Visions for Tomorrow

Is the Internet a barrier or a bridge for young adults?

2009-12-18T14:11:25Z

Is literacy in danger because of technology? Will students stop reading and writing all together because they spend lots of time on the computer?

I have talked to some parents who legitimately worry about their children slipping away from the traditional ways of books, pen and paper. Afraid of change and yearning for a return to the “good old times,” some worry that technology they do not understand or use will destroy the children’s motivations to read and write. Not familiar with sites such as Facebook, Twitter, deviantART, YouTube and other blogs or forums, some parents cannot participate in the activities of their children, adding a fear of being disconnected from their children and leaving them with feelings of inadequacy.

Along the same lines, science fiction shows such as Syfy’s upcoming Caprica, will display a world where technology is run amok, used by a lazier younger generation. Yet it’s doing the exact opposite in our world: it’s sparking a definite, driven creativity that’s enabled by technology, rather than hampered or perverted by it.

]]> My students and I worked on a project to explore the Battlestar Galactica universe, where I participated in online discussions with fans on the SyFy forum. I discovered groups of educated persons worldwide joined by the same passion for this show, often discussing philosophy, psychology, science and politics. In this particular fandom, young women especially would not only participate to the forum, but flood the web with related creations on LiveJournal and other social networking sites, writing fan fiction, publishing digital art and editing music videos. This new creative virtual dimension, where people communicate without restrain under the protection of anonymity, exists away from every day life. I started to wonder how widespread this phenomenon was, who it appealed to, and if this was happening with some of my students.

A high school student sits in detention. During class, she does not take notes, never hands in homework and none of her teachers can make her write a decent essay. Yet during detention, she writes to publish online. Based on existing characters, her stories are fan fiction, which explore relationships with surprising sharpness, unfolding in psychological drama, and often based on personal experience. Certainly not all of these writers are poorly-achieving young high school students. The diversity of fan fiction writers is staggering, from the high school and college student, to the professional writer, the stay-at-home mother, the professional career woman or the retired grand-mother. But from my limited experience, I have noticed that it is mostly a female phenomenon, although I have not yet found any studies, which addresses the reality of this gender discrepancy or its causes.

Clearly, difficulties with language mechanics do not seem to be the reason why such students do not write in the classroom. So what is? 38% of all writing done by Stanford University students was done outside of the classroom according to a literacy study by Dr. Andrea Lunsford at Stamford University, reported in Wired Magazine by Clive Thompson. There are over 425,000 Harry Potter fan fiction stories online as of October 2009, on the website fanfiction.net. Rebecca Black at the University of California, Irvine, in a study of English Language Learners (ELL) and fan fiction finds that literacy is clearly improved by technology. When students publish fan fiction online, they are getting valuable feedback and training from their peers, which helps them greatly learn the proper uses of the English language. As in Dr. Black’s study, talking with students, I find that they get valuable input in the non-threatening environment found in fan communities. United by a common passion for fandom and under the cover of anonymity, they publish their stories, which get reviewed by others fans without judgment in feedback that is often instant. When I asked a student why she liked to write fan fiction rather than school essays, she replied that she writes for a real passionate public and that most high school essays are not “creative writing.” Reviews she gets are completely devoid of other motivations and done in pure altruism.

Students work together to correct each other’s language and grammar and share valuable input on their writing. They also explore ideas they would otherwise certainly not address in class, by fear of being judged by a teacher. Their creativity investigates unabashed territories such as psychological drama, romance, often with sexual content, or very difficult themes related to the world they live in and are exposed, such as abusive relationships. Because of the anonymity provided by pseudonyms on websites, they can step into new identities, free themselves of the burden of their lives and explore ideas freely uncensored. The quality and the depth of some the writing is often very surprising.

Technology is a tool, like a hammer and a chisel. With a hammer and a chisel, you can make beautiful sculptures, but you can also hurt someone and destroy property. Or you can leave the hammer and chisel in a drawer and ignore those tools. Creativity is the key and it is shifting into new realms because of the availability of new technological tools, allowing everyone to share their work unlike anytime before.

