Posts Tagged ‘article’
Apr
Long Cycles and the Possibility of a Third World War Coming Soon
by adminadam in articles
| Basándose en la teoría de los ciclos largos de la actividad económica, la tercera guerra mundial podría empezar en los próximos 10 años, según un académico ruso.
En esta década le espera al mundo una “gran inestabilidad política y tecnológica” y los países que no se adapten al nuevo ciclo se retrasarán unos 50 años en su desarrollo, afirmó el miembro de la Academia de las Ciencias de Rusia y profesor de la Universidad Estatal de Moscú (UEM) Serguéi Málkov, en una reunión en el Consejo Presidencial de las Ciencias y la Educación de Rusia. Un grupo de científicos de la UEM analizaron los ciclos económicos y el nivel de conflictos militares en los últimos 200 años y concluyeron que estos dos fenómenos están relacionados entre sí. En la moderna economía mundial capitalista, los ciclos largos, también llamados ondas de Kondratiev, son unas fluctuaciones cíclicas de largo plazo, entre 40 y 60 años, compuestas por fases de ascenso y de descenso de entre 20 y 30 años. Durante la fase de ascenso, el crecimiento rápido de la economía provoca también la necesidad de cambios sociales. Sin embargo, el desarrollo social no alcanza el ritmo económico, abriendo la fase de descenso, que se caracteriza por crisis económicas y ánimos depresivos en la sociedad. Eso, por su parte, obliga a reestructurar el sistema económico, político y social. Las dos guerras mundiales del siglo XX demuestran las fases de crisis de las ondas de Kondratiev. La Primera Guerra Mundial (1914-1918) puso fin a cuatro grandes imperios (el ruso, el austrohúngaro, el otomano y el alemán). La Segunda Guerra Mundial (1939-1945) es considerada como el conflicto armado más grande de la humanidad al implicar a 61 países en los que vivía un 80% de la población mundial. Fue la única guerra en la que se emplearon armas nucleares. Mientras la Primera Guerra Mundial pertenece a la llamada onda de la revolución técnica (1880-1940), la Segunda corresponde a la de la revolución científico-técnica (1940-1985). Los partidarios de la teoría de los ciclos largos consideran que actualmente está terminando la quinta onda de la moderna era capitalista, que es la onda de la revolución de la información y las telecomunicaciones (1985-2015). Los científicos admiten que el paso al siguiente ciclo hipotético puede implicar un tercer conflicto mundial. Algunos ven señales de la llegada del nuevo ciclo en la crisis financiera y las tensiones en la península de Corea. FUENTE: actualidad.rt.com, 7/4/13 |
Based on the theory of long economic cycles of activity, the third world war could start within the next 10 years, according to one Russian academic.
In this decade the world is expected to experience a “great political and technological instability” and the countries that do not adapt to the new cycle will be left behind by some 50 years or so in their development, claimed Seguéi Málkov, a member of the Academy of Russian Science and professor of Moscow State University (MSU), in a (recent) meeting with the Russian Presidential Advisor of Science and Education. A group of scientists from MSU analyzed economic cycles and levels of military conflict during the last 200 years and concluded that these two phenomena are (closely) related. In our modern capitalist economic world, these long cycles, also known as Kondratiev Waves, are long term fluctuations that last between 40 and 60 years, which are themselves composed of phases of ascent and descent each lasting between 20 and 30 years. During the ascent phase, the rapid growth of the economy provokes many social changes as well. However, social development that does occur does not match the rhythm (or speed) of the economic change, and furthermore, once the economy enters the descent phase again, society experiences economic and social stagnation and depression. This, in part, leads to political, economic, and social restructuring. The two world wars of the 20th century demonstrate the phases of crisis of Kondratiev Waves. The First World War (1914-1918) put an end to four great empires (the Russian, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and German Empires). The Second World War (1935-1945) is considered the largest armed conflict in the history of humanity and involved 61 countries (in which 80% of the whole world’s population lived). It was the only war in which nuclear weapons have been used. While the First World War belonged to the so called wave of the Industrial Revolution (1880-1940), the Second corresponds to that of the Scientific & Technical Revolution (1940-1985). The proponents of the theory of Long (Economic) Cycles opine that the fifth wave of the modern capitalist era, that of the Information & Telecommunications Revolution (1985-2015), is currently ending. These scientists fear that entry into the next hypothetical cycle could mean a third global conflict. Some see (early) signs of its arrival in the financial crisis and the tensions in the Korean Peninsula. SOURCE: actualidad.rt.com, 4/7/13 |
Sep
Extropy +21: MegaBox
by adminadam in home
According to my Kopimist news source, MegaBox is going to be a “massive, socially-integrated creative content distribution site”, one which will cut out the middlemen and remove some of the hassle for artists trying to get their content out to their target audience, us, the content consumers. And do we not tire of exorbitant CD prices?
