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Green Futures Tuesday: How smart new materials can save energy in old buildings #gfstu

svtwuni — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 19:52:30 +0000

This event in the Green Futures Tuesday series was arranged on February 21st 2012, at 4pm GMT, by the Department of Green Innovations and Solutions.

Tweeter Anna Simpson	Room #gfstu
About to start! Green Futures Tuesday: how smart materials can save energy in buildings http://t.co/Zr0ihvrQ Use #gfstu to join in! #gfstu 4:00 PM
1. Retrofits are a balancing act. How can we save energy without compromising space, storage, accessibility, functionality & LOOKS? #gfstu 4:02 PM
2. There are secrets to success: good planning, teamwork etc. But there are also lots of exciting new materials out there. #gfstu 4:02 PM
3. Take insulation for a start. Instead of layers of fluff, try aerogel – a super insulator designed to keep astronauts warm in space #gfstu 4:03 PM
4. As the name [aerogel] hints, it’s over 99% air trapped in a loose silicon-based structure and strengthened by fibres. #gfstu 4:03 PM
5. A strip of aerogel just 9.5mm thick can improve the insulation of a wall by up to 42%, acc to US Dept of Energy. #gfstu 4:05 PM
6. Airtight buildings keep heat in but struggle with humidity and heat. Some new intelligent membranes adapt to changing conditions. #gfstu 4:06 PM
7. pro clima [sic] has developed a vapour-permeable membrane: air- & water-tight, but which responds to humidity. #gfstu 4:07 PM
8. In cold, wintry weather this ‘smart’ membrane is almost entirely impermeable, but in warm weather it allows moisture to escape. #gfstu 4:07 PM
9. Of course, even airtight buildings need some ventilation… #gfstu 4:08 PM
10. Engineers are developing new dynamic insulation systems to ensure fresh air coming into heated buildings is as warm as possible. #gfstu 4:08 PM
11. Energyflo fits insulation panels to the external wall, where air is pre-heated by the sun and by heat escaping through the walls #gfstu 4:09 PM
12. The warm air then rises up the cavity and is channelled into the building through ventilation systems. #gfstu 4:09 PM
14. And then there’s electrochromic glass, which works a bit like Reactolite sunglasses. #gfstu 4:10 PM
15. It can be darkened either automatically or manually to prevent overheating in strong sunlight & let more rays in during winter. #gfstu 4:10 PM
Read more about smart materials for energy efficient buildings @GreenFutures: http://t.co/Zr0ihvrQ #gfstu 4:11 PM
@GreenFutures has produced a whole special edition on #retrofit & energy efficiency in buildings. Free download: http://t.co/DWEFCTmD #gfstu 4:13 PM
What other great solutions are there to make our buildings less costly to run? #gfstu 4:15 PM

Melissa Sterry: Building a Bionic City: Science Fiction or Future Science Fact? #STU12

svtwuni — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:31:39 +0000

This presentation was given on February 16th, 8 pm GMT, by Melissa Sterry, @MelissaSterry, a design scientist, futurist and transformational change strategist to the built environment, utilities, manufacturing, design, publishing, media and communications industries. A PhD researcher at the Advanced Virtual and Technological Architecture Research group (AVATAR) at University of Greenwich, she is developing The Bionic City™: a sustainable smart city it transfers knowledge from Earth’s ecosystems to a blueprint for a metropolis with resilience to extreme meteorological and geological events, enabling reduced structural damage and loss of life from events including flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, eruptions and earthquakes. A Visiting Fellow of Sustainable Innovation in Design & Media and Assembly member at University of Salford, Melissa is a Visiting Lecturer and Guest Critic at universities including the AA School of Architecture. A member of the scientific committee of the International Bionic Engineering Society, she is a speaker, panel chair and workshop host at international sustainability conferences and seminars including EcoBuild, European Future Energy Forum, Forum for the Built Environment, World Congress on Sustainable Technologies, International Bionic Engineering Conference, Tomorrow’s Natural Business Conference and Sustainable Business in Practice. Published in over 50 international titles, including sustain’ magazine of which she is an editorial board member, Melissa is Director and Head of Technology at 360 media group Earth 2 Hub Ltd, which aims to re-establish a harmonious relationship between humanity and nature using art, science and digital creativity. A multi-award winning social entrepreneur she was listed in the Future 100 (2008), as one of the young business leaders changing the face of everyday business and improving commerce’s impact on the wider world. The creator of catalyst for rapid innovation in sustainable design NEW FRONTIERS™, which was the first prize winner of the Great Exhibition 2012 competition, she is an inductee of the Global Women Inventors and Innovators Network Hall of Fame and was the recipient of the Mensa Education and Research Foundation International Award for Benefit to Society 2010 for exceptional commitment to enhancing intelligence which benefits society.

Links to further reading below.

