Announcement: This Saturday at The Science Circle - "Panel: Ministry for the Future"

"Panel: Ministry for the Future"

Saturday March 27

10 AM to 11 AM SL time

The recent state-wide cold snap that left many Texans without electricity and water seems like a good time to consider Kim Stanley Robinson’s book The Ministry for the Future. 

This book is disaster novel wrapped loosely around a series of essays, stories, metaphors, reports and commentaries about economics, politics and social inequality. The story line follows two characters: Frank, the sole survivor of a lethal heat wave, and Mary, the director of the Ministry for the Future, an agency established by the U.N. Their relationship is complicated by an incident that results in Frank’s arrest. The book is not an easy read, dealing as it does with a serious effort to alter human behavior enough to ward off the dire consequences of ignoring our own contributions to climate change. Robinson recognizes both the difficulty of making such changes and the necessity to do so and argues convincingly for some possible solutions.

By Mathew Burr

For more information, Click Here. 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Science%20Circle/67/129/32

SLEA Alternative Worlds

 

Last month, the Second Life Endowment of the Arts sims, or SLEA, opened. Across the place are a number of art exhibitions. Among them is Alternative Worlds by Melodie Melodie Heart - Riegler (MarieMadeleine3) and Barry Richez (Dreams). The exhibit's theme is an environmental one, encouraging people to think about the planet. Gemma Cleanslate was on a recent session of Virtual Ability's Mystery Tours when they dropped by, so she got a look.

Read Gemma's article in Design.

Announcement: This Saturday at The Science Circle - "Environmental Challenges For Human Habitability"

 

"Fire, Flood, Drought, Repeat, Environmental Challenges For Human Habitability"

 Saturday November 14

10 AM to 11 AM SL time

By Linda M. Kelley

Every morning when I awake, I notice it’s too cloudy to see the sunrise. You may have noticed this too where you are. Smoke from the megafires in the western US has blanketed my dawn sky. I am thousands of miles away so safe from the flames, but not safe from the fallout – none of us are. I had hoped against hope that this year we would not be having to deal with fire maelstroms and megafires but if anything, they are worse than last year. Some communities are seriously grappling with the science and ethics so that they can effectively address these challenges over the long-term. Join us to hear updates and discuss what we can do.

 To read more, Click Here. 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Science%20Circle/67/129/32

 

Environmental Art Delivers a Sobering Message at Ecoscape

For most of its history, Mankind was at the mercy of the environment while having little impact on it. While Man could occasionally cause ecological damage, it was on a local level. But in the past century, it's become more obvious more powerful tools made possible by recent technologies in addition to more humans on the planet are having an impact on the global ecology. The question is, how much? Klaus Bereznyak recently went to InterstellART and saw EcoScape, an art exhibition with works from eight different artists about environmental issues. So what did the exhibits show?

Read Klaus' story in Design.

Announcement: This Week At The Science Circle: “Method of Conversion of Dissipated Environment Heat Energy”

“Method of Conversion of Dissipated Environment Heat Energy“
By Alexander Frolov
Saturday May 12, 10AM - 11AM PDT

The object of the study in this paper is a method of conversion of dissipated environment heat energy. We plan to calculate parameters of an energy converter, operating according to this method. The objective of the work is determination of principles of conversion of environmental heat energy mechanically, by means of compression-decompression of an elastic working body, and to design an autonomous fuel-less power source.

For more information: Click Here.  

The Science Circle (61/127/32)