Comments Off
Plant 2 trees instead of 1 to offset carbon emission: Prof. Munasinghe
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/101010/BusinessTimes/bt29.html
Carbon credit suppliers should not just simply offset carbon emissions in the atmosphere by planting trees that suck up equivalent quantities, but should instead be “more aggressive” and plant twice the number needed to facilitate even greater reductions in emissions, according to top Sri Lankan environmentalist and Nobel Laureate Prof. Mohan Munasinghe.
Speaking at this week’s launch in Colombo of Sri Lanka’s Carbon Consulting Company, of which he is a director; he also noted existing emissions in the atmosphere would eventually result in a two degree rise in the planet’s surface temperature and a half-metre rise in the world’s sea level. He also suggested that, while there was a 50% chance of climate change being caused by emissions rather than it being a natural phenomenon, similar odds of 50% offered to anyone embarking on an airplane journey, which would allude to them possibly not arriving safely at their destination, would result in nobody wanting to fly.
Meanwhile, according to Jonathan Shopley, Managing Director of CarbonNeutral Company, the UK-based company for which Carbon Consulting Company is an approved reseller of carbon offsets and certification; trends by insurance companies have proven to be good indicators of the future of an issue and climate change forecasts have resulted in flood insurance cover being withdrawn from 20% of all territories.
Also revealed was that, while several companies had expressed interest in working with Carbon Consulting Company, intimates manufacturer MAS Holdings, tea exporters Easwaran Brothers and Galle-based boutique hotel Kahanda Kanda had already signed on as customers.
Comments Off
tomorrowCHILD: Nature not nurture
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/100919/BusinessTimes/bt09.html
tomorrowCHILD: Nature not nurture
By Jagdish Hathiramani
In our continuing series of features delving into the world of tomorrow, we once again turn our attention to education; an area which some of you may recall we already touched upon in a previous segment of tomorrowSERIES. However, where this journey deviates from the last is that, instead of focusing again on the methodology of teaching; we chose to explore the potential of the ultimate tool of them all, the human brain. And once we decided to foray into this realm, our search naturally led us to the most learning-centric area of our development… Childhood.
It stands to reason that when we speak of childhood, and by extension the child, we have to explore the fundamentals of how education, and particularly the removal of physical limitations to the access of educational resources, can influence our race in coming years. It is also a time when the capacity of the brain is also similarly limitless and, due to the yet to be cemented nature of our neural pathways, allows the potential for a leap in knowledge which can be called, for lack of a better term, exponential. Unfortunately, it is also an area of the future in which few have journeyed. No doubt, this has something to do with the massive problems existing in the field of education today, which is possibly overshadowing deep thought in this area.
As such, since the paradigm of accessing information in the future may necessitate an evolution from the more passive, student teacher relationship to the more active, knowledge seeker type of mental conditioning, the rearing of the child of the future may play an even greater role than their education. A case in point; from time immemorial children have accepted knowledge from teachers, but will the children of tomorrow continue to follow this path or will the day eventually dawn where they will also be prepared enough to take on the added mantle of researcher and become self taught, especially now that, thanks in large part to the Internet, they are no longer restricted in any way in their explorations? Or is chatting with friends on Facebook and watching funny videos on YouTube the extent for which we can hope from the majority of children who are as of now only using the Internet as a resource in the search for knowledge as a part of their assigned school homework.
To clarify, the question we attempted to ask is this: Besides access to potentially limitless technology, what else is necessary to change the very concept of education, starting with children, and, as a result, further propel our evolution. So prepare to bid farewell to the childhood of childhood, as we tackle one of the oldest building blocks of our world, childhood development, in the wonderful world of the tomorrowCHILD.
Today
Increasingly, so called innovative digital technologies are taking centre stage as the cure all for virtually every one of education’s ills. More computers in classrooms are repeatedly touted as the fix that is needed for kids to achieve their unlimited potential. But is this really the case?