Tweeter Melissa Sterry	Room #STU12
Hello, I’m @MelissaSterry, PhD Researcher at the Advanced Virtual and Technological Architecture Research group at @UniofGreenwich #STU12 8:01 PM
My other affiliations include that of Visiting Fellow / Lecturer at @SalfordUni and Director / Head of Technology at @Earth2Hub #STU12 8:02 PM
Thank you for joining me this evening. I hope you find this @Twitter lecture interesting and look forward to your participation #STU12 8:02 PM
NATURE #STU12 Swedish Twitter University Lecture Tweets 1 – 5 8:02 PM
The study of past and present species provides humanity with 3.8 billion years worth of research and development to learn from #STU12 8:03 PM
“Life is stranger than fiction”, which many an ecologist would tell you is absolutely true i.e. http://t.co/CuAsE5SH #STU12 8:03 PM
Our understanding of the natural world is rapidly expanding, as we join the dots between species to understand ecosystems #STU12 8:04 PM
New #technology enables scientists to uncover that which was hidden, including symbiotic relationships previously unknown to science #STU12 8:04 PM
Much of this new understanding of the natural world is transferable and we call that science #Bionics, also known as #Biomimicry #STU12 8:04 PM
#STU12 CLASS HOMEWORK – To develop your understanding of #Nature volunteer for a conservation programme like http://t.co/TS5AYDAA 8:05 PM
BIONICS #STU12 Swedish Twitter University Lecture Tweets 6 – 10 8:06 PM
The origins of Bionics are ancient. Humanity has been mimicking nature for millennia, in every inhabitable continent and civilization #STU12 8:06 PM
A great many of Da Vinci’s most inspired inventions were #Biomimetic, born of his extensive, life-long study of the natural world #STU12 8:07 PM
Today #Biomimicry is growing in popularity as humanity realises that nature has already cracked many of the problems we seek to solve #STU12 8:07 PM
Biomimicry should not be confused with #Biomorphism, the latter is concerned with aesthetics, the former with scientific knowledge #STU12 8:07 PM
If you have a design problem, there is most likely an ecologist who can tell you how nature has already solved it. Hug an Ecologist! #STU12 8:08 PM
#STU12 CLASS HOMEWORK – To develop your #Bionic skills gather some friends & try this workshop http://t.co/PwMkzy6J #BionicCity #Biomimicry 8:09 PM
RESILIENCE #STU12 Swedish Twitter University Lecture Tweets 11 – 15 8:10 PM
My interest is in nature’s ability to solve the problems presented by extreme meteorological and geological hazards, like eruptions #STU12 8:11 PM
I am researching the hypothesis that where humanity sees a glass half-empty, nature sees a glass half-full. I look beyond #Resilience STU12 8:11 PM
Humanity sees wildfires as catastrophes. Indigenous flora in fire-prone regions, such as the Banksia, build fire into their lifecycle #STU12 8:11 PM
Wildfires restore nutrients to the soil, as do many other so called ‘natural disasters’, such as floods and eruptions #STU12 8:12 PM
There is no such thing as a ‘natural disaster’, only natural hazards that humanity has not worked out how to deal with, yet #STU12 8:12 PM
#STU12 CLASS HOMEWORK To develop your #Resilience knowledge add the books listed here to your reading list http://t.co/cVlUkqpg 8:13 PM
ADAPTABILITY #STU12 Swedish Twitter University Lecture Tweets 16 – 20 8:13 PM
Once upon a now distant time, a building that could adapt to a changing environment was the stuff of Sci-Fi, not any more #STU12 8:14 PM
Emergent technologies enable us to build responsive architecture able to change colour, texture, shape and structure #STU12 8:15 PM
Smart materials will enable the future building envelope to harvest water, light and energy and distribute it locally and remotely #STU12 8:15 PM
Together with structural adaptability, will merge smart communications that track environmental changes, such as weather patterns #STU12 8:15 PM
Smart city technologies enable us to connect city infrastructure/services to mimic the symbiotic relationships found in ecosystems #STU12 8:17 PM
	@ProfSteveFuller #STU12 Would you give famines the same sort of analysis as you give wildfires? Humans are part of nature too, right? 8:18 PM
Retweeting point 17, as it appears to have disappeared from the #STU12 stream, here it comes again… 8:19 PM
Emergent technologies enable us to build responsive architecture able to change colour, texture, shape and structure #STU12 RTW 8:20 PM
.@SteveFuller Droughts yes, famines no, the former is a natural hazard, the latter is a man-made one, often caused by politics #STU12 8:22 PM
	@ProfSteveFuller #STU12 Actually, the very distinction between a drought and a famine is a political one. 8:23 PM
.SteveFuller But the human intervention point your raise is key – humans are animals and we are part of ecosystems… #STU12 8:23 PM
	@ProfSteveFuller #STU12 OK, but perhaps wildfires shouldnt be so easily justified because there may be politics behind their occurrence too 8:25 PM
.SteveFuller I can see your point… the dinosaurs were wiped out by a form of famine, perhaps there’s a lesson there somewhere?! #STU12 8:25 PM
.SteveFuller I disagree. Some wildfires are the result of misguided land management, but others are wholly natural events… #STU12 8:28 PM
.SteveFuller …and the evidence of that is in the resilience strategies ecosystems in historically fire-prone regions have evolved #STU12 8:28 PM
	@ProfSteveFuller #STU12 If you haven’t yet, you might want to look at the various responses to the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. It really started this discussion 8:29 PM
.SteveFuller I am very familiar with the 1755 earthquake and the major quakes the past millennia… #STU12 8:30 PM
	@ProfSteveFuller @SvTwuni #STU12 If youve got a good way of distinguishing human/non-human causation, that would really help matters 8:30 PM
.@SteveFuller I think we can learn a lot from the 1755 quake response, but, technology provides us with new resilience options. #STU12 8:31 PM
	@ProfSteveFuller @SvTwuni #STU12 My point about Lisbon is that Melissa’s view of wildfires resembles the natural theology response 8:32 PM
	@dromograf RT @MelissaSterry: To follow my #STU12 lecture “Building a Bionic City: Sci-Fi or Future Science Fact?” at 8pm GMT tonight follow @SvTwuni http://t.co/r8nU2qo5 8:32 PM
	@ProfSteveFuller @SvTwuni #STU12 In other words, the only harm we see done by nature is a function of our ignorance of how it fits in the overall design 8:33 PM
.@SteveFuller If we accept this is The Anthropocene, the No. of occasions the buck for hazard lies with humanity could be manyfold #STU12 8:35 PM
.@SteveFuller However, long before humanity arrived other species collectively evolved to accommodate events we’re struggling with… #STU12 8:36 PM
	@ProfSteveFuller @SvTwuni #STU12 Yes, but it’s hard to measure the opportunity costs of these forms of accommodations, so there are no easy lessons 8:39 PM
.SteveFuller Yes, I’m stating that the context of the harm created by hazards is a function of our ignorance of the overall design #STU12 8:39 PM
	@stevefuller @SvTwuni Wrong @stevefuller you want @ProfSteveFuller 8:39 PM
.SteveFuller Agree, it’s not easy measuring the economic value of new approaches to hazards, however….#STU12 8:41 PM
	@ProfSteveFuller @SvTwuni #STU12 No problem from me –as long as it leads to a constructive engagement with nature not simply tolerance for whatever happens 8:41 PM
.@SteveFuller When the cost to the global economic of both natural/man-made disasters thundered in at $350 Billion in 2011… #STU12 8:43 PM
	@ProfSteveFuller @SvTwuni #STU12 Very much in agreement! 8:44 PM
.@SteveFuller … and the loss of 30,000 lives there is an argument for exploring some new approaches to natural hazards #STU12 8:44 PM
.@SteveFuller … tolerance of loss, absolutely not, which is where the last 5 tweets come in #STU12 8:45 PM
#STU12 CLASS HOMEWORK To learn more about how emergent #ARCHITECTURE innovations are changing cities read http://t.co/djAXLduz 8:46 PM
BIONIC CITY #STU12 Swedish Twitter University Lecture Tweets 21 – 25 8:46 PM
The #BionicCity explores the hypothesis of creating a metropolis with resilience to natural hazards through biomimicry #STU12 8:46 PM
The hypothesis joins the dots between ecosystem responses to hazards and emergent technologies that could enable us to mimic them #STU12 8:46 PM
Informing the #BionicCity model requires bringing together interdisciplinary expertise, including ecologists, chemists and engineers #STU12 8:47 PM
Both hi and low-tech innovations are integral to the model – the technological and the biological merging into one integrated system #STU12 8:47 PM
	@cerreyes RT @SvTwuni: “Life is stranger than fiction”, which many an ecologist would tell you is absolutely true i.e. http://t.co/qRa0bpEd #STU12 8:47 PM
	@stevefuller I’m not the @stevefuller you are looking for #STU12 …you wan @ProfSteveFuller 8:50 PM
Could a #BionicCity become a reality? Discuss…. #STU12 8:51 PM
@stevefuller @ProfSteveFuller Apols! 8:51 PM
	@ProfSteveFuller @SvTwuni #STU12 I think #BionicCity is a great idea but it will be interesting to see political and economic trail that it generates. 8:54 PM
	@SinkDeep @SvTwuni we could, first, we need to get rid of what it obstructs sharing knowledge to do so. IP won´t help build a #bionic city 8:55 PM
	@stevefuller @SvTwuni @profstevefuller Famous for five minutes! 8:53 PM
.@ProfSteveFuller Agree. Technically it’s possible now. Politically/economically it could take an eternity… #STU12 8:57 PM
.ProfSteveFuller I mentioned Da Vinci earlier… it took a few hundred years for some of his ideas to manifest… #STU12 8:57 PM
.@ProfSteveFuller …perhaps in the year 2500, still around thanks to cyborg tech I may see the idea become a reality #STU12 8:58 PM
	@ProfSteveFuller @SvTwuni #STU12 I’m more concerned that it might become an elite preoccupation, with a few ‘visionary’ humans treating the rest as ‘nature’ 8:59 PM
.@ProfSteveFuller The same is sadly true of all scientific ideas; a good idea in the wrong hands is a dangerous thing indeed #STU12 9:01 PM
	@ProfSteveFuller @SvTwuni #STU12 I’m glad you guys promoting this stuff realize it. A little HG Wells comes in handy at times like this. 9:02 PM
.ProfSteveFuller However, I keep that glass half full, because sometimes the good guys win, just not often enough! #STU12 9:02 PM
#STU12 CLASS HOMEWORK Learn more about the #BionicCity at http://t.co/YxfE5ybn 9:03 PM
Thank you @SvTwuni for hosting #STU12 and to @ProfSteveFuller for the thought provoking questions. It’s been a pleasure! 9:07 PM
	@JohnsenWSU Very interesting discussion. Thanks for the great materials you have provided! RT @ProfSteveFuller: @SvTwuni #STU12 Great job, Melissa! 9:14 PM
	@ProfSteveFuller @SvTwuni #STU12 Great job, Melissa! 9:08 PM

Green Futures Tuesday: How co-ops are leading a revolution in resilient business #gfstu

svtwuni — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:32:22 +0000

This event in the Green Futures Tuesday series was arranged on Febryary 14th 2012, at 6pm GMT, by the Department of Green Innovations and Solutions.

