Setup
Electricity is still out of reach for 1.2 billion of the world’s inhabitants. Even where cell phones are now common, like sub-Saharan Africa and parts of India, villagers still walk miles to charge them. Large-scale, sustainable innovations will not only usher in a new era of light, but will also be an important first step in lifting people from poverty and putting them on a road of sustainable economic development. These regions have largely skipped the analog stage of power development and have moved straight from the Middle Ages to the digital age, unencumbered by existing infrastructure, dependence on fossil fuels, or too many outdated laws and regulations. An ideal innovation incubator, the developing world might just be the best way to make progress on our own energy issues at home. (Book signing to follow.)
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Environment
New technologies have always led to changes in society, though not always as quickly or drastically as people feared. Could artificial intelligence be different? Instead of le...
If we do absolutely nothing to mitigate climate change, scientists estimate the toll could be $38 trillion a year in damages. Industrialized countries like the United States,...
The recognition that all things are connected is at once a scientific principle and a philosophical touchstone. Humans, animals, and the environment are intertwined in complex...
Everywhere you look, there’s a headline about the power of artificial intelligence and how it will impact our lives in ways we have not yet imagined. From advancing medicine t...
Where will artificial intelligence be in five years, or 10 or 20? What happens if the technology is regulated? And if it isn’t? How will it shape the world and the way we live...
Whether they publicly tout it or not, U.S. technology companies play a powerful role in politics, cultural issues and the way we live. Founder and investor Peter Thiel is one...
A couple of degrees makes a world of difference — megafires, rising seas, failing infrastructure, and food systems require our immediate attention. Demands on dwindling natura...
Women are crucial to the climate movement, but their voices are often underrepresented and their work goes under-supported. Meet just a few of the women from this year’s Aspen...
AI has the potential to create vibrant, inclusive communities as civil society organizations harness it to tackle inequality, industry leverages it to foster fairer practices,...
Why do some conversations succeed while others stumble? The neurology and psychology of communication offer surprising explanations for why human connection goes right or wron...
Increasingly, AI informs our work output, our social views and our awareness of the world. Join SiriusXM host Mike Muse in conversation with Meta officials to explore the impl...
America’s teenagers are facing a mental health crisis; 1 in 3 teen girls say they’ve considered suicide in the past year. Many young people, parents and mental health professi...
Heat is now the top weather-related cause of death in the U.S., killing more people than hurricanes, floods and tornadoes combined. An environmental journalist and two city ch...
Every transition comes with tradeoffs, and even clean energy carries negative consequences. As they mine for critical minerals or build solar arrays on sensitive land, clean e...
Two billion people worldwide are set to vote in elections this year, amid global conflict, societal mistrust, broken information ecosystems — and the truth-destroying disrupti...
Amid seismic shifts in the entertainment world, Oscar-, Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning Brian Grazer has managed to keep pivoting to new ways to tell stories in movies, TV and...
In the last 30 years, conglomerates from Amazon to Netflix to Spotify have changed the way we interact with media, books, fashion and music. Creatives are struggling to mainta...
The innovative philanthropist who paid off the student debt of the entire graduating class of Morehouse College class of 2019 talks about how to ensure all communities benefit...
Uncle Sam is rich enough that every young person in America can benefit from generational wealth transfer. Leaders from impact investing, philanthropy and the finance sector d...
It sounds like sci-fi: Scientists are beaming solar energy from space, subbing seaweed for plastic and brightening clouds to reflect sunlight to lower temperatures in a warmin...