GeekSpeak – Life in a large permanent space station. Join the discussion Saturday February 22nd at 12pm SLT

What would life be like in a big space station?  Imagine a huge O’Neill cylinder, revolving to create artificial gravity, where millions of people could live.  What would it be like to live there?

Will there be strict rules for every aspect of life, and no freedom at all?  Will the inhabitants feel safer than on Earth?  Will there be prisons, or will criminals be ‘spaced’?

How will the millions of tons of waste be removed?  Will there be animals there?  Birds flying around? Will the cylinder seem beautiful to those who live there?  Will there be factories in the zero-gravity part of the cylinder that make stuff for Earth?

Where will the permanent stations be?  In orbit around Earth, or Mars, or at a lagrange point or in the asteroid belt?

When will all this happen?  Bring your friends, and your furniture and move in to talk about it.

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at the GeekSpeak auditorium at 1pm SLT, if you have ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – Disruption! Why does technological disruption happen? Join the discussion February 15th at 12pm SLT

A disruptive technology displaces an earlier technology and changes the society it exists in.  The car disrupted the horse technology, the telephone disrupted the telegraph.  What makes a technology disruptive?  And how can we see it coming?  What will be the next great disruptor?  Will it ever end?  Will there be something like the Last Disruptor?  Or will we forever move forward in big, unexpected shocks?  Or could we move backwards?
Is it only technology that is affected by disruptors?  Can there be philosophical, religious, political disruptors?

Come and discuss why we are so bad at seeing the future that we often get surprised by disruptions.  Bring your friends!

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at the GeekSpeak auditorium at 1pm SLT, if you have ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – Is it time to revise the Drake Equation? Join the discussion February 8th at 12pm SLT

It has been many years since Drake produced his equation about how many intelligent, technological aliens there could be in the universe.  In 1961 we had not discovered a single exoplanet.  And we now have a much broader definition of life.
On the other hand, we now know of many more ways in which a civilisation can destroy itself. 
So is it time to review the Drake Equation?  Or the Fermi paradox? (Why don’t we see them?)  We are eager to discuss which of the 2, Drake or Fermi, will be dominant in our universe.  Come and join us and bring all your alien friends.

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at the GeekSpeak auditorium at 1pm SLT, if you have ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – Are we facing the next pandemic? Join the discussion Saturday February 1st at 12pm SLT

A new virus is threatening humanity. Will this be the big one?  Or will it be contained like Ebola and SARS? 
If we want to survive, what is the best course of action?  Can you really quarantine a city?  Should we see hazmat suits as the next fashion?
If humanity becomes extinct, will we leave a replicating technology behind us to continue our legacy?  A technology that is in a sense a virus itself, since it depends on humans to replicate it.
Can we win the war between humans and viruses?  Or are we doomed?  We all hope we can laugh about it in a few years and maybe today at GeekSpeak.  Bring your friends, if they are decontaminated.

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class at the GeekSpeak auditorium every Wednesday at 1pm SLT, if you have ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – What benefits will we get from space in 5 years? Join the discussion Saturday January 25th at 12pm SLT

The new space race is really taking off this year.  We will see space tourism and we will see products made in space. There will be very precise chip manufacturing and better optic cable.  And we may even see 3d printed human organs. 

What do you think will make the biggest impact?  Will Space be a safe investment?   Or a rich person’s toy?  Will we solve world problems by going into space?  Or will we create new problems, like space wars?

Come and boldly discuss our very near future in the great unknown, where no geek has ever been before.  Bring your friends!

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class in the GeekSpeak auditorium every Wednesday at 1pm SLT, if you have any ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – Will we still recognize our transport systems in 50 years? Join the discussion Saturday Dec 21st at 12pm SLT

Will the planes, trains and cars that we know now still exist?  Will our cities be filled with self-driving cars, maybe driving through deep tunnels below empty streets?  Should we expect high altitude air transport, taking us to any destination on Earth in less than an hour?  Will goods be delivered by drones?  Will 3d printing mean that transport is no longer needed for most goods?  Do you expect moving pavements, personal airplanes, or a massive shift to e-bikes?  Or maybe even teleportation?
The future will also have its share of problems.  Will there be air-jams?  Will drone-free zones have to be set up?
Teleport to our auditorium for an in-depth discussion about the future of our beloved wheels.  Bring your friends!

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class at the auditorium every Wednesday at 1pm SLT, if you have ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – What will 2020 bring in space? Join the discussion Saturday December 14th at 12pm SLT

Will humanity really start to take off in space?  There will be a lot happening.  Virgin Galactic first flights, SpaceX testing their starship, Mars2020 rover on Mars.

What are your predictions for 2020 in space?  Will there be a first step in asteroid mining?  Or will we find interesting results from all the probes flying around, like the solar probe that is flying right now?

