Category Archives: New Utopia

What happens when our pursuit of work-life balance becomes so extreme that the two worlds split completely?

If the coronavirus pandemic had sent the office work routine into a tizzy, the Ben Stiller-directed TV series Severance has brought back the focus on the drawbacks of spending too much time at the workplace. While many struggled with getting back to the workplace physically, the new Apple TV+ show offers a fictional alternative and from the looks of it, it makes a rather compelling case.

The web series explores what might happen if you could medically sever your at-work brain from your personal life-brain. In this fictional world, the employees outside selves are called outies and their selves who stay within the office premises are innies. The outie transforms into his/her innie after they step out of the elevator and into their office. So the person at work has no recollection of his/her personal life rather there is no life beyond what exists in the confines of their workplace, Lumon and is devoid of any emotional baggage. Similarly, when the outie leaves for home at the end of the day, he/she doesnt remember what they did in those eight hours of the day. A severed person is deprived of 40 hours per week worth of his/her memories. Isnt that fascinating?

Also read: All workplaces and managers are faced with one problem today what to do with millennials?

The pandemic has laid bare the flaws in the age-old work routine. While it forced employers to exercise remote work culture, it blossomed into a blessing in disguise for many employees. Those nursing their newborn or young children or ailing parents, or the ones tending to their personal struggles work from home helped people to retain their jobs while also taking care of their personal affairs. For others, work from home was a curse, it didnt offer the escape from personal life work usually did and it was harder to stay motivated. As the offices reopened, the commuting among mask-clad travellers has proven to be a harrowing experience for many.

For decades, Nordic countries such as Finland have prioritised and embraced flexible hours and working styles to boost productivity and employee satisfaction. Countries like Japan compensate their employees for commuting to work.

It is safe to say that the concept of workplace has evolved for better or worse and, often, the work environment and accompanied pressure does little to make lives better. Especially for women, who by virtue of living in patriarchal households, end up working beyond their standard working hours. This fact, of course, is not true for all, but we would be fooling ourselves if we think that most women do not endure this on a daily basis.In fact, a LinkedIn study on India showed, 7 in 10 working women in India quit or consider quitting their jobs due to inflexible work environment.

Also read: Work-life balance What really makes us happy might surprise you

So, the idea of severance might seem tempting but the fictional world is not perfect. On the face of it, it has sleek, symmetrical shots making the series aesthetically pleasing. But the unadulterated work timings devoid of any feelings and personality of self can gradually become frustrating.And scary.

These are our lives. No one gets to just turn you off, protagonist Mark Scout (Adam Scott) says in the Apple TV+ series. Although the show depicts that the outies have voluntarily signed up for the severance programme one is driven by the loss of a loved one, another pushed by lonelinesstheir innies still want to break free.

The innies are engaged in meaningless activities to keep them engaged and motivated to achieve their professional goals. The work is mysterious but important, says Mark while inducting a new employee Helly (Britt Lower). There are also seemingly futile (but well thought out) regulations in place such as restricted access to other departments at the workplace. And, to discipline the innies and keep them in check, there are also punishments in form of a dreadful break room. All this to bring to keep the employees focused on the tasks at hand.

Severance may just be an extreme measure to tackle the work pressures and stress of contemporary workplaces, but in no way is it sustainable. The pandemic has given us a taste of hybrid workplaces and reverting to the old ways comes with its own challenges.

According to a new Pew Research Center survey, low pay, lack of opportunities, and feeling disrespected at work are the prime reasons behind the Great Resignation of 2021.

And Severence shows how quickly utopia can become dystopia.

Views are personal.

This article is part of a series calledBeyond the Reelon movies and culture.

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Apple TVs Severance takes work-life balance to brain-altering extreme. Its no utopia - ThePrint

A new study published on Wednesday in Science Advances outlines new findings suggesting the presence of water on the surface of Mars in the past.

Data gathered by Chinas Zhurong rover, a part of the Tianwen-1 mission, found evidence of water in the Red Planets Utopia Planitia basin. The findings came after hydrated sulphate and silica materials were identified.

The Zhurong rover has been conducting a mission on the surface of the northern hemisphere of Mars, where NASAs Viking 2 rover landed in 1976. The latest Chinese mission is seeking to find evidence of the existence of life on the planet.

It is thought that Mars was once a warm and wet planet before a significant climatic change transformed the planet into an arid desert. The timeframe of the change is thought to have begun with the Amazonian period, roughly three billion years ago, and continues to this day.

Yang Liu, one of the lead authors of the study, said of the findings: The most significant and novel thing is that we found hydrated minerals at the landing site which stands on the young Amazonian terrain, and these hydrated minerals are (indicators) for the water activities such as (groundwater) activities.

Researchers also found that brightly hued rocks at the surface have developed a layer of hard crust. This layer, according to the study, could form when water leaves damp soil and turns it into a crust after evaporating.

This layer is known as duricrust and could be a key signal of the presence of water on the surface of Mars in the past. The duricrust is particularly pronounced in Utopia Planitia, suggesting that the area of Mars surface had the most active water cycle.

Experts also explained that no river beds or channels of water have been found in the area, suggesting that any water has been gone for long enough to allow the planets surface to be sufficiently weathered for any marks to be removed.

The astonishing findings exceeded researchers expectations of the mission, becoming the first to show the existence of hydrated minerals at the landing site. The use of the rover to explore a far great expanse of Mars surface allowed for the discovery and similar projects on Utopia Planitia will become more common.

