Monthly Archives: April 2021

Stewart Brand, writer and founder of Whole Earth Catalog, portrait inside the Mirene, a converted 1912 tugboat where he and his wife Ryan Phelan call home in Sausalito. Photo: Stephen Lam, The Chronicle

For a devoted futurist like Stewart Brand, who is famous for his projections about technology and the environment, looking at his own past doesnt necessarily come naturally.

Given his fame as creator of the iconic 1960s DIY handbook Whole Earth Catalog (described by Steve Jobs as Google in paperback form), and later as an influential technologist at the forefront of the personal computing revolution, numerous filmmakers have asked the Marin cyberculture legend to make a movie about his life. But Brand never wanted to waste precious time or energy on nostalgia. He said no to the idea of a biopic until filmmakers Jason Sussberg and David Alvarado approached Brand in 2017.

Now their fascinating docu-portrait We Are as Gods is screening at this years San Francisco International Film Festival, available to stream through Sunday, April 18.

We pitched Stewart the idea that instead of just looking backward, wed create a portrait of the futurist as already living in a future others cant yet quite see, said Sussberg in a video interview from his San Francisco home.

Sussberg and Alvarado, based in Brooklyn, N.Y., had already made a short film in 2014 for Time magazine about de-extinction, Brands late-in-life passion project promoting the use of biotech to bring back extinct species like the passenger pigeon, the American chestnut tree, even the woolly mammoth.

They planned to make Brands zeal for genetic engineering central to their proposed feature-length documentary. To their surprise, over an extended conversation with Brand at Skywalker Ranch following a screening of their last film, Bill Nye: Science Guy, Brand said yes.

In We Are as Gods, the two filmmakers travel with Brand, now 82, to Siberia, where hes attempting, with geneticist George Church, to re-wild the ecosystem, and to west Texas, where his Long Now Foundation is building a 10,000-year clock inside a mountain to foster long-term thinking.

Looking forward and looking back are pretty connected, actually, Brand said during a recent afternoon on Sausalitos waterfront.

He and his wife, Ryan Phelan, welcomed The Chronicle onto the Mirene, a 64-foot 1912 tugboat theyve called home at Waldo Point Harbor, Sausalito, for almost 40 years. There Brand explained that when he launched his 1980s think tank, Global Business Network, he started to consider himself a professional futurist.

I got really interested in what the French call the longue dure, the long view of things, he said. You can only feel even remotely comfortable thinking about the future if you have a lot of knowledge of the deep past.

Its a very Brand-ian answer, both surprising and philosophical, to the question of what it felt like to watch his lifes high and low points unfurl onscreen in the new film. (Brand is candid in We Are as Gods about battling depression in the 70s.)

Theres a lot of life to pack into the 94-minute film that gives audiences a whirlwind tour through his irreverent mind and numerous incarnations.

Brand was a self-described free-range kid from Illinois who studied biology at Stanford with notorious doomsayer Paul Ehrlich. He pioneered LSD use with Ken Kesey and co-produced the 1966 Trips Festival. In 1968 Brand launched the Whole Earth Catalog with an iconic cover photo of Earth from space, and a slogan: We are as gods and might as well get good at it.

Brand pivoted to technology after seeing promise and the cool factor in early Stanford gamers excitement. (Ready or not, computers are coming to the people, he wrote in Rolling Stone in 1972.) He put on the first Hackers Conference, and founded the proto-Facebook online community the Well during the dial-up modem days of the mid-80s.

I think Stewart is naturally pulled toward things on the fringe of what could be a possible future, and then he rushes toward it, obsesses about it and feeds off the excitement for about five years, and then gets bored and moves on to the next thing, Alvarado said. That pattern was so interesting to us, and a through line in the film.

Brand has never shied away from controversy, especially when it comes to his belief in using technology to save our planet. The film includes footage of him taking heat from Peter Coyote and others for following his techno-optimism to dangerous lengths. Its a criticism he and Phelan counter persuasively and with heart.

Ive been a conservationist since the 1950s, and I saw the environmental movement go down some primrose paths that blinded them to some important capabilities, says Brand, referring to the knee-jerk environmental backlash against any kind of technological intervention in nature.

But only by trying new stuff can you maybe find a better solution. Think of the alternative trying nothing?

Brand is all too aware where complacency leads on a planet thats growing hotter, more flammable and less habitable by the year.

While still a true futurist, Brand admits to feeling more reflective in his 80s. Hes been working closely with his biographer, John Markoff, and spent hundreds of hours with Alvarado and Sussberg.

