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Global warming: agriculture and water conflicts in Central Asia (versionverte mag)
Central Asia is one of the major agricultural producers in the world. Agriculture in this region is based on crops with high water demand such as cotton, despite its predominantly arid climate and the global warming to which it is particularly exposed.
The limited role of industrial ecology in mitigating climate change (versionverte mag)
Despite progress, industrial ecology still plays a somewhat limited role in the problem of climate change by acting at the level of decision-making in terms of climate change mitigation via quantitative indicators of environmental performance.
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Remote, brain region–specific control of choice behavior with ultrasonic waves
Abstract: The ability to modulate neural activity in specific brain circuits remotely and systematically could revolutionize studies of brain function and treatments of brain disorders. Sound waves of high frequencies (ultrasound) have shown promise in this respect, combining the ability to modulate neuronal activity with sharp spatial focus. Here, we show that the approach can have potent effects on choice behavior. Brief, low-intensity ultrasound pulses delivered noninvasively into specific brain regions of macaque monkeys influenced their decisions regarding which target to choose. The effects were substantial, leading to around a 2:1 bias in choices compared to the default balanced proportion. The effect presence and polarity was controlled by the specific target region. These results represent a critical step towards the ability to influence choice behavior noninvasively, enabling systematic investigations and treatments of brain circuits underlying disorders of choice.
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China seeks ‘complete’ economic self-reliance (globaltimes)
Satterfield cartoon on Chinese monarchy (1915) Domestic innovation to gain main focus, but opening to the world to continue: experts
Sixty key points for formulating China's 14th FYP and future targets for 2035 (CGTN)
The full text of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee's proposals for mapping out the blueprint for China's development in the next 15 years was made public. The proposals outlined 60 key points for formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025, FYP) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035.
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The huckster and the hack: UK govt report undermines stars of Cambridge Analytica-Russiagate scandal (the grayzone)
Self-styled whistleblower Christopher Wylie and The Guardian reporter Carole Cadwalladr earned film deals and flashy awards by blaming Brexit and Trump on a sweeping conspiracy between data firm Cambridge Analytica and Russia. A British government investigation shatters their claims to fame.
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The Global Brain Hive Mind Artificial Intelligence Control Grid
#Comment: It is a golden age for colourful conspiracy narratives which artfully mix bullshit and realshit in fun ways - and this video is a delicious example. Operation Mindfuck in full effect. What people who take such things very serious ("its real!" and "its not real!!") have not internalized yet (but some monks and other trippers might): The "conspiracy" governing reality is far more weird and bizarre. We - a domesticated monkey - are sitting on a round rock racing through infinite space, and left and right are infinite black-holes, where time/space collapses...
Closer to the mundane everyday life abstraction level, there is some truth to the following:
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Norwegians Got Paid To Use Electricity As Prices Fall Below Zero
"Electricity prices in Norway fell below zero for the second time in history early on Monday, and residents in southern Norway ‘got paid’ for using electricity as power producers have to pay to sell electricity when prices are negative."
#Comment: If this pattern became permanent, how long do you think until the folks currently controlling power would pass on the savings? Or would they keep quiet - just for fun?
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From Big Six to Big Four (2019)
OECD study sheds light on concentration and competition in seed markets.
The Big Six, as described in the wiki on DuPont
"On the other hand, if Monsanto and Bayer, the 1st and 3rd largest biotech and seed firms, together with Dow and DuPont being the 4th and 5th largest biotechnology and seed companies in the world respectively, both went through with the mergers, the so-called "Big Six" in the industry would control 63% of the global seed market and 76% of the global agriculture chemical market."
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Language Models are Open Knowledge Graphs (Paper Explained)
Introducing on how Huawei Knowledge Graph improves your working efficiency
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Dominic Lieven: Dismantling Anglophone Hegemony Is a Costly Enterprise
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Scientists Discover New Molecule, Possible Basis For Life, on Saturn's Moon Titan (cnn)
Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is the only moon in our solar system that has a thick atmosphere. It's four times denser than Earth's. And now, scientists have discovered a molecule in it that has never been found in any other atmosphere. The particle is called cyclopropenylidene, or C3H2, and it's made of carbon and hydrogen. This simple carbon-based molecule could be a precursor that contributes to chemical reactions that may create complex compounds. And those compounds could be the basis for potential life on Titan. The molecule was first noticed as researchers used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array of telescopes in Chile. This radio telescope observatory captures a range of light signatures, which revealed the molecule among the unique chemistry of Titan's atmosphere. The study published earlier this month in the Astronomical Journal...
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