The arguments for this are that digital technologies allow kids to take charge of their own learning, undertake projects and concepts which would otherwise be too complex and even facilitate knowledge building communities which have the potential to even span the globe. However, going back to when we were kids, were the majority of us even capable of this? Specially since it must also be remembered that the fundamentals of teaching have not changed in all that time. Also, considering that these technologies have existed for at least one generation, is just the fact that these new technologies are available sufficient to alter the paths taken to knowledge?
Some suggest that this shift is already occurring and what is needed is advocating more direct exploration and experimentation such as that which is standard practice at many preschools where there is no structured learning per se and just play time. This can even extend to children living in remote villages by directing their exploration and experimentation to learn about their conditions on the ground and, through the trial and error work with soil, air and vegetation, facilitating innovation in agriculture in their communities.
Another way these technologies are said to be helping is by allowing children to express themselves by facilitating storytelling, communicating, designing, inventing, creating, etc. Additionally, kids would benefit from experiencing contact with others across multiple cultures, languages and modes. All of this will allow them an ability to grow beyond limits of their locality without discounting the impact of the community in their immediate vicinity. There are also plans in the works to make access even easier by going beyond keyboards into verbal and non verbal communication capabilities to open up these tools to even younger audiences while at the same time bridging language gaps.
Some examples of these technologies are computers which can be used to learn abstract concepts such as math, science, etc. through art, sculpture, music and other forms of play. One such device is called “Topobo” and has been described as “an innovative 3-D construction set that enables kids to build walking creatures and other dynamic sculptures, and then program behaviours through direct manipulation”.
However, as great as all this sounds, it must be cautioned that some research has claimed that, while infants may be attracted to sound and motion, it is only at an older age that kids can understand narratives and dialogue. In fact, research by the Institute of Education Sciences What Works Clearing House, has found that using interactive technologies do not advance learning any further or quicker than traditional teaching methods. The true difference is how the material can be made alive to excite kids and interest them in learning, a function of the quality of the teacher and their own familiarity and level of comfort with the relevant tech.
Tomorrow
If just the availability of technology is not enough to kick start humanity’s evolutionary overdrive, what is actually needed? Some suggest even more radical options. Hrdy’s “Mothers and Others” for example makes a case for group child rearing where the village collectively raises children much like in a commune or Israeli kibbutz. But this is not without its own set of problems.
Ironically, for more ideas about a child development in the future, we actually had to go much further back in time and access a case from the 1920’s related to child rearing using nature as its foundation. Described in the book titled “Summerhill: A Radical Approach to Child Rearing”, by A.S. Neill, this is admittedly not for the faint of heart, especially if you are a concerned parents, but some of the ideas expressed in it do strike true.
One being that every child has their own pace and tendencies and these should be the cornerstone of their education. So programmes should be customised based on the instincts of the child themselves. This will also only work if the definition of success,according to the book, is altered to “working joyfully and living positively”.
Other so-called ‘hippy’, new age comments from a multitude of sources have also suggested concepts such as allowing children to be as noisy as they want without fear of punishment, however much it pains us adults. This is because inhibiting these natural instincts is said to just retard optimum development, even leading to a child’s withdrawal.
In fact, these ‘manuals’ promote a number of behaviours which may prove shocking to our parents and teachers, and no doubt even to us, with the idea of punishing these said to be impinging on the rights and freedoms of the child. Some ‘novel’ examples of child rearing tips include: No scheduled feedings, self regulation by children, letting childhood tantrums play out without admonishment, etc.
Interestingly, Neill’s advice on how to get children to eat healthy is trust in nature. After a brief period of experimentation lasting a week or more, kids will naturally prefer to eat healthy should they be given unfettered access to a range of food types and so be allowed to make decisions about what they want to eat by themselves. Although, this was noted at a time before advertising, as well also the marketing efforts, it had the strong influencing effect of today.
Further, concepts pertaining to respect for property, not stealing, toys, rewards, etc. are all dismissed as artificial. The first two attitudes are said to be learned organically after a child reaches a certain stage in their development in relation to others, while the last two are seen as unnecessary measures for a child who always gets what they want. However, it is important to note that toys are neither encouraged nor discouraged but rather do not get undue importance placed on them as a reward, etc.
