It is increasingly clear that averting ecological breakdown will require drastic changes to contemporary human society and the global economy embedded within it. On the other hand, the basic material needs of billions of people across the planet remain unmet. Here, we develop a simple, bottom-up model to estimate a practical minimal threshold for the final energy consumption required to provide decent material livings to the entire global population. We find that global final energy consumption in 2050 could be reduced to the levels of the 1960s, despite a population three times larger. However, such a world requires a massive rollout of advanced technologies across all sectors, as well as radical demand-side changes to reduce consumption – regardless of income – to levels of sufficiency. Sufficiency is, however, far more materially generous in our model than what those opposed to strong reductions in consumption often assume.

Providing decent living with minimum energy: A global scenario

This is the first study to systematically confront the question how Brahmanism, which was geographically limited and under threat during the final centuries BCE, transformed itself and spread all over South and Southeast Asia. Brahmanism spread over this vast area without the support of an empire, without the help of conquering armies, and without the intermediary of religious missionaries. This phenomenon has no parallel in world history, yet shaped a major portion of the surface of the earth for a number of centuries. This book focuses on the formative period of this phenomenon, roughly between Alexander and the Guptas.

How the Brahmins Won: From Alexander to the Guptas

The digital revolution is evolving at an unstoppable pace. Alongside the unprecedented explosion of digital technology facilities and systems, mental health care is under greater pressure than ever before. With its emphasis on big data, computing power, mobile technology, and network information, digital technology is set to transform health care delivery. This article reviews the field of digital health technology assessment and intervention primarily in secondary service mental health care, including the barriers and facilitators to adopting and implementing digitally mediated interventions in service delivery. We consider the impact of digitally mediated communication on human interaction and its potential impact on various mental states such as those linked to mood, anxiety but also well-being. These developments point to a need for both theory- and data-driven approaches to digital health care. We argue that, as developments in digital technology are outpacing the evaluation of rigorous digital health interventions, more advanced methodologies are needed to keep up with the pace of digital technology development. The need for co-production of digital tools with and for people with chronic and mental health difficulties, and implications of digital technology for psychotherapy practice, will be central to this development. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Mental health problems are one of the main causes of global and societal burden and are a growing public health. People with mental health problems around the world have limited, if any, chance of accessing psychological help at all. Technological innovations and solutions are being considered in an attempt to address the size and scale of the mental health crisis worldwide. Digital platforms allow people to self-monitor and self-manage in a way that face-to-face/paper-based methods of assessment have up until now not allowed. We provide examples of digital tools that are being developed and used in the secondary setting and identify a number of challenges in the digital health field that require careful consideration.

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The digital revolution and its impact on mental health care

The modern project of creating human-like artificial intelligence (AI) started after World War II, when it was discovered that electronic computers are not just number-crunching machines, but can also manipulate symbols It is possible to pursue this goal without assuming that machine intelligence is identical to human intelligence This is known as weak AI However, many AI researcher have pursued the aim of developing artificial intelligence that is in principle identical to human intelligence, called strong AI Weak AI is less ambitious than strong AI, and therefore less controversial However, there are important controversies related to weak AI as well This paper focuses on the distinction between artificial general intelligence (AGI) and artificial narrow intelligence (ANI) Although AGI may be classified as weak AI, it is close to strong AI because one chief characteristics of human intelligence is its generality Although AGI is less ambitious than strong AI, there were critics almost from the very beginning One of the leading critics was the philosopher Hubert Dreyfus, who argued that computers, who have no body, no childhood and no cultural practice, could not acquire intelligence at all One of Dreyfus’ main arguments was that human knowledge is partly tacit, and therefore cannot be articulated and incorporated in a computer program However, today one might argue that new approaches to artificial intelligence research have made his arguments obsolete Deep learning and Big Data are among the latest approaches, and advocates argue that they will be able to realize AGI A closer look reveals that although development of artificial intelligence for specific purposes (ANI) has been impressive, we have not come much closer to developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) The article further argues that this is in principle impossible, and it revives Hubert Dreyfus’ argument that computers are not in the world

/pdf/why-general-artificial-intelligence-will-not-be-realized-npmvdi0w54.pdf

Why general artificial intelligence will not be realized

The commitment to understanding the implications of a 1.5 °C global temperature warming limit has contributed to a growing realisation that transformative adaptation is necessary to avoid catastrophic environmental and social consequences. This is particularly the case in urban settlements where disconnection from the systems that support life is pervasive and injustice and inequality play out daily. This paper argues that in order to transform towards thriving social-ecological systems, transformative capacity needs to be strengthened. The paper builds on the rich literature of adaptive capacity, alongside concepts of transformation that are drawn from resilience theory, organisational change, and developmental psychology. Reconnection to life-support systems, agency, and social cohesion are put forward as three foundational aspects of transformative capacity. A transdisciplinary case study of the FLOW programme in the Bergrivier Municipality, South Africa, is used to explore how transformative capacity has been built in practice. The case study explores an innovative programme that works with unemployed urban youth, alongside the exploration and introduction of a community currency in the informal business sector, and strengthening cross-scalar interaction between the local municipality and youth. The paper suggests that working across sectors and scales in a transdisciplinary manner is a challenging endeavour but necessary for building inclusive, thriving, and regenerative urban settlements.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/9/955/pdf

Moving from Adaptive to Transformative Capacity: Building Foundations for Inclusive, Thriving, and Regenerative Urban Settlements

Sapiens: A brief history of humankind

SIF and DF of a Griffith crack problem bounded together isotropic and orthotropic medium

Gender responsive budgeting in agriculture: An overview

The solution of simultaneous dual integral equations involving fox’s H-function

Abstract An ability to prepare, recover and adapt to frequent climatic variation is called “climate resilience.” Climate change now places additional pressure on the cattle industry, particularly in developing nations, which threatens the livelihood of small farmers. In 2013 “Food and Agriculture Organization” reported that the livestock sector accounts for nearly 1/3rd of agricultural gross production value globally. There are higher possibilities of the effective implications of sustainable intensification in the livestock production systems to determine production pathways that are more sustainable and productive with a minimum negative impact on the environment. The paper discusses the systematic review mingle with qualitative text analysis to explore the interrelation between sustainable intensification and resilient climate practices, specifically towards the livestock production system. The data for systematic review was taken from Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed databases from 1995 till 2020, with total screened 94 articles in the final selection. The study's results revealed that all approaches involving environment-friendly practices with higher production efficiency, resource use efficiency and reachable to every farmer were considered sustainable intensification. The relevance of this sustainability analysis to climate resilience is illustrated by considering different types of livestock systems with concerned practices. So, the inclusion of appropriate technology in an appropriate system will open the door for sustainable intensification in the face of a climate-resilient livestock production system and finally lead the farming community towards sustainable development.

/pdf/sustainable-intensification-reaching-towards-climate-r860mf90.pdf

Rachna

Papers

Sapiens: A brief history of humankind

SIF and DF of a Griffith crack problem bounded together isotropic and orthotropic medium

Gender responsive budgeting in agriculture: An overview

The solution of simultaneous dual integral equations involving fox’s H-function

Sustainable intensification – reaching towards climate resilience livestock production system