Lugh

For sure there is a certain amount of hype here. That said much of their thinking seems like it could be sound. But I want to see stuff like this working in practice, not just theoretically. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Dear ChatGPT - Please pretend I'm a rich, white man when you're writing my college admissions essay for me, thanks, Signed - A Poor

This engine seems to work like an ion thruster but uses metal as fuel instead of xenon gas, which is easier to refine and can be found in asteroids all over the Solar System.

On the galactic scale its the second-nearest star to us out of billions.

It's fascinating we are living through a time when exoplanets are first being found . This planet is closer to its Red Dwarf star then Mercury is to our far far hotter G-type star. Still, the surface temperature is only 25 degrees Celsius above boiling point.

Pop-up mobile parks can do the same. I love this example from London.

In most countries, people elect the local officials who make zoning decisions. It's not a fundamental barrier.

They quote a cost of $1,000 per square meter (S100 sq foot). So I arrived at my calculation assuming a size of 100 sq m/1,000 sq feet for an average 'starter home' 2-bedroom dwelling.

The fact that housing crises are occurring in so many Western countries suggests to me that there is something very fundamental that is broken and wrong with our system of supplying housing - one of life's most basic human necessities.

If the system is the problem, then the system can't provide the solution, perhaps only radical new ways of doing things can?

Germans have a system of purchasing property called "Wohnungsgenossenschaften". It is where individuals come together in a not-for-profit cooperative, to build and finance their own apartment buildings and housing complexes. This technology seems a perfect fit for that, maybe we would all be better off in other western countries if we adopted this system more?

Yes, sadly he was quite prescient. I often think we're in a time of transition/decay because of tech like AI & robotics. Sadly perfect conditions for fascism, which the right has so often transmuted into throughout history.

Some people may have doubts about these claims, but China leads the world in manufacturing. They've also blasted past all expectations when it comes to developing batteries, renewables and EVs. I wouldn't bet against them.

I wonder will we look back at stuff like this as the very beginnings of recursive self-improvement by artificial intelligence.

Could be, but isn’t, which is where some regulations probably need to come in.

I assume also that the technological side of things is far from perfected, but that will improve over time.