Literacy will always remain about communication. In a world that seems to become more and more cold, where real human connections seem to be more difficult to make, where young men and women are burdened by unrealistic images of physical perfection they aim to but cannot attain, and where students are isolated into preset social groups, technology allows them to communicate directly “mind-to-mind” without the barrier of physical appearance or social and economic background.

Whether parents or educators like it or not, students have found new ways to connect and, maybe, it is time we start learning from them.

Running Out of Time, Part Three

2009-10-08T13:00:36Z

We left the UN with a sense of wonder at the realization that we had been part of something truly special. We left with the idea that maybe we could do something to start changing the world.

But we also got challenged to enter the Visions for Tomorrow challenge of the NBC Universal Digital Media competition, by making a short video about some issue addressed by the show. During the one month that followed, the students and I worked to construct a movie about the role of women as leaders, inspired by the portrayal of the president of the colonies in Battlestar Galactica, Laura Roslin, played by Mary McDonnell.

]]> It wasn’t easy. The students’ tasks were many: they did research on their project and pulled a number of articles on women representation in the media, which they analyzed to develop their ideas and wrote a full proposal and script for their video. The students met several times and develop a set of questions to ask Mary McDonnell, as we were interested in interviewing her. They also set up schedules to interview their schoolmates and did the filming, obtaining permission to work in the school and borrowing a digital camera.

I worked with the students to obtain necessary permissions to interview Mary McDonnell and others, to reprint pictures and get consent forms from the students’ families. We had extensive discussions on copyright issues, which made them aware of the laws on this topic. Finally, my students learned to digitally edit the sound and video of their movie, as well as several aspects of post-production.

The students learned so much more by developing their ideas and doing their own movie instead of passively listening to a lecture in a classroom. They acquired new technology and literacy skills, and the opportunities presented to us at the United Nation panel and through the Digital Media Competition were phenomenal. The skills acquired by the students were real professional skills, which they will definitely use in any work they will chose to do in the future. To me, it is the best that education can offer: learning by doing and active participation. This was a one in a lifetime opportunity and I learned so much from it as a person and as a teacher.

On June 9th, our team won the SyFy Channel award for our video entry on women in leadership roles and was rewarded for their hard work. But it is more than just winning a prize, it is about learning real life skills, it is about learning not to be afraid to state an opinion publicly. It is about learning not to shy off from trying to change our world. Right now, students in high school want to present a picture perfect image of themselves to gain access to colleges in a time where competition is more harsh than it ever was and money more scarce.

Nobody wants to take risks anymore. Students work for short term goals, immediate rewards, number grades, for reference letters and perfect transcripts. Those who do not have the ability or the social support to gain access to colleges plainly give up and get hooked to pop culture, mundane ideas or even destructive behaviors. On only rare occasions have I seen students learn only for the pleasure of acquiring knowledge, the elation of understanding the world around us or for the thrill of research and discovery.

I have seen students who really wanted to contribute to the world around us with a sparking desire to change our world for the better. But such students are getting rarer and rarer, and often their spark is extinguished by the demands of the society around them: do not make waves, stay in line, and mostly, oh please, do not think too much.

Only through education, we will start changing the attitudes that mold our world. Programs like the UN panel with Visions for Tomorrow and ThinkQuest NYC, challenging students to use the media and to explore the world in a different light, whether it is through a science fiction show or any other media, are rethinking the way we educate our children. Such programs are pioneers in the way education should be; they give power back to the young generation. Make no mistake: education is our only tool to save our world.

We are running out of time. What are you going to do about it?

See the video produced by Christine Rogers and her students by clicking here, and be sure to check out part one and part two of “Running Out of Time.”

Running Out of Time, Part Two

2009-10-01T13:00:06Z

We, all of us, have the responsibility to buy the extra time, which will maybe ensure our survival as a civilization. And I have been wondering what we can do about it. The human species with its genius and its ability to understand the world and the universe has devised all the technological advances to make our world a better place; we have the knowledge, the science and the resources.

Have we just become too lazy using our gifts and abilities to fight for our humanity? Have we become too selfish and greedy to really care about the world around us?

]]> I am just a teacher. My power is limited. I get up every morning hoping that my actions will change a student and bring someone to awareness of the world around us. I can change only one life at a time. I deal every day with a mountain of paperwork, antiquated educational practices and spiteful fearful attitudes from some colleagues. So when the opportunity presents itself to reach another level of education, I don’t take it, I grab it and I hold it tight. This is indeed what happened in March — quite by accident, or was it?

