Daniel Rourke /stream

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It is estimated that one language dies every 14 days, with it a world of concepts and ideas that could only be expressed in its words. Most of the languages at…

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On May 30, a research organization called the Center for AI Safety released a 22-word statement signed by a number of prominent "AI scientists," including Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI;…

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In the wake of a decolonized and destabilized world order, the emergence of the idea of a global commons was consolidated in the 1970s in the context of attempts made by…

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It is only in the last couple of centuries that we have begun to grasp that our existence might one day cease to exist forever. Today's attempts to measure and mitigate…

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We know how the first paragraph begins. We’ve read about the changing climate for over twenty years, infrequently at first and then daily until we couldn’t deny it any longer. The…

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The first of a three-part critique of Extinction Rebellion, focussing on their attitudes towards the police, legal system and prison. Out of the Woods are utterly convinced of the need for…

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Our species possesses inherent value, but we are devastating the earth and causing unimaginable animal suffering. There are stirrings of discussion these days in philosophical circles about the prospect of human…

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At the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Smithsonian paleontologist Doug Erwin took the podium to address a ballroom full of geologists on the dynamics of mass extinctions and…

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Imagine a world where there is no food for us to feed on, and the only way to survive is to resort to cannibalism. A group of British researchers has envisaged…

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The Triassic Period was a gnarly time to be alive on Earth, and not only because it was Act One of the age of dinosaurs. This epoch stretched from 251 to…

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The Triassic Period was a gnarly time to be alive on Earth, and not only because it was Act One of the age of dinosaurs. This epoch stretched from 251 to…

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People might be behind a speciation boom that cancels out the extinction crisis—but that’s not necessarily good news. The tunnels of the London Underground are hot, dark, and damp. Crowds of…

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Neanderthals were driven to extinction by competition with modern humans – with the latter's "higher culture level" giving them a competitive edge that pushed the species to extinction.

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For a long time, archaeologists have suggested that modern humans wiped out Neanderthals because we had greater technological and cultural development, which allowed us to find and exploit resources more readily than Neanderthals…

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Scientists recently suggested that the Earth’s sixth mass extinction has begun.

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Extinction is an inevitable consequence of evolution. Environments change, new species arrive and crowd out the old, any number of factors make a formerly successful species unsuccessful.

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The way the public hears about conservation issues is nearly always in the mode of ‘[Beloved Animal] Threatened With Extinction’. That makes for electrifying headlines, but it misdirects concern. The loss…

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Late one night last August, on the chalk downlands of southern England, Paul Kingsnorth stood in a field beside an old-growth forest, two yurts and a composting toilet. Kingsnorth is 41,…

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If scientists can use genetic engineering to bring back the woolly mammoth, should they do it? How about the passenger pigeon? Or the western black rhino? Do we humans have a…

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It is estimated that one language dies every 14 days, with it a world of concepts and ideas that could only be expressed in its words. Most of the languages at…

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On May 30, a research organization called the Center for AI Safety released a 22-word statement signed by a number of prominent "AI scientists," including Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI;…

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Human extinction. The coordinated release of various strains of a human sterilization virus.

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It is only in the last couple of centuries that we have begun to grasp that our existence might one day cease to exist forever. Today's attempts to measure and mitigate…

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The first of a three-part critique of Extinction Rebellion, focussing on their attitudes towards the police, legal system and prison. Out of the Woods are utterly convinced of the need for…

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This letter was collaboratively written with dozens of aligned groups. As the weeks of action called by Extinction Rebellion were coming to an end, our groups came together to reflect on…

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Our species possesses inherent value, but we are devastating the earth and causing unimaginable animal suffering. There are stirrings of discussion these days in philosophical circles about the prospect of human…

Bookmark

At the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Smithsonian paleontologist Doug Erwin took the podium to address a ballroom full of geologists on the dynamics of mass extinctions and…

Bookmark

Imagine a world where there is no food for us to feed on, and the only way to survive is to resort to cannibalism. A group of British researchers has envisaged…

Bookmark

The Triassic Period was a gnarly time to be alive on Earth, and not only because it was Act One of the age of dinosaurs. This epoch stretched from 251 to…

Bookmark

People might be behind a speciation boom that cancels out the extinction crisis—but that’s not necessarily good news. The tunnels of the London Underground are hot, dark, and damp. Crowds of…

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Each week, In Theory takes on a big idea in the news and explores it from a range of perspectives. This week, we’re talking about transhumanism. Need a primer? Catch up here. Charles…

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Neanderthals were driven to extinction by competition with modern humans – with the latter's "higher culture level" giving them a competitive edge that pushed the species to extinction.

Bookmark

For a long time, archaeologists have suggested that modern humans wiped out Neanderthals because we had greater technological and cultural development, which allowed us to find and exploit resources more readily than Neanderthals…

Bookmark

Scientists recently suggested that the Earth’s sixth mass extinction has begun.

Bookmark

Extinction is an inevitable consequence of evolution. Environments change, new species arrive and crowd out the old, any number of factors make a formerly successful species unsuccessful.

Bookmark

The biggest extinction event in planetary history was driven by the rapid acidification of our oceans, a new study concl​udes. So much carbon was released into the atmosphere, and the oceans…

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If scientists can use genetic engineering to bring back the woolly mammoth, should they do it? How about the passenger pigeon? Or the western black rhino? Do we humans have a…