Many scientists have posited that the region may once have been an ocean on the surface of mars, and Yang hopes that the rover could go on to study different layers of a crater to discovery more about the chronology of the Red Planets change.

So the discovery of hydrated minerals (has) significant indications on the geological and water history of the region and the climate evolution of Mars, he said.

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Chinas Zhurong space rover makes surprising discovery on Mars - AS USA

Anticipating the emerging computer age of the 1970s, American futurologist Alvin Tofflers seminal book, Future Shock (1970) predicted the ways in which the pace and scope of technological change could cause shattering stress and disorientation, envisioning the dramatic effect of becoming a super-industrialised society. Since then, the potential of technology has continued to grow exponentially as social media, the metaverse, and VR continues to expand the realms of our experience.

Taking its name from Tofflers prescient text, Future Shock, a new exhibition at 180 Studios, brings together pioneering artists on the radical vanguard of audio-visual technology, renegotiating boundaries between the physical and the virtual, and challenging our perceptions of reality.

The artists in the exhibition are using technology to explore these themes in different ways, explains curator and Vinyl Factory founder Sean Bidder. From the futuristic worlds imagined by Lawrence Lek, Romain Gavras, and Actual Objects to the sensory physicality of UVAs perspective-shifting installations or Weirdcores immersive series of rooms, soundtracked by Aphex Twin, which feels like you are stepping inside a computer.

Creating a liminal space somewhere between dystopia and utopia, Bidder characterises the overarching themes of the different artists on display as generating the collapse of creative silos merging art, music, and technology.

He talks us through the experience of moving through this series of artworks occupying the vast gallery space in the monolithic building: The show is an immersive, sensory overload, designed to reflect the information overload of any given day. Hamill Industries a collective from Barcelona created a light and sound sculpture called Vortex which blows a smoke ring at you, soundtracked by a new score from Floating Points; Nonotaks Daydream v6 reconfigures the space around you with a synapse-splitting light display; Tundras Row repurposes holographic projectors to create a set of symphonic illusions; Caterina Barbieri encourages you to place your hand on her melting ice sculpture; Japanese artist Ryoichi Kurokawas subassemblies is like stepping inside VR without the headset, with quadraphonic sound and strobing accompanying, the exhilarating dual-screen warping imagery of urban and environmental ruins. But, ultimately, he says, You have to experience it for yourself

Future Shock (presented by Fact and 180 Studios) is at 180 Studios until August 28 2022

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The immersive art show blurring the boundaries of the physical and virtual - Dazed

Its *so* the right time for genius.Image: Paramount

Star Trek, from its very beginning, has been about a lot of things, but one thing above all: beautiful people performing competence porn. The idealized future utopia, the spaceships and costumes, the action and adventure, the sci-fi of it all, that can be brushed aside if Star Trek gives you people who really enjoy being good at their jobs. So what do you do when you take one of its brightest and imagine them in a place where theyre not quite sure theyre that good yet?

Thats what Children of the Comet, the second episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, is about at its core. On the surface, of course, its a bit of classic Star Trek storytelling that Strange New Worlds relishes in emulating, even if it doesnt really have more to add to it: the Enterprise has come across a comet in danger of wiping out a pre-warp civilization on the planet Persephone-3, and finds itself having to navigate a rescue mission that puts it at odds with a technologically advanced ship that believes said comet is a life-giving divine entity.

Youve got your space anomaly, youve got tough first contact with an unknown species called the Shepherds, and, dont get too hot under the collar just yet Trek fans, but theres even an away mission gone wrong thrown into the mix as well. When the Enterprise dispatches a teamUhura, Spock, Laan, and newcomer sciences officer Sam Kirk (yes, Kirks brother, no, sadly not played by season twos Paul Wesley with a fake mustache in homage to William Shatner, but by Dan Jeannotte)to the comets surface, they promptly get trapped by a mysterious shield system on the comet, and find themselves trying to solve the mystery of a glowing, egg-like core within its cavernous structures so they can beam out. Things get bad to worse, like all good Star Trek mysteries, when Kirk is injured and the aforementioned aliens begin firing on the Enterprise for trespassing on the comets sacred grounds. But, also like all good Star Trek, our heroes work out a way to resolve everything amicably and the day is saved. The comet is diverted, the away team get, well, away safe, and both the mysterious Shepherds and the aliens on Persephone-3 are all satisfied, the latter mostly because they werent wiped out by a comet, instead having it pass by their planet close enough to bring atmosphere-altering rainfall to the desert world.

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Its all very simple, and thats what Strange New Worlds is very good at so fara simple, tropey plot that you check in every week to watch get resolved, no matter how briefly tense things get, because you know youre watching a Star Trek show, and above all, youre watching a Star Trek show about the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, so you know everythings going to work out well. What makes Children of the Comet really spark, however, that all that is layered over a really important journey for one of its most potential-laden characters: Celia Rose Goodings young Nyota Uhura. Children of the Comet really is Goodings show to steal, and she does it with aplomb, giving us an incredible performance that navigates a side of Uhura that were very familiar withthe confident xenolinguist who knows she can get her job donewith one that were really not: a young cadet who came to Starfleet more out of curiosity than honor and inspiration, and one who suddenly finds herself surrounded by the best and brightest the organization has to offer, and likewise begins to find herself thinking like shes increasingly out of place.

