december 2016

We stand at the threshold of a terrific challenge, but also a unique opportunity, and a fantastic adventure—never before has a single human generation had the potential to make such a difference. Arguably one serious aspect of the global issues is the loss of ecological diversity—the other living things with which we share Earth. This affects human well-being by interfering with crucial ecosystem services such as crop pollination and water purification and by destroying humanity’s beautiful, fascinating, and culturally important living companions. An important point is that we focus exclusively on species, ignoring the extirpation of populations—the units relevant to…

2030. No cause for concern. No machines with self-sustaining long-term goals and intent have been developed, nor are they likely to be developed in the near future. Instead, increasingly useful applications of disruptive technologies conversions, including AI, with potentially profound positive impacts on our society and economy are likely to emerge between now and 2030. At the same time, many of these developments will spur disruptions in how human labor is augmented or replaced by robots, cyber-systems and AI, creating new challenges for the economy and society more broadly. Sessions with 22 students in 2 three hour session focused on 2030…

Life is the most extraordinary phenomenon in the known universe; but how did it come to be? Even in an age of cloning and artificial biology, the remarkable truth remains: nobody has ever made anything living entirely out of dead material. Life remains the only way to make life. Are we still missing a vital ingredient in its creation? One hundred and fifty years ago, paleontologist Thomas Henry Huxley asserted that humankind would eventually take the processes of evolution into our own hands. Within a few decades of his proclamation, a cadre of equally brilliant scientists including Werner Heisenberg, David…