Tweeter Anna Simpson	Room #gfstu
Here goes! 15 tweets on how co-ops are leading a revolution in resilient business – use #gfstu to join in the debate. #gfstu 6:01 PM
1. Since the 2008 credit crunch, the co-operative sector has outperformed the UK economy – growing by 21%. #gfstu 6:02 PM
2. There are now over 5,000 registered co-ops in the UK and nearly 1.5 million worldwide. #gfstu 6:02 PM
3. Why are co-ops doing so well, while traditional businesses flounder? #gfstu 6:03 PM
4. Take your average corporate, which answers to its shareholders. #gfstu 6:03 PM
5. Top of its list is pleasing these ‘outsiders’, through good returns. It is ruled by share prices. #gfstu 6:04 PM
	@SinkDeep RT @SvTwuni: 3. Why are co-ops doing so well, while traditional businesses flounder? #gfstu 6:04 PM
	@SinkDeep RT @SvTwuni: 2. There are now over 5,000 registered co-ops in the UK and nearly 1.5 million worldwide. #gfstu 6:04 PM
6. So, even if the shareholders care about the future of the business, short-term gain often comes up trumps. #gfstu 6:04 PM
	@tsuei RT @SvTwuni Here goes! 15 tweets on how co-ops are leading a revolution in resilient business – use #gfstu to join in the debate. #gfstu 6:05 PM
7. By contrast, in a co-operative, the goal is maximum benefit for members – both now and in the long-term, too. #gfstu 6:05 PM
	@SinkDeep RT @SvTwuni: 7. By contrast, in a co-operative, the goal is maximum benefit for members – both now and in the long-term, too. #gfstu 6:05 PM
8. This means co-ops are likely to take up more opportunities to invest in their future. #gfstu 6:06 PM
9. Did you know? Co-ops touch the lives of more people as business owners than stock markets do – worldwide. #gfstu 6:06 PM
10. Co-operatives UK says there are 3x as many member owners of co-ops as individual shareholders worldwide. #gfstu 6:07 PM
	@tafarai RT @SvTwuni: 9. Did you know? Co-ops touch the lives of more people as business owners than stock markets do – worldwide. #gfstu 6:07 PM
	@tavihirst RT @SvTwuni: 9. Did you know? Co-ops touch the lives of more people as business owners than stock markets do – worldwide. #gfstu 6:07 PM
11. That’s people power! And lots of members = lots of contacts & poss stronger relationships with suppliers. #gfstu 6:08 PM
12. Strong relationships with the outside world also inspire trust, so consumers turn to co-ops in hard times. #gfstu 6:09 PM
13. What examples of successful co-ops are out there? Take #football: there’s FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid… #gfstu 6:10 PM
15. Ocean Spray finds it wins access to markets that individual farmers couldn’t on their own. #gfstu 6:11 PM
Read more about co-operatives and whether they offer a genuine alternative to broken business @GreenFutures http://t.co/Vez9OQvm #gfstu 6:12 PM
Thanks @tavihirst @tafarai @SinkDeep Are you a member of a co-op? What do you think makes co-ops different to other businesses? #gfstu 6:13 PM
	@SinkDeep @SvTwuni that is not only about the profit but about the community 6:15 PM
Thanks @tsuei Are you a member of a co-op? What do you think makes co-ops different to other businesses? #gfstu #gfstu 6:15 PM
	@tsuei @SvTwuni Co-ops can fulfil a majority of functions, a diverse range of goals, and take into acct wider range of worldviews 6:20 PM
	@tsuei @SvTwuni I’m not part of a co-op but I’d love to be; co-ops aim to benefit all members, but businesses benefit the ones at the top 6:17 PM
	@tavihirst @SvTwuni shared ownership and a sense of responsibility towards the future; of the business and the world. 6:19 PM

Green Futures Tuesday: Vertical farms, skyscraper forests. Are they our urban future? #gfstu

svtwuni — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:18:16 +0000

This event in the Green Futures Tuesday series was arranged on February 7th 2012, at 6pm GMT, by the Department of Green Innovations and Solutions.

Tweeter Martin Wright	Room #gfstu
Right, here we go…. about to upload our latest Twitterlecture: a vision of the future in 15 tweets! @SvTwuni @greenfutures #gfstu 5:31 PM
1. Want a snapshot of the city of the future? Imagine the Hanging Gardens of Babylon – on a skyscraper scale. #gfstu 5:35 PM
2. Towering greenhouses featuring layer upon layer of plant beds, harvesting the rain, turning sunlight into food, greening the city. #gfstu 5:37 PM
3. According to Dickson Despommier (@VFDoctor) at Columbia Uni, a single 30-storey structure could feed 10,000 people. #gfstu 5:37 PM
4. Over half the world now lives in cities. Such ‘vertical farms’ could be the ultimate in local food production. #gfstu 5:39 PM
5. Sounds far fetched? It’s starting to happen – on a small scale. Humble Paignton Zoo in the UK is a pioneer: http://t.co/0TWrxuUC #gfstu 5:39 PM
6. Some question the viability: such huge structures might sag under weight of soil and greenery; maintenance costs could spiral. #gfstu 5:40 PM
7. But the idea has fallen on fertile ground – not least as a way of bringing desperately-needed greenery back into town. #gfstu 5:41 PM
8. In Fukuoka, Japan, the new ACROS building features a gorgeous cascade of lush greenery from rooftop to street:http://t.co/OgYbskRX #gfstu 5:42 PM
9. And an extraordinary vision for a ‘spiral garden’ won the 2010 Incheon International Design Awards: http://t.co/nRJvyr3d #gfstu 5:44 PM
	@MelissaSterry @SvTwuni I question any proposal that involves placing a tree on the top of a building… which is unworkable on so many levels! #gfstu 5:45 PM
10. Most practical application to date maybe The Plant, Chicago – a clever mix of fish farm and vertical garden:http://t.co/gdrvQr1N #gfstu 5:45 PM
11. And in Manchester, in the UK, the city’s legendary rainfall is being tapped for an experimental farm in a derelict tower block. #gfstu 5:46 PM
12. In Singapore’s Changi General Hospital, hydroponic vegetables on the roof feed patients and cool wards. http://t.co/Ryytr7Eb #gfstu 5:48 PM
13. Milan even has grand plans for a pair of skyscrapers doubling as vertical forests: http://t.co/4ydj5bSa #gfstu 5:52 PM
14. So what do you think? Are vertical farms & forests the product of an over eager imagination among ‘rus in urbe’ fantasists? #gfstu 5:53 PM
15. Or are they a wonderful way of bringing nourishment – dietary and spiritual – to the 21st century city dweller? #gfstu 5:53 PM
	@transarchitect RT @SvTwuni: 4. Over half the world now lives in cities. Such ‘vertical farms’ could be the ultimate in local food production. #gfstu 5:54 PM
	@transarchitect RT @SvTwuni: 3. According to Dickson Despommier (@VFDoctor) at Columbia Uni, a single 30-storey structure could feed 10,000 people. #gfstu 5:54 PM
Join the debate by visiting: http://t.co/CSYoE5GW. (Or just look for #gfstu.) 5:58 PM
@MelissaSterry Well, the idea is that the building would be designed to incorporate small trees, plants, vegetation etc… #gfstu 5:59 PM
@melissasterry – so not quite as crude as simply plonking a tree on a roof – at least, I don’t think that’s the idea! #gfstu 6:00 PM
	@Sustaination @SvTwuni this is also something apt dwellers can do, too: http://t.co/GDGtQkje and the great Farm:Shop in London, and Brightfarms too #gfstu 6:04 PM
	@Sustaination @SvTwuni Sorry a little late, but great mini-briefing thank you! #gfstu 6:03 PM
	@Sustaination RT @SvTwuni: 3. According to Dickson Despommier (@VFDoctor) at Columbia Uni, a single 30-storey structure could feed 10,000 people. #gfstu 6:00 PM
@Sustaination You’re welcome! Glad you found it interesting: what’s your view? Are vertical farms viable? #gfstu 6:04 PM
	@Sustaination @SvTwuni more than viable, vertical farms are necessary & desirable. It’s inevitable as cities grow and existing food systems fail. #gfstu 6:06 PM
	@Sustaination @SvTwuni the principles of permaculture design are about to be urbanised – it’s really great system interplay. Long live the future! #gfstu 6:08 PM
@Sustaination Agree – there are huge logistical problems for sure, but as a basic principle – grow food near people – it’s spot on. #gfstu 6:09 PM
	@Sustaination @SvTwuni well there are even bigger logistical problems in NOT doing it, not to mention environment, health, employment..so crack on! #gfstu 6:11 PM
Thanks for ‘watching’ (‘reading’? ‘following’?!) today’s Twitterlecture – hope you enjoyed it! Keep up with us @greenfutures! #gfstu 6:17 PM
	@stephenpassmore Twitterlecture today by @SvTwuni on Vertical farms, skyscraper forests. Are they our urban future? is a great insight @greenfutures #gfstu 7:16 PM
	@MelissaSterry @SvTwuni Many of the green roof proposals I see in the media illustrate no appreciation of the dendrological/meteorological issues involved. 7:18 PM
	@BrynCocynFarm @SvTwuni Whose cycle do you deprive to feed those soil-less plants? You mine disappearing resources or you steal from another’s life cycle 6:38 PM