In March, I was invited by ThinkQuest NYC to attend with three of my students the United Nations panel on war and terrorism, featuring the SyFy show Battlestar Galactica and organized by Visions for Tomorrow. I had just come out of the hospital, where I had received treatment for multiple sclerosis and I was barely recovering from the aggressive intravenous medications and the emotional shock of confirming this diagnosis. Actually, watching BSG had kept my mind busy during that time, and I had held on to the distraction it provided like a life line against the realization of my own mortality. I became quite a rather recent fan.

Immediately I had seen the achievement of the show in addressing our deepest and darkest side, how it mirrored our world, with its addiction to fear and intolerance, how it asked critically the meaning of being human. It did not impose any answers either, but forced the public to think about those questions. By bringing students to this panel at the United Nations, Visions for Tomorrow and ThinkQuest opened up these reflections to education and students.

One of the classes I teach is bioethics. I use a lot of movies and media material to introduce complicated ideas to students, who might not have the literacy level allowing them to read and understand complicated philosophy texts and who otherwise would never be exposed to those ideas. In a time where the media are embedded in our lives, why not teach with them. Students are using technology, Twitter, Facebook, they are blogging, creating their own movies and designing their own websites. It is amazing to explore the creativity developed over the internet by the younger generation. They are tuned in the media a lot more than ever before and turning away from traditional methods of learning and creating.

Maybe the future of education will be out of the classroom and really in the field, creating and communicating with others world-wide with technology. Who says learning has to be boring? My students that evening at the United Nations learned valuable facts about the world human right situation and skills. I learned that I can teach differently. I learned that we will change our attitudes towards the world only with education, because the younger generation needs to be made aware of the world problems and address them with compassion.

Stay tuned for the conclusion part of Christine Rogers’ three part series, “Running out of time.” You can find part one right here.

Running Out of Time, Part One

2009-09-24T13:00:00Z

At the World Science Festival in June, Mary McDonnell said, with visible emotion, “I no longer suffer from the illusion that we have a lot of time. On a spiritual and political plane, I’d like to be of better and more efficient service, because it really feels like we’re running out of time.”

We are certainly running out of time.

I have been feeling that way for a while. This feeling, tenuous at first, barely there, has been amplifying steadily over the past few years. It has made its way slowly to a conscious level in my mind. It really started with the terrorist attacks on the twin towers, which killed thousands of people and instilled poison in our souls, eating at our liberties and our humanity through insidious ways. Aren’t the best civilizations tested by fire?

]]> I have been reading the data on global warming and realizing that our days on the planet are counted. Earth will survive, but the little wisps of biological protoplasm with some hint of consciousness that we are might not. Unbeknownst to the universe with billions and billions of stars in a vastness that is unfathomable to the limitations of the human brain, we might just become extinct.

With us, poetry, literature, art, great accomplishments of scientists, the beauty we created, what makes us human and genius, the real wonder of our existence and all of our civilization will disappear. It is not just an ecological peril; there is war, genocide, epidemics, poverty, malnutrition, torture, abuse, hate and anger: a bleak picture of the state of human rights in the world.

I have been thinking about our running out of time, when I see our society more preoccupied with petty greed and profits than justice and equity, and when I see our short term goals put forward in a materialistic society at the price of our very survival as a culture, as a civilization and as humanity.

In our very privileged American society, most of us have food, fresh water supply, soap, electricity, shoes, doctors. For most of us, our basic needs are fulfilled, compared to the majority of the population of third world countries. Still, there are many Americans for which those basic needs are lacking. We tend to take all of our good fortune for granted. It is so easy to retreat in comfortable lives and forget all about the world around us. But we cannot hide from time running out, because we have reached a tipping point, where our survival depends entirely on our change of attitudes.

Stay tuned for part two of Christine Rogers’ three part series, “Running out of time.”

Does TV Matter?

2009-06-19T13:00:00Z

I have recently begun working with the good folks at the Sci-Fi channel and last Thursday, the 11th, I had the extraordinary opportunity to live tweet a special event at the Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Topic: the role of television in helping society explore the big issues of the day, as well as the big issues of tomorrow.

