is ahead of us?</h2> <p>These possibilities assume that the Great Filter is behind us—that humanity is a lucky species that overcame a hurdle almost all other life fails to pass. This might not be the case, however; life might evolve to our level all the time but get wiped out by some unknowable catastrophe. Discovering nuclear power is a likely event for any advanced society, but it also has the potential to destroy such a society. Utilizing a planet's resources to build an advanced civilization also destroys the planet: the current process of climate change serves as an example. Or, it could be something entirely unknown, a major threat that we can't see and won't see until it's too late.</p> <p>The bleak, counterintuitive suggestion of the Great Filter is that it would be a <a href="https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html" target="_blank">bad sign</a> for humanity to find alien life, especially alien life with a degree of technological advancement similar to our own. If our galaxy is truly empty and dead, it becomes more likely that we've already passed through the Great Filter. The galaxy could be empty because all other life failed some challenge that humanity passed.</p> <p>If we find another alien civilization, but not a cosmos teeming with a variety of alien civilizations, the implication is that the Great Filter lies ahead of us. The galaxy should be full of life, but it is not; one other instance of life would suggest that the many other civilizations that should be there were wiped out by some catastrophe that we and our alien counterparts have yet to face.</p> <p>Fortunately, we haven't found any life. Although it might be lonely, it means humanity's chances at long-term survival are a bit higher than otherwise.</p> <div class="video-full-card-placeholder" data-slug="michio-kaku-michio-kaku-lets-not-advertise-our-existence-to-aliens" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
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The key to better quality education? Make students feel valued.
Building a personal connection with students can counteract some negative side effects of remote learning.
11 July, 2020
Future of Learning
- Not being able to engage with students in-person due to the pandemic has presented several new challenges for educators, both technical and social. Digital tools have changed the way we all think about learning, but George Couros argues that more needs to be done to make up for what has been lost during "emergency remote teaching."
- One interesting way he has seen to bridge that gap and strengthen teacher-student and student-student relationships is through an event called Identity Day. Giving students the opportunity to share something they are passionate about makes them feel more connected and gets them involved in their education.
- "My hope is that we take these skills and these abilities we're developing through this process and we actually become so much better for our kids when we get back to our face-to-face setting," Couros says. He adds that while no one can predict the future, we can all do our part to adapt to it.
<p><em>This video is part of <a href="https://z17.global/" target="_blank">Z 17 Collective</a>'s <a href="https://bigthink.com/future-of-learning/" target="_self">Future of Learning</a> series, which asks education thought leaders what learning can and should look like in the midst and wake of the coronavirus pandemic.</em></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<a href="https://bigthink.com/future-of-learning/" target="_blank"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM3MDgzOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNTIxMDU0Nn0.RnamarLhJ2fAVmEm83vDol1Fw3tvuAywPAeO0cQSgw4/img.jpg?width=980" id="52023" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2753f2ed9ee710dd63ed00327fad831f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt=""></a>
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Study details the negative environmental impact of online shopping
Frequent shopping for single items adds to our carbon footprint.
10 July, 2020
A truck pulls out of a large Walmart regional distribution center on June 6, 2019 in Washington, Utah.
Photo by George Frey/Getty Images
Politics & Current Affairs
- A new study shows e-commerce sites like Amazon leave larger greenhouse gas footprints than retail stores.
- Ordering online from retail stores has an even smaller footprint than going to the store yourself.
- Greening efforts by major e-commerce sites won't curb wasteful consumer habits. Consolidating online orders can make a difference.
