Monthly Archives: September 2021

Climate change means more schools will need to install or upgrade cooling systems. Bill Uhrich/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images Paul Chinowsky, University of Colorado Boulder Rising temperatures due to climate change are causing more than just uncomfortably hot days across the United States. These high temperatures are placing serious stress on critical infrastructure suchContinue reading “As heat waves intensify, tens of thousands of US classrooms will be too hot for students to learn in”

An orchard near Kettleman City in California’s San Joaquin Valley on April 2, 2021. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images Debra Perrone, University of California Santa Barbara and Scott Jasechko, University of California Santa Barbara As the drought outlook for the Western U.S. becomes increasingly bleak, attention is turning once again to groundwater – literally,Continue reading “Water wells are at risk of going dry in the US and worldwide”

Shutterstock Vili Lehdonvirta, University of Oxford Bitcoin is in decline. Not its price, which has increased 900% this year and (at the time of writing) stands at over US$12,000 per unit, but its actual use as a currency. And this makes its rapid appreciation all the more puzzling. A few years ago, enthusiasts triumphantly sharedContinue reading “Bitcoin isn’t a currency – and unless it becomes one it could be worthless”

In some drought-stricken parts of the Southwest, water arrives by truck. Spencer Platt/Getty Images Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University; Ali Mirchi, Oklahoma State University; Amir AghaKouchak, University of California, Irvine, and Kaveh Madani, Yale University The 2021 water year ends on Sept. 30, and it was another hot, dry year in the western U.S., withContinue reading “Avoiding water bankruptcy in the drought-troubled Southwest: What the US and Iran can learn from each other”

Is Govcoin really innovating to help the welfare state or simply another cynical example of privatisation? Shutterstock Robert Herian, The Open University The UK chancellor’s recent Budget reminded us that systemic problems continue to plague the government’s delayed roll-out of universal credit – a single monthly welfare payment that will replace six separate benefits. PhilipContinue reading “Why a blockchain startup called Govcoin wants to ‘disrupt’ the UK’s welfare state”

Blockchain technology, in which real-world assets are symbolically represented by digital objects, harks back to medieval times when helmets, swords, and other items represented land and other valuables. (Shutterstock) Victoria Lemieux, University of British Columbia Blockchain is an emergent technology that may be as transformative as the internet, according to many predictions. But this innovativeContinue reading “How blockchain technology has medieval roots”

Central authorities are still important to create legitimacy in a cryptocurrency. Shutterstock Dirk Baur, The University of Western Australia and Niels Van Quaquebeke, Kühne Logistics University A common idea about the blockchain, the technology that powers Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, is that it can “create trust”, or allow two parties to make a transaction “withoutContinue reading “The blockchain does not eliminate the need for trust”

Standard / by Wanderer / September 13, 2021 / 41 Comments Follow Me: The Wanderer retired from his engineering job at a major Silicon Valley semiconductor company at the age of 33. He now travels the world, seeking out knowledge from other wealthy people, so that he can teach people how to become Financially IndependentContinue reading “How to Get Free Bitcoin”

When using a cryptocurrency, you interact with a system like the blockchain, an online ledger that records transactions, directly. Bitcoin, is an examples of this. www.shutterstock.com Dimaz Wijaya, Monash University The Reserve Bank of Australia could join the likes of Estonia and Lebanon in creating a cryptocurrency based on the Australian dollar, to reap theContinue reading “Why the RBA would want to create a digital Australian dollar”