One thing that made the event so extraordinary was that it was framed as a panel discussion with stars from the recently concluded Battlestar Galactica (Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell), producers of the show (Ronald D. Moore and David Eick), and two representatives from the United Nations dealing with many of the issues in fact — human rights, torture, justice — that shows like BSG deal with in fiction. But as the UN’s Craig Mokhiber told the audience at the Mann last Thursday, “There’s not much fiction in Battlestar.” (Note: the BSG crew ran a similar panel at the World’s Science Festival at the 92nd Street Y in New York City.)

]]> What Mokhibar meant, of course, was that the thoughtfulness and rigor that the BSG team applied to the show gave them a command of these issues that was closer to reality than fantasy. He later added: “The UN has struggled to deal with these issues. The creative community is better at communicating these themes.”

The UN’s participation in Hollywood, a repeat performance of an event at UN headquarters earlier in the year, was led by the UN’s Department of Public Information. So when Mokhibar spoke about the UN’s struggle with these issues, he is mostly talking about the communication challenges. Creatives — the folks who were being honored at the Mann event — have a special facility for dealing with matters on a level that is more human, accessible and perhaps ultimately more effective than the tools of a public information officer. But what the panel also seemed to be suggesting is that creatives might have a responsibility and role for doing that thing they do at the service of big, important causes. That’s a question that might provoke a negative response not just from the world of policymakers, but from the creative community as well. There’s a simple answer to the question “does television matter?” (i.e., fiction-based series versus the news) and the answer is that entertainment matters, for all work and no play make us into very dull boys and girls.

But the answer is too facile, and it ignores the role that fantasy, science fiction, and adventure writers actively have taken in exploring big issues. As an erstwhile creative — before communications, I ran a professional theater company —I have long been cognizant of this tendency among writers, actors and producers. The best dramatic work — whether on stage, in film, or TV — has always explored the big issues of the day. And the province that Sci-Fi occupies — exploring how these issues might play out in the future — is special, but only different in kind. At a time when many industry watchers are wondering about the future of TV, the success of BSG to connect with a global audience should provide the industry with the courage necessary to support this kind of work. It’s not only the right thing. There’s an audience for it, too.

So, let me ask the question again, “does television matter?” And if it does, what on the TV matters to you?

Join us on Twitter tonight for more Battlestar Galactica; this time: cyborgs

2009-06-12T23:00:02Z

If you aren’t already following Visions for Tomorrow on Twitter, then hit us up! We’ll be tweeting live from yet another Battlestar Galactica panel with cast members from the show. The topic this time? The science, ethics and philosophy surrounding a future where intelligent machines walk alongside us.

Actor, comedian and Deep Space Nine alumna Faith Salie will moderate a panel made up of the Galactica crew and company, including Mary McDonnell, who played President Laura Roslin, Michael “Colonel Saul Tigh” Hogan, World Transhumanist Association co-founder Nick Bostrom, University of Reading professor of cybernetics Kevin Warwick, and Hod Lipson, evolutionary robotics researcher and director of the Computational Synthesis group at Cornell University.

The action starts tonight at 8:00 PM until 9:30 PM, Eastern, at the World’s Science Festival at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, and you can follow it all right here.

Sci Fi/United Nations Battlestar panel reconvenes June 4th at 7:30 PM PT

2009-06-03T23:00:00Z

Want to chat about the impact of Battlestar Galactica outside of the TV screen? The Sci Fi Channel and the United Nations Department of Public Information partnered up in March to talk about just that, covering topics ranging from fundamental human rights, the realities of equal opportunity, and justice in a diverse society.

On Thursday June 4th at 7:30 PM Pacific Time, the Sci Fi/UN panel will reconvene, and you can follow it all through the Visions Twitter, or join the discussion yourself.

Getting to Go to the United Nations Because I Made a Cool Television Show

2009-05-01T13:00:00Z

As a Poli Sci major at the University of Redands, I often considered a career in the field of diplomacy and international relations. To that extent, the U.N. was always the Holy Grail, in terms of places it would be awesome to see. I never did the tour, because I thought it wouldn’t count. The only way I wanted to see the U.N. was on official business. Once I’d sold my soul to Hollywood, I figured the U.N. dream was over. So imagine my surprise when I got the call that my two worlds, past and present, had unexpectedly collided.