Green Futures Tuesday: The Next 20 Years: A Time of Nice Surprises? #gfstu

svtwuni — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:35:24 +0000

This event in the Green Futures Tuesday series was arranged on January 31st 2012, at 6pm GMT, by the Department of Green Innovations and Solutions.

Tweeter Martin Wright	Room #gfstu
Evening everyone! Welcome to the latest @SvTwuni @greenfutures twitter lecture! About to start uploading 15 Tweets now! #gfstu 6:03 PM
Remember the days before internet and mobiles? In 20 years, they’ve transformed society – mainly, most would say, for the better. #gfstu 6:04 PM
	@ozonist RT @SvTwuni: Evening everyone! Welcome to the latest @SvTwuni @greenfutures twitter lecture! About to start uploading 15 Tweets now! #gfstu 6:04 PM
Yet few saw them coming. So what are the surprises in store for the next two decades? @greenfutures polled some futurists… #gfstu 6:05 PM
First up, nanotech. We’ve barely scratched the surface of its potential. Nano-desalination could make the sea safe to drink… #gfstu 6:05 PM
…at a fraction of the cost of today’s methods. That could quell the fear of water wars – and turn deserts into bread baskets. #gfstu 6:06 PM
Cheap nano-fibre, teabag-like filters could turn polluted rivers into clean, safe water too – for less than a penny a litre. #gfstu 6:06 PM
And new nano-solar techniques, using carbon not silicon, capture infrared as well as solar rays: cheap energy indoors or out. #gfstu 6:07 PM
@Optimistontour even suggests we’ll have carbon neutral petrol stations – turning CO2 from the surrounding air into fuel. #gfstu 6:07 PM
Remember – if you can! – how hard / costly it was to phone India, say? And how London worried about ‘running out’ of phone lines? #gfstu 6:08 PM
Now such worries seem absurd. So will techniques like those above make today’s fears about energy and water seem equally groundless? #gfstu 6:08 PM
Just as the internet and mobiles ‘solved’ the communications crunch, will comparably revolutionary techs tackle the resources one? #gfstu 6:09 PM
And what about medicine? We might soon be able to sequence any given person’s genome for $1 – compared to millions a few years back. #gfstu 6:09 PM
That could unleash an age of personalised medicine – drugs designed to work with your genetic code. Even ones to instil empathy! #gfstu 6:10 PM
And if this all seems too much like dodgy sci-fi, what about collaborative consumption and peer-to-peer trading / lending? #gfstu 6:11 PM
Enabled by the internet, we’ve only begun to explore possibilities of new wave of co-operation. Living better, together, with less. #gfstu 6:12 PM
	@Sustshipping #gfstu @gfstu tech solutions of the past often involved throwing resource at the problem. how will this work in a resource crunch? 6:12 PM
	@stromsjo @SvTwuni I suggest you add tweet-numbering like in previous lectures. used to make it easier to keep track of things. #gfstu 6:13 PM
So, just some of the surprisingly pleasant surprises which might be around the corner. Read more here: http://t.co/Bqmeadnq #gfstu 6:13 PM
And what do you think? Is this realistic optimism? Or are we fooling ourselves that we can escape the resource/climate crunch? #gfstu 6:14 PM
@sustshipping: yes, but maybe the resource we need most now is ingenuity, not materials? #gfstu 6:16 PM
	@stromsjo @SvTwuni I’d say a lot of this is technologically realistic if we as a species could avoid self-destruction for a few decades more. #gfstu 6:21 PM
	@MartinFutures Just finished ‘Twitter lecture’ for @SvTwuni: join in the debate by going to http://t.co/REXNRfuO – or just search for #gfstu 6:20 PM
@stromsjo – agree! Do you think the search for solutions will drive us to be more collaborative,or (violently) competitive, I wonder? #gfstu 6:22 PM
	@stromsjo @SvTwuni I guess the answer is both. fundamentally, history shows that we’re not exactly peaceful creatures. #gfstu 6:28 PM
@stromsjo. Indeed… I guess the question is whether technology can remove some causus belli – eg, water shortages. #gfstu 6:30 PM
@stromsjo Just as, arguably, the internet helped break the power of dictatorships – to some extent anyway. Facebook revolutions etc. #gfstu 6:32 PM
	@stromsjo @SvTwuni that’s a good point. research in systemic #resilience could help predict future conflicts and limit the risk. #gfstu 6:33 PM
@stromsjo Identifying flashpoints and focusing innovative research on them could be a valuable new form of active diplomacy, perhaps? #gfstu 6:38 PM
	@stromsjo .@SvTwuni not a bad future to be hoping for. working for. #gfstu 6:43 PM
@stromsjo A good note to sign off on! Hope you’ve all found this interesting. Follow us @martinfutures and @greenfutures for more. #gfstu 6:43 PM
	@stromsjo @SvTwuni thanks, I’m enjoying this minimalistic learning format. @martinfutures @greenfutures 6:45 PM

#STU12 – Melissa Sterry: “Building a Bionic City: Science Fiction or Future Science Fact?”

