Is China now the dominant superpower?

[arsenal]

I agree absolutely with FarangRuMak. One of the great ironies of this century is that it is China, the world's biggest polluter and by some degree where the new renewable energies will come of age and then be transported around the globe. In my opinion. (Not remotely humble. But then you already know that.)

[Omega]

The biggest question of the next 50 years is:

"Will artificial super intelligence wipe out life".

ASI had the potential to save human kind and launch us into being a type III galactic civilisation, and basically humans will never die from that point on.

Or, it will view us as entirely irrelevant and accidently wipe us out pursuing its own ends.

[frequent]

"Will artificial super intelligence wipe out life".

Unlikely on SGT, most unlikely

[christianpfc]

The amount of sunshine that hits the earth is our total energy allowance and it's not enough.

On the contrary, the energy from the sun that reaches earth is more than enough, but we have no viable way to collect and store it.

[arsenal]

Christian wrote:
"On the contrary, the energy from the sun that reaches earth is more than enough, but we have no viable way to collect and store it."

Yet.

[frequent]

On the contrary, the energy from the sun that reaches earth is more than enough, but we have no viable way to collect and store it.

I'm thinking of phoning my good friend Elon Musk and suggesting he invent a battery that can store energy from solar panels. It just might be a goer

[arsenal]

In fact there is no reason why say The Shard or any of the huge skyscrapers aren't covered in solar panels rather than just glass. Is there?

[FarangRuMak]

On the contrary, the energy from the sun that reaches earth is more than enough, but we have no viable way to collect and store it.

It's more than enough for the majority of people even at the massive population levels we have right now but it's not enough to power the energy demands of the industrialised world.
Nuclear power is the most efficient alternative but it comes with the obvious risks.
Harvesting solar/tidal/wind energy is reaching it's limits and now all we're doing is tweaking existing technology.
There may be a revolutionary solution in the offing but it's a long way off.

[arsenal]

FarangRuMak wrote:
"Harvesting solar/tidal/wind energy is reaching it's limits and now all we're doing is tweaking existing technology."

Wrong. It's still in it's early infancy.

[Omega]

FarangRuMak wrote:
"Harvesting solar/tidal/wind energy is reaching it's limits and now all we're doing is tweaking existing technology."

Wrong. It's still in it's early infancy.

Indeed...

And let's not forget the strides being made in nuclear fusion.