Dreaming of type 1 civilization?

Thanks to Will Moller for the link.

As defined by Michio Kaku :
- Type-1 civilization : is capable of harnessing the entire power of a planet, and dominate its processes, including its weather, geothermal energy, etc. It should be able to construct facilities anywhere it wants to on the planet.
- Type-2 civilization : is capable of harnessing the power of its local star, and subsidiary planets.
- Type-3 civilization can become inter-stellar/multi-stellar, capable of expanding across multiple star systems, and eventually the entire galaxy. (Star Trek is one exemple of Type-III Civilization)
We are currently at the zero-point-something mark on this scale.

As a 2010 TED fellow, we are collectively required to adress the question "what the world needs now?".

The world leaders had the same requirements at the COP15 Copenhagen summit.
Each of us has the opportunity everyday in each of our most insignificant actions - they are significant.

What a humbling question.

The first thing that pops to my mind is how difficult it is to link that different scales of actions : the global political decision and the everyday individual behavior changes in little gestures. Maybe we need to proceed the other way round this time?

Would it be possible? A peaceful working global interoperability? 

- Knowledge : People need to know about it.

- Desire : the proposed world need to desirable, ethical social model.

- Capacity : everyone needs to be able to participate in their own ways within earth limits.

I am working on this with this nascent project : the World Environment Organization and I am looking for programmers and lawyers for that (the website is very very bad for now, lots of work to do, contact me).

But the real question is : is a Type 1 civilzation even desirable?

The type 1 civilization Michio Kaku describes has :

- a type 1 language : english (an everyone speaks another native land language).

- a type 1 monetary system (a global currency + capitalism).

- a type 1 political system (democracry + republic).

hummmm...... I think only americans agree with themselves on this. What does a chinese, an indian, a brazilian, cuban, french, arabic, persian, african person think about supremacy? Portuguese, English, French, Japanese have attempted it not long ago, Americans are doing it now... I think this "type 1 thinking" contradicts with the values of tolerance and cohesive forces necessary for the making a durable type 1 civilization. Haven't all empires collapsed? Diversity is the driving force for competition, evolution and civilizational progress, we can't wish for ONE dominant system, there wouldn't be any more progress, just an unstoppable normative force. Myself being a japanese descent I am very surprised Kaku advocates a totalitarian type 1 civilization, as if plurality wasn't thinkable, only American domination... How sad...

As Michio Kaku describes it, the type 1 civilization is a civilization of absolute control : control over the planet, processes, including its weather, geothermal energy. So it is human domination over "nature". Which is also a questionnable desire.  And Kaku suggests that's only achievable with a type 1 language, 1 monetary and 1 political system. I think this way of thinking is dangerous. Think about linguistics : why do we have so many words, so many languages, so many dialects... Why do Eskimos have so many different words to describe "snow"? Why do we have every week new artificial computer and artificial languages? Diversity is a fact, and is necessary. Kaku suggests each will have his/her own local language + english, but the fact is that local languages tend to disappear on the long term.

Kaku interestingly simplified the options for accessing the type 1 civilization conditional to :

- positive "integration forces" with tolerance, multi-cultural fabric on one hand ;

- and on the other hand "disintegration forces" : "weapons of mass destruction, germ weapons, terrorism..."

I think it is a good simplification, it does help : we need to concentrate on minimizing the disintegration forces, and maximizing integration forces. On this we can all agree, but it only is valid if no country has a domination desire... and he himself clearly declares he has!

Kaku also takes the example of the European Union, and falsely explains its inception as a counter-measure to the North American Free Trade Agreement. It is not true! Europe was born after the war as a space of political cooperation, to ensure peace - and later only - to improve economic condition. Thanks to American help on this, by the way.

The US is very different, it is a very recent rich colonized land, from which the natives have largely been subject to what many qualify a genocide. Europe is a land of a much higher diversity of languages, economies and political systems than the US today, and according to the recent economic crisis, Europe happens to be more stable and resilient. Still the US is now a dominant economic, political, military and cultural entity. 

The US alone wont make the entire world access this type 1 civilization by forcing its normative military power, economy, language and values. There will be no global acceptance of the US type 1 civilization project. That would create too much friction. I like to think civilization type 0 transitioning to a civilization type 1 as the moment a plane breaks the sound barrier, or brakes itself. (video explaining sonic boom).

If our "civilization type 0" tries to transition to "civilization type 1" without enough velocity and cohesion it will fail like the early supersonic flights dramatic attempts. And we got only one chance!!!

