Business

Fabled author Ursula Le Guin had a sign over her desk:

Is it true?

Is it necessary or at least useful?

Is it compassionate or at least unharmful?

Not a bad place to begin.

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When Mad Men character Peggy Olson steps into Don Draper’s office to contest her inadequate recognition as a copywriter at their agency, he asserts that receiving credit for ideas isn’t essential in advertising–unless you’re the creative director accepting a Clio award that he represents. Limited by her boss’ defensiveness, Olson softens to a more modest,…Read More

Q-day may still be somewhere far in the future. However, that is not hindering cautiously optimistic investors from putting their money into the oh-so-seductive promise of quantum technology. Latest in line to be on the receiving end of such confidence is Dutch startup Orange Quantum Systems. The company, which builds quantum chip test equipment, just raised €1.5mn in pre-seed funding to support the emerging industry’s transition from “lab to fab.”  There are many challenges to scaling quantum technology. Decoherence, error correction, and qubit quality and consistency are all issues that need to be addressed, to say nothing of the algorithms,…

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With a population of about 12,000, the nine islands of Tuvalu sit in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Australia. But for how much longer? As a low-lying country, it is under severe threat from climate change and rising sea levels, which could see it become uninhabitable over the next century. To preserve the sovereignty…Read More

In less than a year, as generative artificial intelligence has grown from a fringe pursuit to an object of mainstream fascination, marketers have sought to capitalize on the fervor by creating campaigns that align their brands with the topic. As a result, news publishers have seen an uptick in the number of requests for proposals…Read More

Faced with an ever-mounting plastic pollution problem–there are now 21,000 pieces of plastic in the ocean for every person–a plastic that turns into dirt might sound like the answer we’ve all been waiting for. But like most sustainability issues, it’s complicated. Despite broader public awareness of plastic’s impact on human health and the environment, the…Read More

Late last week, Sweden’s Scania revealed a world-first hybrid semi-truck covered in solar panels. Because of its self-produced energy, the unique prototype has the potential to reduce both operational costs and CO2 emissions of heavy transport.  The hybrid truck’s trailer is covered in 100 square metres of solar panels that are plugged into an electrical system carried on board. It is being deployed in a research project to examine how much solar energy such a configuration can generate, and how much it is possible to lower CO2 emissions through the use of the attached photovoltaic panels. As it swooshes silently down…

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As part of the UK’s decommissioning efforts of the Dounreay nuclear site in Scotland, a dog-like robot has mapped out a radioactive section that’s been sealed off for 25 years. Developed by Boston Dynamics, the quadruple robotic device, called “Spot,” is described as a “mobile agile robot.” Thanks to its ability to move over rough terrain, avoid obstacles, and climb stairs, it can monitor and collect data in hazardous areas. At Dounreay, two Spots were deployed at an evaporator cell in the Fuel Cycle Area, which houses the facilities where the separation of spent fuel and the recovery of uranium…

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Hydrogen is being hailed as, if not a silver bullet, then at least a crucial component to decarbonising the world’s energy sources. And no wonder — when burned, hydrogen produces zero greenhouse gas emissions. However, the transition to a renewable hydrogen economy must first overcome a non-insignificant list of challenges.  So-called green hydrogen, produced through electrolysis of water using renewable energy, currently accounts for only about 1% of global production. It is also about three times as expensive as its grey counterpart, produced from fossil fuel sources.  One of the major pieces of the puzzle to scaling green hydrogen is…

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For more than 130 years, we’ve celebrated Labor Day in the US and Canada. And May Day has been around about as long.

Around here, it’s become mostly a seasonal marker, but it was founded to devote just a day to something that deserves much more… to commemorate and celebrate the workers who sacrifice and toil to build.

Everyone needs to work, but now, more people than ever have the privilege to choose which sort of work they’re going to do. You have to work somewhere, but it doesn’t have to be here.

And I think it’s fair to say that just about every person reading this blog has a job that would be unrecognizable to someone working when Labor Day was first celebrated. In fact, many of these jobs are now unrecognizable to people from just 15 years ago.

Only 9% of the office workers in Manhattan go to their office five days a week now.

Add AI to the mix and we’re seeing another shift, one that’s happening faster than any that came before.

At the same time, many of the jobs that people get paid for have analogues where people do these jobs for fun. Amateur violin players, volunteer editors at Wikipedia, people who volunteer to help build houses or feed the hungry.

Is it labor if we get to choose?

Far too many people are being left behind as the market for our effort bifurcates. Too many people are indentured or stuck, under-appreciated and underpaid.

If we’re lucky enough to have a choice, perhaps we should choose wisely.

PS the significance bee mug sold out instantly the last time I posted about it. Amanda has made 90 more, they’re now available here.

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