Signals

technology, living post scarcity, and how to find what you want

The web is filled with content designed for Google, not humans.

Chinese *public EV chargers* use more electricity than Greece 🤯 pic.twitter.com/ySfP7HHVem— Justin Guay (@Guay_JG) January 8, 2024

Duolingo Inc., the maker of language-learning software, is cutting some contractors while using generative artificial intelligence to create more content, the latest sign that companies are shifting some tasks typically handled by workers to AI tools.

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Arctic Ice argues its rare, pure product can be part of Greenland’s green transition and greater independence

Ikea's 2023 Life at Home Report looks at how people will escape social upheaval and a changing climate to find joy in the future.

Fourth-quarter sales from Elon Musk’s group beat estimates but fall behind Chinese rival for the first time

Northvolt says new lithium-free sodium-ion battery is cheaper, more sustainable and doesn’t rely on scarce raw materials

Philippe Starck has created HRS by Starck, a hydrogen refuelling station that features a mirror-polished stainless-steel casing and dichroic glass.

Design thinking has failed to deliver on its promise to solve the world’s thorniest social challenges. Adopting a critical design stance can help designers serve communities, rather than their own methodology.

A flood of cheap Chinese imports is upsetting the global industrial order.

Over 300 Protestant Christians congregated in Germany for a unique church service orchestrated largely with AI tools.

Seeing a computer create sermons in mere seconds has led faith leaders to wrestle with an intriguing problem: Can AI replicate a truly human, spiritual message? And if it can, is the computer just that good, or does the human message need some work?

Cryptic life guidance is one thing. Telling me to ditch my therapist is another.

Here is a list of studies, surveys and polling results that shed some light on popular perceptions of post-growth and post-capitalist ideas. I will seek to update this list periodically. Scientists’ support for post-growth 1. A survey of nearly 800 climate policy researchers around the worl

The steady-state/degrowth movement opens the possibility of re-defining “needs” and reorienting engineers to achieving equitable prosperity on our one shared planet.

An authoritative new study finds there are 183 regional and local conflicts underway in 2023, the highest number in three decades.

What is HAPPENING here?Between 2012 and 2023, it appears that average OECD reading, math and science scores have declined consistently.This is not (just) about pandemic learning loss. It’s not about one US city. It’s not even just the US. This is the entire developed world. pic.twitter.com/CRj4z8YKPT— Derek Thompson (@DKThomp) December 12, 2023

Humane’s AI wearable is here — but what is it for?

Scientists think we need to pay attention to a measure of heat and humidity – and it’s edging closer to the limits of human survivability

Due to the problematic degradation properties of plastics, the decomposition of plastic results in the formation of numerous microplastics (MPs), less than 5 mm in diameter. These MPs enter the soil and the ocean, eventually passing through the air, water, ...

In terms of architecture, it’s possible that the features that consistently produce minor stress responses in our bodies are the most insidious, precisely because they often go unnoticed.

Latimer, named after African-American inventor Lewis Latimer, is a new platform trying to make generative AI more inclusive.

The storied design consultancy Ideo has been shedding staff throughout 2023 as it navigates a future where its traditional services are less in demand.

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:      Section 1.  Purpose.  Artificial intelligence (AI) holds extraordinary potential for both promise and peril.  Responsible AI use has the potential to help solve urgent challenges…

Caltech researchers are experimenting with a space-based solar power system that would assemble itself after being launched by rockets.