Latest news with #2050
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Nuclear Golden Age: Huge Potential, Stubborn Obstacles
President Donald Trump's four executive orders mandating a great and fast leap forward for the nuclear power industry may seem to nuclear advocates like manna from heaven. But as it fell to earth, it appeared that the manna might be filled with empty calories. Trump's directives outline an aggressive program of nuclear power growth. For starters, he wants to quadruple nuclear power production by 2050; shorten the licensing time to 18 months; and build 10 traditional, large light water reactors and a plethora of small modular reactors (SMRs). The need for more nuclear power as fast as possible is palpable. The big tech companies and their data centers are demanding vast new power supplies. They are facing constraints already dictated by a lack of power generating or by congested transmission lines. Large swaths of the country will soon be achingly short of power in times of extreme cold or abnormal heat, according to forecasts from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation. But there are roadblocks. Some are specific and some more generic. The biggest is, as always, money. Nuclear sources across the board, from Arshad Mansoor of EPRI to James Schaefer of Guggenheim Partners, who is something of a Pied Piper for nuclear, say that for nuclear to move forward, the federal government must provide financing in the form of a 'backstop' to protect against runaway losses. So far, the Trump administration hasn't spoken to this. Another money issue is tax credits. The massive tax-cut bill now before the Senate seeks to phase out green tax credits, but treats nuclear power just a little kinder than wind and solar. It extends the tax credits longer, but these are only available to power plants which begin construction before 2029. Clearly, most contemplated new reactors will fall outside of that time window. While everyone agrees that licensing nuclear plants takes too long, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is about to be hit with a tidal wave of new applications, many of those for SMRs. These are challenging because they all have different designs, fuels, cooling systems, materials, vulnerabilities and strengths. They are new almost from the ground up and require a new regime of technical expertise to assess their safety. The NRC and the electric utility industry and its nuclear component all face severe labor shortages. Mark Menezes, president and CEO of the United States Energy Association, flagged the labor shortage as a threat to the energy supply future during a panel discussion of fusion development at the group's annual conference on May 15. He recalled when the two new Vogtle Units were under construction as well as the mixed oxide fuel facility — later abandoned — at the Savannah River National Laboratory, there was a shortage of skilled workers in the South, from engineers to welders to laborers. Clint Thurmon, vice president of Ferreira Power South, said April 30 on Digital 360, the weekly online webinar, that an acute shortage of linemen was limiting the growth of the electricity infrastructure. In the same vein, new reactors are likely to run into the supply chain difficulties that are already plaguing the utilities, and which are likely to get worse. Most bulk electrical equipment has been procured from China for half a century. Although new sources and domestic manufacture — particularly of transformers — is increasing, the shortage is severe and will continue even without big new demands adding to the pressure. In the first golden age of nuclear power, roughly the 1960s, it surged: Ninety-nine reactors were built at 61 sites, according to the Energy Information Administration. It would be hard with the deteriorated nuclear base to achieve that today. Some things will get easier. For example, virtual twins will facilitate the nuclear construction of the future. Many components and much of the fuel construction will be assisted with AI. Still, the uncertainties are many. One of these is how much power from SMRs really costs. A driver of SMRs -- roughly 350 megawatts and less — is that they can be built in factories and that this will keep down the cost. But as that hypothesis is yet to be proven, the real cost of power from SMRs isn't known, and there are likely to be wide variations in designs. Not every SMR will prove out nor will every SMR produce power at a competitive price. There will be more nuclear power going forward, but how much and at what cost is, like all gold rushes, uncertain.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Longevity experts reveal when humans will start living to 1,000... and it's sooner than you think
