GeekSpeak – what if we had to restart civilisation?

Imagine being one of a hundred people suddenly stranded in a forest, maybe on a strange planet, while all the rest of humanity has disappeared along with all technology.

Would your small group be able to restart a civilization?  How long would it be before you could use electricity again?  How long before you had metal? Would a lot of knowledge just get lost over the generations before it could be used?

What would be the first technology you would reinvent?  Would you think of fire, clothes, houses, watermills, hunting skills?  What legal system, what stories, what songs would you preserve?  Would there be anything we have now that you would want to forget, anything you would never tell your descendants about?

Would the new history of humankind take a totally different route or would it all work out in the same way whatever you do?

Come and discuss how you would restart civilization.  Or maybe you think civilization is best forgotten?

IM Vulcan Viper if you have ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – what would it be like to live with a Social Credit System?

China is creating a social credit system where everyone has to behave well or they lose social credit points.  Your social credit score will determine where you can live, whether you can travel, whether you can buy or rent a car, in fact it will determine what your life will be like.

What would it be like to live with such a system?  Will there be a black market in social credits?  Will people find ways to cheat?

Will the system lock the culture in one state forever because no one will dare to be different?  No one will ever dye their hair pink?  What will happen to the people who fall below the minimum credit level?

Will some people be happy with the social credit system?  If they can upvote and downvote people it may give them the illusion of control.

Will the social credit system be established in the west?  Come and discuss the future of citizen control. Entry only if you have 10 credit points.

IM Vulcan Viper if you have ideas for new subjects.

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I hope you have been having a great Christmas.

Best wishes
Kathen

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GeekSpeak – are we heading for big trouble in the western world?

This month we have seen massive protests in European countries and in the USA.  Why are people so angry?  Could it escalate into something even bigger?

Which should be more afraid, the people or the governments?  What sort of obedience do we owe to our governments and what do they owe to us?

If the protesters succeed what difference will it make?  Will it just mean some other guy in office?  Or could the entire system be changed?  Could the western world fall apart any time soon?

Come and talk with us about the future of the western world as we know it.

IM Vulcan Viper if you have ideas for future subjects.

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Best wishes
Kathen

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GeekSpeak – should everyone make their own energy?

In the future we will have huge energy demands.  Will we have to make our own energy?  Will we all have to install solar panels, wind turbines on the roof, a human waste converter?  Will we be forced to do this? Once we see the light (forgive the pun) will we ever want to go back to company energy?

How would the world look if everyone had to produce energy?  Will large energy plants completely disappear?  Could we make money by selling energy?

Where will all our power come from in 30 years’ time?  Will all those power sources be ethical?  Or will we be so desperate for energy that we will use unethical methods to get it?

Come and join us in our energizing discussion event.

IM Vulcan Viper if you have ideas for new subjects

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Best wishes
Kathen

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GeekSpeak - how will a Mars base evolve?

This week we celebrate the arrival on Mars of the InSight lander. It will land on Elysium Planitia on November 26th.  Let’s ask what will happen next.  How will a Mars base be built?  What will come first?

What will living on Mars be like?  And who will do it?  Those who bought a one-way ticket to Mars?  Specially chosen scientists?

What will Mars colonists have to offer us?  Information?  Tourism? Mars cuisine?  When will we be able to have a pizza on Mars, with a Mars wine?

Will Mars ever be independent from Earth?  What will happen after that?

Bring your space helmet for some good ol’mars talk today 

IM Vulcan Viper if you have any ideas for new subjects.

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Best wishes and Happy Thanksgiving!
Kathen

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GeekSpeak – can we prevent or survive climate change? Join the Discussion Saturday, Oct 20th at 12pm SLT

According to the IPCC (the intergovernmental panel on climate change) the next 12 years will determine our fate on our beloved Earth.  Will we completely change our ways and go green on a massive scale?  Or will we all perish in a series of cataclysmic events that will destroy everything we have taken for granted for so long?

If we do survive how will we have to change?  Will life in that future world be worth living at all?  Or do you think we cannot change and our generation is one of the last left on this pale blue dot?

Or do you think the threat of climate change is not serious, that it is all driven by panic (or maybe politics) and we can continue living as we do now?

Come and discuss climate change before it is too late.  Bring a rubber boat.

IM Vulcan Viper if you have ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – how do we fill the robot gap?

Robots will be running the world some day.  But what happens before they take over?  When the roads have both self-driving cars and human driven cars?  When some of us have bots that shop for us and some of us must go to the supermarket and shop with bots?  When some of us have only human friends and some have bot friends?

Will the roads have special lanes for self-driving cars?  Or special lanes for human driven cars?  Will there be laws, like the red flag act, that will prevent technology from growing? Will bots have to get degrees or diplomas just because humans need them?  Will marriages between humans and bots be allowed?

Will we want to stop the process?  Should we?  Will we be able to?

Come and talk about the gap between now and the robot world.