The best way to describe my reaction to actually being in that room is what I whispered to Whoopi Goldberg after my introduction as I made my way to the stage: “I can’t believe this.” Except I added a colorful adjective between “can’t” and “believe,” which she seemed to appreciate. Of course, the best part was how someone at the U.N. had replaced the name plates which usually say “France” and “Botswana” with the names of “Galactica“‘s colonies: “Picon,” “Tauron,” “Caprica,” etc. If we were at a nerd convention like Comicon, I would’ve thought that kind of thing was taking scifi geekdom to an absurd level; the fact that the United Nations had arranged such a thing was nothing short of sublime.

]]> Otherwise, the panel discussion itself was a blur. It reminded me of the time I got to meet Clint Eastwood: as I stood there shaking his hand, I know he was talking, but all I could do was watch his lips flap and think to myself “This is Clint Eastwood. I can’t believe I’m standing here in front of Clint Eastwood. Is this me? Am I still alive?” No idea what he might’ve actually been saying. So the U.N. experience was a little like that, but fortunately we had the videotape to review later, as proof that it truly did occur. Because honestly? Without that, I’m sure by now I would’ve convinced myself the whole thing was a dream — just like it always was…

From United Nations to Universal Nations

2009-04-30T22:00:00Z

On March 17th, the delegate country names lining the rows of seats in the main “theater” of the United Nations were replaced with the names of the colonies that were home to the crew of Battlestar Galactica. Whoopie Goldberg and the cast and creators of the Sci Fi epic were seated on the dais, facing the audience. Dignitaries attached to the United Nations’ efforts to stop crimes against women and children, seek reconciliation amongst warring peoples, and keep up the struggle for universal human rights were rotated on and off the stage in concert with episodic clips from the show that eerily reflected our similar dramas here on earth at the beginning of the 21st century.

It was surreal. And too real. It is painful to think that civilization on this planet has advanced thousands of years, and we still resort to uncivilized behavior when our turf or status is threatened, when we are under stress, or when we are just plain stupid. Science fiction, at its best, has always shown not only the wonders of what could be if we projected our society and knowledge into the future, but the horrors as well. I sat listening to how our earthly crimes are no different, and our moral centers no less grounded, than those depicted in a dark series about a homeless civilization elsewhere in the universe, struggling with each other and the intelligent beings they created.

]]> Our species is at a crossroads. We remain rather unsophisticated as wetware, while the hardware and software we create is surpassing our abilities physically and mentally. Cloud computing engulfs us, and as we destroy our natural ecology, we create an artificial one that slowly robs us of our privacy and individuality, our security and our personal boundaries. Interlocking grids, whether devoted to finance or energy or urban infrastructure, set up vulnerabilities that cause malcontents to wring their hands in glee, awaiting their turn to sabotage peace and order by corrupting those grids. Time is speeding up, as is the transformation of the earth to a new level of capabilities, and if we survive the possibility of climatic or nuclear or biological disaster, we must still survive greed, xenophobia, jealousy and pride. When the continued existence of the second comes into contact with the potentials of the first, we must turn to science fiction to sort out the possible outcomes. Because in the real world, we often lack the political and social will to do that until we are confronted with calamity.

I was there that night because I chair ThinkQuest New York City, an organization founded to engage students in digital technology through competitions. They build websites, create PSAs (funded by NBC and the Sci Fi Channel), work in teams, and are mostly from Title I schools (those that serve the lowest-income communities of children.) Courtesy of Sci Fi, we had 100 of our students there that night. Most were Battlestar Galactica fans. They were allowed to ask questions of the panelists, and their questions were fantastic. They probed issues of kids addicted to mobile technology, problems with human interrelationships, ethical dilemmas and human rights.

They proved what I have always believed — that science fiction should be compulsory reading and viewing for students at every grade level. I have often commented that my first science fiction was fairy tales. As a little girl, I loved fairy tales. They were often as dark and gruesome as grown-up science fiction, but they always made a moral point, projected human foibles, and had a happy ending. The magic inventions - wands, flying carpets, dancing slippers, invisible cloaks - were always capable of being used for good or evil. They made me believe that wisdom and goodness would always triumph over avarice and self-interest. Maybe little boys should read more fairy tales.