What if you could live forever, staying healthy and young for centuries? Scientists and tech pioneers now believe this dream could become reality. In Silicon Valley, entrepreneurs like Bryan Johnson follow intense routines, like his 'Blueprint' plan, to slow or reverse aging, and companies like Altos Labs are testing treatments that have already extended the lives of mice. Experts say we're on the cusp of technologies that could make immortality possible, and they've even set dates for when this future might arrive. Three visionaries stand out in this quest: futurologist Dr. Ian Pearson, Google 's Ray Kurzweil, and biomedical researcher Aubrey de Grey. Pearson predicts that by 2050, the wealthy will use advanced tech to live forever, perhaps by uploading their minds to computers or android bodies. Kurzweil believes that by 2029, artificial intelligence (AI) will match human intelligence, starting a merger between humans and machines that leads to immortality by 2045. De Grey argues that medical advances could make aging a curable disease by 2050, allowing people to live to 1,000 or beyond. Each of the next three breakthroughs offers a different path to immortality. They're not just about living longer - they're about changing what it means to be human. 2050: Immortality for the Elite By 2050, the wealthiest people could achieve immortality through a mix of cutting-edge technologies, predicts futurologist Dr Ian Pearson. He has suggested that advances in computing, genetic engineering, and robotics will let people live forever, either in enhanced bodies or as digital minds. 'By 2050, it will only really be for the rich and famous,' Pearson said, noting that these technologies will start expensive but become affordable by the 2060s for middle-class people. Pearson also envisioned a world where medical treatments fix deadly conditions, like heart disease or cancer, before they become fatal. Genetic engineering could reverse aging, keeping cells young and healthy. Meanwhile, technologies like brain-computer interfaces might let people 'upload' their minds into virtual reality or android bodies. 'This would allow people to have multiple existences and identities, or to carry on living long after their biological death,' Pearson explained. Although only the ultra-rich will be able to afford these breakthroughs at first, Pearson is optimistic that anyone under the age of 50 has got a good chance of affording this in their lifetime, and anyone under 40 will almost definitely will have access to immortality. His vision depends on technologies already in development, like 3D-printed organs and AI-driven medicine, scaling up dramatically in the next few decades. 2029: The Dawn of Human-Machine Hybrids By 2029, artificial intelligence will match human intelligence, kicking off a new era where humans merge with machines, according to Ray Kurzweil, a renowned futurist and former Google engineer. Kurzweil, who accurately predicted computers beating chess champions and the rise of smartphones, believes this milestone will lead to immortality by 2045, a point he calls 'The Singularity.' Kurzweil has predicted that AI will transform society, making necessities like food and housing cheaper and connecting human brains to the cloud via devices like Elon Musk's Neuralink. 'A key capability in the 2030s will be to connect the upper ranges of our neocortices to the cloud, which will directly extend our thinking,' he wrote in the 2024 book 'The Singularity Is Nearer.' According to Kurzweil, this merger will multiply human intelligence millions of times, letting us solve problems faster and live in new ways. By 2045, the futurist said humans could become cyborgs, capable of copying their minds or downloading into new bodies printed with advanced tech. 'Rather than AI being a competitor, it will become an extension of ourselves,' he explained. This vision starts in 2029, when AI reaches human levels of ability, setting the stage for a future where immortality means becoming part machine, part human. 2050: Curing Aging Like a Disease Aubrey de Grey, a Cambridge-educated scientist with a striking two-foot beard, believes aging is a disease we can cure. Through his Longevity Escape Velocity Foundation, de Grey has researched ways to repair the body's cells, potentially letting people live to 1,000. He's famously said the first person to reach 1,000 has already been born. De Grey's approach, called 'integrative rejuvenation,' uses multiple treatments to fix cellular damage, like clearing out harmful waste or repairing DNA. If medical advances keep pace with aging, humans could reach 'longevity escape velocity,' where life expectancy grows faster than time passes. 'Aging is a disease,' de Grey argued, saying that we should treat it like we treat cancer or diabetes. With a two-foot beard, Cambridge-educated author and 'immortalist' Aubrey de Grey believes that 'aging is a disease' and that will soon be possible to live until the age of 1,000 Other experts, like Dr Andrew Steele, author of 'Ageless,' have agreed that new drugs like senolytics could lead to healthier aging, even if not full immortality. Senolytics are a new class of drug designed to eliminate dead, 'zombie cells' from the body before they accumulate and contribute to harmful inflammation. 'We're at a point where we understand enough about the process that we can start to try to intervene,' Steele said. By 2050, de Grey's vision could make death from aging a thing of the past, offering a medical path to eternal life.