The filmmakers were so overwhelmed with material they said they easily could have made an entire film about each part of Stewarts life, and revealed theyre planning on launching a podcast so we can go into even more detail.

In one of the most captivating sections in We Are as Gods, 28-year-old Brand became so fixated on the need for humankind to see a photo of the whole Earth from space that he hitchhiked across the country selling buttons for a quarter each that said, Why havent we seen a photograph of the whole Earth yet?

He was confident that if NASA released the image, people would appreciate the Earths fragility and do more to protect it.

The image of the mushroom cloud from 1945 on dominated everybodys thinking about the world, Brand says. Its a really simple image, and as a symbol it was a powerful framing device.

Whats interesting is there is so far not one iconic image of climate change. If I could devise one, I would gladly do it.

We Are as Gods is available to stream for $12 as part of the San Francisco International Film Festival through Sunday, April 18. sffilm.org

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Stewart Brand portrayed as tech futurist and publisher in We Are as Gods - SF Chronicle Datebook

According to a new study by a team of scientists at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, relatively high exposure to background radiation may actually lead to healthier lives.

Background radiation is a type of ionizing radiation that originates from both natural and artificial sources. Natural sources include cosmic radiation from space and naturally occurring radioactive materials, while artificial sources include anything from medical X-rays to nuclear weapons testing.

As detailed in the study, published in the journal Biogerontology, the researchers examined background radiation data dating all the way back to 1960s across all 3,129 counties in the United States using the Environmental Protection Agencys radiation dose calculator.

They then cross referenced this data with cancer rates from the United States Cancer Statistics and life expectancy data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington Medical Center.

What they found was surprising. Those who lived in areas where background radiation levels were higher, across genders, experienced significantly lower rates of lung, pancreatic, colon and rectal cancers.

Here, we show that life expectancy, the most integrative index of population health, was approximately 2.5 years longer in people living in areas with a relatively high vs. low background radiation, the researchers wrote in their paper.

Exposure to a high background radiation displays clear beneficial health effects in humans, reads the paper.

Decades of scientific theory are potentially being disproven by the remarkable researchers at BGU, Doug Seserman, CEO at the universitys American Associates, said in a statement. These findings might even provide a sense of relief for those who reside in areas in the U.S. with higher-than-average background radiation.

Rather than claiming high background radiation directly causes these improved health effects, the researchers are rather suggesting that prevailing paradigms about the need to keep exposures as low as possible as any level of ionizing radiation is harmful should be questioned.

As a result of this linear no-threshold paradigm, hundreds of billions of dollars go towards lowering radiation levels, according to the researchers.

Its unclear if these same effects would apply for higher rates of background radiation beyond the levels caused by natural sources.

It is reasonable to suggest that a radiation threshold does exist, yet it is higher than the upper limit of the natural background radiation levels in the US, reads the paper.

READ MORE: Decades of Scientific Theory Disproven: Beneficial Health Effects Found From High Background Radiation Exposure [Ben-Gurion University of the Negev]

More on radiation: Armed Criminals Steal Truck Full of Deadly Radioactive Materials

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Scientists Claim That Actually, Radiation Is Good For You - Futurism

The U.K. Home Secretary on Monday moved to proscribe the Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi group predominately in the U.S., as a terrorist organization and make membership in it illegal in the U.K.

Under the proposal, membership or inviting support in the group would be a criminal offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison. A new law that will shortly receive Royal Assent would lengthen the sentence to 14 years, according to a U.K. press release. Once approved by parliament, the listing of Atomwaffen Division is expected to come into effect later this week.

Atomwaffen Division, which seeks a race war to bring about a fascist, white ethno-state, formally disbanded in March 2020, but months later, the National Socialist Order (NSO) announced itself as the groups successor, according to a post on Telegram. The U.K. named NSO as an alias; Atomwaffen Division was listed by Canada in February as a terrorist entity.

Vile and racist white supremacist groups like this exist to spread hate, sow division and advocate the use of violence to further their sick ideologies, said Home Secretary Priti Patel.

Atomwaffen Division had recruited inside the U.S. military, PBS Frontline reported in a 2018 documentary. In September 2020, the group, as NSO, resurfaced in Colorado Springs, Colorado, placing stickers containing images of Adolf Hitler, a swastika and a recruitment email on the windows of local businesses, according to a local media report.

Right-wing extremist groups such as Atomwaffen Division have adapted their use of online tools over time as they face government crackdowns, Kharon reported last year.