From an impromptu Captains quarters dinner for the senior staff that opens the episode, to Uhura going on her first official away mission to join the team on the comet, to her eventually being the one that unlocks the mystery of the comet to help save the day, Uhuras arc in Children of the Comet sees her grow from this young cadet unsure shes in the right place for where she wants to be in her life, to something closer to the proud, charismatic young woman we met in the original Star Trek. And sure, we know that things are going to turn out OK for her, even when Uhura repeatedly tells people around her that shes not sure her future is in Starfleet, or is shocked when her fellow officers turn to her for advice and expertise, because, well, shes Nyota Uhura. Her fate, just like Pikes in a way, is a done deal.

But even then, theres something incredibly satisfying to watch the seeds of the character that weve known for over half a century at this point beginning to flourish through Goodings take on the character. Her curiosity, her passion for languageand a cute nod to her passion for song when she realises that the comets core can communicate through harmonics after idly humming a folk songher assuredness in herself after she eventually learns, with a little push from Spockwhen things start getting dicey, to trust in the fact that she wouldnt be where she was if she wasnt good at her job. It all comes together to give Children of the Comet and its otherwise pretty basic Star Trek premise a real sense of heart, in spite of the inevitability of its outcome.

If thats what Star Trek: Strange New Worlds wants to deliver week in, week outwell-executed plots of the week with a heartfelt exploration of one of its key characters, a familiar face or otherwisethen Children of the Comet is already setting a gold standard for the rest of the show to match. And if it does, like its Starfleet heroes, then Strange New Worlds can take a lot of satisfaction from a job well done.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Readies Uhura to Become One of Its Brightest Stars - Gizmodo

Twenty years ago, when my kids were little, and we went on long drives, my wife and I would play an audiotape of the Amelia Bedelia stories, by Peggy Parish, to keep them occupied. Amelia Bedelia is a housekeeper who goes to work for a rich couple. They give her instructionsdust the furniture, draw the drapes, put out the lightsthat Amelia, being extremely literal-minded, interprets exactly the wrong way. She pours dust on the furniture; draws a picture of the drapes; puts all the lights outside. The couple comes home to the chaos, and resolves to fire poor Ameliauntil they taste a pie that she has made. It is so delicious that they cant bear to let her go.

Our kids loved the wordplay and, of course, the foolish adults. They got the joke. After several hundred listenings, however, it dawned on me: Amelia Bedelia, as others have noted, knows precisely what she is doing. Shes an anarchist, an agent of chaos, and is intentionally punishing the rich couple for some conduct deep in the untold backstory of the series. No reasonable person can use words that literally, with no awareness of how words can have multiple meanings. Even children know that the phrase catch the school bus doesnt refer to grabbing a large yellow vehicle flying through the air. Amelia Bedelia, a functioning adult who manages to get to work each day, surely also understands the figurative use of language, and is simply pretending not to in order to achieve her own nefarious ends.

As a then-recent graduate of law school, I soon had another realization: this narrow focus on a certain understanding of words, to the exclusion of all others, is a close cousin to originalism, a distinctly conservative strain of thinking in constitutional law that was championed and popularized by the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Originalists argue that their thinking is uniquely rigorous and coherent. They believe that it is possible, even imperative, to identify the proper meaning and interpretation of the Constitution by adhering strictly to the text and to the intentions of the men who wrote it. Originalists scoff at the notion of a living Constitution, a document whose meaning has changed and expanded with time and evolving circumstances. Only softheaded liberals, they say, believe that due process encompasses foggy notions and words unmentioned in the Constitutionwords such as privacy. If something isnt specifically articulated in the Constitution, any attempt to find it there is entirely speculativeor, as Justice Scalia put it, pure applesauce.

By the nineteen-eighties, originalism had become the dominant legal ideology of the right. It allowed conservative legal scholars and judges to claim a higher ground of objectivity and neutrality: they were simply applying what the Framers intended when they wrote the document. Conversely, it enabled them to label federal judges who sought to expand rights or powers of the Constitution as activist judgeseffectively, as unelected legislators who would bend the language of the Constitution, in order to reshape society to fit a vision of liberal utopia.

But the recently leaked draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, written by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, and an earlier federal decision by Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, in Florida, outlawing the federal mask mandate on airplanes, reveal the dishonesty inherent in the originalism idea. In fact, it appears that, much the way that many Republicans are dropping any pretense of civil decorum or anti-bigotry in order to appeal to radical elements of the base, many conservative judges are leaning into the bare-knuckled, results-oriented jurisprudence to take them in the direction that they want to go: backward.

Justice Alito, in his draft opinion, argues that, because he can find no reference to abortion in the Constitution, and because there was no widely established right to abortion in 1868, at the time of ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment (which contains the due-process clause that Roe v. Wade holds includes the right to privacy), there is no basis for finding that the Constitution protects any such right. Thats not what due process means, Alito maintains, because its not reflected in the historical record he selectively cites. Like Amelia Bedelia, he latches onto a specific, fixed meaning within the Constitution, and refuses to consider any broader possible meaning. And while, strictly speaking, Amelia Bedelia may be more of a textualist (relying solely on the words themselves) than an originalist (seeking to understand what the words meant at the time that they were used), the utter disregard for destructive outcomes is the same.

