Resilience
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On Adapting to Sandpiles
February 03, 2011
Joshua Cooper Ramo argues that in an era defined by instability, society must remain imminently flexible and turn disruption into a force for good.
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On Science Transfer
January 27, 2011
Emerging global challenges demand rapid responses from the scientific community. This can only be achieved through a reformation of the culture and practice of science—and its relation to the wider world.
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On Early Warning Signs
December 20, 2010
Rapid shifts are the hallmark of climate change, epileptic seizures, financial crises, and fishery collapses. Deep mathematical principles tie these events together.
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On Systemic Risk
December 16, 2010
In an increasingly interconnected world, the actions of the few can rapidly spiral into a global crisis. Policymakers must learn from recent events to control the risk latent in our interdependence.
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On Resilience
December 13, 2010
How much disturbance can a system withstand? With roots in ecology and complexity science, resilience theory can turn crises into catalysts for innovation.
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Bottom of the Barrel
May 21, 2010
A new book argues that marketplace innovations will make the future brighter, better, and more prosperous, but is such unbounded optimism rational?
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Why We Haven’t Met Any Aliens
April 13, 2010
Last week marked the 50th anniversary of the first radio-based search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). In that half-century, SETI found no signs of aliens. In 2006, the evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller gave Seed his theory for why we haven’t heard anything.
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Extinction’s Tipping Points
March 12, 2010
How the extinction of the dinosaurs, Arctic methane leaks, and nuclear weaponry reveal the precarious thresholds of life on Earth.
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Urban Resilience
February 16, 2010
Merging complex systems science and ecology, resilience scientists have broken new ground on understanding—and preserving—natural ecosystems. Now, as more and more people move into urban hubs, they are bringing this novel science to the city.
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The Parasite Puzzle
April 27, 2009
How one of Africa’s deadliest pathogens uses on-the-fly, genetic costume changes to outsmart our immune system.
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The Achilles’ Heel of Aging
April 20, 2009
Understanding the biological basis of senescence may allow us to delay or prevent the degenerative declines long accepted as an inevitable part of getting older.
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Research at Badwater
January 01, 2009
The most extreme running race in the world attracts researchers looking for physiological data that can't, or shouldn't, be reproduced.
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Extremophile Journalism
July 29, 2007
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Too Hungry to Enslave
January 05, 2006
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Iron Man
November 22, 2005
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Harriet Celebrates 175 Years
November 16, 2005
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Extinction of the Fittest
October 31, 2005
Now on SEEDMAGAZINE.COM
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Ideas
I Tried Almost Everything Else
John Rinn, snowboarder, skateboarder, and “genomic origamist,” on why we should dumpster-dive in our genomes and the inspiration of a middle-distance runner.
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Ideas
Going, Going, Gone
The second most common element in the universe is increasingly rare on Earth—except, for now, in America.
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Ideas
Earth-like Planets Aren’t Rare
Renowned planetary scientist James Kasting on the odds of finding another Earth-like planet and the power of science fiction.