Will the general population get interested in space again?

Come and discuss the vast emptiness out there with our fellow geeks.  Bring your friends and geeks!

IM Vulcan Viper if you have ideas for new subjects.  Vulcan teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at 1pm SLT, at the Edutopia auditorium.

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GeekSpeak – Living in the machine: Will red tape suffocate us all? Join the discussion Saturday Dec 7thth at 12pm SLT

We add more and more rules all the time, but we remove old rules very slowly.  Will this lead to an overkill of rules?  Will bureaucracy become so strong that nothing can move again in society, ever?

How do we work around all the red tape without destroying civilisation?

Will we end up being ruled by a computer that knows all the rules?  And all the exceptions?  Do you think all people will be treated equally if ruled by a computer? 

Come and tell us about the weirdest red tape you have ever encountered.  And tell us if you see some good in red tape.

Bring your social security number and a DNA sample.  Oh, and your friends!

IM Vulcan Viper if you have ideas for new subjects.  Vulcan teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at 1pm SLT, at the Edutopia auditorium.

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GeekSpeak – Is it our purpose to colonise the universe? Join the discussion Saturday November 30th at 12pm SLT

If we assume there is no other life in the universe, should we humans try religiously to ‘seed’ the universe with life?  Would that be our purpose?  If not, what is our purpose?
If we cannot colonise distant planets, will some religious groups start sending capsules of bacteria out to distant stars? 
Will that be the religion of the future?  Should we all become ‘seeders’ for the ‘church of the universe’?  Will it ever work?  Come and talk about our future ‘children’ in the stars.  Bring a friend!

IM Vulcan Viper if you have ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – Are the World’s Currencies about to collapse? Join the discussion Saturday Nov 23rd 12pm SLT

The voices that say a collapse is imminent are getting louder and louder.  Even the most serious hotshots in the world markets are starting to scratch their heads. 
What would such a collapse look like?  Will there be safe havens in other currencies?  How long will they be safe from the collapse?

What will the aftermath look like?  Will the world’s governments come up with a solution, and how fast?

Will we ever get out of this eternal boom and bust cycle? Come and discuss with us why your budget is always short.  Bring your friends.

IM Vulcan Viper if you have ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – Healing the Earth- Join the discussion Saturday Nov 16th at 12pm SLT

So much damage has been done to the planet.  Deforestation, seas filled with plastic, acid rain.  This week we will be talking about the various ways in which humanity has started to clean up the world.  There are many efforts underway, from recycling plastic to planting millions of trees.

What is really needed to make cleaning up economically viable?  Can we think of ways to make money out of it?  Will there be ‘recycling billionaires’?  Can we trust the people in charge of recycling not to tip it all into landfill?

What are we doing to reduce the stream of waste that we produce?  Do you see an era coming when everything will be made from renewable materials?  What will that world be like? 

Can we ever succeed in healing the planet completely?  Is it worth trying to do so?  Join us in the discussion.  Bring your friends!

IM Vulcan Viper if you have ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – Preppers! Should we be prepared for disaster, even when no disaster threatens? Join the discussion Nov 2nd at 12pm SLT

How safe are we really?  And how fragile is our civilisation?
There are so many things that can go wrong.  There are personal disasters like the ATM not working, local disasters like power cuts and world disasters like wars or epidemics.  Which disasters are you most afraid of and which are most likely to happen?  Do you prepare for any of them?  Do you think you should?
What should you store if you are a prepper and how would you store it?  How many weeks’ supply should you have?  Are there skills we should all learn?  Get prepared and join us in GeekSpeak to discuss your prep efforts.  Bring your friends!

IM Vulcan Viper if you have ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – Fake News! What is it? How do we deal with it? Join the Discussion Saturday Oct. 26th at 12pm SLT

 We hear about fake news more and more these days.  But what is it?  Do we have to deal with ‘alternative facts’, in the words of KellyAnne Conway?  Do we need a Ministry of Truth in Facebook?  Is there any way to guarantee that some news is not fake?
Do we have to live in a world where fake news is always possible?  Have we always lived in such a world?  Will we forever live in a world where you have to accept the possibility that you are acting on fake news?
Could there be an AI that would determine that all the news you get is real?  Would you trust it?
Come to GeekSpeak to discuss reality in the news rooms.  Bring your friends.
IM Vulcan Viper if you have any ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – How will autonomous driving change our cities? Join the discussion Oct. 19th at 12pm SLT

In a few years from now self-driving electric cars will be a reality.  What will our cities be like?  Will there be more cars or fewer?  Will the possession of a car become a small business since cars can be robotaxis when they are not being used by the owner? 
Will cities become much pleasanter places to live?  Fewer cars, and maybe most of those driving in underground tunnels, less pollution, quiet streets with plenty of room for pedestrians.
How will the labour market be changed?  Millions of truck drivers, car mechanics, highway police, garage attendants will be jobless.  On the other hand, new jobs will be created.  Maybe you can get a hairdresser to ride along with you in a robotaxi, or some form of entertainment.
What will commuting be like in 10 years?  Come and discuss your vision of the future of transport.  Bring your friends!