ABC News
6 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
We've promised a lot of 'zero' targets by 2050 — what happens when we don't get there? - ABC Religion & Ethics
There's something quietly unsettling about the number zero. In recent years, it has become the endpoint for many of our public ambitions: zero emissions, zero poverty, zero road deaths, zero workplace fatalities. The year 2050 is the horizon for many of these promises. And yet, for all their moral clarity, a quiet question lingers: what happens when we all start suspecting these promises won't come true? What is the ethical cost of setting goals so absolute, so distant and so unachievable that they risk turning into symbols, rather than strategies? There is an almost sacred appeal to zero. It indicates moral resolve. It says this is the amount of death, suffering, poverty or damage we are prepared to accept: none . That appeal is understandable. In a world where political statements are often vague or compromised, zero is sharp. It looks good in a speech. It sounds ethical. And on some level, it is . But moral clarity isn't the same as moral effectiveness. The growing trend of attaching 'zero' to public targets — by 2030, by 2050, by mid-century — invites a tension between aspiration and implementation. These numbers are now enshrined in policy strategies, national commitments, global accords. And yet for many of them, no plausible road-map exists. We're living in a strange moment where the public is told to expect perfection but given little sense of how it might arrive. And when perfection starts to feel like fiction, cynicism sets in. The psychology of impossible promises Aspirations are powerful. They draw lines on the horizon and invite us to walk toward them. But they can also mislead, especially when they become detached from reality. The psychology is simple: when people sense that a promise is too far removed from what's possible, they stop investing hope in it. And over time, hope uninvested turns into quiet disengagement or outright distrust. We sometimes assume that big goals inspire big action. And they can, but only if they feel believable. A target like 'zero road deaths by 2050' might feel noble, and it is noble, but for those watching fatalities rise year after year, it quickly loses credibility. Likewise, 'zero poverty' sounds admirable until people ask what's actually changing in the streets, in the housing system, in the wage structures. If the answer is 'not much', the target becomes background noise — or worse, a source of disillusionment. It's a bit like someone declaring, 'In ten years, I'm going to be a professor', while not even enrolled in a PhD program yet. The ambition might be sincere. But if there's no sign of the journey beginning, no first step, no enrolment, no plan, the declaration sounds hollow. Worse, it becomes performative: a statement of what one wishes were true, not what one is genuinely working toward. When governments adopt slogans with no scaffolding beneath them, people notice. And when the promises repeat — with new deadlines, new slogans, new 'visions' — people begin to tune out. Not because they don't care, but because they've stopped believing. When aspirations become symbols There's a fine line between an aspirational target and a symbolic gesture. Cross it, and the goal stops being a tool for progress and starts functioning more like a slogan: something you display, not something you deliver. This is the risk with 'zero' targets. Over time, they start to drift from policy into performance. They become markers of moral positioning rather than actionable strategy. Governments declare them to show that they care, to stake out the high ground, not necessarily because they believe the target can or will be met. This symbolic function can serve a purpose. It can create pressure, shape narratives, and set a standard for what should be. But symbols without substance eventually backfire. If people sense that a promise exists mainly to signal virtue, they become sceptical not just of the target, but of the whole project behind it. This is how moral ambition, when untethered from realism, starts to erode trust. It invites the public to care, then quietly lets them down. The ethical consequence of failure When ambitious promises fall short, the consequences aren't just technical or political. They're ethical too. A failed target isn't just a missed KPI, it is a broken commitment. People remember what they were told. And when year after year passes with little visible progress, they don't simply shrug. They lose faith in the policy, but also in the institutions behind it. When that happens, even genuine progress can feel like failure. A 20 per cent reduction in road deaths sounds like good news, unless you were promised zero. Then it feels like defeat. This loss of faith has a ripple effect. People start turning away from leaders who push for ambitious reform, even if those leaders are the ones making the most meaningful changes. The damage becomes circular: the lofty promise leads to public disillusionment, which then