I grew into science fiction when the fairy tales seemed too far removed from the real world. Science fiction never was. It still isn’t. Thank goodness we have writers, producers and networks that continue to make science fiction accessible to successive generations of youngsters. Kudos to NBC and the Sci Fi (soon to be SyFy) channel, and to Bonnie Hammer and David Howe, for insisting the show be relevant and have integrity. And to all those who dedicate their lives to shedding light on who we are, what we are capable of, and the world we may one day inhabit.

If the congresses of the world were populated with the best science fiction writers of the past century, maybe our horizons would be further and our actions more reflective. Maybe we would move beyond our petty differences, and we would take the time to consider the implications of what we do to each other and with the “magic” tools we have created. Maybe we would survive.

Watch this space for exciting news from TED 2009

2009-02-03T20:45:14Z

If you know about the TED conference, it won’t surprise you that I’ve been a big fan for a long time. For more than 20 years, the Technology, Entertainment, Design conference has sparked our imaginations with “ideas worth sharing” by amplifying the voices of the visionaries of our time.

So you can imagine how thrilled I am that SCI FI is going to be part of TED this year. It’s the perfect venue for us to continue to expand the impact of Visions for Tomorrow. We are hosting our first annual Young Visionaries luncheon as a way to kick things off.

We will devote our time on the stage to amplifying the voices and the visions of seven spectacular people who will be announced this Thursday. All perfect examples of people whose passions have driven them to make their visions for tomorrow a reality for today. They are all visionaries of our time, sure to continue to inspire others who aspire to create a more positive future.

Keep an eye out for highlights from TED 2009. We want to extend the experience well beyond TED — we want the ideas worth sharing to continue to proliferate. And you are key. We want to know your ideas worth sharing.

The changing color of money

2008-12-20T03:00:00Z

It would be naïve to say that the times we are going through are not as bad as they seem. Millions are hurting, many are hurting badly. The global financial crisis is a tragedy of uncommon proportion. But the fact is, things will not be as bad as they now seem. I’m not being optimistic, I’m being realistic. As I watch my own savings depleted by the slumped stock market, and my own business slammed by loss of clients and contracts, I have to somehow remember that I am a professional futurist, and in that role I don’t have the luxury of wallowing in my own troubles. I have to look out over the horizon, and see what comes next. And what comes next is pretty amazing.

]]> There is a cauldron of new scientific advances brewing that will transform the failing businesses of the 20th century into the growth industries of the 21st. What we are feeling now is not just the culmination of greed, or home buyer overreaching. It is the pain of leaving behind what we knew — the financial systems, the health and education systems, the life cycles and expectations of certainty that went with being middle class — and growing into what we will become. The world is growing older, and people are living and working healthier and longer. So government social nets are being bankrupted by health care systems and pension systems that are poorly designed for the 21st century and that are beginning to eat more money than we can feed them. Those systems will now have to be redesigned with new realities and new technologies. We focus our scholarly energy on teaching, when new technologies will provide a host of new learning opportunities that will increasingly engulf us all the time, all of our lives. We are moving quickly forward in the area of brain imaging — mind mapping — that will allow us to manipulate our moods, needs, experiences and well-being. In the virtual world, we can drive a sports car without ever owning one. Design is becoming green, and will lead to new frontiers, from urban farms with recycled water and energy, to the utilization of renewable resources that will employ many without harmful exposure to the toxic chemicals of the past.

This is not about a utopia. This is about what companies and industries and societies will do to retool and survive after the current calamity. It frequently takes crisis to bring about transformation. The bigger the crisis, the bigger the transformation. We could not get on with the future while so many were so comfortable with the present. That’s the sad part of all of this. Instead of being exhilarating, change is frightening to so many people. And so-called leaders become complacent because when the system is working for them, they don’t have the motivation to create a better world for everyone else. As a result, portions of the population suffered in near silence, from the kids who could not find a decent place in the economy to the displaced workers who slept in their cars or were forced to move in with family or strangers. Now the system isn’t working for anybody, and from that pain will come real remedies, not the band-aids, that we will need to advance. Will I one day retire as comfortably as I had hoped? Probably not. But then, I expect that I will work for at least a decade more than my elders, in a different world, with different ideas about what it means to be fulfilled.

