A New Reality: Human Evolution for a Sustainable Future provides a startling, fresh new message of understanding, perspective and hope for today’s tense, rapid-fire, kaleidoscopically changing world. A New Reality: Human Evolution for a Sustainable Future provides a startling, fresh new message of understanding, perspective and hope for today’s tense, rapid-fire, kaleidoscopically changing world. Drawn from the writings of visionary scientist Jonas Salk, who developed the polio vaccine, extended and developed by his son Jonathan, the message of the book explodes from the past and sheds light on tensions that besiege us and the currents of discord that are raging as these words are written. More importantly, it indicates a way forward out of our current situation. Written by a world-famous doctor and folk hero, based on population data, rich in visual imagery, elegantly designed, and clearly written, A New Reality is unique in the marketplace. Readable in one or two sittings, it is accessible to the general reader while at the same time being of essential value to policy makers and academics. Its brevity and simplicity of design belie the importance and sophistication of its message. “We are at a point in the course of human social evolution when the demands of survival converge with the higher ideals of humankind and the well-being and flourishing of human society. It is up to us to see that we navigate this transition, adapting to and emerging in a new reality.” —A New Reality Our country is divided and polarized. Terrorism is a major threat throughout much of the world. Mass migrations are causing national and international tension. Population growth continues to increase, especially in the developing regions of the world. Controversy rages as to the use of fossil fuels versus the development of alternative forms of energy. Disagreement continues about climate change. Opposing currents of opinion collide as to how much we should help other areas in the world and how much to help ourselves. Basic values are in conflict. More than 40 years ago, Jonas Salk understood that we are at a unique moment in the history of the human species. After centuries of increase, population growth has begun to slow and is trending toward equilibrium. This change is accompanied by an equally significant change in human values—a shift from those based on unlimited availability of resources, unremitting growth, excess, independence, competition and short-term thinking to those based on limits, equilibrium, balance, interdependence, cooperation and long-term thinking. This momentous transition is the source of far-reaching tension and conflict. The way through this difficult era is to understand its basis and to focus on new values that will be of the greatest benefit to humankind. There is an urgency, however, and failure to adapt will result in disaster both for humanity and for the planet as a whole. A New Reality delivers a message of both caution and hope. Readers across the social and political spectrum will find it a reasoned and balanced counterpoint to current social and political trends. Its elegant design and long-range perspective will appeal to general readers, policy makers, millennials, baby boomers, teachers, and students, filling a need in the marketplace for a work of positivity and wisdom in otherwise bleak times.

Reducing and managing humanity's demand for energy is a fundamental part of the effort to mitigate climate change. This comprehensive text lays out the theory and practice of how things must change if we are to meet our energy needs sustainably.

The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) has brought us to the precipice of a new age where we struggle to understand what is real, from advanced CGI in movies to even faking the news. AI that was developed to understand our reality is now being used to create its own reality. In this book we look at the many AI techniques capable of generating new realities. We start with the basics of deep learning. Then we move on to autoencoders and generative adversarial networks (GANs). We explore variations of GAN to generate content. The book ends with an in-depth look at the most popular generator projects. By the end of this book you will understand the AI techniques used to generate different forms of content. You will be able to use these techniques for your own amusement or professional career to both impress and educate others around you and give you the ability to transform your own reality into something new. What You Will Learn Know the fundamentals of content generation from autoencoders to generative adversarial networks (GANs) Explore variations of GAN Understand the basics of other forms of content generation Use advanced projects such as Faceswap, deepfakes, DeOldify, and StyleGAN2 Who This Book Is For Machine learning developers and AI enthusiasts who want to understand AI content generation techniques