Atomwaffen Division has inspired other groups abroad, including the Feuerkrieg Division, which the U.K. listed in July 2020 as a terrorist organization, the U.K. government statement said. The group was aligned with the Sonnenkrieg Division, another U.K.-listed right wing extremist group, according to a U.S. congressional resolution calling to ban the group. A number of U.K. terror prosecutions cited Atomwaffen Divisions influence on teenagers, the BBC reported.

The groups relaunch announcement as NSO was carried by neo-fascist publication The American Futurist, which earlier this month also published NSOs translation of Why We Fight, a Third Reich manifesto from the Nazi era just as relevant today as it was back then.

This week, The American Futurist updated its donation page, providing language on how to obtain monero, a type of virtual currency, and donate it to the publication, according to a post on Gab, a right-wing social media network. The publication has decided to stop accepting funds in currencies other than monero due to privacy concerns, the donation page says.

Several high-level members of Atomwaffen Division have been prosecuted in the U.S. Brandon Clint Russell, a co-founder, was sentenced in January 2021 to five years in prison for possessing an unregistered destructive device and unlawful storage of explosive material. Russells writings from prison have been published by The American Futurist, where he is listed as a staffer.

Cameron Shea, a leader of Atomwaffen Division, pleaded guilty earlier this month to federal conspiracy and hate crime charges for threatening journalists and advocates who worked to expose anti-Semitism. Two co-defendants, including Johnny Ramon Garza, have pleaded guilty and been sentenced; a fourth pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial, prosecutors said.

John Cameron Denton, a former Atomwaffen leader, pleaded guilty in July 2020 to his role in a conspiracy conducting swatting events targeting journalists, a harassment tactic involving the deception of emergency dispatchers who are sent under the belief of imminent danger. His sentencing is scheduled for next month, according to the court docket; prosecutors are seeking a five-year prison sentence, court records show.

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UK to Add Atomwaffen Division to Proscribed Terrorist List | Kharon - Kharon Brief

The country might be launching its own space station soon.Moving On

Russia may soon be abandoning the aging International Space Station to focus on launching and populating its own space station instead, according to new reporting.

Senior Russian officials havent verified the reports, but deputy prime minister Yury Borisov did announce that Russia may soon decided if sending cosmonauts to the space outpost may no longer be worth it, The Moscow Times reports.

We need a technical inspection at the station to avoid any risks in the event of an emergency, Borisov told TASS, as translated by The Moscow Times. We will make a decision based on the results and honestly notify our partners.

The ISS has been continuously occupied for more than 20 years now and its starting to show its age, with occasional leaks requiring patching and cracked windows.

In December, the United States Congress passed a NASA authorization bill that would extend the stations life from 2024 all the way to 2030, despite its deteriorating condition.

The news comes as Russia is reportedly drafting plans to launch its own space station, as independent Russian news agency Interfax reported over the weekend but details are still sparse, except for reports that claim the station could cost as much as $6 billion.

We have a 2024 deadline agreed with our ISS partners, a press release by Russian space agency Roscosmos read, as quoted by Interfax. After this period, the decision will be made based on the technical condition of the station modules, which have basically worked out their lifespan, as well as our plans to deploy a new generation of national orbital service station.

Russia has also previously turned down offers to join NASAs plans to develop the Gateway, a small space station orbiting the Moon. Instead, Russia chose to partner with China, signing an agreement to build an International Scientific Lunar Station in lunar orbit back in March.

READ MORE: Russia to Quit Intl Space Station in 2025 Reports [The Moscow Times]

More on Russias space efforts: Russia Is Planning a Moon Landing Later This Year

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Russia Is Reportedly Abandoning the International Space Station - Futurism

"We need to pay attention to the impact of demographics on future consumption."The Decline

In just four years, the South China Morning Post reports, Chinas population is set to peak a demographic shift that could have far-reaching economic consequences.

When the total population enters negative growth [after 2025], there will be a shortage of demand, monetary policy committee of the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) Cai Fang said last Friday, according to SCMP.

We need to pay attention to the impact of demographics on future consumption, he said.

While China eased its one-child policy in 2013, allowing parents to have two children instead of just one, the countrys birth rate has continued to stagnate. In other words, Chinas efforts to fight overpopulation appear to have worked way too well.

According to Cai, the number of people working in China had been on a steady decline for a decade now as a result.

Recently published research also showed that Chinas falling birth rate could have immediate consequences, including increased financial stress of the healthy looking after an increasingly elderly percentage of the population.

The proportion of elderly people in China has risen to almost 12.3percent in 2019, from just seven percent in 2000.

China must recognize that the demographic situation has changed, PBOC researchers wrote in the paper. The country must realize education and technological advancement will not be able to make up for the decline in population.