svtwuni — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:48:11 +0000

ThursDAY, 16TH OF February 2012, 8 PM GMT

Abstract: A city able to anticipate and adapt to major meteorological and geological events may sound like the stuff of sci-fi, but could emergent innovations in materials, sensors and signal processing, structural engineering, smart technologies and intelligent systems enable the concept to become science fact? Arthur C. Clarke said “At the present rate of progress, it is almost impossible to imagine any technical feat that cannot be achieved – if it can be achieved at all – within the next few hundred years.” Melissa’s lecture will present current and future technological possibles to assist those participating in the lecture to answer for themselves the question of whether a Bionic City will remain in the domain of science fiction or become future science fact.
Tweeter: Melissa Sterry, @MelissaSterry, is a design scientist, futurist and transformational change strategist to the built environment, utilities, manufacturing, design, publishing, media and communications industries. A PhD researcher at the Advanced Virtual and Technological Architecture Research group (AVATAR) at University of Greenwich, she is developing The Bionic City™: a sustainable smart city it transfers knowledge from Earth’s ecosystems to a blueprint for a metropolis with resilience to extreme meteorological and geological events, enabling reduced structural damage and loss of life from events including flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, eruptions and earthquakes. A Visiting Fellow of Sustainable Innovation in Design & Media and Assembly member at University of Salford, Melissa is a Visiting Lecturer and Guest Critic at universities including the AA School of Architecture. A member of the scientific committee of the International Bionic Engineering Society, she is a speaker, panel chair and workshop host at international sustainability conferences and seminars including EcoBuild, European Future Energy Forum, Forum for the Built Environment, World Congress on Sustainable Technologies, International Bionic Engineering Conference, Tomorrow’s Natural Business Conference and Sustainable Business in Practice. Published in over 50 international titles, including sustain’ magazine of which she is an editorial board member, Melissa is Director and Head of Technology at 360 media group Earth 2 Hub Ltd, which aims to re-establish a harmonious relationship between humanity and nature using art, science and digital creativity. A multi-award winning social entrepreneur she was listed in the Future 100 (2008), as one of the young business leaders changing the face of everyday business and improving commerce’s impact on the wider world. The creator of catalyst for rapid innovation in sustainable design NEW FRONTIERS™, which was the first prize winner of the Great Exhibition 2012 competition, she is an inductee of the Global Women Inventors and Innovators Network Hall of Fame and was the recipient of the Mensa Education and Research Foundation International Award for Benefit to Society 2010 for exceptional commitment to enhancing intelligence which benefits society.
Hashtag: #STU12

To attend: Follow the hashtag and the @SvTwuni account on twitter (in seperate windows).

Green Futures Tuesday: Osorb: the ultimate oil spill solution? #gfstu

svtwuni — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:50:38 +0000

This event in the Green Futures Tuesday series was arranged on the 24th of January 2012, at 6pm GMT, by the Department of Green Innovations and Solutions.

Tweeter Anna Simpson	Room #gfstu
Here we go: 15 tweets on ‘Osorb: the ultimate oil spill solution?’ #gfstu 6:00 PM
1. The 500,000gallons of oil in Italy’s crippled cruiser could cause the country’s worst maritime ecological disaster in >20yrs… #gfstu 6:00 PM
2. …and as BP pays its $40bn+ bill for the Gulf of Mexico spill, interest in scalable solutions is high! #gfstu 6:01 PM
3. Here’s one to watch! It’s called Osorb, and is being developed by ABSMaterials. http://t.co/nT3YewwB #gfstu 6:01 PM
4. What is it? A glass or silica sponge that soaks up oil and other pollutants, but repels water. #gfstu 6:02 PM
5. More techy definition: an organically modified silicon dioxide which attracts organic toxins into its matrix, but is hydrophobic. #gfstu 6:03 PM
6. The silica swells up to 8 times its original size, and can be cleaned and reused up to 100 times. It generates no waste. #gfstu 6:03 PM
7. The contaminants are removed through thermal treatment or solvent rinsing, and can then be disposed of. #gfstu 6:04 PM
8. Osorb also breaks down reactive metals, reducing chlorinated solvents to salts and harmless gases. #gfstu 6:04 PM
9. Proof it works? Creator Paul Edmiston spikes a glass of water with oil, adds Osorb, then drinks the water! http://t.co/uRnDBZ37 #gfstu 6:05 PM
10. The US Department of Energy found it removed >99% oil and grease from water, and >90% poisonous VOCs. #gfstu 6:05 PM
11. So, what about the potential applications of Osorb? #gfstu 6:06 PM
12. No. 1 is environmental remediation: cleaning up water used in drilling and mining for oil and gas. #gfstu 6:06 PM
13. You can also embed Osorb in the ground to clean up contaminated groundwater. http://t.co/L9ribgX7 #gfstu 6:07 PM
14. Or you can use it in rain gardens to break down pollutants (pesticides etc) in stormwater runoff. http://t.co/Hmp6RO8n #gfstu 6:07 PM
15. Forbes lists ABSMaterials as one of the most promising companies in the US, with a potential market of $80 billion or more. #gfstu 6:08 PM
Read more about Osorb @GreenFutures: http://t.co/nT3YewwB #gfstu 6:09 PM
Smart materials that can clean up our mess are on the increase http://t.co/dGItuoll … which are your favourites? #gfstu 6:11 PM
Another I like is the paint KNOxOUT, made with ultrafine titanium dioxide. #gfstu 6:12 PM
It acts as a photocatalyst using energy from light to break NOx down into tiny amounts of water, carbon dioxide and calcium nitrate. #gfstu 6:13 PM
	@Forum4theFuture It’s not too late to join in the discussion on Osorb: the ultimate oil spill solution, with @Greenfutures and @SvTwuni – now via #gfstu 6:15 PM
What other oil spill / water pollution solutions are out there? #gfstu 6:15 PM
	@MartinFutures RT @SvTwuni: Read more about Osorb @GreenFutures: http://t.co/nT3YewwB #gfstu 6:17 PM
	@MartinFutures @SvTwuni We might even see a version of that added to clothes soon, to clean the city streets as we walk through them! #gfstu 6:16 PM
@MartinFutures How will people feel about wearing clothes & using paints that help to lower pollution levels? What’s in it for them? #gfstu 6:19 PM
	@Digitalmannen @SvTwuni not saying that i don’t work, but is drinking a glass of water rely to be considered proof? #gfstu 6:20 PM
Another solution for oil spills: magnetic soap! http://t.co/iHf6lF0M #gfstu 6:20 PM
@Digitalmannen Not scientific proof, no… but great for online marketing! #gfstu 6:21 PM
	@MartinFutures @SvTwuni On more prosaic level, you can’t beat bacteria that convert polluting cow dung to clean cooking gas via anaerobic digestion! #gfstu 6:24 PM
	@MartinFutures @SvTwuni It could be like giving to charity, but more stylish. (“It’s a lovely day, I think I’ll wear my altruistic top…”) #gfstu 6:22 PM
@MartinFutures Or: “There’s smog in the air… superman/woman to the rescue with new NOx-bashing cloak!” #gfstu 6:25 PM
	@kuja RT @SvTwuni: Another solution for oil spills: magnetic soap! http://t.co/iHf6lF0M #gfstu 6:29 PM
	@MartinFutures RT @SvTwuni: @MartinFutures Or: “There’s smog in the air… superman/woman to the rescue with new NOx-bashing cloak!” #gfstu 6:29 PM
	@MartinFutures @SvTwuni Any oil spill solutions that capture it as a resource, I wonder, rather than just safely dispose of / disperse it? #gfstu 6:31 PM
Anyone know of any solutions to clean water of oil and other pollutants, which then capture these pollutants as a resource? #gfstu 6:37 PM
	@MartinFutures RT @SvTwuni: Another solution for oil spills: magnetic soap! http://t.co/iHf6lF0M #gfstu 6:37 PM

Green Futures Tuesday: 3D printing: the end of consumerism? #gfstu

svtwuni — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:15:08 +0000

This event in the Green Futures Tuesday series was arranged on the 17th of January 2012, at 6pm GMT, by the Department of Green Innovations and Solutions.

