Bits and Pieces from the Present and Future

pn444

From the NZ Listener, June 29-July 5 2019
Letter to the editor  replying to another letter on electric vehicle "disinformation. "They acually use less brake power ...All the braking is done by regeneration which
puts power back into the batteries... a petrol engine has 10 times as many moving parts as an EV and has requires for servicing."

Quote from Life In New Zealand. "I just met with the Queen of England (UK), the Prince of Whales..." Tweet by US President Donald Trump.

From Joanne Black in Washington DC. ""One odd aspect of the abortion debatse here is that defending the right to live does not seem to attract anywhere near  the same amount of attention when it comes to the death penalty. I suppose the unborn, having not yet had the opportunity to lead a life of crime, get the benefit of the doubt."

From Bill Ralston. "The strongest argument for the legalislation is that it removes cannabis from an underground sales and marketing racket and reduces people's risk of exposure to other illicit pharmaceuticals that are likely to do them a lot more harm than a joint."








From AA Directions, Winter 2019,  on What's in Store for Tomorrow?
 
Prof  Paul Spoonley writes 

• of our population growing from migration by 270,000 between 2013 and 2018 (up from 35,000 for the five years earlier; 
• of Auckland with 37% of the population from India and China within 20 years, far outnumbering Maori; 
• of  40% of present occupations not existing in ten years time, making many jobs precarious; 
• of 40% of New Zealanders living in Auckland, and many regions experiencing stagnant growth (this need not be if we targeted decentralisation -- ACW); 
• of over a million people aged over 65 years soon (up from 600,000 in 2013), 
• and sub-replacement fertility as young people have fewer children.

Other short articles looking  into the future:

•  On artificial intelligence helping agriculture, conservation and the enviroment "We're only at the tip of the AI iceberg."
• On wool being used to strengthen bricks, insulate walls, replace fibreglass in surfboards .
• On Electric Vehicles.  "The key to the ubiquity of EV is the availability of rapid charging stations."
• On electricity. ... "the full rangeof emerging clean energy solutions such as offshore wind, solar batteries, hydrogen, geothermal and waste-to-energy alternatives..."
• On electricity without wires and inductive power, and vehicles "collecting kilowatts from  a pit in the road while travelling at 120km/h".
• On bio-fuels, that do not need blending, made from pinus radiata thinnnings
• On packaging food from mushroom stalks,  and 
• Plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy.

Something to chew on?

-- ACW