So how do all these concepts apply to the idea of educating tomorrowCHILD? Simple. Rather than teaching them what you want them to know, let them focus on learning what they want and what, organically, will lead to their best performance.
The central theme behind many of these works seem to be that by attempting to mould our children in our image (nurture) we make them as neurotic and as flawed as us, if not more. This is in relation to the wholly nature-based, self discovery model which promotes natural instincts tempered with social interactions as an avenue to learning. A more holistic way of approaching a problem rather than fitting the child into a standardised learning structure where they will often be restricted in choice no matter which path they take.
The world of tomorrow will also ideally benefit from humans who are more in touch with their natural side and will therefore better use resources. Also, tomorrowCHILD rearing methods will apparently allow us to regain the ability to reduce our learning curves to such a drastic degree that we can learn or even re-learn any skill we need in ever shortening time spans, finally giving us humans the historically much sought out pedestal of a true ‘renaissance man’.
Comments Off
tomorrowMEDICINE – personalised and self-aware
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/100516/BusinessTimes/bt35.html
tomorrowMEDICINE – personalised and self-aware
By Jagdish Hathiramani
Continuing the Business Times’ tomorrowSERIES features, we look at how the practice of medicine will evolve into the future from its most public facet – a visit to the doctor’s office – to the wider possibilities stemming from research currently being carried out today. Either way, be prepared for just a brief glimpse of the wide potential encompassed by the world of tomorrowMEDICINE.
Visiting a doctor’s office is a regular occurrence for almost every ailment you can experience today. Rarely do doctors make house calls (home visits) any more. But what may be the exception today, may regain its status as the tomorrow’s norm. In fact, many believe that personalisation is the key to tomorrowMEDICINE and, as such, incorporating diagnostic devices into our everyday living space may be the best way to incrementally track changes to our bodies.
House calls
An idea we first touched on in our tomorrowHOME feature a while ago, the diagnostic tools of tomorrowMEDICINE will most likely be seamlessly integrated into our future homes as well as other items our bodies are regularly in contact with. From our clothes to the carpeting we walk on to sensors in our toilet seats to even biotechnology which continuously travels pathways within our bodies (cardiovascular, neural, etc.) and tracks the minutest of changes that occur, the diagnostic tools of tomorrow will be non-stop data collectors always transmitting to either our personal doctor’s office or to a central health authority database.
Aside from just diagnostics, the doctors of the future or their artificial intelligences may also be able to treat symptoms or adjust dosages of prescribed medicines remotely from off-site, concepts which suggest the forced obsolescence of today’s cutting-edge technology embodied by two-dimensional doctor consults via telemedicine.
In addition to this is the realisation that, as home computers evolve and get smarter, the concept of a family doctor or a general physician may ultimately prove unnecessary. Many suggest this may be entirely replaced by home computers or even biotechnolgy implants which diagnose and heal commonplace diseases without consulting external doctors, similar to current virus guards on today’s computers.
However, others also argue that the personal touch and the comfort level unique to visiting a human doctor may counter this trend towards a fully automated healing process as suggested by some peoples’ preferences towards talking to a human as opposed to interacting with automated menu systems which are becoming more an more prevalent everyday.
Either way, from pills that contain ingestible microelectronics which allow tracking and even adjusting the efficacy of the drugs that you have taken; to liquid gels that stop bleeding by transforming into solids when it comes into contact with blood; and even robotic nurses and caregivers for the elderly and infirm; tomorrowMEDICINE will be more about taking care of you the individual instead of you the human being.
Future therapies / tools
While house calls and efficacious self medication may be the public face of tomorrowMEDICINE, the true potential of patient treatment / rehabilitation is elusive to even the dreamers of the medical field today. This is because these stem from a variety of different, just-introduced areas such as: nanotechnology, biotechnology, mechanics, information technology, robotics, metallurgy, chemistry, engineering, etc. Just a smattering of ideas that make up the possibilities of tomorrowMEDICINE is more than enough to astound anyone. Even many futurists touting their own personal vision of what’s to come admit being incapable of grasping the wider canvass of what’s to come for this most vital of sciences. While bionic limbs, synthetic organs and medical robots have been talked about for many years, what’s even more amazing to consider are the multitude of new areas of research cropping up virtually overnight that will feed into our reality in the future. And, since multiple fields of inquiry and bridged and transcended, our choices are further expanded by the varied courses of concurrent pure study ongoing at the present time. The possibilities in this case? Truly infinite.