Whats clear now is that the destruction is the intent. Originalism is just a clever trick of perspective. If you narrow your vision to look only for specific words that people used when the Constitution was drafted, you will always be engaged in a process of halting progress beyond that moment in time. Was there gay marriage in 1868? No? Well then, due process obviously doesnt protect any right to marriage equality. You freeze recognition of rights as of the nineteenth century, while claiming to be neutrally applying interpretive principles to reach that conclusion. Of course, in order to achieve this result, you absolutely may not widen the perspective to consider the ultimate goals inherent in the Constitution. The question of whether the Framers (or the Constitution itself) contemplated an idea of securing the right to bodily autonomy is prohibited. Dont ask whether it makes sense to apply eighteenth-century notions of personhood to a twenty-first-century country. Ask only whether the Constitution mentions abortion.

Alito, of course, already knew the answer to thatwe all did. Both the question, and the analysis, are disingenuous. His ninety-plus-page opinion, citing some ancient (and bizarre) sources, merely attempts to obscure it. That is the point of originalism, and it explains why so many right-wing lawyers and judges cling to it. The solutions to complex issues are rendered simple, predetermined. In other words, originalism is not neutral and never has been. It is a political tool designed to halt progress.

Originalists argue that its not their fault that the drafters may have been slaveholders, or uniformly male, or white, or without any knowledge of contemporary technology or a more inclusive notion of humanity. Thems the breaks; mere accidents of history. Or they argue that they are only interpreting the law as written. If you want to change the law, they say, thats the role of the legislature, not the judiciary. But that, too, is a profoundly dishonest response. To say that is to say that the Dred Scott case was correctly decided when it was written, in 1857. At that time, as Justice Roger Taney wrote, Black people had no rights which the White man was bound to respect. That holding is now universally regarded as one of the most shameful in Supreme Court history. It is an object lesson in the misapplication of legal principles to profoundly inhuman ends. Black Americans should have been entitled to full citizenship, and to all the protections of the Constitution, from the moment the country was founded. Our legal system, however, didnt recognize their rights, and that failure is the great crime of this countrys founding. The logic of originalism, as expressed in Alitos draft opinion, would mean that Black Americans should not have been entitled to citizenship, or to their full humanity, until the civil-rights amendments said so. To say that the law is correct because its what the law says, is, at best, circular, and, in many instances, monstrous.

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Samuel Alitos Amelia Bedelia Reading of the Constitution - The New Yorker

Last week, WW scrutinized the unlikely candidacy of Carrick Flynn for Oregons new congressional seat. Flynn, 35, is mostly unknown to residents of his districtbut theyve been blanketed by TV commercials and mailers for Flynn funded by cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried. Flynn has introduced himself to few people outside of those ads. WW examined his candidacy, and obtained 25 minutes of his time for an interview. Heres what our readers had to say:

Joe Downs, via Facebook: Yeah, its totally normal for a 30-something who has lived here for months of his adult life to helicopter in with millions of dollars. Definitely dont ask any questions.

Kendall Horn, via wweek.com: Reminds me of Chauncey the Gardener but with less people skills and appeal.

Poppy Alexander, via Twitter: Oregonians are proudly intense about your right to claim Oregon identity (just ask Nick Kristof or read the excellent essay from Leah Sottile on it). This FTX/Sam Bankman-Fried campaign to remotely own a section of the state as a crypto utopia is thus extra, extra weird.

Steverino, via wweek.com: Gee, how terrible hes not on the party list of the government faithful.

Looking at what Ds have done for Oregon, I think thats a positive. WTH is so wrong about getting someone with new ideas since the old ones are not working real great?

Elaine Lindberg, via Twitter: I never got past the report that hes only voted twice in 30 yearsno matter where he lived.

Baba Benji Ji, via Facebook: Flynn does not give straight answers to any of the questions in this interview. Hes the kind of Democrat who will help maintain the balance of power in D.C. by losing the election.

Michael M, via wweek.com: This guy aggressively avoids the media for months, leaving the public with no choice but to make inferences based on the millions hes getting from a few individuals from outside Oregon.

Now he whines about being misunderstood. He has in no way demonstrated he is (1) qualified to serve Oregonians in D.C. or (2) trustworthy. A lack of transparency, for me, clearly makes a candidate unworthy of my voteand my trust. Over and above a complete lack of experience.

Uhoh Hotdog, via wweek.com: WW is just mad the guy wouldnt genuflect to their interview request. Not that WW is even distributed across the district in question. They are saying, without any evidence to back it up, that he will be subservient to his funder. What a wretched excuse for journalism.

EastsideActivities, via wweek.com: Can you imagine using your last question to go on about how self-sacrificial you are instead of how you want to serve the Oregonians of the 6th District? All this money, and he doesnt seem to have had even the most basic messaging training. Which means he just doesnt care as much as he insists. I dont like campaign financethats like saying, I dont like environmental. It just doesnt have even a rhetorical meaning. Taking big money, fine, its a long tradition enjoyed by both sides. But to not even dial in a platform? Its just insulting to his would-be constituents.

LETTERS to the editor must include the authors street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to: PO Box 10770, Portland OR, 97296 Email: mzusman@wweek.com

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Readers Respond to the Cryptocurrency-Funded Congressional Hopes of Carrick Flynn - Willamette Week

Sally Rooneys debut novel, Conversations with Friends is getting the Normal People treatment as it becomes the next television adaptation from the author. Much like its predecessor the new series, which airs on BBC Three, also follows the romantic entanglements of two young Irish lovers, Frances and Bobbi.

