Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2021
Volume 66, Number 5
Saturday–Tuesday, April 17–20, 2021; Virtual; Time Zone: Central Daylight Time, USA
Session X06: The Future of EarthInvited Live Outreach Undergrad Friendly
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Sponsoring Units: FPS Chair: Joel Primack, University of California at Santa Cruz |
Tuesday, April 20, 2021 10:45AM - 11:21AM Live |
X06.00001: The World in 2050 - and Beyond Invited Speaker: Martin Rees Our Earth is 45 million centuries old. But this century is the first when one species — ours — can determine the biosphere's fate. There will be threats to climate and biodiversity from the collective 'footprint' of 9 — 11 billion people seeking food, resources and energy. In addition, our globally-linked society is vulnerable to the unintended consequences of powerful new technologies — not only nuclear, but (even more) biotech, cyber, advanced AI, space technology, and so forth. If all of us -- passengers on 'spaceship Earth' — want to ensure that we leave it in better shape for future generations we need to promote wise deployment of new technologies, while minimizing the risk of pandemics, cyberthreats and other global catastrophes. This is a challenge that requires international collaboration. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 20, 2021 11:21AM - 11:57AM Live |
X06.00002: The Future of Life Invited Speaker: Anthony Aguirre Life on Earth is a billions-of-years-old process that actively maintains information and structure in the face of the second thermodynamic law, perhaps the most fundamental in physics. The content of this worldwide multifold information structure — life — was dominated by biological evolution until recent centuries, when human intelligence, technology, and choices became a major effect. Crucial choices by humanity will largely determine what happens next, with the development and unfolding of new technologies. But life itself is also approaching a new phase, in which digital computation will start to rival and supplant biological computation, and in which intelligence will be begin to engineer not just the outside world, but the biological world and the world of intelligence itself. What will come of this? It is exceedingly hard to predict, but basic physical and information theoretical limits, as well as extrapolation of current trends, provide some insights. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 20, 2021 11:57AM - 12:33PM Live |
X06.00003: Needed Now: A Vision for Earth on Cosmic Time Invited Speaker: Sandra Faber Humans and our technology are now clearly in command of our planet, and this is likely the default state going forward absent massive economic and environmental collapse. Yet human ethics devalues the future generally, and thoughts of what Earth and ourselves might ultimately become are barely mentioned. We argue that the crucial ingredient now missing from the environmental movement is a moral compass for the future based on a shared vision for humanity and Earth on cosmic time. Humans are now writing the story of Earth. We need to think about the ending now. [Preview Abstract] |
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