Interestingly, some more recently popular concepts conjectured have been in the following areas: regenerative medicine, biotechnology and cellular reprogramming. And, as such, these require further examination.
Basically an extension of what is being done today, one form of regenerative medicine allows for the use of replacement organs, via synthetics or cloning, to maintain one’s body at its peak. However, how this field continues to vary into the future, from our understanding of it today, may well prove to be because of the advent of safe and risk-free replacements to natural organs and appendages, these eventually forcing this field of medicine to shift from its current reactive approach towards the more proactive.
Replacing even functioning parts of the body may become commonplace as a recourse to limit aging or natural wear and tear. In fact, while it may be considered that immortality, or close to it, or can be viewed as the objective of this branch, there is also a school of thought pushing for the possibility of age reversal which will allow tomorrowYOU to always be at the prime of his or her life, no matter their actual age.
From medibots (medical nanobots) that act as nanometre-sized diagnosticians, healers and even smart bombs targetting cancer or genetic anomalies, all powered by the reaction in blood cells; to artificial immune systems, cryogenic sleep (bio stasis), drugs improving intelligence, perception and cognition, and synthetic limbs and organs; biotechnology is all about integrating technology and biology. In many instances bio material is even proving to be the building material for new technology such as in the case of nanotechnology.
Meanwhile, the field of cellular reprogramming, which is the most recent attempt at bridging the gap between science fiction and science fact, focuses on charting cells and using an individual’s own cells to treat their own unique set of ailments. By reprogramming one’s own damaged cells to act as stem cells which can then become any cell needed, today’s scientists believe they can overcome a number of barriers which can not be overcome by more traditional treatments such as transplantation, chemotherapy, etc. The reason why this is fascinating is because while many other areas of exploration are mere conjecture at this point, cellular reprogramming has shown significant real world promise to date in actually treating disease in lab settings.
The brain
While researchers are currently exploring the concept of brain machine interfaces to allow victims of strokes or spinal injuries to function at heightened levels and in everyday settings, the real reason this area often gets highlighted in science fiction is because of its vast, uncharted potential.
One possible oft-speculated application being the possibility of memory downloads and brain backups, where everyone’s core personality and memories will be stored in a safe remote location to be accessed in times of emergencies. This also ties into the concept of immortality as when one body gets used up or dies, brain backups allow one entity to be transferred into another body. As you may imagine, such a concept could possibly elicit a number of religious and philosophical repercussions.
However, if the human brain can truly and successfully interface with a machine, the applications of this technology may also have untold implications on the future of humanity, especially when you consider the steady rate of adoption of the Internet and the increasing popularity of virtual life; where anybody can be whatever they want. In fact, science fiction writers and futurists are already suggesting that humanity may eventually leave their physical bodies behind and ultimately evolve into entities both ephemeral and omniscient.
Interestingly, since many aspects of tomorrowMEDICINE are so intricately affected by other future technologies; there are also some very unique side effects to consider. While advances in patient care might be the goal of many medical technologies, side effects like the field of biomimetics may inadvertently result. This field is when a study of biological matter leads to a technological advancement outside the field. For example, the idea for Velcro coming from observing insects. On the other hand, there are also significant future dangers from the greater integration of technology, such as the possibility of biohacking; which is when malicious parties tap into implants or prosthesis or even synthetic organs and disrupt their functions which could lead to injuries or worse.
In the meantime, no matter what advantages, or even disadvantages, brought on by future technology, the one consistent, unifying thought amongst futurists and theoreticians appears to be that, considering the current inequitable nature of the world, where the majority of the global population faces ongoing and unnecessary starvation and disease; future advances in medicine will continue to be solely directed at the more affluent members of society, unless a shift towards a fairer sharing of already scarce resources occurs in tandem with the innovations of tomorrowMEDICINE.
Jagdish Hathiramani's Portfolio 