Tweeter Anna Simpson	Room #gfstu
6:00PM Here we go! 15 tweets by @annasimpson on ‘3D printing: the end of consumerism?’ #gfstu
6:00PM 1. 3D printing could turn out to be an insanely disruptive technology. #gfstu
6:01PM 2. What is 3D print? It’s when a machine builds an object by placing tiny amounts of raw material in layers to a digital template. #gfstu
6:01PM 3. This idea has sparked scientists’ imagination since 1986, when Charles Hull patented ‘stereolithography’. #gfstu
6:02PM 4. Now we are printing human tissue… http://t.co/mQCuSkFt …bones http://t.co/ozBelGOI … and even violins http://t.co/We3cYiW1 #gfstu
6:02PM 5. …and MIT is looking into digital gastronomy to print perfect meals, every time! http://t.co/AaBZaSwX #gfstu
6:02PM 6. Next: 3D-printing is coming home. Makerbot has put its Thing-o-Matic on the market for $1,299. #gfstu
6:03PM 7. Thing-o-Matic uses threads of plastic as its raw material, which it heats and places in neat rows, acc to a digital template. #gfstu
6:03PM 8. Thanks to opensource software Meshlab, almost any product can be scanned and made into a template for reproduction. #gfstu
6:04PM 9. Just imagine the implications! Today’s consumer economy is premised on inefficient mass manufacture, often overseas. #gfstu
6:04PM 10. But 3D printing means consumers can build their own products, cutting out waste, packaging and air/shipping miles. #gfstu
6:05PM 11. Makerbot CEO @Bre calls his mission “profoundly subversive” #gfstu
6:05PM 12. Soon, before popping round to Tesco or Wal-Mart for a new breadbin, people will ask if they can make it themselves… #gfstu
6:06PM 13. What’s next? Researchers are looking into printing buildings and houses – in no more than a day! #gfstu
6:06PM 14. Help me think how 3D printing could change the future… What would you build? #gfstu
6:07PM 15. What do you think it will mean for consumers? How could it change your own business, or the way you do your job? #gfstu
	6:07PM @SiliconSaxony RT @SvTwuni: 10. But #3D printing means consumers can build their own products, cutting out waste, packaging and air/shipping miles. #gfstu
6:07PM Read more about 3D printing @GreenFutures: http://t.co/zNBhuZkX #gfstu
	6:11PM @ed_dowding I wonder if we’ll get Jevons’ s paradox? Renewable ‘inks’ pls >RT @SvTwuni: 15. What do you think 3d printing will mean for consumers?#gfstu
	6:08PM @Sustaination @SvTwuni @GreenFutures Great reading on this in Cory Doctorow’s Makers: http://t.co/PbEAHkLS #gfstu
6:13PM Always a question… but if you can print what you need at home, you’re less likely to wander round shops being distracted by offers #gfstu
	6:14PM @MartinFutures Is there any danger of a reverse ‘economy of scale’ I wonder? I.e. could 1million little printers use more energy than 1 big factory? #gfstu
	6:13PM @ed_dowding Imagination #fail. Erm… RT @SvTwuni: 14. Help me think how 3D printing could change the future… What would you build? #gfstu
	6:15PM @ed_dowding @SvTwuni and if I didn’t have twitter I’d not spend so long browsing.. and when links = objects… neat Klein flask! #gfstu
	6:15PM @x1sjh The future? This is a concept to get you thinking! “Read more about 3D printing @GreenFutures: http://t.co/9Cu7ezmb #gfstu” via@SvTwuni
6:15PM @ed_dowding Try this: your Gran makes the perfect crumble, scans it and you just print it off at home #gfstu
	6:16PM @jacobchr RT @SvTwuni: Here we go! 15 tweets by @annasimpson on ‘3D printing: the end of consumerism?’ #gfstu
	6:17PM @ed_dowding @SvTwuni but then it’s not my Gran’s crumble. I’d like to keep valuing human creativity. (I appreciate this is an expression of that.)#gfstu
6:19PM @MartinFutures – I’m sure a million printers could use more energy than a factory – so what about a community printer, in the pub? #gfstu
	6:50PM @jstefani RT @ed_dowding: Everything I can think of I’d just make out of wood. #simplelife #gfstu
	6:50PM @MartinFutures @_annasimpson You can’t help but wonder what Hockney would make of it. A mini-3D springtime Yorkshire wood?! #gfstu
	6:34PM @ed_dowding @_annasimpson yep @MartinFutures thinks better than I do (Though rayon is wood fibre..) #gfstu
	6:23PM @MelissaSterry @SvTwuni @MartinFutures I second that @SvTwuni #3D printers in pubs… post-offices, libraries, schools and universities too! #accessibility
	6:27PM @_annasimpson RT @MelissaSterry I second that #3D printers in pubs… post-offices, libraries, schools and universities too! #accessibility #gfstu
	6:36PM @_annasimpson I find the medical applications very exciting: a new bone for our broken cyclists, new lungs for inner city asthma sufferers #gfstu
	6:23PM @monki @SvTwuni @MartinFutures Agree. 3D-printing makes more sense on a community level than a personal level
	6:23PM @monki @SvTwuni @MartinFutures At least given our current level of complexity of material environment.
	6:49PM @MartinFutures RT @_annasimpson: Q. What will 3D printing mean for #art? #gfstu
	6:19PM @monki @SvTwuni Though you browse thingiverse printing crap instead
	6:20PM @ed_dowding @SvTwuni @MartinFutures Potential for relocalised & resilient mfring is HUGE as cost of production & retooling falls #gfstu
	6:32PM @_annasimpson @ed_dowding Haven’t actually read it yet but heard lots, can’t wait… A wooden suit? Like the bespoke clothes idea @MartinFutures #gfstu
	6:47PM @_annasimpson Q. What will 3D printing mean for #art? #gfstu
	6:20PM @monki @SvTwuni Seriously though, what’s your proposed solution to the printing crap problem. Would love recyclable prototyping print material
	6:42PM @MartinFutures @_annasimpson Absolutely: raises intriguing poss of having templates ready and waiting to produce instant replacement fingers, eg… #gfstu
	6:28PM @roger_musing @SvTwuni @MartinFutures Community-owned? If we did owning communally not individually, we wouldn’t need 3D prinitng to tackle consumerism…
	6:33PM @ed_dowding RT @MartinFutures: Could 3D printing turn everyone into their own fashion designer producing perfect fit clothes from old threads? #gfstu
	6:37PM @_annasimpson Bespoke is even more important inside our bodies than out… #gfstu
	6:30PM @ed_dowding Everything I can think of I’d just make out of wood. #simplelife #gfstu
	6:44PM @_annasimpson You simply scan your other (healthy) lung/finger/hand, reverse the image, and print off a matching one… #gfstu
	6:26PM @ed_dowding @_annasimpson @SvTwuni @MartinFutures Brilliantly I suspect. You’ve read Makers? Whole future planned out there #gfstu
6:52PM Please use #gfstu for the 3D printing debate!
6:54PM Yes it would be great if you could melt down your work and reuse the raw material RT @monki Would love recyclable prototyping print material
	6:56PM @_annasimpson RT @MartinFutures: @_annasimpson You cant help but wonder what Hockney would make of 3Dprint. A mini-3D springtime Yorkshire wood?! #gfstu
6:56PM RT @monki: @SvTwuni @MartinFutures Agree. 3D-printing makes more sense on a community level than a personal level
6:56PM RT @roger_musing: @SvTwuni @MartinFutures Community-owned? If we did owning communally not individually, we wouldn’t need 3D prinitng to tackle consumerism…
	7:01PM @MartinFutures So what’s most likely to be the breakthrough app that takes 3D printing right into the mainstream? Buildings? Toys? Spare parts? #gfstu
7:03PM RT @MartinFutures: So what’s most likely to be the breakthrough app that takes 3D printing right into the mainstream? #gfstu
	7:04PM @MartinFutures @ed_dowding Intriguing idea – a man with van and a 3D printer could be a whole new neighbourhood repair service! #gfstu
7:05PM RT @MartinFutures: @ed_dowding Intriguing idea – a man with van and a 3D printer could be a whole new neighbourhood repair service! #gfstu
7:06PM @monki 3D print repair services – a good answer to the ‘printing more crap’ problem #gfstu
	7:08PM @ed_dowding @@SvTwuni “Print the [landfill item] you’ve just seen on xfactor by pressing the red button now” > breakthrough app for 3D printing #gfstu
7:08PM And what about luxury goods? Can we print the things we can’t afford? #gfstu
	7:10PM @ed_dowding @SvTwuni some time projections on 3d printing capabilities would be useful. Anyone know? Shapes (now) but food and fingers? #gfstu
	7:10PM @MartinFutures RT @SvTwuni: And what about luxury goods? Can we print the things we cant afford? #gfstu
7:14PM It’s a question of scaling up infrastructure, mostly in labs at present: bit more here http://t.co/AaBZaSwX http://t.co/ozBelGOI #gfstu
	7:16PM @monki @SvTwuni As long as the luxury is in the form imposed from outside. Luxury in the form of material, function or something grown is different
	7:22PM @MartinFutures @Sustaination Printed food? It would have to taste delicious to overcome ‘unnatural’ image… #gfstu
	7:19PM @_annasimpson @Sustaination Same as you feel about fast food? Or will the first printed food restaurants target the high-end gastro market? #gfstu
	7:16PM @Sustaination How would you feel about printed food? http://t.co/pSPDJrT2 #gfstu #foodtech #locavore
	7:16PM @_annasimpson RT @ed_dowding “Print the [landfill item] you’ve just seen on xfactor by pressing the red button now” >breakthrough 3Dprint app #gfstu
7:23PM On that note, time to sign off for dinner. Thanks for joining in everyone. See you next week for more green solutions & innovations! #gfstu
	7:23PM @Sustaination @_annasimpson #FastFood = mass produced. So gastro, or for maybe medication delivery via augmented foods? #gfstu

