Fungus Among Us
Mycologist Paul Stamets studies the mycelium — and lists 6 ways that this astonishing fungus can help save the world. It’s an interesting presentation that offers some cool insights and innovative solutions to the climate and energy crises. There’s also some interesting ideas about how ecosystems, and life itself, are dependent upon mycellum. Worth a watch.
Tags:climate crisis
, energy, metaphor, mushrooms scienceComments are off for this post
Al Gore’s TED Talk
Al Gore did another TED Talk last month. He has a new slide show where he talks about the democracy crisis as a parallel to the climate crisis. He tasks us with a generational imperative. I think it’s brilliant. And I only hope that my research can be part of the solution to both crises.
Tags:climate crisis
, cultural schemas, culture, democracy generationalComments are off for this post
How Can Information Science Contribute to a Solution to the Climate Crisis?
I can’t answer that question definitively, but I have a few ideas. Not only will it be important to gather data and information from a variety of sources using a variety of systems, platforms and protocols, but it will be important that we address the communication of knowledge between the many cultures that exist on the planet. Developing information systems that allow us to translate cognitive and cultural schemas that are embedded in the information and knowledge of different cultures is one essential step. Enabling streams of continuous flow of information related to climate, geography, culture, humanitarian relief, food sourcing and distribution, infrastructure support, population displacement and relocation, epidemiological surveillance, and conflict emergence is another essential step. Creating a visualization mechanism that allows for understanding the continuous information flow by the collective bodies of decision makers responsible for managing the impacts of climate change is an essential third step. These steps are a bare outline of the boundaries of a potential solution. Any solution will be vastly more complicated and involve a great many information scientists and knowledge workers.
If you haven’t watched An Inconvenient Truth (and you should as it will shake you to your core), you may want to watch Al Gore’s acceptance speech of the Nobel Peace Prize given in Oslo, Norway just a couple days ago:
The full text of the speech can be read at Al Gore’s site.
, culture, information, spatial visualizationComments are off for this post