Memo on saving the world: Thinking outside the big-box store model

2008-12-03T14:00:29Z

Those who gaze at big-box stores and fail to see future cathedrals, museums or artists’ communities have no sense of history. Or imagination.

It is beyond time to start thinking creatively about what to do with all of those big boxes becoming unsuited to their original function long before they physically wear out. Here are some brilliant ideas from a small team of artists, architects, engineers and developers assembled for the purpose. The result? Everything from truck farms to fabulous apartments to, um, kitty-litter boxes for 10-story tall intergalactic cats (Refer to the artist’s rendering above. -Ed).

We can prevent asteroid impacts — the last great hurdle is working together

2008-11-26T14:00:00Z

In early October, a small asteroid, about the size of a VW bug, impacted Earth coming in over Sudan. It was very special. This sort of event happens every several months on average, so just why was this one of particular note?

Because it was spotted headed our way less than 24 hours prior to impact by the guys (and presumably gals?) at the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona — and then subsequently by many other asteroid trackers around the world. The sum of all this intense telescopic tracking was the first ever predicted Near-Earth Object (or NEO) impact time, impact location and estimated energy. All of which came true — to the extent that it has been check-able.

Now this was of particular interest to a group of us who have been putting together a detailed report for consideration by the United Nations regarding a decision-making process which needs to be coordinated within the international community if we are ever to respond in a timely way to threatened NEO impact.

]]> Of course no one cares about a 1-2 meter diameter asteroid since the atmosphere will protect us by dissipating the energy well above the ground. When they get up to Tunguska size, however, it’s a different story. At around 45 meters in diameter we’re talking 3-5 megatons of energy (250-400 Hiroshimas) and devastating effects at the impact site.

It’s these asteroids, from 45 meters and up, that we need to be prepared to respond to… if we have advanced notice. However, as evident the other night, we’ve now got a nascent early warning system — albeit not well coordinated or securely funded. Furthermore, while no world space agency has yet demonstrated the space technology to deflect an asteroid, the techniques are pretty well understood. In fact, JPL just completed a detailed performance analysis on the gravity tractor concept for the B612 Foundation, and it works just fine. On paper.

So while these two essential legs of a protective triad sort-of exist, the third leg — making a decision to act — is basically nowhere. Who is in charge? Who issues warnings? Based on what information? Who responds to the public’s questions? Who decides who to put at additional risk during a deflection (an unfortunate necessity in the process of deflecting a NEO) and how is liability handled should something go wrong? Who orders an evacuation if it’s too late for a deflection?

Sure, we could leave all this to the emergence of a threat and see how it all settles out in real time. That would be typical of bureaucracy at the domestic level, let alone at the international level. But unlike global warming or many other huge socio-political issues, this one is 1) pretty clear science-wise, and 2) cheap to “solve.” In this case solve = prevent an impact. The trick is that these events happen so infrequently that one has never happened in the lifetime of anyone who will read this blog. Furthermore, action has to be taken 12 or more years prior to a predicted impact and political systems are simply not good at addressing lead times of that magnitude (to understate it!).

Nevertheless our ASE-NEO committee and our international Panel on Asteroid Threat Mitigation have now completed the development of our recommended decision program and submitted it to the United Nations for deliberation and (hopefully) action — eventually. All this starts next spring in the meetings of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in Vienna. They’re expecting our report; it’s built into their 3 year work plan already approved by the UN General Assembly.

Another few episodes like the impact of 2008 TC3 in Sudan will certainly help to emphasize the reality of the threat. And, hopefully, by the time the first one capable of doing actual harm on the ground is predicted to impact, we’ll have something in place to deal with it. If we’re lucky. If not, let’s just hope that it’s a relatively small one and hits in the ocean.

The least that can be said is that now all three legs of the protective triad are “in work.”