The Swedish Twitter University opens Department of Green Innovations and Solutions

svtwuni — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 10:00:39 +0000

The Swedish Twitter University is launching a new Department of Green Innovations and Solutions, in collaboration with Green Futures magazine. The department will tweet a story from the frontline of sustainability every Tuesday at 6 PM GMT.

Each presentation will be 15 tweets long and lead up to a discussion session, where anyone can participate using the #gfstu hashtag.

The stories – covering everything from 3D printing to the future of flying – will be presented by Martin Wright, Editor in Chief, and Anna Simpson, Managing Editor, and by friends and associates of Green Futures magazine. They will then chair a discussion on the topic.

The first Department of Green Innovation and Solutions event will take place on Tuesday 17 January, when Anna will give 15 tweets from the @SvTwuni Twitter account on the subject:

Next generation DIY: 3D printers and the end of consumerism

Presentations can be followed at @SvTwuni, Tweetchat Room #gfstu or #gfstu on Twitter. Use the hashtag #gfstu in tweets to join the discussion.

—————————————————————————————————

The Swedish Twitter University (@SvTwuni) is a place where interesting speakers — scientists, academics, etc — tweet about exciting ideas from their respective fields in a well-defined format. Fellows include Rachel Armstrong, Jamais Cascio, Steve Fuller and Eileen A Joy.

Green Futures is the leading magazine on environmental solutions and sustainable futures. Founded by Jonathon Porritt in 1996, it is published by Forum for the Future. Every issue is packed full of stories, comment and insight on topics ranging from clean energy and smart design, to food and finance in a changing world. @GreenFutures

Martin Wright is Editor in Chief at Green Futures, and also leads on the development of Forum for the Future’s international work, particularly in India, the US and China. He’s a regular Chair of Forum events, including those in partnership with The Guardian, and a visiting judge for the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy. @MartinFutures

Anna Simpson is Managing Editor at Green Futures, where she works on subjects as diverse as farming, faith and retrofit, and pens features on scandalous themes like sex and gambling. In the past, she wrote for India’s science and environment magazine Down To Earth and edited WENnews for Women’s Environmental Network. @_annasimpson

Steve Fuller: How to think like God #STU11

svtwuni — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 08:16:47 +0000

This presentation was given on Christmas Day, 25th of December 2011, 8 pm GMT, by Steve Fuller, @ProfSteveFuller, Auguste Comte Professor of Social Epistemology in the Department of Sociology at the University of Warwick, UK. Originally trained in history and philosophy of science, he is best known for his work in the field of ‘social epistemology’, which is concerned with the normative foundations of organized inquiry. It is also the name of a quarterly journal he founded in 1987 and the first of his eighteen books. His most recent books are The Sociology of Intellectual Life: The Career of the Mind in and around the Academy (Sage, 2009), Science: The Art of Living (Acumen and McGill-Queens University Press, 2010) and Humanity 2.0: What It Means to Be Human Past, Present and Future (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011). He is currently completing a history of epistemology to be published by Acumen in 2013.

Links to further reading below.

