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The New Techno-Eschatology: AGI and Secular Religion

March 25, 2025 · 5 min read

Some techies today fear hell—not from a god, but from a computer.  Human beings have a habit of wrapping up big unknowns in familiar stories. Even in our high-tech, secular age, the quest to create Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) often comes with a kind of religious or end-of-the-world fervor. Some communities of self-described rationalists speak […]

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Longform

The New Techno-Eschatology: AGI and Secular Religion

Some techies today fear hell—not from a god, but from a computer.  Human beings have a habit of wrapping up big unknowns in familiar stories. Even in our high-tech, secular age, the quest to create Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) often comes with a kind of religious or end-of-the-world fervor. Some communities of self-described rationalists speak […]

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Health

Vaccines and Their Surprising Off-Target Benefits: Implications for Dementia Prevention

Vaccines remain crucial for managing various infectious diseases. However, an emerging body of research is shedding light on the ‘off-target benefits’ of vaccines, which seem to offer protection beyond their primary intent. Of particular interest is their potential role in reducing the risk of dementia, a debilitating condition affecting millions globally. Understanding Off-Target Benefits Off-target […]

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Environment

Unpacking the Unresolved Debates in Climate Intervention Research

Over the past decade, as the pace of climate change has intensified, a parallel debate in the scientific community has emerged over climate intervention—or geoengineering—research. While there is agreement on the urgency of addressing global warming, many scientists are split on whether—or how—such interventions should be part of our climate toolkit. One major unresolved debate […]

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Environment

How Mapping Plants Better Could Sharpen Climate Forecasts

Earth’s land absorbs about one-quarter of the carbon dioxide humans release every year—but scientists still can’t agree on how much. Some climate models say plants pull in 100 billion tons of carbon annually. Others say nearly double that. For decades, this gap has haunted climate science. Now, a new study suggests a surprisingly simple reason: […]

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Environment

This Study Could Improve Global Clean Energy Plans

Every major climate pledge in the world talks about “net-zero.” But here’s the twist: net-zero still allows fossil fuels. As long as countries capture or offset their carbon emissions, they can technically keep burning oil, coal, or gas. A new study in Nature Communications asks a radical question: What if a region actually tried to […]

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Meteorology

Superbolts! How New Data Could Improve Storm and Safety Forecasts

Every second, the Earth is struck by about 100 lightning bolts. But only a tiny fraction, so rare they barely register in global datasets, carry currents powerful enough to rewrite what we thought we knew about extreme storms. And a new analysis suggests that these “superbolts” don’t behave the way scientists expected. For years, textbooks […]

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Meteorology

Drivers of Rapid Spring Ice Loss

Every spring, a chunk of sea ice the size of a small country disappears from the Arctic. But here’s the part almost no one talks about: a major share of that melt can be traced back to winds thousands of kilometers away in the Western Pacific. And according to new research, this faraway influence explains […]

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Biology

What Really Happens When Food Chains Are Shocked

Every year, storms, heatwaves, pandemics, and political crises quietly snap the links in our food chains. Prices spike. Shelves go bare. Farmers dump crops they can’t move. But here’s the twist: the weakest part of a food supply chain often isn’t where we expect it to be. A new study on agri-food supply chain resilience […]

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