The synopsis for the new series reads: "Though they broke up three years ago, Frances and Bobbi are virtually inseparable and perform spoken-word poetry together in Dublin. Its at one of their shows that they meet Melissa, an older writer, who is fascinated by the pair.

Bobbi and Frances start to spend time with Melissa and her husband, Nick, a handsome but reserved actor. While Melissa and Bobbi flirt with each other openly, Nick and Frances embark on an intense, secret affair that is surprising to them both. Soon the affair begins to test the bond between Frances and Bobbi, forcing Frances to reconsider her sense of self, and the friendship she holds so dear."

Read more: Mel B shares hopes of getting the Spice Girls back together after Prince William chat

We've no doubt that you will recognise some of the people on this list. There is a large ensemble cast set to appear in the show. Here is who stars in BBC Three's new 12-part series, Conversations with Friends. Here's more information on how to watch Conversations With Friends and whether it's related to Normal People.

Alison Oliver - Frances

British actress, Alison Oliver stars as Frances in one of her first leading roles. She has previously featured in Fame Dogs, Woggie, and Home Brewed.

Talking to the BBC about her casting, she said: "When I read the book I just completely fell in love with it straight away and all the characters in it." Alison describes Frances as a "very cerebral and observant young woman who has a very dry humour" and has said that she worked primarily from the book to prepare for the role.

Will Alison achieve the same level of success as Normal People stars, Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones?

Sasha Lane - Bobbi

Sasha Lane, who plays Bobbi, is no stranger to TV work, having appeared in Utopia (2020). She also starred in the BAFTA-nominated movie, American Honey, the 2019 reboot of Hellboy and has even featured in music videos for Alicia Keys and Lewis Capaldi.

Sasha described how she wanted to take on the role because she's very "into people and their psychology". She also said that she used her past relationships as inspiration for her character.

Jemima Kirke - Melissa

Melissa is played by Jemima Kirke, who recently appeared in the third series of Sex Education but most people will know her as Jessa in American series, Girls.

Speaking about the story, Jemima told the BBC: "I think Sally Rooney describes anxiety very well. She creates this visceral experience of anxiety, awkwardness, confusion and shame. Its a very internal world that shes creating and its quite fun to try and express whats reality and what's her perception." Jemma has said that she feels the script for the new series "honours the novel".

Joe Alwyn - Nick

British actor Joe Alwyn stars as Nick and his claim to fame is that he is Mr Taylor Swift. The actor even co-wrote some of her songs including, August and Betty from her eighth studio album.

A jack-of-all-trades, Joe has had roles in Oscar-nominated film, The Favourite starring Olivia Colman and The Last Letter From Your Lover.

Joe said: "I loved it, I just tore through it. Sally is such a brilliant writer, shes so sharp and observant and often funny at times, but also moving."

Elsewhere in the cast, there is Derry Girls' Tommy Tiernan - Dennis. Tommy is a legendary Irish comic who has his own show on RTE and you'll have seen him in Father Ted, of course.

Caoimhe Coburn Gray - Aideen

Kerry Fox - Valerie

Sally Garnett - Evelyn

Catch Conversations with Friends on Sunday, May 15 on BBC Three at 10pm

Original post:

The full cast for Sally Rooney's Conversation with Friends - Wales Online

Opinion: sci-fi capitalists would have us believe that outer space is just another empty space waiting to be turned into a tech utopia

By Aidan Beatty, University of Pittsburgh

A number of prominent thinkers on the Left, from Mark Fisher to David Graeber, have argued that we live in a world where we no longer enjoy utopian visions of any kind of better future to come. In an age of climate breakdown, pandemic and the return of overt white supremacy, it can be hard to have a positive sense of the future. Yet one small remnant of utopianism lingers in an unusual place: the fantasies of tech billionaires, from Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, that they will one day launch privatised expeditions into the cosmos.

On the surface, these claims are often poorly thought out or even absurd and seem more like publicity stunts than realistic attempts to launch actual extra-planetary flights. Branson once promised that his Virgin Galactic company would become the first commercial spaceline, with flights starting in 2007 and flying 3,000 people in the first five years.

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From RT Radio 1's Morning Ireland, space commentator Leo Enright on Richard Branson's flight into space in July 2021

In the mock-up of Virgin Galactic's spaceship, there were ergonomic seats alongside large and numerous windows. The windows are themselves a give-away that this rocket would never exist; spaceships require tiny windows, and only a few of them. as a heat-saving mechanism.

In October 2021, Bezos invited Star Trek actor William Shatner on a flight with his Blue Origin company. The journey took all of 11 minutes and went no higher than 100km off the ground, the border line between a sub-orbital aeronautical flight and a full astronautical orbital flight.

Musk has promised full Martian colonisation, via his SpaceX company, but he has a tendency to ignore the harsh realities of conditions on Mars. The surface of the planet is covered with a toxic cocktail of chemicals that would wipe out living organisms. The ultraviolet light that hits Mars would sterilise the upper layers of any agricultural soil development. Carcinogenic radiation would indeed be an inescapable, perhaps fatal, problem.

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From 60 Minutes Australia, Elon Musk on his plans to colonise Mars

The lighter gravity on Mars would also have large-scale, probably detrimental effects, on the bone structure of long-term residents. Calcium degradation and muscle loss would be highly likely, as would a swelling of the optic nerve that already affects astronauts on the International Space Station. There is also a risk of infection from as-yet undiscovered Martian microbiological organisms. It could take 15 to 20 years for any viable food production systems to be operational. Martian dust-storms, which regularly reach up to 70 miles per hour, would prove hasardous for any construction efforts.