We wont transition to type 1 civilization by forcing the entire world to speak the same language, use the same currency, have the same political ideas.

We wont transition to type 1 civilization by dominating the nature.

We wont transition to type 1 civilization with our actual political democratic system inability to change efficiently individual everyday little gestures.

We wont transition to type 1 civilization if each of us doesn't have the knowledge, desire and capacity to be on that flight.

Today, "I have a dream" has been published on http://www.ted.com : 

http://www.ted.com/talks/martin_luther_king_jr_i_have_a_dream.html

Today the American president is a black man.

The dream is becoming a reality. Maybe.

I have a dream that we will all enter type 1 civilization with cohesion in our diversity of languages, currencies, political ideas.

I have a dream that we will enter type 1 civilization in harmony with nature, not dominating it.

I have a dream that each of our everyday gestures would reflect our many better political systems.

I have a dream that, not only a rich minority, but all of us will enter type 1 civilization with the capacity, knowledge and desire to, in their own ways.

Prototype Street Lamplamp absorber of CO2

Tyca reveals lamps that could absorb CO2.
source : http://www.frenchcleantech.com/



Pierre Calleja is the talented inventor of a process that is already revolutionary : the lamp absorber of CO2. Pierre Calleja runs the innovative company named Tyca based in Libourne (Gironde) and specializing in aquaculture and aquariology. At a time when everyone is looking for solutions to counteract the pollution in our cities (especially pollution), he had the idea to develop a CO2 canister lamp.

It is equipped with a tank containing micro algae to absorb CO2, to issue in exchange for oxygen, while continuing to grow in the light. The lamp of this patent was filed by Tyca that had already been contacted not only by private customers, but also by large groups such as Vinci. The city of Libourne in turn could be one of the first laboratories of real experience of the lamp. This lamp absorber of CO2 is not yet commercially available.Car parks, tunnels, stations and buildings could develop in the future streetlights Calleja.

A revolutionary solution for its efficiency, since a lighting of 1.5 m3 can capture 1 ton of CO2 per year. Multiplied by the number of fixtures that exist in a city as Paris and it is the Amazon forest that is planted on our streets!

Extreme Environments in Architecture

a very interesting blog on novel architecture forms and computations by AA School of Architecture.
http://dip16.blogspot.com/

And also the amazing Neri Oxman
http://www.materialecology.com/

Battery types

Primary battery comparison chart: click to enlarge



Rechargable battery comparison chart: click to enlarge

IFA : Aqua Battery
envoyé par giiks

Electrolyse

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Électrolyse

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pile_à_combustible

Production de dihydrogène par électrolyse de l'eau:

voltamètre d'hoffmann



Fuel cell, piles à combustibe table:

EN: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell#Types_of_fuel_cells

FR:http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pile_à_combustible#Tableau

Osmose / osmose inverse

electricity with both fresh and salted water,

or fresh water with electricity and salted water.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmose

Gyroscope

A very interesting technology we want to look at is anti-rolling gyro.

Using the basic Gyroscopic effect :

And a less famous effect :


Oceanic vessels have been using this technology for more than a hundred years.







"Twin rotor units can be arranged to suit the installation." We can span over many units and create a globally articulated stabilized platform.



Gyroscopic stabilizers sized for 40t to 2000t and larger vessels.



Much smaller gyroscopes also exist in insects bodies (halteres) and electronic sensors, Vibrating structure gyroscope, some of them called accelerometers.

We can combine the gyroscopic effect with free energy (rather energy amplifying devices) like this one :


The existing rotation of the gyroscope can be amplified by the existing force of the waves with an equivalent of powergyro technics:

Alain Bombard

Le 26 mai 1952, il part de Monaco avec un coéquipier, l’Anglais Jack Palmer, pour une traversée de la Méditerranée, de Monaco jusqu’aux Baléares sur un canot pneumatique baptisé l’Hérétique, gréé avec une voile d’optimiste et bâché. « J’étais un hérétique pour plusieurs raisons. Nous allions essayer de nous rendre, avec un engin réputé non navigable, à un point déterminé à l’avance. Cette première hérésie touchait directement les techniciens de la mer et de la navigation. Plusieurs spécialistes nous avaient, en effet, assuré que nous ne dépasserions pas les îles d’Hyères. Plus grave était le fait que je m’attaquais à la croyance générale selon laquelle on ne peut pas vivre exclusivement sur les ressources de la mer et que l’eau salée n’est pas potable. Enfin, pour reprendre un article paru sur nous dans un journal “sérieux”, “alors que des marins d’expérience ne se croient jamais suffisamment à l’abri des fureurs de la mer, des vents et des courants, un novice n’hésite pas à confier sa vie et celle de son compagnon à une simple coquille de noix, qui n’était même pas vérifiée par un inspecteur de la navigation”. Aussi, avais-je baptisé notre canot l’Hérétique ».



