Big Problems – Page 15

Big Problems, communication, Historical Perspectives, Human Behavior

Endangered Languages: Why do they face extinction?

July 16, 2018

Portrait of a Warrior Asmat tribe in traditional headdress.

By definition, endangered languages are those that are facing extinction in the future. Several languages are not being used and are replaced by languages that are widely spoken in various countries and regions. If the trends are not reversed, the next century will see a few more of them becoming extinct.

Many older languages only have very few speakers since they are no longer taught or learned by younger people. When the last speakers of endangered languages die, the languages die with them, unless there are efforts to revive the language.

Continue reading… “Endangered Languages: Why do they face extinction?”

Analysis, Big Problems, Human Behavior

Which 7 countries hold half the world’s population?

July 14, 2018

People at a water park in China, which is home to the world’s largest population. Half of the world’s population lives in just seven countries. (VCG via Getty Images)

As of this month, the world’s population is 7.63 billion, according to the United Nations, which celebrates World Population Day today. More than half of all people around the globe (3.97 billion) live in just seven countries, according to the UN’s estimates. China has the world’s largest population (1.42 billion), followed by India (1.35 billion). The next five most populous nations – the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan and Nigeria – together have fewer people than India.

Continue reading… “Which 7 countries hold half the world’s population?”

Big Problems, Business, Economy, People Making a Difference

A new way to think about solving the world’s biggest problems

July 12, 2018

How to build global cooperation. It’s SIMPOL!

A while back I received a book in the mail titled “The SIMPOL Solution: A New Way to Think About Solving the World’s Biggest Problems” by John Bunzl and Nick Duffell, who were unknown to me. I get sent a lot of books with grandiose titles and don’t get around to reading most of them. But something about this one intrigued me, along with an endorsement by Noam Chomsky, who wrote “It’s ambitious and provocative: Can it work? Certainly worth a serious try”.

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Analysis, Big Problems, Children, Human Behavior

Nearly 50% of teens in the US say they’re now online ‘almost constantly,’ according to new research

July 7, 2018

A new study from Pew Research Center found that one out of two teens reports being online “almost constantly.”

The study found that another 44% say they go online multiple times each day.

The time teens spend online has gone up significantly since Pew’s 2014-2015 study. Back then, only 24% of teens reported being online constantly.

Nearly half of US teens report being online on a near constant basis, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.

Continue reading… “Nearly 50% of teens in the US say they’re now online ‘almost constantly,’ according to new research”

Big Problems, facebook, Google, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News

The web had failed to serve humanity: Tim Berners-Lee was crushed when Russia used Facebook to meddle in U.S. elections

July 6, 2018

World wide web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee said he was “devastated” by recent abuses of the web, in an interview with Vanity Fair.

He is working on a new platform, named Solid, to re-decentralise the internet and take power away from monopolies like Google and Facebook.

He still has hope that the internet can become a something that serves humanity well.

Continue reading… “The web had failed to serve humanity: Tim Berners-Lee was crushed when Russia used Facebook to meddle in U.S. elections”

Big Problems, government, Hot Issues, Human Behavior

What it costs to be smuggled across the U. S. border

July 5, 2018

Bribes and shakedowns. Days in hideaways without food. For many fleeing violence in Central America, this is what thousands of dollars gets them on the journey to the United States.

MATAMOROS, Mexico — Shortly before dawn one Sunday last August, a driver in an S.U.V. picked up Christopher Cruz at a stash house in this border city near the Gulf of Mexico. The 22-year-old from El Salvador was glad to leave the one-story building, where smugglers kept bundles of cocaine and marijuana alongside their human cargo, but he was anxious about what lay ahead.

The driver deposited Mr. Cruz at an illegal crossing point on the edge of the Rio Grande. A smuggler took a smartphone photograph to confirm his identity and sent it using WhatsApp to a driver waiting to pick him up on the other side of the frontier when — if — he made it across.

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3D Printer, Big Problems, Engineering, Green Friendly, Home Technology

Can 3D printed homes solve the urban housing crisis?

July 4, 2018

Building houses is massively wasteful. During the construction process, building projects accumulate giant piles of garbage from off-cuts of lumber and drywall to pallets that carry materials and the packaging they come in. And once operating, homes consume huge amounts of energy.

“It turns out if you triage the world and you ask where are all these ecological health issues coming from, you get a surprising answer,” Jason Ballard, co-founder and president of ICON, says. “It’s not the gas guzzling SUVs and private jets; it’s buildings, especially homes. They are the number one consumer of energy by sector and the number two user of water.”

Continue reading… “Can 3D printed homes solve the urban housing crisis?”

Analysis, Big Problems, Human Behavior

Only 23% of Americans get enough exercise, a new report says

July 2, 2018

Less than a quarter of Americans are meeting all national physical activity guidelines, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

Federal physical activity guidelines recommend that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week, in addition to muscle-strengthening activities at least twice a week. But according to the new NCHS report, which drew on five years of data from the National Health Interview Survey, only about 23% of adults ages 18 to 64 are hitting both of those marks. Another 32% met one but not both, and almost 45% did not hit either benchmark.

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Automation, Big Problems, Housing, Robotics, Science & Technology News

With construction workers scarce, homebuilders turn to robots, software

June 30, 2018

BALTIMORE – The construction of an American house embodies the spirit of the nation’s workers and the dreams of its citizens.

It’s also perhaps the least-efficient endeavor in the U.S. economy.

Dozens of workers turn a plot of land into a small factory, sawing wood, nailing it together, cutting holes for windows, running wires and pipes and installing drywall and other finishes. Four months or so later, voila: A home for generations of families.

Continue reading… “With construction workers scarce, homebuilders turn to robots, software”

Big Problems, Breakthrough Thinking, Money Talk

Basic income could work—if you do it Canada-style

June 22, 2018

A Canadian province is giving people money with no strings attached—revealing both the appeal and the limitations of the idea.

Dana Bowman, 56, expresses gratitude for fresh produce at least 10 times in the hour and a half we’re having coffee on a frigid spring day in Lindsay, Ontario. Over the many years she scraped by on government disability payments, she tended to stick to frozen vegetables. She’d also save by visiting a food bank or buying marked-down items near or past their sell-by date.

Continue reading… “Basic income could work—if you do it Canada-style”

Analysis, Big Problems, brains, Latest Trend

We compared the average IQ scores in all 50 states, and the results are eye-opening

June 18, 2018

Yes, the IQ test is controversial, but it’s one of the few consistent metrics we have. Here’s how the states compare.

People are getting dumber, according to science.

There are a lot of theories why IQ tests are falling. Some say it’s bad food, poor schools, or obscene amounts of screen time. Others suggest it’s a matter of people with lower IQs having more kids, who inherit their lower numbers.

Continue reading… “We compared the average IQ scores in all 50 states, and the results are eye-opening”