weakens support for the very ideas behind the promise. It's a kind of ethical boomerang. The more confidently a government or an institution promises a perfect outcome, the more scrutiny it invites, and the more vulnerable it becomes when the outcome falls short. A better moral framework So, what's the alternative? Should we stop aiming high? Set safer, smaller goals to avoid disappointment? Not necessarily. The problem isn't with ambition. It's with pretending that ambition alone is a plan. A better moral framework starts with honesty. It acknowledges that absolute zero — whether it's zero emissions or zero fatalities — might remain out of reach, but that doesn't make the effort meaningless. What matters is whether we're building credible, measurable steps that people can see, understand and support. Not just a destination in 2050, but visible movement in 2025, 2026, 2027. Instead of declaring 'zero road deaths', maybe we say: let's flatten the curve. Let's stop the upward trend. Let's make sure the toll doesn't rise next year. It's not as stirring, but it's real. And real progress, however incremental, keeps people engaged. It earns trust. And it lays a foundation for bigger steps later. Ambition still matters, but so does sequence. Before we promise the summit, we have to show we've started the climb — and invite others to join us, step by step. The ethic we need isn't one of perfection, but of credibility. Because in the end, what keeps public hope alive isn't the scale of our targets. It's the trust that we're actually moving toward them. Take road fatalities as an example. Instead of just floating the idea of 'zero deaths', we could show how many lives have already been saved over the past half-century. Same goes with other 'zero' initiatives. That's how people buy into policy. That's how they go from sceptical to curious. And that's how public support is built — not by dangling the end goal, but by showing that we know how to take the next step. Let's remember that without public trust and support, noble policies or those who championed them are bound for failure or abandonment. Milad Haghani is an Associate Professor of Urban Resilience and Safety at the University of Melbourne.
Associated Press
27-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
From Floods to Fires: Cisco Is Investing in Technologies That Make Communities More Resilient
Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, intense, and costly. In 2024 alone, global natural disasters resulted in an estimated $368 billion in economic losses, with 60% of these losses uninsured, highlighting a substantial protection gap ( Insurance Business ). Looking ahead, a 2024 World Economic Forum report predicts that by 2050, climate-intensified natural disasters could lead to $12.5 trillion in economic losses worldwide ( World Economic Forum ). At the same time, corporate exposure to climate risks is expected to triple by mid-century, with over $1.14 trillion in market value at risk for companies listed on major global exchanges ( Axios ). However, there is also a massive opportunity on the horizon. According to a 2025 report by FIC and Bain & Company, global revenues from climate adaptation solutions are expected to grow from $1 trillion today to $4 trillion by 2050, while the investment opportunity could soar from $2 trillion to $9 trillion ( GIC, 2025). These figures highlight an investable frontier for the private sector. It is a space where impact venture capital can play a catalytic role in accelerating technologies that can save lives, protect assets, and create economic value. The Power of Adaptation & Resilience Technologies Cisco Foundation is answering this call through its Regenerative Future Fund and grants to nonprofits. The Foundation strategically invests in innovative technologies designed to help communities adapt, respond to, and mitigate the impacts of extreme weather events. The Regenerative Future Fund's approach combines patient, catalytic capital with blended finance models, creating an enabling environment for companies to scale transformative adaptation solutions, even when immediate financial returns are uncertain. Keep reading to learn more about five startups and organizations the Foundation is supporting and how they are helping communities adapt and build resilience. Responding to Rainstorms and Hurricanes: Real-Time Flood Monitoring with Hohonu The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season was one of the costliest on record, causing approximately $200 billion in damages, with 20 named storms battering the United States and resulting in widespread damage ( New York Post/ Fox Weather ). Real-time water data at the neighborhood level is critical for life-saving decision-making. With hurricanes intensifying and moving more unpredictably, the difference of a few inches in water level can determine whether a neighborhood floods. For example, many communities affected by storms like Hurricane Helene in 2024 lacked timely and localized water level data, leading to inadequate early-warnings, delayed responses, and increased