The absence of water on Mars would cause obvious problems, probably only solvable through urine recycling. Human feces would be the primary (or perhaps only) source of fertiliser. As one frank observer noted, there is a large remove between Musk's attractive fantasies of a fun life on Mars, and the only possible reality in which settlers would almost certainly have to "eat their own shit" (which is perhaps answers why Musk never seems to want to go there himself!). All this is aside from the basic fact that no technology yet exists that would allow for manned flights to Mars.

These tech billionaire space fantasies, couched in outlandish claims, are also inextricably bound up with the low-tax and pro-privatisation regimes of neoliberalism. These fantasies are only possibly with accumulated fortunes that would, in an earlier time, have been taxed at higher and more equitable rates. Indeed, the chances of privatised space companies sending a manned flight to Mars are probably lower today than in the era of large-scale Soviet and American investments in the 1960s and 1970s (though both SpaceX and Blue Origin receive heavy funding from the US government).

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From RT News, Star Trek actor William Shatner's short trip to space onboard Blue Origin

But it would also be a mistake to simply dismiss these endeavours outright. As the political theorist Jonathan Crary has stressed, these fantasies of sci-fi capitalism still do important work shaping and regulating our contemporary imagination, despite being absurd and unrealisable. In this case, they reinforce the idea that outer space is just another empty space awaiting its takeover by global capitalism. For true believers, it is the outlandishness that matters, serving up a soothing vision of a capitalist tech utopia just around the corner that counters the bleak futures we face here on Earth.

The spectre of climate change haunts these fantasies, with Musk describing his supposed Martian colony as a "back-up drive" for humanity and an escape from mass extinction. He has also said that travel costs could be in the range of $10 billion per passenger, though this can eventually be brought down to "only" $100,000.

For those who can't afford the fees, Musk suggested they could travel for free and pay off their debts with unpaid work when they arrive

As one commentator described it, Musk's Martian endeavour "looks a lot like joining a country club or gated community or any other model of private access to space for those who can afford it." With ever increasing numbers of climate refugees, outer space becomes an extreme way to avoid the dangerous mobs at home. Indeed, Mars might well be the ultimate gated community - or an off-planet version of Baghdad's Green Zone.

For those who cant afford the fees, Musk has suggested they could travel for free and then pay off their debts with unpaid work when they arrive. Such a scheme is eerily reminiscent of the indentured servitude practiced in the English colonisation of the New World. It is worth remembering that the (often equally utopian) colonisation of the Virginia Territory quickly ran into labour shortages, ultimately "solved" through racial slavery. An outer-space tech utopia would, at best, be a kind of sci-fi kibbutz. More likely it would be a postmodernist company town, one that controls its residents oxygen supply.

Dr Aidan Beatty is a Scholar Mentor and historian who teaches at the Pitt Honors College of the University of Pittsburgh. His new book, Private Property and the Fear of Social Chaos, will be published later this year by Manchester University Press.

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RT

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Can we look forward to living in space? - RTE.ie

If youre looking to sample some new, seasonal delicacies in your old favourite restaurants, weve got you covered. These restaurants have curated new menus this May, and some of them are set to last all summer, to take your tastebuds on a gastronomical journey like none other!

Whether it be a basketful of steaming hot dimsums or a delicious handmade ravioli with ricotta cheese, if youre craving delicacies that are both Chinese and Italian, ChaoBella is the place to be. The restaurant is known for being the capitals only dual cuisine restaurant and launched its new menu in May. Indulge in an East meets West fare and dig into some delicious Chinese delights from not only the Cantonese region, but also the Hunan and Sichuan regions as well. Whats more, the Asian menu has delicacies from Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam as well, which feature complex Chinese flavours and Indian herbs and spices. Try dishes such as Melange of Mushroom, Cantonese Barbeque Fish, Crystal Chive Dimsums, Gyoza Dimsum, Khow Suey, Crisp Fried Lamb in Konjeenaro sauce, Stir Fried Udon Noodles, Stir Fried Duck Breast, and many more.

As for the Italian fare, be transported tomodern-day Trattoria in Italy. The handcrafted pizzas and pastas made in the live kitchen will ensure freshness, visual appeal and some of the most flavourful bites youve indulged in. Some dishes from the menu include Insalata Caprese, Prosciutto di Parma, Artisan Gnocchi, Pizzocheri, Ravioli, Risotto ai Funghi, Gamberoni, Filetto di Manzo, Scattodita, Lasagna Bolognese, Tiramisu and more.

Where: ChaoBella, Crowne Plaza New Delhi, Okhla

Timings: Lunch 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm; Dinner 7:00 pm to 11:0 pm

Price: Rs 3,000 + taxes without alcohol (for two, approx)

One of Delhis favourite modern Asian restaurants, Pa Pa Ya, has launched its new menus this May, and it features some gastronomic delights such as Laksa, Dimsums, and ramen (both soupy and soupless), a variety of sushi, tapas, and much more. Whats more, you can also opt for their teppanyaki offerings and enjoy treats grilled for you right in front of your eyes!

Where: Pa Pa Ya outlets in Delhi, Guguram, Mumbai and Kolkata

Theres nothing better to beat the scorching summer heat than a refreshing glass of fruity sangria. The beverage can trace its roots back to the Greeks and Romans, and one8 Commune is bringing together sangrias and our childhood favourite treats sorbet together this summer!

