In case anyone's interested in the 6 possible causes of the apocalypse given, they're: Climate change A nuclear exchange A super-volcano eruption, leading to rapidly accelerated climate change A asteroid strike, also causing accelerated climate change A general failure of computer technology due eit...
More by chance than design, I've been reading 2 novels that feature apocalypses. I should warn readers that this message contains spoilers. The 1st novel is 'To Be Taught If Fortunate' by Becky Chambers. It's about a team on a decades-long space flight who stop receiving messages from Earth. Eventua...
I see the cover story on New Scientist is "The worrying signs that civilisation has started to collapse". Can't read most of it yet, though, cos my library doesn't have the latest edition (or the 1 before)
I can't remember if Dr Dartnell mentioned an artificial intelligence takeover as a possible end to (human) civilisation, but there's an interesting article about it from 'Vanity Fair': http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/03/elon-musk-billion-dollar-crusade-to-stop-ai-space-x It's over 8,000 words bu...
Interesting stuff, Dave. I haven't read the disease link (or book!) yet but hope to do so soon (if I don't get distracting reading Explain Like I'm Five (ELI5) or thinking up T-shirt slogans ("TEOTWAWKI is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there", "TEOTWAWKI: Like Milw...
Hi, Dave. I've heard of dandelion root tea but never tasted it, though there are usually plenty of dandelions about! I think that during World War 2 there were a few 'ersatz' coffees, e.g. chicory. I think I've even seen that in shops, though not for years. It took about 6 months from registering to...
I think modern amateur chemists (clandestine or otherwise) have created a lot of chemical processes because no major chemical company will sell any chemical that's remotely hazardous to individuals (and as Paracelsus said, it is the dose alone that makes a substance not a poison). There are lots of ...
That's a subject that interests me. I think I've gathered what I know about it from various sources. http://cavemanchemistry.com/oldcave/ has some interesting projects, though it's far from comprehensive. (There's an update/book but I prefer the old version!) I used to work in a museum (in a castle!...