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For 37 years researchers heated a patch of forest floor to see what climate change would do to the soil — and the carbon everyone assumed was locked away started leaking out on schedule in c/collapse@lemmy.zip
[–] 7 points 5 days ago (1 child)

this experiment is stuff we've known in detail for at least 40+ years. the only things that really hold carbon humus long term is cold and/or anerobic conditions.

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    We've Stopped Prepping. Here's Why. in c/collapse@lemmy.zip
    The End of Reading Is Here in c/collapse@lemmy.zip
    The End of Reading Is Here in c/collapse@lemmy.zip
    [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    It seems like this world full of imbeciles would leave lots of openings for smart people to maneuver, but unfortunately idiots just still get put in positions of power where they can hire other idiots until the whole civilization stops functioning.

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    Without Subsidies, AI Is Unaffordable in c/collapse@lemmy.zip
    [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago

    Reading about this from what sources I can find it's actually more ambiguous whether or not they are profitable . It looks like they are profitable per token if you ignore the continuing R&D and capex for the next model . So they will probably be able to operate unsubsidized if they get their costs low enough some will survive. Chatgpt sol just dropped with relatively high efficiency per unit of intelligence while they were getting smoked by anthropic in real world utility but by anthropic really getting intelligence through much more brute force and thus much more extreme cost per token , which shows people will pay high costs per token for the utility they get from it , but at some point you have to compete on efficiency and input costs . The Chinese models are really efficient. If they keep dropping open source weights by 2030 we will surely have open source models as good as mythos which I would say is good enough for 99% of people. After that its pure commodity inference purchase x efficiency of the model . Maybe not a capitalist goldmine, but the end result is useful and if we get enough capacity expansion in chips and memory the deficit will turn into a glut and mythos grade home systems will be viable for power users a few years after that

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    The Architecture of Delusion: The Digital Dam and the Camouflage of Material Decay in c/collapse@lemmy.zip
    [–] 2 points 3 weeks ago*

    its crazy how fast the end of the internet has accelerated. It got to the point i started learning to code last september now that i can get taught directly by AI. Hopefully i can build some useful tools for keeping a wild west alive in cyberspace. Have to use the AI tools available now because they are already leaning towards a 2 tiered system where good coding AI is no longer available to the plebians and i suspect the "subsidized by investor" plans will not last much longer. there are open source models that can do syntax well but they still have crazy hardware requirements. so best to use the shit out of it for making the software we need now before it becomes cost prohibitive or outright removed from public access. the new anthropic model is fully incapable of coding now without triggering the government mandated shutdown. can't get it to even do a code review without triggering the terrorist suspect shutdown. the screeching about 4 horseman of the infocalypse are upon us again.

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    Are we on the road to civilisation collapse? in c/collapse@lemmy.zip
    An Urgent Message: Learn How to Do Something in c/collapse@lemmy.zip
    [–] 3 points 1 month ago

    "I didn’t want to waste another minute of my life writing academic articles that nobody, not even the peer reviewers, really wanted to read. I didn’t want to spend another minute writing reports for deans who would rather go to wine tastings in the middle of the afternoon. I didn’t want to spend another Friday stuck in an endless department meeting, talking about problems nobody was ever going to do anything about. I didn’t want to spend another weekend grading papers that students didn’t want to write, and I didn’t want to read. Not because they were bad papers. Because there were other things we needed to be doing. There were other things my students needed to be learning."

    This is probably like 80% of all jobs. its all just a boondoggle hierarchy of cruelty and waste.

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    Local Observations Thread: September 2025 to Present in c/collapse@lemmy.zip
    Scramble for biofuel as oil prices rise ‘could push world closer to food crisis’ in c/collapse@lemmy.zip
    [–] 3 points 1 month ago

    There will be world food price crisis regardless of the biofuel part of the problem. We already have the inflation pushing through to food in a big way , its just about what percent of the economically marginal population get pushed below the threshold from the input costs rising and lots of production being fuel/fertilizer constrained in this growing season

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    Local Observations Thread: September 2025 to Present in c/collapse@lemmy.zip
    Local Observations Thread: September 2025 to Present in c/collapse@lemmy.zip
    11
    The Threat of Rent Extraction in a Resource-constrained Future (www.sciencedirect.com)
     

    Abstract Ecological economists aim to transform our economic institutions so that society can flourish within planetary boundaries. The central message of this article is that private rent extraction forms a key barrier to the realisation of that goal. I define rent as an economic reward which is sustained through control of assets that cannot be quickly and widely replicated, and which exceeds proportionate compensation for the labour of the recipient. I argue that unless we close opportunities for rent extraction, and socialise unavoidable rents, our governments will be compelled to pursue output growth, regardless of its environmental consequences, in order to prevent spiralling inequality and unemployment. The positive proposition in this article is that the concept of rent can help us to identify, and build democratic support for, the institutional transformations necessary to prepare for a resource-constrained future. Measures to reduce and redistribute rentier power could be emancipatory for the poorest in society, whilst making more feasible many proposals that have been advocated already in this journal, including reduced working hours and resource caps. By contrast, if environmental protections are introduced before opportunities for private rent extraction are closed, we could see intensified rent-seeking, asset price bubbles, poverty and economic insecurity.

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    What Would a Fiscal Crisis Look Like? | Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (www.crfb.org)
     

    see paper for full content

    https://www.crfb.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/What%20Would%20a%20Fiscal%20Crisis%20Look%20Like_3.pdf

    In this paper, we discuss and illustrate what a fiscal crisis might look like. The crisis types we survey – several of which could happen simultaneously – include:

    Financial Crisis: Reduced confidence in U.S. Treasury markets could lead to a spike in interest rates, panic among traders, devaluation of assets, freezing or slowing of credit, and failure of key financial institutions. Inflation Crisis: Attempts or fear of attempts to manage debt levels through monetization, artificially low interest rates, or financial repression could result in high and potentially spiraling inflation. Austerity Crisis: Sharp tax increases and spending cuts enacted to stave off a fiscal crisis could create undue hardship, undermine demand, and push the economy into recession. Currency Crisis: The U.S. dollar could face sudden and significant depreciation in response to fiscal stress and policy responses, resulting in destabilization of markets and the economy. Default Crisis: Policymakers could explicitly or implicitly default on debt, including by failing to make debt payments or by restructuring existing debt. Gradual Crisis: Living standards and fiscal and monetary flexibility could gradually erode in response to rising debt, potentially causing as much or more long-term damage than an acute crisis. A fiscal crisis can be sparked by a variety of factors (see Box 3). Although the chances of a major fiscal crisis in the United States remain low in the near term, the likelihood and potential severity of a crisis rises with higher debt. Lawmakers would be wise to put the nation’s fiscal house in order to avoid any such crisis.

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