Their new menu includes fruity sorbets in a cocktail, created by mixologist Neeraj Sharma, and these grown-up slushies will refresh you like none other. On offer are Sunburst, a sweet and citrusy combination of kiwi sorbet with the infusion of lavender and elderflower in the classic Chenin Black, Green Sunset, a signature Sauvignon blanc infused with passion fruit and kaffir lime poured over fruity green apple sorbet, Berry Boss, which has Shiraz with a blast of berry-flavoured sorbet and a hint of cool watermelon, Mango Sizzle, which is a blend of chili mango sorbet with the flavours of fresh rose petals and peach brewed in the classic Cabernet shiraz.

Where: one8 Commune outlets in Aerocity, North Delhi, Punjabi Bagh, Kolkata and The Mills, Pune

The Claridges has put its heart into bringing Japan to its guests at the recently launched Japanese food festival. While the dishes are available every day, the Chefs special menu will be available on Sushi Suiyobi which translates to Sushi Wednesday. Pickwick, one of the many restaurants at the hotel, is offering the emblematic menu including Sake, Robatayaki, Pork Belly Salads, and Truffle Edamame as part of the offerings. Guests can taste specials such as Asparagus Cream Cheese Maki, Fire Cracker Maki, Shiitake Maki, Dynamite Maki, Real California Maki, Crocodile Maki Made With Black Tiger Shrimp Tempura, Crab Stick, Unagi, Tobiko, Avocado And Kabayaki Sauce. The extensive menu also incorporates Nigiri And Sashimi, Yakimeshi and Chicken Karaage, among other things, including a Passion Fruit Crme Brule and Wasabi Ice Cream.

Where:Pickwick in The Claridges

When: May 11 onwards, every Wednesday

Time: 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm

Price: Rs 3,000 plus taxes for the Chef Special Menu; Rs 995 plus taxes for unlimited Sake

No fruit spells summer like the juicy, sweet, golden mangoes. And to celebrate the fruit of the season, Balsa in Mumbai has curated a special mango menu, by Chef Karishma Sakhrani. The celebrity chef, known for her successful stint in MasterChef India season 4 and her work at brands such as Woodside Inn, Di Bella, The Pantry Coco Cafe, Candy & Green and now as the Culinary Director of Acme Hospitality, blends the versatile fruit into a series of sweet and savoury dishes to highlight the versatility of the summer fruit. Indulge in a spicy Thai Mango Avocado Salad, pulled Jackfruit/Chicken Tacos and Mango Pineapple Salsa, Pok Bowl which features chilli lime mango, Fried Chillies with Mango Habanero Sauce, Asian bhel and more, and end the meal with the popular Sticky Rice Mango, elevated with blue pea coconut milk and roasted moong dal. Head over to Balsa and enjoy their new Mmmangolicious Menu along with the best of tropical cocktails

Where: Balsa, Utopia Gate 4, Opposite Smaaash Go Karting, Kamala Mills, Lower Parel, Mumbai

When: Available until June 30, 2022

Contact: 022 4914 3107/+91 86579 29833 (for more information and reservations)

Among the new menus released in May is the one by Toast & Tonic, which features a variety of delectable summer treats. The Summer Side Up menu takes inspiration from classics across the world, using locally and sustainably sourced summer ingredients that celebrate Indias biodiversity. From their latest offerings, indulge in plates including Everything Summer Salad, Fresh Vietnamese Summer Rolls, and jackfruit tostadas, enjoy big plates such as Rigatoni in Summer Vegetables and Chicken Piccata and finish your meal with delectable desserts such as Alphonso Mango Panna cotta or Phalsa and Purple Jamun Sorbet.

The menu also has a range of summer-special cocktails such as Fraise & Tonic, Sunny Negroni, and more.

Where: Toast & Tonic, BKC, Mumbai

Time: 12:00 pm to 12:00 am (children below 18 are permitted only for lunch)

Cost: Rs 3,000 plus taxes (for two, including a drink each)

This is the season of sunshine and endless frozen treats, and among the new menus in May include delectable offerings by The Bombay Canteen. Their all-new Summer Menu, curated by Executive Chef Hussain Shahzad, celebrates the season with regional dishes and produce think, ripe summer tomatoes, bael, brinjal, amaranth, petha and more. Imagine innovative dishes such as a chilled Rasam vada, a crunchy Summer Greens Patta Chaat with a dollop of pickled dahi; warm, smoky Baigan Chokha; Chilled Seabass Sev Puri and a lot more which tingles your tastebuds and leaves you wanting more. Whats more, they have sourced the finest mango varieties from India for you to sink your teeth into the golden, ripe fruit and relish the tropical summer flavour.

Where:The Bombay Canteen, Unit-1, Process House, S.B. Road, Kamala Mills, Lower Parel, Mumbai

Time: Monday to Friday 12:00 pm to 1:00 am; Saturday-Sunday 11:00 am to 1:00 am

Delivery: Monday-Friday: 12:00 pm to 11:00 pm; Saturday-Sunday 11:00 am to 11:00 pm

Call: +91 88808 02424 (for reservations)

Order online here.

Summers call for refreshing meals and cooling beverages, and among the new menus curated this May is by Ginkgo, a Pan-Asian cloud kitchen based in Mumbai. Enjoy treats such as a Thai Iced Tea (condensed milk, black tea, star anise & cardamom), or the more subtle Lemongrass Iced Green Tea(green tea, fresh lemongrass, kaffir lime & citrus). Or opt for their Vietnamese Iced Coffee for a tasty way to beat the heat. Whars more, theyve blended the fruit of the season mango into theirMakes a Mango Crazy, which features fresh mangoes, young coconut and rice milk, among other many flavourful treats.