IM Vulcan Viper if you have ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – Is it moral to eat Europa’s aliens? Join the discussion Saturday Sept 28th at 12pm SLT

If we find alien life on another planet or moon, what will we owe to it?  Should we feel that we are responsible for its conservation, as we would if it lived on Earth?  Should we leave it alone and not allow anyone to land there?  Should it be the law that colonies are forbidden on inhabited planets?

Or should people be free to kill the aliens?  Free to eat them?  Free to take home alien trophies to hang on the wall?  Free to make them work for us?

Would it make any difference if the aliens were advanced?  Or if they were intelligent?  Or aliens that look like humans?

Come and discuss the laws that will apply when we move out to the rest of the galaxy.  Bring recipes for alien meals.

IM Vulcan Viper if you have ideas for new subjects.

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SL GeekSpeak – Do you look at the future with Fear or with Hope? Join the discussion September 21st at 12pm SLT

On the one hand, we are all healthier than we were and living longer.  The number of people in severe poverty decreases all the time.  Technology improves all the time.  We now accept our responsibility to protect the natural world.  And we will soon be moving out into space and founding colonies on other planets.
On the other hand, there is always the danger of a third World War, government agencies increase in power all the time, new diseases have appeared, fanaticism of all sorts seems to be increasing, and of course the whole planet may be destroyed by an asteroid.
Can we solve our problems and continue our journey into a better future?  Or are we facing disaster?  Tell us what you think our chances are.  Are you hopeful or fearful?  Or both?  Bring your friends to discuss it.
IM Vulcan Viper if you have any ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – Should we merge Science and Sports? Join the discussion on Saturday September 14th at 12PM SLT

Sports tend to become more and more extreme and a lot of science is involved so that people can achieve new records.  Is it time to merge sports and science?  Science will make new sports possible and the team of scientists will also get prizes.  How about skydiving from 20 km up or deep diving, 10 km down?  Would people be interested in such a merger?  Do you think, as science progresses and we think of more and more strange new sports, it is inevitable that it will happen?

How will the alliance between sports and science look when we move out into the solar system?  Rocket races?  Football on the moon?  Skydiving in low gravity?  Hang-gliding on Jupiter?  The sky is not the limit.  

Watch this film for a few ideas: Wanderers - a short film by Erik Wernquist [Official Version]

Join us in our exploration of future extreme sports/science events.  Bring a parachute.

IM Vulcan Viper if you have ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – how do we stop the paperclip maximizer? Join the discussion Saturday September 7th at 12pm SLT

The paperclip maximizer is an AI that makes paperclips and never stops making them.  Its existence, or possible existence, presents us with the problem of how to talk to an AI.  For example, if we say “AI, make me a lot of paperclips” will the AI then start to convert the entire solar system into paperclips.  Can we stop such a runaway AI?  Or will it eventually kill itself? 

If the paperclip maximizer spreads across the universe, will different versions of it form different opinions as to what a paperclip is?  Will the different AI factions start a war with each other?

What should we do to prevent any of this from ever happening?  How should we talk to an AI?  Or are we all doomed to be turned into paperclips?

Come and discuss our future as AI feedstock.  To get warmed up, watch this video: The Paperclip Maximizer 

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GeekSpeak – reaching a Kardashev Type 1 civilization. Join the Discussion on Saturday, August 31st at 12pm SLT

Reaching level 1 on the Kardashev scale means storing and using all the energy that the earth gets from the sun.  We will reach this when we increase our energy production about a million-fold.  Can we ever get there?  Will we need to hollow out the earth and use all the asteroids around?

What will happen if we do not reach it?  Will we fall back to stone age energy levels, or is there a middle way?

What will life be like if we do reach it?  Imagine spending a terawatt for your morning breakfast!

Come and discuss our energy future on a long timeline.  Bring your friends.

IM Vulcan Viper if you have ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – what is the future of Africa? Join the discussion Saturday, August 24th at noon SLT

Africa is the second largest continent, with 54 countries and a very young and rapidly expanding population.  At present it is suffering from wars, diseases, and droughts. But there is a lot of promise for the future.

Let’s talk about how the next superpower will develop.  How soon will we see a major boost in the wealth of the African population?  What is needed to get it going? What problems must be overcome?Will Africa be the next energy provider, or the next food provider for the world?  Or will we see an industrial revolution as in East Asia? What leapfrogging effects will take place?

Come and discuss the soon-not-so-dark continent today!

IM Vulcan Viper if you have ideas for new subjects.

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