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GeekSpeak – book and link exchange party! Join us on Saturday July 21st at 12pm SLT

Which science books, science websites or science youtube channels are your favourites?  And why?  This week we will be talking about the best science spots on the net or in the library.  

What do you like best?  Are there some books or websites you like but don’t understand?  Maybe you can find help at GeekSpeak.  Or maybe there are some science subjects that you think should be written about.  Maybe someone at GeekSpeak will write about them.

Come and tell us about your experiences with science books or websites.  Share your favourites with others and find a few you have never heard about.

IM Vulcan Viper if you have ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – if you were a billionaire which science projects would you support? Join the discussion June 9th at 12pm SLT

Imagine that you have suddenly become a billionaire.  You buy yourself a yacht, a castle, a Lamborghini, presents for all your friends and the most expensive hairstyle imaginable.  Now what? 

Now of course you want to help your fellow humans.  The best way to do that is to fund science projects but there are so many to choose from.  Which will it be?  You could fund medical research and find cures for malaria or Alzheimer’s or any of the other diseases that kill so many people.  You could fund climate research or space travel or robotics.  Maybe you could find a new source of energy.

Do you have a secret dream of a discovery that will change the world?  Come to GeekSpeak and tell us about it.

Join the boardroom in the executive science council 😊

IM Vulcan Viper if you have any ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – is the world getting better or worse? Join the discussion June 2nd at 12pm SLT

Some people predict a doomsday scenario for our blue marble, others will tell you we are headed for a world with less poverty, less war, less disease.  So, who is right?

Obesity is more widespread but starvation is less.  Smallpox has been eradicated. Guinea worm will soon be finished.  Poverty is less every year.  But are we more free now than we were?  Are we happier?  What do we want for our future? What problems do you see on the horizon?

Come and discuss the state of the planet today and in the near future.

IM Vulcan Viper if you have any ideas for future subjects


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GeekSpeak – what job would you like to have in space? Join the discussion Saturday May 19th at 12 pm SLT

Within 10 years there will be multiple space stations orbiting Earth.  This week we will talk about living and working on such stations.  Will people suffer from nausea because the station will rotate and Earth will rise every 10 minutes?  Or will they get used to it?

What will it be like to work in zero or low gravity?  How would a hairdresser manage if hair floats around?  Will special hairstyles be invented for those in space?  How about cooking and serving food in zero gravity?  Even cleaning will be difficult if all the furniture is fastened to the floor.  Will there be jobs for animal trainers who can teach pets to adapt to space?  What would be your favourite space job?

Did you know you can help crowdfund a space station right now?  You may be living on one in 10 years.  Or do you think it will all take a lot longer and maybe never happen at all?

Bring your gyroscopes and tell us what your dream job will be in space.

IM Vulcan Viper if you have ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak – is our civilisation the first and only one? Join the Encore Discussion Saturday May 5th at 12pm slt

About 60 million years ago the temperature of the earth climbed by several degrees.  It has been suggested that this global warming was caused by industry.  But whose industry?  Intelligent dinosaurs?  Or alien visitors?

Is it possible that there were earlier advanced civilisations, human or non-human, that we do not know about?  A civilisation that lasted 1000 years would be simply a blip on the timeline.  There are some clues that earlier civilisations may have existed, such as an iron hammer embedded in ancient stone or a gold chain found in coal. 

What evidence should we look for?  What convincing evidence could there be? Could it be possible that our history is not what we think it is?  Come and tell us what you think in GeekSpeak.

IM Vulcan Viper if you have any ideas for future discussions.

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GeekSpeak – Is our civilisation the first and only one? Join the discussion April 28th at 12pm SLT

About 60 million years ago the temperature of the earth climbed by several degrees.  It has been suggested that this global warming was caused by industry.  But whose industry?  Intelligent dinosaurs?  Or alien visitors?  

Is it possible that there were earlier advanced civilisations, human or non-human, that we do not know about?  A civilisation that lasted 1000 years would be simply a blip on the timeline.  There are some clues that earlier civilisations may have existed, such as an iron hammer embedded in ancient stone or a gold chain found in coal. 

What evidence should we look for?  What convincing evidence could there be? Could it be possible that our history is not what we think it is?  Come and tell us what you think in GeekSpeak.

IM Vulcan Viper if you have any ideas for future discussions.

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GeekSpeak – new materials, what has been invented and what is to come? Join the discussion Saturday March 3rd at 12pm SLT

Let’s discuss what is new in material science.  Did you know about transparent aluminium (aluminum for Americans), graphene or spider silk rope?  And do you know about the new shapes for materials, like honeycombs, that will make them stronger?  Have you heard of vantablack, the blackest paint ever made?

Some new materials are really new, such as cloth grown from fungus or graphene or aerogel, the lightest substance ever made. Some are new uses for very old materials, such as fabric made of spider silk or houses made of ice for use on Mars.

All materials were new once.  Let’s think of how the ancients saw silk, let’s think of what aliens would think of wood.  What new materials do you see in the future?  And what new inventions would you like to see?  Maybe the ‘slow glass’ of science fiction that traps light in glass, maybe materials that can bend light so that they make people invisible.