Tweeter Steve Fuller	Room #STU11
Merry Christmas and welcome to yet another event on The Swedish Twitter University! #STU11
This is @ozonist, head and founder of STU, tweeting, but in just a minute I will hand the account over to @ProfSteveFuller. #STU11
Steve will tweet for us on “How to think like God”… Exciting! But first, let me remind you to tag questions and comments with #STU11.
That way everyone can follow the discussion. Okay? Great! #STU11
	@pahndeepah MT @SvTwuni This is @ozonist, head & founder of STU tweeting but in just a minute I will hand the account over to @ProfSteveFuller. #STU11
Now I’ll leave the rest of the night to Steve Fuller. Take it away, Steve! #STU11
Thanks, Marcus, for allowing me to talk about God on Xmas Day. This is the best day of the year to think hard about this topic! #STU11
I will lay out the first 12 tweets and then stop to respond to comments but of course comment whenever you wish. #STU11
I will then lay out the final 13 tweets and continue discussing until it looks like everyone has gone home. #STU11
OK, let’s go. #STU11
1. The lecture is in two halves: (1) Why we need to think like God. (2) Some tips on how to do it. #STU11
2. My conception of God is that of Abraham, filtered through Augustine: i.e. we are created in God’s ‘image and likeness’. #STU11
3.New Atheists free-ride on this conception of God: w/o it there would be no grounds for asserting any human privilege or confidence. #STU11
4.Darwin the anti-humanist realized this, since for him all species are equal under natural selection, which always has last laugh. #STU11
5 TH Huxley addressed the problem: Science, law and medicine aim to defer or counter natural selection: http://t.co/m0ijDuBP #STU11
	@LillyLyle @SvTwuni Would be happier if you guys would make that “think like a god” instead of the monotheism which seems biased and unscholarly #STU11
6.For reality to be ‘intelligible’, as science presupposes, it must exist so our minds can fathom it. We must think like its creator. #STU11
7. It’s much more than saying a creative deity moves in mysterious ways to make things as they are, to which we then adapt as we can. #STU11
8.W/o universal intelligibility, science is risky nonsense. Our animal existence would be more secure if we were more down to earth. #STU11
10.Yet we grant those universe-spanning ideas enormous cultural significance: physics = gold standard of knowledge. #STU11
11. And we’ve made most progress in understanding life by treating biology as if it were divine technology. #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni Treating biology as a ‘divine’ machine led to a set of dogmas underpinning a simplistic/reductionist view of what may be happening
12. Darwin wouldn’t buy the idea of genetic code, let alone genetic engineering. Too anthropomorphic. Yet these ideas work. #STU11
@LillyLyle Indeed the God I am defending is the monotheistic one – because that’s the one that got us to science. Not any old god will do!
	@LillyLyle @SvTwuni Thanks, but no thanks. Not interested.
	@pahndeepah MT @SvTwuni Science presupposes intelligible reality so our minds can fathom it. If so, we must think like its creator. #STU11
@livingarchitect Yes, and now we think of life as more complicated machinery. The idea of life as artefact has only become sophisticated.
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni Divine technology is one way of thinking about ‘life’ – NBIC is changing the goal posts with more ‘SF-like’ fwd looking science
@livingarchitect To be honest, I don’t see a big difference here. If anything, NBIC is high-tech theology, which is not bad in my book.
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni Complexity offers a ‘third way’ in science that is not ‘mere machine’ nor does it invoke the divine but can stay ‘strange’ #STU11
@livingarchitect I see complexity as opposing reductionism but not mechanism as such. Bioengineering&biotechnology still make perfect sense
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni NBIC is not bad. Machine thinking is limited. I like Prigogine’s notion of nature’s ‘creativity’ that doesn’t invoke god #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni Because they are a subset of ‘complexity’ – which is closer to Spinosa than Descartes and prioritises systems not objects #STU11
@livingarchitect Well, I think it’s more like a limited conception of machine. After all you’re the one who wants to re-engineer Venice!
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni Complexity offers an alternative to ‘mechanism’ as systems produce objects: in mechanism objects precede systems/connections #STU11
I’m afraid I need to re-post some of my responses. I forgot the bloody hashtags! #STU11
@LillyLyle The God I am defending is the monotheistic one – because that’s the one that got us to science. Not any old god will do! #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni Not using a ‘machine’ – or mechanism – but through orchestrating systems. My matter is strange with ‘agency’ – not divine #STU11
@livingarchitect Yes, and now we think of life as more complex machinery. The idea of life as artefact has only become sophisticated. #STU11
@livingarchitect To be honest, I don’t see a big difference here.If anything, NBIC is high-tech theology, which is not bad in my book.#STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni Life is different to a machine. Fundamentally. Complexity offers a ‘third way’ – opposing the dualism of inert/vital #STU11
@livingarchitect I see complexity as opposing reductionism but not mechanism. Bioengineering&biotechnology still make perfect sense #STU11
@living architect How can you oppose mechanism so much and still think you can re-engineer Venice with metabolic materials? #STU11
One advantage that mechanism has that it implies agency–a mechanic who takes responsibility for the machine, be it God or us. #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni @living through engineering ‘systems’ – fundamental organising architectures that precedes the existence of ‘objects’ #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni Complexity implies collaborative partnership – iterative dynamic relationships that are not ‘determined’ by any one agent #STU11
@livingarchitect OK, but that sounds like the sort of thing a creative deity would do in laying a blueprint for creation.
@livingarchitect OK, but that sounds like the sort of thing a creative deity would do in laying a blueprint for creation. #STU11
@livingarchitect I’m not clear why it’s such a virtue that no single agent takes responsibility in the end for creation. #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni I don’t agree that a creative deity is needed. Prigogine and Kauffman both use ‘radical creativity’ as a universal quality #STU11
@livingarchitect Maybe they do. But you can’t get a ‘systems’ perspective in the engineering sense very easily from that. #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni Because it recognises agency in non-humans and therefore seeks to find ‘communication’ rather than control #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni THAT’s exactly what the current challenge is and Prigogine set those wheels in motion. Science of 21 will be ‘complex’ #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni Morphological computation strives to ‘design & engineer’ with systems. Thinking differently precedes engineering #STU11
@livingarchitect This strikes me as semantic repackaging until the non-humans are legally held responsible for something. #STU11
@livingarchitect But don’t you see in all this, you’re adopting a divine point of view, albeit your God is a more sophisticated designer.
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni I’m very interested in the Spinosan/Gnostic science that comes from the Russian East e.g. Vernadsky #STU11
@livingarchitect But don’t you see you’re adopting a divine point of view, albeit your God is a more sophisticated designer. #STU11
@livingarchitect Maybe so but your own work is about re-engineering the world to make it more habitable for humans. #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni I guess I don’t see the ‘god’ in complexity. I don’t see the need to invoke the divine in matter #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni Correct – because I am human – and ‘nature’ isn’t anthropocentric #STU11
@livingarchitect If you were a mystic, I’d concede the point, but people who model complexity generally want to intervene in nature #STU11
@livingarchitect Yes, but you take being human as more important than being natural! That’s a very Abrahamic move right there! #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni Persuade, negotiate, orchestrate and connect with … are they interventions? #STU11
@livingarchitect Of course! This is why I think a lot of this just semantics but there are probably some deep value issues as well #STU11
@livingarchitect I sometimes think that all this anti-machine stuff is just a way of dividing the nasty from the nice bits of science #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni Yes – I am anthropocentric … otherwise there would be no reason to seek a ‘dialogue’ with the natural world … #STU11
But, hey, I haven’t done my other 13 tweets — about actually how to think like God! #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni Nope … it’s a different way of problem solving It has it challenges #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni Looking forward to them! #STU11
@livingarchitect Thanks! Here they go… #STU11
13. Here are some tips to think like God in my sense. It’s how we became modern. (Take that, Latour!) #STU11
14. Take words and numbers extremely literally as expressions of the divine logos and hence the basis for reconstructing the world. #STU11
16.God’s properties are indefinitely extended versions of our own. Were they not, the idea of ‘distance’ from God would be nonsense. #STU11
17.What’s hard to imagine is that all the virtues should be concentrated in one divine being. In humans, they’re clearly distributed. #STU11
18. What we see in temporal terms, God sees all at once. God’s apparent indifference is simply patience. #STU11
19. God appears evil when we fail to see the higher good an event serves. We do evil when we act like God and fail. #STU11
20. Unfortunately we only live up to our Abrahamic heritage when try to act like God, which makes our own evil inevitable. #STU11
	@pahndeepah @SvTwuni and lest we forget, the New Testament of Newton’s Unitarian physics. #STU11
21. Newton was right: God’s infinity = equidistance from all times and places. ‘The view from nowhere’. #STU11
22. Modernity is about simulating Newton’s God in our own fallible but corrigible way: we treat past and future as equally knowable. #STU11
23. Traditional societies treat the past as solid knowledge and fear the future if it doesn’t repeat the past — aka induction. #STU11
24.Modern societies R less sure on the past but more confident about future as work in progress,ripe for experimentation&risk-taking. #STU11
	@pahndeepah @SvTwuni @ProfSteveFuller you are sounding more & more like Vico. Kudos! #STU11
25. If you want to follow up the above line of argument, I recommend my book: http://t.co/xo1SEj7p. Finis. #STU11
	@pahndeepah RT @SvTwuni 21. Newton was right: God’s infinity = equidistance from all times and places. ‘The view from nowhere’. #STU11 @ProfSteveFuller
	@thormagnusson @SvTwuni Nietzsche: “I cannot believe in a God who wants to be praised all the time.” – It is bad taste trying to think like that God.
	@pahndeepah MT @SvTwuni Traditional societies treat the past as solid knowledge & fear the future if it doesn’t repeat the past aka induction. #STU11
	@thormagnusson @SvTwuni Nice cover. Will check the book.
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni I recommend your book too!! Awesome read! http://t.co/KfVnrIHY #STU11
Unless someone wants to ask a question now, I will be signing off from @svtwuni. Thanks for joining in — esp @livingarchitect! #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni This is exactly what Kauffman proposes to address – and which Ilya Prigogine articulates beautifully http://t.co/JSFqnaKO #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni I just read your 13 points and agree with their relevance to Cartesian science. Which is MOST science as it’s funded #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni I’d like to discuss with you in more depth complexity within science & how this relates to your proposals in Hu 2.0 #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni Also pretend that I”m a Cartesian scientist – what are the implications for Hu 2.0 on my practice? #STU11
I was just listening to that rather nice montage of Prigogine’s thoughts on Youtube you sent me. I’m not unsympathetic. #STU11
@livingarchitect We obviously can’t do this here, but do you think we might prepare a dialogue–either in text or video–2 cover this #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni It’s always a pleasure @ProfSteveFuller – love your insight, perspective & provocations – everyone should buy your book #STU11
	@pahndeepah @SvTwuni @livingarchitect @ProfSteveFuller a dialog on YouTube would be most excellent!
My parting words to all of you thinking about doing a twitter lecture — mind the bloody hashtags! Ugh! Merry Xmas! #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni @ProfSteveFuller That is an awesome suggestion – would love to explore. Happy Christmas!! #STU11
	@livingarchitect @SvTwuni @ProfSteveFuller That would be great. Your perspectives are invaluable #STU11
	@dromograf @SvTwuni thanx for tonite’s event, opposables up #STU11

Svenska Twitteruniversitetet

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ThursDAY, 16TH OF February 2012, 8 PM GMT

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Green Futures Tuesday: 3D printing: the end of consumerism? #gfstu

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The Swedish Twitter University opens Department of Green Innovations and Solutions

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