The cost of childbearing, parenting and education are the biggest constraints on young couples, Cai said. For the elderly, we need to increase their labor participation and social security benefits so that they can contribute to and share in the economic growth, while also maintaining consumer demand.

As a result, officials at the PBOC are calling upon Beijing to abandon Chinas two-child policy and encourage women to have more children.

READ MORE: China facing economic crisis as population peak nears, PBOC adviser says [South China Morning Sea]

More on Chinas population: China Is Facing A Precipitous Population Decline

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China's Population Is About to Start Declining, and Its Leaders Are Worried - Futurism

Uncrewed first, crewed second.Contract Killer

On Friday, SpaceX signed a historic contract with NASA to develop a lunar lander variant of its Starship rocket to once again land American astronauts on the Moons surface.

The massive $2.9 billion contract, a key part of the agencys Artemis program, saw SpaceX winning out over Amazon founder Jeff Bezos space venture Blue Origin.

But when Starship goes to the Moon for the first time, it wont be carrying passengers because NASA wants SpaceX to prove the vehicle is safe first in a dry run Moon landing.

While the contract SpaceX signed with NASA does requireit to eventually deliver astronauts to the Moon, the Elon Musk-led company first has to prove that its capable of sending a Starship to the Moon at all, via an uncrewed landing.

NASA is requiring a test flight to fully check out all systems with a landing on the lunar surface prior to our formal demonstration mission, Lisa Watson-Morgan, Human Landing Systems (HLS) program manager at NASA, said during a Friday conference call.

While Starship may now be NASAs first choice, other companies that had previously been vying for the coveted spot may still be able to bid on future moon landing contracts with the agency.

Amid budget constraints, its still unclear if NASA and SpaceX will be able to deliver the first astronauts to the Moon by 2024, as originally promised.

SpaceX has made great strides in developing its Starship spacecraft platform. While all four of its full-scale prototypes ended up exploding in massive fireballs, the space company has some ambitious plans, promising to have Starship go orbital before the end of the year.

READ MORE: SpaceX Wins NASA $2.9 Billion Contract to Build Moon Lander [The New York Times]

More on Starship: NASA Reportedly Chooses SpaceX to Develop Moon Lander

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NASA Will Require SpaceX to Land Empty Starship on Moon Before Sending Astronauts - Futurism

Walmart's John Furner also points out that going with Cruise fit in with a vision of the direction that the retail industry, as a whole, was heading towards. "Over the years we've been doing a lot to learn more about the role autonomous vehicles can play in retail, and we've seen enough to know it's no longer a question of if they'll be scaled, but when," he says (via Walmart's corporate blog).

Walmart says it is impressed with Cruise because of the brand's business model, technology, and what it called "unmatched driverless testing." Cruise offers an all-electric fleet powered by 100 percent renewable energy, which helps Walmart reach its goal of being fully dependent on renewable energy by 2035 throughout its supply chain, and hitting zero emissions by 2040.

CNBC says Walmart's investment is part of a fresh round of funding for the self-driving vehicle division, which comes to a total of $2.75 billion. Furner also said that the investment put Walmart in the company of Cruise's other investors, like Honda and Microsoft.

Read more:
The Futuristic Way You Could Soon Get Groceries Delivered From Walmart - Mashed

Ingenuity is in a "perfect state" to "explore aerial mobility on Mars."First Flight

Early this morning, NASAs Mars helicopter Ingenuity achieved the first-ever controlled flight on the surface of another planet, a feat met with applause and cheers at the agencys Jet Propulsion Laboratory when the data started coming in.

Ingenuity perfectly executed its planned 30 second hover at ten feet above the Martian surface, caught on camera by NASAs Perseverance rover several hundred feet away and now, officials say, its in even better shape than it was before the flight.

According to Bob Balaram, Ingenuitys chief engineer at JPL, the extremely healthy helicopter managed to shake off some dust that had accumulated on its solar panels prior to the flight. That means its now capable of producing even more solar energy than before.

Charging its batteries is crucial,because Ingenuity relies on its batteries not only to take flight but also to keep its internals from freezing during Mars frigid nights.

The helicopter is otherwise in sound mechanical shape, NASA staff said. Landing gear and all other mechanisms are also doing great, with computers and avionics behaving flawlessly, according to Balaram.

So all in all, its in a perfect state and Im just really excited to see what all she can teach us over the next few weeks as we explore aerial mobility on Mars, Balaram added.

More on Ingenuity: New Video Shows Mars Helicopter Flight in Even Greater Detail

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NASA Says Mars Helicopter Is Now Healthier Than It Was Before Flight - Futurism