The four most important charts in science & technology (threadreader)
There’s no guarantee these trends will continue without massive public & private investment and smart regulation… but imagine if they do:
– compute power too cheap to meter
– clean energy too cheap to meter
– genomic sequencing too cheap to meter
– batteries too cheap to meter
My physics prof told me: “Math is the study of all possible worlds. Science is the study of the world we happen to live in. Someday we may find out whether those are different studies.”[1]
Technological Progress – “Technology is a key driver of change that matters for all the big problems that we consider…”
also btw…
- @interfluidity: “To a first approximation your actions have almost no effect on the world but a huge effect on your position in the world. When nearly all of us anchor our own rational choice in that basically correct premise, what emerges is catastrophe.”[2,3]
- All the Biggest Environmental Risks Facing the World’s Biggest Cities – “Last year 48 global cities with a population of more than 1 million reported the climate hazards they faced to the nonprofit CDP, which helps them track their environmental actions and risks and compare themselves with peers. From landslides and extreme heat to insect infestations and airborne diseases, these are the most worrying hazards.”
- Road to Decarbonization: The United States Electricity Mix – “Electricity generation by state (2020). While some states are getting close to eliminating fossil fuels, others have a lot of work to do.”
- What the Clean Electricity Performance Program from House Energy & Commerce says – “CEPP creates a grant program for suppliers of retail electricity that achieve a 4% year on year increase in the share of clean electricity used to supply their customers. It also collects a payment from suppliers of retail electricity that fall short of 4% YoY in clean share.” (threadreader)
- @JesseJenkins: “Investors are pouring billions into novel ‘long-duration’ #energystorage technologies. What techs are most promising?” (threadreader)
- Fusion startup builds 10-foot-high, 20-tesla superconducting magnet – “On Tuesday, Commonwealth Fusion Systems announced that it hit a key milestone on its quest to bring a demonstration fusion plant online in 2025. The company used commercial high-temperature superconductors to build a three-meter-tall magnet that could operate stably at a 20-tesla magnetic field strength. The magnet is identical in design to the ones that will contain the plasma at the core of the company’s planned reactor.” (MIT; Kimota)
- The next big thing in ‘real atoms’ investment macro-trends: “The freshwater scarcity problem is OVER. In the next 10-15 years, the world will realize this, and given the prospect of low-cost, low-emissions, secure, locally-produced and -controlled freshwater supplies, we will see an enormous economic boom in this sector. Mankind will take an enormous step forward in securing this most precious and basic of resources, both for ourselves AND for our natural environment. What is more, solar-desalination enables us to produce enough freshwater to irrigate billions of acres of degraded and desertified land, enough to restore them to thriving forests and create a carbon sink of sufficient scale to offset all or most of human CO2 emissions.”[4,5,6] (threadreader)
- A Theory of Progress: Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants – “A combinatorial model of progress, explaining historical exponential growth and the occasional periods of stagnation.”
- Solar power is dirt-cheap and about to get even more powerful [ungated] – “A push for more powerful solar equipment underscores how further cost reductions remain essential to advance the shift away from fossil fuels.”[7,8,9,10]