Where: Delivering in Mumbai

Time: 11:30 am to 1:30 am

Order here.

Among the new menus this May that celebrate seasonal fruits is Cafe 49. Featuring the yummy favourite, mango, the place has designed smoothies, mocktails and decadent dishes such as Mango & Fresh Cream Cake, Layered Mango Cream Cheese & Chocolate Fudge, Fresh Mango Tart to Mango & Fresh Cream with Rose Garnish. Mango Chipotle Bonbons, Mango Chocolate parfait, Mango Coconut Mousse, Raw Mango Cilantro Hummus and more to keep you indulged and refreshed, at the same time!

Where: Cafe 49, The Emerald Hotel, Juhu Tara Road, Juhu, Mumbai

Time: 11:00 am to 11:00 pm

Call: +91 92233 79080/96

Ice cream is synonymous with the summers, and its milky, icy, slushy varieties offer refreshment from the summer heat. And Indias leading milkshake and ice cream brand, Keventers, has launched three delectable new ice cream flavours this May Tutti Frutti, Tiramisu, and Cookies & Cream in 100ml and 450ml packs. The new menus boast refreshing delights that cool you down and pack a flavourful punch while reminding you of your childhood favourite flavours.

Where: Keventers outlets across India

Hero and Featured Image: Courtesy of ChaoBella, Delhi

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Yummy new menus you need to try this May at these restaurants - Lifestyle Asia India

Luce Irigaray is one of the most renowned and polemical philosophers of our time. The author of more than thirty books, she is well known for her critical engagements with canonical figures of psychoanalytic and philosophical traditions through her landmark feminist texts such as Speculum of the Other Woman (1974), which prompted her expulsion from the Lacanian cole Freudienne de Paris (EFP) because of its searing depiction of Platonic and Freudian representations of women; This Sex Which Is Not One (1977); Elemental Passions (1982); Marine Lover of Friedrich Nietzsche (1991); and The Forgetting of Air in Martin Heidegger (1999).Her latest book, the lyrical and often autobiographical A New Culture of Energy: Beyond East and West (2021), was published by Columbia University Press, and draws deeply on her decades-long practice of yoga and pranayama, which she considers, as always, through the lens of difference and gender.

I WROTE THIS BOOK to thank one of my yoga teachers for having accepted to ensure my training without payment when I was involved in a lawsuit with the owners of the flat that I rented, because they sold it illegally. I began the book explaining why I approached this practice, and how doing yoga little by little has modified my way of living the real and my relations to others, and even to myself. Starting from mere narration, the book develops from a concrete lived experience to the discoveries, in living and in thinking, that an everyday practice allowed me, but also to the problems that it raised for a subjectivity trained in Western cultures.

All the chapters pass on the message that I want to express. Some correspond more to the key argument, while other chapters allow the new ideas to emerge, to be perceived and tasted. For example, the chapters on compassion, on becoming incarnate with the help of animals and angels, and on the spiritual path opened by a cultivation of perceptions are particularly relevant. The Mystery of Mary, which has been published separately in other languages, has been added to the volume at the request of Columbia University Press. That text shows how it is possible to approach a religious figure differentlyparticularly through breath.

I have already broached the importance of silence in other books, notably in To Be Two and Sharing the World. On this subject, it is useful to distinguish two sorts of silences: the one that women have been forced to respect in a culture built by men, and the one that they freely desire to keep. In fact, the two can be productive. To be excluded from a cultural discourse permits women to more easily wonder about it, and even leave it. There is no doubt that the silence they decide to keep is more decisive in constructing their subjectivity and a culture suitable for them. Eastern cultures teach us the value of silence more than Western cultures.

Western cultures are based on a split between body and spirit. This, perhaps, explains why women practicing yoga do not want or dare to speak publicly of their practice. Personally, I think that such a split must be overcome, and that doing yoga represents a means of building a bridge between our body and our spirit. All the more so since yoga is a practice that is not only physical but also spiritual given the importance of breathing. Furthermore, the opportunity regarding this bridge comes from another tradition and corresponds to a concrete way of constructing an intercultural world in which cultures enrich one another.

As women do not have the same body as men, it is understandable that they breathe differently. Women have an important relation to the internal and intimate body. Welcoming the other in themselves, whether a lover or a fetus, asks them to breathe in a manner that differs from that which is needed to act outside themselves, as is more the case with men.

I often hear discourses that describe my thinking as utopian. And yet it generally corresponds to my way of living and not to an imaginary plan. Perhaps many people are, henceforth, so far from the real and so unable to reach it that they consider my way of living utopian. Indeed, it is foreign to their existence because it is closer to nature, less captured in past culture, and in search of the elaboration of a new culture. And it is true that changing the world does not go without a certain utopia. However, I do not want to prescribe anything for anyone. I just offer the fruit of my experience to those who attempt to make their own path. Some, with gratitude, receive from my thoughts words that are useful for their life and work. When that is not the case, searching for other thinkers and other texts is better than contenting oneself with criticism. Personally, I am very happy when I find suggestions that can rescue the world and humanity as they are in our times.

As told to Lauren ONeill-Butler

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Shifting the world through breath - Artforum