damage. Hohonu, which provides smart monitoring tools, fills this gap by delivering community-level visibility into changing water conditions. Their affordable flood-monitoring sensors deliver real-time, hyperlocal water level data to vulnerable coastal and inland communities, enabling swifter, more informed decisions around evacuations, infrastructure protection, and emergency response. The ability to track water levels on a block-by-block level can reduce emergency response times by up to 30% and has been shown to increase the efficacy of flood preparedness efforts by more than 40%. With support from the Cisco Foundation Regenerative Future Fund, Hohonu is scaling rapidly and working with both government and commercial entities to bring real-time water monitoring to every community that needs it. As Kevin Mukai, Hohonu's COO, noted, 'With Cisco Foundation's goal of building resilient and empowered communities – not to mention Cisco's strengths in networking, IoT, and digital transformation – the fit could not be better.' As of 2025, Hohonu has deployed more than 160 monitoring stations across 16 states, generating millions of hours of publicly available water level data. This open-access approach reinforces the importance of transparency and public engagement in resilient infrastructure and intelligent monitoring solutions. By helping communities build their own awareness and response capabilities, Hohonu's platform strengthens local autonomy and preparedness in the face of rising weather and environmental risks. Learn more how Hohonu helps Lee County stay ahead of flooding in the video above. Predictive AI Analytics for Wildfire Management: Vibrant Planet In 2023 and 2024, the United States experienced some of its most destructive wildfire seasons in recent memory. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, wildfires burned over 8.5 million acres nationwide in 2024 alone. In California, Los Angeles County saw multiple wildfires exacerbated by dry conditions and fuel buildup. These fires displaced thousands of residents and caused tens of billions in insured losses — much of which might have been mitigated with a $9 million investment in fuels reductions along the wild-urban interface, according to post fire analysis on the Eaton Fire conducted by Vibrant Planet. This is exactly where Vibrant Planet's platform comes in. It is a first-of-its-kind decision support system that enables fire districts, states, counties, federal agencies and utilities to understand current risk and ecological health, pinpoint priorities for risk mitigation treatments, then simulate the effects of different treatments (such as defensible space, hazardous fuels reduction, forest thinning or prescribed burns) and, over time, quantify ecological and economic benefits. The platform also supports cross-jurisdictional coordination of plans and spending for implementation. In Placer County, California, which has the highest number of structures at risk of wildfire in California, local authorities used Vibrant Planet to prioritize and plan 20,000 acres of wildfire risk reduction treatments across forested communities. The result was a cohesive, community-supported roadmap that not only reduced fire risk but also improved water security, biodiversity, and carbon storage, approved within 14 weeks, compared to typical multi-year planning processes. Vibrant Planet is now contracted as an annual subscription across 73 million acres in eight western states, including about 30 million acres in California alone. Vibrant Planet's technology reduces the time it takes to develop and approve forest management plans from years to weeks and reduces conflict in complex socioecological environments. The platform provides forecasted outcomes of different types and intensities of treatment, and models their effects on wildfire probability and intensity, which helps managers weigh and communicate tradeoffs of different plans to drive public support and funding for implementation. Through numerous partnerships, Vibrant Planet provides a comprehensive wildfire resilience solution — from house-level defensible space to wildland-urban interface hazardous fuels reductions, to watershed-scale ecosystem restoration. Cisco Foundation's investment has supported the expansion of these capabilities, enabling broader adoption of Vibrant Planet and accelerating the development of new features, including slope stabilization planning and ecosystem recovery support. As fire risk increases, platforms like Vibrant Planet will be essential for building long-term resilience and protecting people, infrastructure, and nature. Autonomous Wildfire Suppression: Rain Through Azolla Ventures — an impact-first investor supporting early-stage technology companies that can achieve large-scale impact—Cisco Foundation indirectly supports Rain, a startup transforming wildfire response through autonomous aircraft. Building on the proven Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter and MATRIX autonomy platform, Rain's AI firefighting pilot enables aircraft to autonomously perceive, understand, target, and