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Quote by Annalee Newitz

“So science alone cannot solve this problem [mass extinction of humans]. It's something that we can only tackle by bringing science together with culture, economics, and even politics.”

Quote by Annalee Newitz

Author

Annalee Newitz is an accomplished journalist and writer, born in 1969. She is renowned for her in-depth reporting on technology, science fiction, and gender issues. Newitz has served as an editor for 'Make' magazine and has authored several books on technology and culture. more

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“My first goal would be to reduce the perturbation in the carbon cycle. That would mean using carbon neutral sources of energy, and changing our agricultural practices to be less disruptive and polluting. I'm not talking about a policy here so much as changing the way our infrastructure works. That's why I'm so fascinated with changing the way we build cities, because they are the most developed forms of physical infrastructure for human habitation.”

Way Firsts Humans Mean Would Be Form Energy Goal Cities Talking Practice Policy Source Cycles Fascinated Carbon Infrastructure Not Talking Disruptive Carbon Cycle

Author:Annalee Newitz

“I would want us to start our quest to survive mass extinction by rethinking how we build cities. Cities should be commonplaces of production, rather than consumption - they should be producing food, and fuel.”

Want Should Cities Mass Productions Fuel Quests Consumption Extinction Want U Commonplace Rethinking Mass Extinction

Author:Annalee Newitz

“Cities should function more like ecosystems, or even metabolisms. When we build, we should be thinking about how we can integrate into the ecosystems around us, but without sacrificing all the niceties of civilization like good restaurants, concert halls, and high-speed Internet access. I'm saying that partly tongue-in-cheek, but I'm also deadly serious. The future of technology is sustainable ecology.”

“That said, a lot of people buy products with "green" in the brand name, but make no attempt to understand what it would really take to live sustainably. I think one of the most pernicious examples of magical environmental thinking is the anti-GMO movement.”

People Thinking Said Names Example Movement Products Green Environmental Brands Pernicious Gmos Brand Names

Author:Annalee Newitz

“There are plenty of publicly-funded organizations and nonprofits that are trying to develop GMO crops that could help feed people in developing nations by producing disease-resistant or drought-resistant strains of staple crops like cassava or bananas.”

People Trying Helping Nations Disease Organization Plenty Developing Strain Crops Bananas Drought Staples Nonprofits Gmos

Author:Annalee Newitz

“GMO agriculture will probably save the world in this century. But in the developed world, where few people are haunted by the specter of famine, people are free to fetishize heirloom tomatoes and worry about the provenance of what sits on their dinner tables.”

People World Worry Century Tables Dinner Agriculture Famine Save The World Tomatoes Dinner Table Gmos Heirlooms

Author:Annalee Newitz

“The fact is that humans have been shaping the genetics of what they eat for thousands of years. Genetic engineering simply speeds up the process that used to take generations. Preventing people from getting things like golden rice or disease-resistant cassava destroys human life, and does not spare the environment in any way.”

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Author:Annalee Newitz

“A lot of environmental and biological science depends on technology to progress. Partly I'm talking about massive server farms that help people crunch genetic data - or atmospheric data. But I also mean the scientific collaborations that the Internet makes possible, where scientists in India and Africa can work with people in Europe and the Americas to come up with solutions to what are, after all, global problems.”

“Using virtual world, a scientist in Japan can conduct an experiment using a special facility in California, watching the entire thing via a live stream - and possibly controlling the experimental equipment remotely. We can use that same kind of technology to control a robot on Mars.”

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Author:Annalee Newitz

“To be fair, if we are having a mass extinction, we're in the early stages of it. I think it's knowing facts like that which has made me less fearful about the future. Mass extinction is a long, complicated process that we are just now beginning to understand - and likewise, we are just beginning to understand how we might prevent one.”

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Author:Annalee Newitz