<p>Walmart <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/7/7/21314767/walmart-plus-grocery-delivery-amazon-prime-membership-loyalty-program-walmart" target="_blank">recently announced</a> plans to battle Amazon in the massive online shopping market. At $98/year, Walmart+ offers many of the same perks, including same-day grocery delivery, as well as discounts at Walmart gas stations, one of the few things Amazon cannot offer (yet). Of course, it lacks the entertainment perks of Amazon Prime, such as the automatic subscription to numerous TV shows and movies.</p><p>Another important distinction: Walmart is offering discounts on fossil fuels while Amazon has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-creating-fleet-of-electric-delivery-vehicles-rivian-2020-2" target="_blank">promised</a> to create a fleet of 100,000 electric delivery vans in order to become completely carbon neutral by 2040. That said, Walmart does <a href="https://corporate.walmart.com/esgreport/environmental#climate-change" target="_blank">have plans</a> for reducing its carbon footprint as well. Unfortunately, these ambitious plans likely won't impact harmful consumer habits, which are rooted in the conveniences that online retailers offer. </p><p>Earlier this year, a <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.9b06252" target="_blank">study</a> from researchers in the Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, confirmed what many expected: online shopping is worse for the environment than going to the store yourself. This contradicts previous research championing online shopping. </p><p>While Amazon boasts of its greening efforts, the corporation's current protocols are horrendous. Many packages are glorified Matryoshka dolls. I recently ordered a three-inch cable that arrived wrapped in two boxes, padded by three layers of brown wrapping paper and plastic. </p><p>There seems to be no uniform shipping policies. Some books arrive in white padded envelopes, others in thin brown envelopes, some in boxes. While supply chain management is tricky, a company cannot both claim to be environmentally friendly <em>and</em> notoriously unreliable. Online retailers bank on convenience, not being stewards of nature. </p><p>The researchers investigated production distribution disparities in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs), such as personal care and home care products, between physical stores, "bricks and clicks" (fulfillment via physical store deliveries), and non-store-based e-commerce sites, known as "pure players." They conclude that the latter considerably increases greenhouse gas (GHG) footprints. </p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0ODQ0Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NzM2NjkzNn0.aFgxj8Ahqqulac7YUz8BI-erwlguufaS8USZE8wjjkU/img.jpg?width=980" id="9ea0e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="522b395495c97cd24b9f731850b2f911" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="piles of cardboard inside recycling warehouse" />
A pile of recycled cardboard sits on the ground at Recology's Recycle Central on January 4, 2018 in San Francisco, California.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
<p>A large part of the reason is speed. In a competitive market, pure players use the equation, <em>speed + convenience</em>, to drive adoption. This is especially relevant to the "last mile" GHG footprint: the distance between the distribution center and the consumer.</p><p>Interestingly, the smallest GHG footprint occurs when you order directly from a physical store—even smaller than going there yourself. Pure players, such as Amazon, are the greatest offenders. Variables like geographic location matter; the team looked at shopping in the UK, the US, China, and the Netherlands. </p><p>Sadegh Shahmohammadi, a PhD student at the Netherlands' Radboud University and corresponding author of the paper, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/26/tech/greenhouse-gas-emissions-retail/index.html" target="_blank">says</a> the above "pattern holds true in countries where people mostly drive. It really depends on the country and consumer behavior there."</p><p>The researchers write that this year-and-a-half long study pushes back on previous research that claims online shopping to be better in terms of GHG footprints.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"They have, however, compared the GHG emissions per shopping event and did not consider the link between the retail channels and the basket size, which leads to a different conclusion than that of the current study."</p><p>Online retail is where convenience trumps environment: people tend to order one item at a time when shopping on pure player sites, whereas they stock up on multiple items when visiting a store. Consumers will sometimes order a number of separate items over the course of a week rather than making one trip to purchase everything they need. </p><p>While greening efforts by online retailers are important, until a shift in consumer attitude changes, the current carbon footprint will be a hard obstacle to overcome. Amazon is trying to have it both ways—carbon-free and convenience addicted—and the math isn't adding up. If you need to order things, do it online, but try to consolidate your purchases as much as possible.</p><p>--</p><p><em>Stay in touch with Derek on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/derekberes" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DerekBeresdotcom" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://derekberes.substack.com/" target="_blank">Substack</a>. His next book is</em> "<em>Hero's Dose: The Case For Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy."</em></p>
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Personal Growth
Childhood sleeping problems may signal mental disorders later in life
Chronic irregular sleep in children was associated with psychotic experiences in adolescence, according to a recent study out of the University of Birmingham's School of Psychology.
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