Today, for a limited time only, I’m putting the Cosmic back into Cosmic Revolutions. And that means we need to scale up! Normally I talk about the future on a human scale. Technology we’ll see in our lifetimes, say, or maybe a few generations later. The wildest, most speculative ideas might push that envelope out … Continue reading
We’re producing information faster today than ever before. Some studies suggest the amount of data in the world doubles every two years! Certainly between Twitter and Facebook, newsfeeds and friend streams, there’s far more information being thrown at me than I can process. How do we make sense of all this? And what’s the effect … Continue reading
One day soon, there will be more people who have read Remembrance of Things Past on an e-reader than people who have hefted a physical copy. Do you think the digital readers are missing out on anything? I do. Specifically, they’re missing the sheer weight of the thing. Whether you find the extreme length of … Continue reading
It may look like pond scum to you, but one day, the plant-like organism known as algae could rule the world. How can such an immobile, simple-bodied eukaryote pull this off? For one, many of these little guys are photosynthetic. “Big deal,” you say. “Every plant on earth can claim the same thing, from the … Continue reading
This week’s topic is one of my favorites: the intersection of the digital world with the physical. I’ve discussed this topic many times before (check out my “digital space” tag for more) but today’s especially exciting because it involves ninjas! Sorry, not that kind of ninja. I’m talking about the technological equivalent, a nifty device … Continue reading
Today, there are 7 billion people in the world speaking roughly 6,000 languages. One day, they’ll all be able to talk to each other naturally, without knowing any language except their own. This has some powerful implications for many areas of society, and we’ll take a look at four of them below. But first, allow … Continue reading
It was only a few weeks ago I wrote about the future of the English language, and I’m already about to eat some of my words. At the time, I suggested that the internet would help English grow in popularity. Now that anyone can talk to anyone else in the world, regardless of geography, a … Continue reading
What’s the future of human civilization? Cosmic Revolutions has looked at a lot of big questions, but this one’s as big as they come. Indeed, everything I’ve posted so far has tried to fill in a piece of the answer. But today, I want to step back, way back, and try to catch a glimpse … Continue reading
What makes your neighborhood, a neighborhood? Some might say simple geography. Others would point to the demographics of the residents, or the particular kinds of homes and businesses you can find there. These factors are all important. But remember, a neighborhood isn’t just a collection of people and buildings. If you and your neighbors didn’t … Continue reading
In what is sure to be an ongoing trend, the future keeps arriving faster than I can write about it. Check out this amazing project. If it’s legit – and an endorsement from Stanford suggests it is – we’ll soon have glasses that can record and share video. These guys have already developed Facebook glasses … Continue reading
Cosmic Revolutions 