Come and talk with us about the latest fashion in materials.

We are always looking for new subjects for GeekSpeak.  If there is anything you would like us to talk about please IM Vulcan Viper.

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GeekSpeak – Hackers – are we better off with them or without them? Join the discussion Feb 24th at 12pm SLT

Hacking is a battle between good and evil always raging below the surface of the internet.  On the one hand, white hat hackers find faults in the system, in order to improve it.  Black hat hackers just hack for their own benefit.  And then there are grey hat hackers who find faults but also sometimes make what they can for themselves.  Can white hat hackers be trusted not to turn grey, or even black?

What damage can hackers do to you, your city, your world? How much damage could a single hacker do?  Could our world end because of hackers?
But if our systems are ever so hardened that no one can get in through a back door will there come a time when we beg hackers to come and save us from the system?

Are you prepared?  Or are you yourself in the el33t?

Everyone is welcome at GeekSpeak.  And everyone is welcome to suggest new subjects for us to discuss.  If there is something you would like to discuss please IM Vulcan Viper.  We are always ready to receive new ideas.

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GeekSpeak – evacuating Earth Join the discussion on Saturday January 20th at 12pm SLT

Let’s suppose we need to leave Earth in a hurry in a few (20? 100?) years’ time.  Maybe because of a nuclear winter, maybe because of an asteroid strike or maybe because the sun is about to explode.  How would we go about it?

Who will we select to go?  Could we, should we, turn anyone away?  If we have to travel for several generations who will be kept in stasis and who will be woken up on arrival?  Who will run the ship?

What animals and seeds will we bring with us?  How will we know what will be needed when we arrive?  Will we bring some animals and plants just because we like them?

How will we organise life on the ship so as to keep social structure intact?  And when we arrive at a habitable planet will we dare leave our comfortable ship?  Maybe we will decide that life on an endlessly travelling ship is better.

Come and talk with us about our future because, one day, we may need to pack.

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GeekSpeak – Are we custodians of our planet? Join the discussion Sat. Nov. 26th at 12pm SLT

Imagine we were planted here by an alien race who wanted us to look after our planet.  Would we have obligations to the aliens who planted us here?  Would it be a good thing if we thought we were planted here by aliens even if it is not true?  Would we take our duty to the planet more seriously?  Do we have such a duty at all?  If we had to draw up a report for the aliens what would we put in it?

If there is a chance that we were not planted here by aliens should we make a ‘declaration of rights for all living creatures’?  Or a declaration of our duties to the planet itself?  Would that keep us on the job?

Or do you think we can consume everything and hop to the next planet?

Come and discuss these and other out of the world issues at GeekSpeak – thanksgiving edition.

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GeekSpeak – AI in the near future- Join the discussion Oct 7th at 12pm SLT

How do you think AI will change the world in the next ten years?  Factories have already been taken over by robots and recently a field of barley was grown in England with no human involved; all the work was done by robots.  Soon perhaps accountants, doctors, musicians, scientists will all be robots.  Will there be any middle-class jobs left?  Will there be any jobs left for humans at all?

Will the experiences of daily life change or will AI slowly grow in back offices without our realising that it is happening?  Or will AI be in everyone’s phone?  Will there be 2 more branches on the human tree, homo androidus and homo iphonetus?

When the world is run by AI will it be harder or easier to make friends with other humans?  In Japan there are people who have no real human contact at all.  Will that spread everywhere?

Come and talk to us about the next 10 years in AI.  Turn off your phone so that it cannot hear us whisper…

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GeekSpeak – homelessness, what causes it and what can be done? Join the discussion Sept. 16th at 12pm SLT

This week we will discuss homelessness, a common problem in every city of the world.  What causes it and what can we do about it?  Is it a money problem or are there just too few houses?  Is it sometimes the fault of the homeless themselves?  Have they given up hope?

Do people become homeless in countries where there is plenty of space?  Or can they throw up a simple shelter there whenever they want?  Is homelessness mainly a problem of rich cities?  Are the rich, those who own several houses each, to blame for homelessness?

What is the answer?  To build more houses?  Perhaps smaller houses?  Perhaps taller buildings?  Or underground buildings?  Or houses under the sea?

Come to GeekSpeak to talk about it.  Bring your sleeping bag.

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GeekSpeak – is there anything we will never be able to do? Join the discussion Sat, Sept. 9th at 12pm SLT

In this technological age it seems as though everything is within our power.  ‘Never say never’ is a motto for our time.  We have left Earth, we have started teleportation, we have eradicated diseases.  Our future seems to be limited only by human imagination.

But are there limits to our technology?  Barriers we can never overcome?  Will we journey to the centre of the sun?  Send a probe into a black hole?  Travel through time?  Bring back the dinosaurs?  Make ourselves immortal?  Understand the mystery of consciousness?  Figure out what ‘covfefe’ means?

Come to GeekSpeak and search with us the limits of technology, where science ends and we can only guess what lies beyond….

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