Visions for a more environmentally-friendly tomorrow

2008-11-20T04:00:00Z

It’s Green Week here at NBC Universal, and How You Can Save The World is always thinking about the environment. That’s because our planet plays a big role in how we are — and should be — shaping the way we think, act and react to the political and technological challenges that sometimes make it hard to be green. That’s why it’s important to stay informed, and explore how you feel about energy, science, nutrition and more — and how it all plugs back into our planet.

Catch up on our evolving dialogue about a more environmentally-minded future by clicking on the headlines below.

Tomorrow matters, as much as today, by Jamais Cascio
Change the food system, and you change the world, by Denise Caruso
Why your personal carbon footprint matters, by Siel
Is your cheeseburger causing global warming? by Jamais Cascio
We ignored our looming energy crisis for far too long, by Lee Schipper
A case for vegetarianism, without the guilt trip, by Brian Sager
The Earth will be just fine, thank you, by Jamais Cascio
Nature’s Wrath: Who stands to lose the most? by John Podesta
Do we no longer believe in a better tomorrow? by Peter Schwartz
The dangers of a politicized scientific community, by Neal Lane
Opening up new horizons for solar energy, by John M. Deutch
Down the rabbit, er, prairie dog hole , by Anton Yelchin

Visions Forum, Part Three: Over 20 of our brightest minds sound off about Barack Obama

2008-11-14T14:00:00Z

I remember the excitement and hope that accompanied JFK into the White House. This is the first time in half a century that I sense the same excitement. When I look at the racial situation in the US during the Kennedy era and now see Obama as president, it gives me pride in our country’s ability to change. JFK had trouble achieving many of his goals, and Obama is far more constrained by external circumstances; but let’s hope he can move us to address some of the many serious problems we now face.

On a more parochial note, I await anxiously Obama’s decisions on the future of our country’s space exploration program, which for the first time was addressed by both candidates in this election.

We asked the contributors here at How You Can Save The World to weigh in on President-elect Barack Obama’s victory. Continue reading to find out how they responded.

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I was moved beyond words watching Obama’s victory speech. Hope is not a strategy, but it’s a profound and marvelous thing.

Senator Obama’s ability to evoke the best in us, our highest aspirations, and to do so across the chasms that normally divide us, is something the country sorely needs — and responded to in electing him. On the other hand, he enters a world of awesome challenges and difficult choices, and I know he’s bound to disappoint me from time to time, but such is life.

One difficult choice I hope he does make: to not let the fiscal crisis divert our critical need to invest aggressively in growing the new energy economy — independent, carbon-neutral and with all deliberate speed. — Gil Friend

A historic inflection as this nation steps onto another rung in the ladder of perpetual greatness. — Shaun Jones

Score one for America! I look forward to seeing what diverse and high-caliber team Obama coalesces to lead the country, and whether he can leverage online systems to meaningfully engage the public in governance as effectively as he did in the elections. — Hassan Masum

The Obama victory is the most positive event to happen to the United States in modern times. For science it means that we now have a president who believes in federal funding for basic research including critical areas as stem cell research and funding and support for the development of alternative fuels. President Obama’s election is the biggest single step to restoring America’s leadership in the world. — Craig Venter

Barack Obama’s victory means that America is finally throwing its moral, political, and economic power behind the fight to stop global warming. — Emily Gertz

One thing it means is that you can get almost anyone to smile here in Uganda, which is where I am right now, by telling them, “I voted for Obama.” I would say that he would have won by a landslide if we had had global voting.

But once the rejoicing is over, I hope people will realize that Obama is only a leader, and it will take hard work and dedication from all of us to get our country back on track. What can we do to make this a country we can all be proud of? — Esther Dyson

Obama’s victory resonates with me personally (the first GenX president!) and politically (no surprise), but what stands out is his willingness to engage the broader problems facing the country and the planet without resorting to over-simplification. The challenges confronting us are complex and filled with uncertainty; simplistic absolutism can only make matters worse. — Jamais Cascio

The most hopeful aspect of this election was the record turn-out and the dramatic increase in registered voters. Both candidates received record numbers of votes and that is a very good thing. Democracy depends upon an active and fully engaged public. This election met this test; now lets all work to keep every citizen engaged in the governance as well as the electing. — Paul Saffo

This Visions Forum is the final installment in a three-part series.
• See part one by clicking here
• See part two by clicking here