écrits:
- Naufragé volontaire. Paris, 1953.
- Rapport technique de l’expérience de survie prolongée en mer à bord de l’Hérétique en 1952. Paris, 1954.
- Testament pour l'océan
- La Mer et l'Homme
- La dernière exploration (voyage dans un monde qui se meurt), 1974
- Les grands navigateurs. Saint Malo, 1997.
- Autres récits de survie en mer

http://www.ceps-survie.com/recitsdesurviemer.htm

Sachin Anshuman, orange void

http://www.orangevoid.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=36





This prototype is representative of an approach to develop transformable architectural surfaces. In an attempt to develop surface-systems with malleable qualities of textile, this prototype was developed using pneumatic actuators over flat triangular surface-tiles. Transformable membranes could intelligently adapt to changing spatial and environmental needs by undergoing shape transformation. The system presented involves embedded computation techniques including sensing, interaction and ANN based control automation to induce transformative capacities within architectural surfaces.

See the membrane in action, quicktime film 10mb.

This model demonstrates only the conceptual mechanism for modulating surfaces using hexagonal grid of linear actuation members laid over a regular triangulated surface. Surface-wide actuation and thus topological modulation may be achieved using pneumatic, hydraulic or electrical pistons with electronic valve control mechanism.

Salt water energy

a radio waves machine burns salted water



a battery with 3 mugs of salted water


a speed low tech battery with salted water

electricity generation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_generation
http://www.electricitygeneration.co.uk/
each picture is linked to his source...

energy transformation and storage

frome MAKEZINE: http://www.makezine.com/magazine/





As we can see, there is always, after the source, a voltage regulator, some diode, and batteries (reloadable of course), or contained capacitor amongst other things.

also:

electricity storage choices, pdf:http://www.electricitystorage.org/pubs/2002/Lisbon_May_2002_KEMA.pdf



a DIY solar lantern: http://noelbautista.com/blog/category/alternative-energy/



multi-powered autonom battery station

Effet Peltier-effet Seebeck

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effet_Peltier:


La figure ci-contre montre le circuit thermoélectrique de base.

"Deux matériaux conducteurs de natures différentes a et b sont reliés par deux jonctions en X et W. Dans le cas de l’effet Peltier, un courant électrique I est imposé au circuit, en plaçant par exemple une source de courant électrique entre Y et Z, ce qui entraîne une libération de chaleur Q à une jonction et une absorption de chaleur à l’autre jonction. Le coefficient Peltier relatif aux matériaux a et b Π_ab est alors défini par :

Si un courant imposé dans le sens Y→W→X→Z entraîne une libération de chaleur en X et une absorption en W, alors Π_ab est positif."



"La platine thermoélectrique fonctionne de -30 à 70 degrés centigrades. C'est une pompe à chaleur à état solide (pas de pièces mécaniques en mouvement). L'ensemble est constitué d'une surface plane ou des semi-conducteurs de type p et n sont rassemblés. Ils agissent comme deux conducteurs dissemblables. Le courant continu traverse une ou plusieurs paires de ces éléments, produisant une chute de température sur la partie froide. La chaleur est transmise à travers le matériau par les électrons, et relâchée à l'opposé, sur la " partie chaude ". La capacité de cette pompe à chaleur dépends du nombre de paires d'éléments p et n rassemblés dans l'unité de refroidissement . L'inversion du courant continu produira l'effet inverse dans le système, qui se réchauffera en surface. Le contrôle de la température est maintenu, en utilisant un système à jaquette d'eau courante."



http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effet_Seebeck



une différence de potentiel apparaît à la jonction de deux matériaux soumis à une différence de température. L’utilisation la plus connue de l’effet Seebeck est la mesure de température à l’aide de thermocouples. Cet effet est également à la base de la génération d'électricité par effet thermoélectrique.


How to make a cheap seebeck calorimeter, pdf:

http://www.lenr-canr.org/acrobat/StormsEhowtomakea.pdf