Reducing and managing humanity's demand for energy is a fundamental part of the effort to mitigate climate change. In this, the most comprehensive textbook ever written on the subject, L.D. Danny Harvey lays out the theory and practice of how things must change if we are to meet our energy needs sustainably. The book begins with a succinct summary of the scientific basis for concern over global warming, then outlines energy basics and current patterns and trends in energy use. This is followed by a discussion of current and advanced technologies for the generation of electricity from fossil fuels. The book then considers in detail how energy is used, and how this use can be dramatically reduced, in the following end-use sectors: - buildings - transportation - industry - food and agriculture - municipal services The findings from these sector-by-sector assessments are then applied to generate scenarios of how global energy demand could evolve over the coming decades with full implementation of the identified and economically-feasible energy-saving potential. The book ends with a brief discussion of policies that can be used to reduce energy demand, but also addresses the limits of technologically-based improvements in efficiency in moderating demand and of the need to re-think some of our underlying assumptions concern ends with a brief discusing what we really need. Along with its companion volume on C-free energy supply, and accompanied by extensive supplementary online material, this is an essential resource for students and practitioners in engineering, architecture, environment and energy related fields. Online material includes: Excel-based computational exercises, teaching slides for each chapter, links to free software tools.

"Ms. Finley hasn't lost the power to disturb."—Ben Brantley, The New York Times No other performing artist has captured the psychological complexity of this decade as Karen Finley has. In her inimitable style, she has embodied some of the most troubling figures to cast a long shadow on the public imagination, and has envisioned a kind of catharsis within each drama: Liza Minnelli responds to the September 11 attacks; Terri Schiavo explains why Americans love a woman in a coma; Martha Stewart dumps George W. Bush during their tryst on the eve of the Republican National Convention; Silda Spitzer tells the former governor why “I’m sorry” just isn’t enough; and the ghost of Jackie O cries, “Please stop looking at me!" The Reality Shows is a revelation of a decade by one of our greatest interpreters of popular and political culture.

Named a Best Nonfiction Book of 2022 by Esquire A sociological study of reality TV that explores its rise as a culture-dominating medium—and what the genre reveals about our attitudes toward race, gender, class, and sexuality What do we see when we watch reality television? In True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us, the sociologist and TV-lover Danielle J. Lindemann takes a long, hard look in the “funhouse mirror” of this genre. From the first episodes of The Real World to countless rose ceremonies to the White House, reality TV has not just remade our entertainment and cultural landscape (which it undeniably has). Reality TV, Lindemann argues, uniquely reflects our everyday experiences and social topography back to us. Applying scholarly research—including studies of inequality, culture, and deviance—to specific shows, Lindemann layers sharp insights with social theory, humor, pop cultural references, and anecdotes from her own life to show us who we really are. By taking reality TV seriously, True Story argues, we can better understand key institutions (like families, schools, and prisons) and broad social constructs (such as gender, race, class, and sexuality). From The Bachelor to Real Housewives to COPS and more (so much more!), reality programming unveils the major circuits of power that organize our lives—and the extent to which our own realities are, in fact, socially constructed. Whether we’re watching conniving Survivor contestants or three-year-old beauty queens, these “guilty pleasures” underscore how conservative our society remains, and how steadfastly we cling to our notions about who or what counts as legitimate or “real.” At once an entertaining chronicle of reality TV obsession and a pioneering work of sociology, True Story holds up a mirror to our society: the reflection may not always be pretty—but we can’t look away.

Author Stephen Martino delivers an action-packed medical thriller in a heart-stopping race to save humanity. In the year 2080, a deadly retrovirus is inadvertently released upon the planet. Facing financial ruin and catastrophic loss of life, the world’s nations turn to acclaimed neuroscientist Alex Pella and NIH expert Marissa Ambrosia. Assembling a team of experts, the scientists begin an international search for the cure while fighting off a foreign elite military unit sent to stop them at all costs. Guided by a code concealed within the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, the scientists must traverse ancient lands and solve a biblical riddle in their quest to save humanity from its eminent destruction. Drawing from both our nation’s politically charged environment and the worldwide economic crisis, The New Reality follows Alex Pella on a journey that projects a frightening path for human existence in the twenty-first century.