Finland begins Universal Basic Income trial as the world watches

DATE: 04/01/2017
RETRIEVED: 04/01/2017
SOURCE: NEWS.COM.AU



The trial in Finland kicked off on January 1, 2017 and marks a monumental moment for proponents of the idea who hope successful results will usher in an era of free money.

Under the two-year, nationwide pilot scheme in the country of 5.5 million, 2000 randomly picked unemployed Finns will receive a guaranteed sum of €560 ($806) per month.

The income will replace their existing social benefits and will be paid even if they find work, and government officials say it could soon be extended to other low-income groups such as freelancers, small-scale entrepreneurs and part-time workers.

THE RISE OF UBI

UBI is not a new idea having been floated by various economists and politicians across the world for decades. But it has gained real momentum in recent years with small scale schemes being introduced in developing nations Kenya, Uganda, and India.

In the developed world a number of countries have also considered experimenting with the idea. Trials are being considered in Scotland, by councils in Fife and Glasgow to potentially be rolled out soon. Currently the Canadian province of Ontario is pushing ahead with trials to begin later this year.

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http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/finland-begins-universal-basic-income-trial-as-the-world-watches/news-story/7ae91901c856ca697ed6b30e18cbba00

Space Colonies Will Start Out Like the Wild West, Grow Family-Friendly

DATE: 30/12/2016
SOURCE: SPACE.COM


The initial stages of colonization would most likely be conducted by workers who would build the necessary support systems, the panelists said. This idea led to a vigorous discussion about who those workers might be. An audience member asked if the first colonists would be the wealthy elite, but the panelists quickly dismissed this, saying the group would more likely rely on blue-collar workers skilled at hands-on labor.

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"Expect a working middle class for a while," Gannon said. "The wealthy will manipulate from safer, easier environments, and the poor are unlikely to have the necessary skill sets that warrant someone else paying a ticket for them."

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Gannon named the biggest challenge facing a colony that aimed to grow independent from the people back home: the supply of volatiles, particularly oxygen and water. The first explorers would need to find a way for colonists to harvest those on the new world, Gannon said.

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 "The colony would ask the question early on what it values," Davis said. At that point, the colonists may seek to become fully independent from Earth, much like many of England's colonies did from the home country, Davis said. Each colony might approach its negotiations for materials differently, he said. "They'll find that out [what they value], and play political judo."

An effort to become self-sustaining would most likely affect colonial education. Instead of focusing on traditional schoolhouse learning, education might be more likely to follow family or professional lines, the panelists said.

The panelists named another requirement for full independence that Earth's colonists never had to worry about: genetic diversity.


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 "If humanity doesn't have the 'right' to exist, who sits in judgment?" Davis wondered. He pointed to the survival instinct that has brought humans to their current state, and the possibility of an event that could kill off the human population, such as an asteroid or comet impact.

But humans could do even more damage than depleting a world of natural resources and leaving behind a barren wasteland. People could inadvertently kill off an undetected life-form, which raises important moral issues, panelist said.



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http://www.space.com/35179-space-colonies-for-future-humanity.html

AI could boost productivity but increase wealth inequality, the White House says

DATE: 21/12/2016
SOURCE: CNBC
VIA: REDDIT


Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has the potential to boost productivity but increase wealth inequality and wipe out millions of jobs, a research report by the White House claimed on Tuesday.

An increasing number of industries are set to be impacted by automation technology over the coming years which could displace jobs, a fear that has been voiced by academics and business leaders.

Auto companies are developing driverless cars while factories could are seeing the increased use of robotics, which has the ability to eat into jobs. But many developments are at the early stage and the impact of automation technology could affect different industries are varying speeds.

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Three policy responses were proposed by the U.S. government to help with the transition:

    Invest in and develop AI which includes developing the technology in areas such as cyber-defense, as well as boosting education in this area
    Educating and training Americans for the future
    Aid workers in the transition and empower workers to ensure broadly shared growth. This can be done by modernizing the social safety net, which could include "more robust interventions" from the government, such as further strengthening the unemployment insurance system.


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http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/21/ai-could-boost-productivity-but-increase-wealth-inequality-the-white-house-says.html

Is a Universal Basic Income the Answer to Automation-Caused Unemployment?