suppress emerging wildfires, reducing response times and improving safety for human responders. This blend of artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous robotics represents a cutting-edge approach to fire mitigation/management, offering communities a rapid, reliable tool to combat wildfires effectively. The autonomous technology behind helicopters equipped with Rain is crucial in tackling fires during hazardous conditions, such as nighttime or in rugged terrain, when traditional firefighting efforts face significant barriers. This advanced capability can save valuable response time and protect firefighters by reducing their exposure to extreme risks. Advanced Forest Management: Earth Force Earth Force is advancing forest management through remote-controlled machinery and real-time digital monitoring. By modernizing vegetation management, Earth Force enables safer and more efficient wildfire prevention at scale. This technology not only mitigates wildfire risks but also enhances local economic resilience by creating safer, technology-driven forestry jobs. Earth Force's remote-controlled equipment allows for safer and more precise forest clearing, significantly reducing the danger to workers in wildfire-prone areas. This modernization addresses labor shortages in forest management and positions communities to proactively address wildfire risk more effectively. Cisco Foundation Regenerative Future Fund supports Earth Force through an investment in Third Sphere, an early-stage fund backing AI-native founders transforming global systems through climate-aligned technologies. Empowering Communities to Build Resiliency: Open Future Coalition Open Future Coalition (OFC) works alongside communities to design adaptable workflows, build capacity, and foster ecosystems of practice across sectors like regenerative agriculture, watershed restoration, and Indigenous land work has been especially impactful in Western North Carolina, where OFC is partnering with North Carolina A&T State University and Warren Wilson College to support flood response efforts, citizen participation in scientific research, and regional biocultural mapping as part of broader post-disaster recovery and resilience strategies. The Regional Resilience Fellowship program—launched with grant support from the Cisco Foundation—played a key role in shaping these tools through real-world use across 35+ project sites, laying the groundwork for a 'living library' of community-published resources, templates, and curricula from projects across the OFC network. By strengthening a common infrastructure for local action, OFC is helping communities from Appalachia to the Amazon scale their impact and mobilize the resources they need to build resilient communities. Building a More Resilient Future Cisco Foundation's Regenerative Future Fund and resiliency-related grants are integral parts of the company's broader environmental sustainability strategy, the Plan for Possible, as well as our long-standing disaster response efforts. This starts with employee fundraising campaigns and grants to nonprofits that support communities in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. It extends to Cisco Crisis Response deployments that use our technology to support first responders, and to longer-term resilience and recovery efforts with our technology, our people, and our resources. Learn more about how the Cisco Foundation supports resiliency on View original content here. Visit 3BL Media to see more multimedia and stories from Cisco Systems Inc.
South China Morning Post
23-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
How DBS drives changes with lasting impact for Hong Kong's ageing population
Hong Kong officially became a 'super-aged society' last year – a designation by the World Health Organization for places where more than 20 per cent of the population is aged 65 or older. The city crossed that threshold with 22 per cent of its residents over 65. By 2050, the United Nations predicts that this figure will climb to 40.6 per cent – giving Hong Kong the world's highest proportion of people over 65, ahead of South Korea and Japan. This demographic shift presents significant challenges, from a shrinking workforce to increasing pressure on healthcare and social security systems. However, DBS Bank, a Singapore-headquartered multinational financial services firm, sees these global changes not only as challenges but also as opportunities to identify and support solutions that tackle urgent social needs. 'At DBS, we manage our business in a balanced and responsible way,' Sebastian Paredes, DBS' head of North Asia and CEO of DBS Bank (Hong Kong), says. 'In addition to supporting businesses, we aim to support and create long-term value for local communities and people – for their lives and livelihoods. This is more critical than ever, given the growing uncertainty the world is facing. 'I believe businesses here have a crucial role in reshaping societal mindsets around ageing, hence we look to realise opportunities that increase health spans in tandem with lifespans.'