Oh, wait. When is the last time I even bought a CD? Hmmm… I’ll have to ponder that one. While I do that, go ahead and check out this video!
It has been said that MegaBox will cater to unsigned artists and allow anyone to sell their creations while allowing the artist to retain 90% of the earnings. And even if consumers choose not to contribute to a donation-based download, it seems MegaBox will still pay them, out of its own pockets, so to speak, under a program called “MegaKey”. Let’s hope this is the case when it is released!
From what I’ve read and heard, I believe this would make for a splendid cornerstone in the marriage of media/music-sharing and media/music-storage.
I look forward very much to trying it out.
Apr
65 mya: An Explosion of Life
by adminadam in articles
This just in…
New simulations and research from Kyoto Sangyo University in Japan are showing that the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago likely ejected so much life-bearing material from the surface of our planet that it has been delivered not only to Mars and Venus, our celestial neighbors, but also to Europa, Enceladus (of Saturn), and even Gliese 581, an Earth-like world some 20 light years away.
By some estimates, the mass of ejected material could have been nearly equal to that of the asteroid that hit — over one trillion tons, that is, which began to spread in all directions upon impact.
Space rocks would have taken around one million years to reach as far as Gliese 581, researchers say.
Panspermia, the idea that life arrived here via life-bearing comets and other bodies, is seeming more likely, but now the reverse (shall we call it Pan-Ovia?) now appears to be true as well!
I am left in amazement pondering the possibility that we will one day fly to Gliese 581 and find lifeforms similar to ours living there…
Sources:
MIT’s Technology Review
arXiv Study by Tetsuya Hara, Kazuma Takagi, and Daigo Kajiura
Jul
Extropy +11: When Civilizations Meet
by adminadam in articles
Monday, July 26, 2010
(FROM THE PHYSICS ARXIV BLOG –> here.)
The Fermi Paradox, Phase Changes and Intergalactic Colonisation
A new model shows how the spread of ET civilisations can undergo phase changes, providing deeper insights into the Fermi Paradox
In 1950, the Italian physicist Enrico Fermi raised the question that now bears his name. If there are intelligent civilisations elsewhere in the Universe with technologies that far surpass our own, why do we see no sign of them?
Since then, the so-called Fermi Paradox has puzzled astronomers and science fiction writers alike. And although there are no shortage of ways to approach the problem, nobody has come up with a convincing explanation.
Now there is another take on the problem thanks to a new approach by Igor Bezsudnov and Andrey Snarskii at the National Technical University of Ukraine.
Their approach is to imagine that civilisations form at a certain rate, grow to fill a certain volume of space and then collapse and die. They even go as far as to suggest that civilisations have a characteristic life time, which limits how big they can become.
In certain circumstances, however, when civilisations are close enough together in time and space, they can come into contact and when this happens the cross-fertilisation of ideas and cultures allows them both to flourish in a way that increases their combined lifespan.
Bezsudnov and Snarskii point out that this process of spreading into space can be easily modelled using a cellular automaton. And they’ve gone ahead and created their own universe using a 10,000 x 10,000 cell automaton running over 320,000 steps.
Continue Reading __ here.
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