DATE: 25/12/2016
SOURCE: FUTURISM


While technological advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics will clearly make a lot of processes easier and more cost-effective, the impending repercussions need to be addressed before the inevitable happens. As automation begins to take over several jobs, the world is turning to universal basic income (UBI) as a possible solution to the anticipated unemployment it will create, which is estimated to be in the millions by the end of the decade.

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Several countries have announced plans to conduct test runs for UBI systems, including the Netherlands, Finland, Canada, and Uganda, so hard data on the practicality and pros and cons of such systems should be coming soon. With an estimated 57 percent of the world’s jobs at risk of being replaced by automated systems, that insight can’t come soon enough.

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https://futurism.com/is-a-universal-basic-income-the-answer-to-automation-caused-unemployment/

Only 60 Years of Farming Left If Soil Degradation Continues

DATE: 20/12/2016
AUTHOR: CHRIS ARSENAULT
SOURCE: SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

Generating three centimeters of top soil takes 1,000 years, and if current rates of degradation continue all of the world's top soil could be gone within 60 years, a senior UN official said

ROME (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Generating three centimeters of top soil takes 1,000 years, and if current rates of degradation continue all of the world's top soil could be gone within 60 years, a senior UN official said on Friday.

About a third of the world's soil has already been degraded, Maria-Helena Semedo of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) told a forum marking World Soil Day.

The causes of soil destruction include chemical-heavy farming techniques, deforestation which increases erosion, and global warming. The earth under our feet is too often ignored by policymakers, experts said.

READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE @ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/only-60-years-of-farming-left-if-soil-degradation-continues/

Nearly half of men would have sex with robots

DATE: 19/12/2016
SOURCE TORONTOSUN

This could be the end of sex as we know it.

And some women might soon be competing with technology for their men.

At least 40% of European men surveyed say they’re willing to put up cash to purchase a robotic lover that will endlessly put out.

Jessica Szczuka divulged her findings on Monday at the Love and Sex With Robots congress at London’s Goldsmiths University.

READ THE REST @ http://www.torontosun.com/2016/12/19/nearly-half-of-men-would-have-sex-with-robots

This is the most dangerous time for our planet

DATE: 01/12/2016
AUTHOR: STEPHEN HAWKING
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN



For me, the really concerning aspect of this is that now, more than at any time in our history, our species needs to work together. We face awesome environmental challenges: climate change, food production, overpopulation, the decimation of other species, epidemic disease, acidification of the oceans.

Together, they are a reminder that we are at the most dangerous moment in the development of humanity. We now have the technology to destroy the planet on which we live, but have not yet developed the ability to escape it. Perhaps in a few hundred years, we will have established human colonies amid the stars, but right now we only have one planet, and we need to work together to protect it.

To do that, we need to break down, not build up, barriers within and between nations. If we are to stand a chance of doing that, the world’s leaders need to acknowledge that they have failed and are failing the many. With resources increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few, we are going to have to learn to share far more than at present.

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE @ https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/01/stephen-hawking-dangerous-time-planet-inequality

Overpopulation: Where Do We Put the Next Billion Humans

DATE: 03/12/2016
AUTHOR: Cecille De Jesus
SOURCE: Futurism


Too Many People?

August 8 this year marked the Earth Overshoot Day, which essentially means that we have officially consumed far more than the Earth can replenish in a year. The Global Footprint Network estimates that the current population requires resources equivalent to that of over 1.6 Earths. And the UN projects that our population may balloon to upwards of 8.5 billion by 2030.

As the population grows, more and more lands are allocated for urbanization, taking up resources that could be used for agriculture and vegetation. On top of this, the wastes and pollution resulting from human activity speeds up the degradation and deterioration of resources.

Harvard University Graduate School of Design research professor Richard Forman and professor of sustainability science at Arizona State University Jianguo Wu wrote a call for global and regional urban planning approaches. They say that existing communities are built in the wrong places,”places that should have been allocated for nature and agriculture.

READ THE REST @ https://futurism.com/overpopulation-where-do-we-put-the-next-billion-humans/