How we make things - and how we could do it better
All our needs and wants - almost every aspect of our lives in fact - support a global manufacturing system that operates 24/7 to make - and to bring us - pretty much everything we could possibly wish for.
But have you ever wondered how all of that actually happens? And if we are serious about a sustainable future, what choices we really should be making now.
Tim Minshall
is the University of Cambridge's first Professor of Innovation and author of
Your Life Is Manufactured
.
He explains to Susie Ferguson why understanding how things are made and the consequences of your decision to buy them could become your new superpower!
Tim Minshall is Professor of Innovation at the University of Cambridge
Photo:
SUPPLIED/Allen & Unwin
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Proto: an ancient language, mother to many tongues
Photo: HarperCollins Thousands of miles apart, people who speak English, Icelandic or Iranic use more or less the same words: star, stjarna, stare. All three of these languages - and hundreds more - share a single ancient ancestor, spread by ancient peoples far and wide. Today, nearly half of humanity speaks an Indo-European language. But, Proto Indo European is a language that has been dead for thousands of years and was never written down. British science journalist Laura Spinney's epic tale Proto - How One Ancient Language Went Global retraces its steps. Spinney has written for the New Scientist, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph. She speaks with Susie.
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Abortion pill inventor Etienne-Emile Baulieu dies, aged 98
By Benedicte Rey and Isabelle Tourne, AFP The inventor of the abortion pill Etienne-Emile Baulieu died at home in Paris on Friday. Photo: Joel Saget French scientist Etienne-Emile Baulieu, the inventor of the abortion pill, has died at the age of 98 at his home in Paris, according to his wife. The doctor and researcher, who achieved worldwide renown for his work that led to the pill, had an eventful life that included fighting in the French Resistance and becoming friends with artists such as Andy Warhol. "His research was guided by his commitment to the progress made possible by science, his dedication to women's freedom, and his desire to enable everyone to live better, longer lives," Baulieu's wife Simone Harari Baulieu said in a statement on Friday. French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Baulieu's life, calling him "a beacon of courage" and "a progressive mind who enabled women to win their freedom". "Few French people have changed the world to such an extent," he added in a post on X. Baulieu's most famous discovery helped create the oral drug RU-486, also known as mifepristone, which provided a safe and inexpensive alternative to surgical abortion to millions of women across the world. For decades, he pushed governments to authorise the drug, facing fierce criticism and sometimes threats from opponents of abortion. When Wyoming became the first US state to outlaw the abortion pill in 2023, Baulieu told AFP it was "scandalous". Then aged 96, Baulieu said he had dedicated a large part of his life to "increasing the freedom of women", and such bans were a step in the wrong direction. On news of his death, French Equality Minister Aurore Berge passed on her condolences to Baulieu's family, saying on X he was "guided throughout his life by one requirement: human dignity". Born on 12 December, 1926 in Strasbourg to Jewish parents, Etienne Blum was raised by his feminist mother after his father, a doctor, died. He changed his name to Emile Baulieu when he joined the French Resistance against Nazi occupation at the age of 15, then later adding Etienne. After the war, he became a self-described "doctor who does science," specialising in the field of steroid hormones. Invited to work in the United States, Baulieu was noticed in 1961 by Gregory Pincus, known as the father of the contraceptive pill, who convinced him to focus on sex hormones. Back in France, Baulieu designed a way to block the effect of the hormone progesterone, which is essential for the egg to implant in the uterus after fertilisation. This led to the development of mifepristone in 1982. Dragged before the courts and demonised by US anti-abortion groups who accused him of inventing a "death pill", Baulieu refused to back down. "Adversity slides off him like water off a duck's back," Simone Harari Baulieu told AFP. "You, a Jew and a Resistance fighter, you were overwhelmed with the most atrocious insults and even compared to Nazi scientists," Macron said as he presented Baulieu with France's top honour in 2023. "But you held on, for the love of freedom and science." In the 1960s, literature fan Baulieu became friends with artists such as Andy Warhol. He said he was "fascinated by artists who claim to have access to the human soul, something that will forever remain beyond the reach of scientists". Baulieu kept going into his Parisian office well into his mid-90s. "I would be bored if I did not work anymore," he said in 2023. His recent research has included trying to find a way to prevent the development of Alzheimer's disease, as well as a treatment for severe depression, for which clinical trials are currently underway across the world. "There is no reason we cannot find treatments" for both illnesses, he said. Baulieu was also the first to describe how the hormone DHEA secreted from adrenal glands in 1963. He was convinced of the hormone's anti-ageing abilities, but drugs using it only had limited effects, such as in skin-firming creams. In the United States, Baulieu was also awarded the prestigious Lasker prize in 1989. After his wife Yolande Compagnon died, Baulieu married Simone Harari in 2016. He leaves behind three children, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, according to the statement released by his family. - AFP
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Taylor Swift gains control of her music catalogue
By Lisa Richwine, Reuters Taylor Swift during a concert in Amsterdam. Photo: Robin Van Lonkhuijsen / ANP MAG / ANP via AFP Pop superstar Taylor Swift has purchased the master recordings of her first six albums, giving her control of all of her music after a dispute with her former record label. Swift's masters had been sold in 2019 and the singer said she was not given the opportunity to buy them at the time. She re-recorded four of the albums with the subtitle 'Taylor's Version'. Swift purchased the original recordings from current owner Shamrock Capital in what she called her "greatest dream come true". No financial terms were disclosed. "I've been bursting into tears of joy at random intervals ever since I found out this is really happening," she said in a statement on her website. "I really get to say these words: All of the music I've ever made ... now belongs ... to me." The Fortnight singer also said she had re-recorded her 2006 self-titled debut album and parts of 2017 release Reputation . She said she would release them "when the time is right, if that would be something you guys would be excited about". Swift has won 14 Grammys, including an unprecedented four trophies for album of the year, and recently completed the highest-grossing concert tour of all time. The 35-year-old singer recorded her first six albums, which included hits such as 'Shake It Off' and 'You Belong With Me', with Big Machine Label Group before leaving in 2018 for Universal Music Group. Music executive Scooter Braun bought Big Machine in 2019 and Swift publicly accused him of bullying her and refusing to give her a chance to purchase her original recordings. Swift said in 2020 that BMG had sold her music to Shamrock. Media reports at the time said the deal was worth more than US$300 million. Representatives for Braun did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Swift praised executives at Shamrock, founded by Walt Disney's nephew Roy E Disney, as being "honest, fair and respectful". "My first tattoo might just be a huge shamrock in the middle of my forehead," she joked.
