The Palentir statement on its desired “Technological Republic” is one of the scariest things I have seen in a while. It is a call for a world dominated by an authoritarian U.S., generated by AI (both the statement and the world), run by tech-surveillance companies. Technofascism pure!

Also extremely cool for the fascist manifesto company to be deeply embedded in the military and national security apparatus.

I’m sure this will end well

New projections of British biodiversity under plausible climate & land-use futures

Severe futures have 12-20% birds, butterflies, plants going extinct & major changes to ecosystems

More sustainable scenarios only decrease & do not stop loss; but require urgent action
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

With the latest set of El Niño forecasts, NOAA's CFSv2 model needs to get a larger y-axis scale 😯

"In retrospect, basing the entire global food system on fossil fuels may have been a poor idea." -- @benehrenreich.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/3634...

It feels like yesterday that online-engineers-of-a-certain-age were saying that heavy freight could never be electrified. To quote William Gibson, "The future is here. It’s just not widely distributed yet." Fossil fuel interests want to keep it that way.

How many girls are riding their bikes to school is a better measure of a country's success than GDP. Tells you about so much more, about education, gender equality, road safety, the environment...

#KiaTikaKiaPono

Tutkimus: ilmaston 1,5 asteen raja ylittyi odotettua aiemmin - Maapallon keskilämpötila ylitti 1,5 celsiusasteen rajan jo vuonna 2024, mikä on jopa seitsemän vuotta aikaisemmin kuin useimmat ilmastomallit ennustivat. Tuore tutkimus osoittaa, että vain ne mallit,

Maapallon keskilämpötila ylitti 1,5 asteen rajan jo vuonna 2024 - jopa seitsemän vuotta aikaisemmin kuin useimmat ilmastomallit ennustivat. Vain mallit, jotka simuloivat lähivuosikymmenten lämpenevän nopeimmin, onnistuivat ennakoimaan kehityksen oikein.

www.ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/tiedote/1mMO...

In its tech and in its eugenics, Silicon Valley has such a sad mechanical notion of what intelligence is, one bereft of moral beauty, emotional intelligence, intuition, etc. But in a more meaningful definition of intelligence the titans of industry would discover their own bereftness and dimness.

Opinion | Why the Stock Market Makes No Sense Right Now

Why is the stock market shrugging off... everything? Well, maybe it's betting that AI will save it and that the government won't let AI fail. Call it the AI put. My new piece in NYT Opinion on the market's reliance on getting rescued:
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/o...

"Dad?"
"Yes, son."
"It's ten years since the EU referendum this summer. Where can I find the list with all the activities for the Brexit Festival to celebrate?"

"The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet a lifetime is often not enough to rebuild. They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education and restoration are nowhere to be found." -Pope Leo XIV

The ocean off California keeps breaking heat records The marine heat wave of 2026 is simmering the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, and experts are warning that it could lead to a warm, humid and stormy summer.

We acknowledge that more than 90% of the heat from global warming has gone into the ocean but then act surprised when this happens.

This is more broadly generalizable: If you don't do the research yourself, you have no idea if AI is making stuff up. And if you do the research yourself, then AI isn't saving you much labor, if any.

the era I miss the most is the '90s, not because it is sepia-toned but because* for like 9 years we got to enjoy the thought that with the end of the cold war, we had unlocked The Good Ending

alas

*also grunge

'Dear citizens! The data center that we have been aspiring to get is finally in operation!'

I thought that Sam Altman's eyeball-scanning global surveillance platform would wither away. Ha ha ha ha! I am so naive sometimes.

Now it's being integrated into Zoom, *of course*

A political cartoon by Megan Herbert showing an assembly of renewable energy solutions - solar panels, battery storage, high speed rail, electrified truck freight, EVs and charging infrastructure, wind turbines, and bicycles - put together in a shape that resembles a military tank. A different approach to a massive increase in military spending that would increase Australia's security and sovereignty in times of global unrest.

Best defence.
My cartoon in today's @theageaustralia.bsky.social and @sydmorningherald.bsky.social

I must let my DVCR know about this new knowledge exchange research translation impact pathway.

The queueable city

Massive Attack, Tom Waits - Boots on the Ground YouTube video by Massive Attack

'This montage work portrays a momentous American epoch that is yet to be named, and comes in the aftermath of the largest public protests in American history - focused on opposition to ICE raids, the militarisation of domestic forces, and state authoritarianism.'
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-57...

$30m an hour: big oil reaping huge war windfall from consumers, analysis finds Exclusive: Climate action blockers including Saudi Arabia, Russia and major fossil fuel firms set to make extra $234bn by end of 2026

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Pretty damning that most tech executives (like most affluent people) generally try to protect their own children from the products that made them rich.

Collapse of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation would lead to substantial oceanic carbon release and additional global warming - Communications Earth & Environment The collapse of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation would result in increase of 47-83 ppm of global mean atmospheric carbon dioxide and 0. 2 °C of additional global warming at higher carb...

The AMOC is slowing down. We know it has an on/off switch. We also know it would, if turned off, cause catastrophic global impacts. Unacceptable. Here our new study showing shut-down very likely bumps up warming 0.2°C through carbon cycle feedback alone.
www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Brilliant.

Critical Atlantic current significantly more likely to collapse than thought Scientists say finding is ‘very concerning’ as collapse would be catastrophic for Europe, Africa and the Americas The critical Atlantic current system appears significantly more likely to collapse than previously thought after new research found that climate models predicting the biggest slowdown are the most realistic. Scientists called the new finding “very concerning” as a collapse would have catastrophic consequences for Europe, Africa and the Americas. The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) is a major part of the global climate system and was already known to be at its weakest for 1,600 years as a result of the climate crisis. Scientists spotted warning signs of a tipping point in 2021 and know that the Amoc has collapsed in the Earth’s past. Continue reading...

Critical Atlantic current significantly more likely to collapse than thought

Léon Krier, architect from Luxembourg, describes motorized traffic in big cities as “wastage of human and chemical energy”.

Given Big Oil is mass producing single use plastic and polluting the biosphere at an industrial scale,

what's to stop Big AI producing single use software and polluting the infosphere at an industrial scale?

#playbooks

Microsoft exec suggests AI agents will need to buy software licenses, just like employees Are AI agents employees or tools? A Microsoft exec suggested they're new paid "seats," a shift that could reshape SaaS pricing — and spark pushback.

I mean, if Big Tech is going to commit to anthropomorphizing chatbots, they might as well go all the way: www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-ex...

Oil Market Report - April 2026 – Analysis - IEA Oil Market Report - April 2026 - Analysis and key findings. A report by the International Energy Agency.

From the IEA: "Oil demand is expected to contract by 80 kb/d this year, as the Iran war upends our global outlook. ... would be the sharpest since Covid-19 slashed fuel consumption. ... demand destruction will spread as scarcity and higher prices persist."

Buckle up.