by Alok Jha
projections 42–3, 44
population replacement level 48
Porritt, Jonathan 45
primordial black holes 203, 204–6
Propranolol 37
psychoactive drugs 36–7
Putin, Vladimir 51
Q
quantum mechanics 194, 197, 205, 229
quarks 229–30
R
radiological dirty bomb 30–1
Rahmstorf, Stefan 112, 115, 121
Randall, Doug 118, 120
rare earth elements 107–8
Raup, David M. 9, 161
Reagan, Ronald 21–2
recycling of metals 109
REDD program
(Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) 261
Rees, Martin 59, 65
Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) 230–1
relativity see general
relativity; special relativity
resource consumption 42, 44, 106
resource depletion 105–10
solutions 109–10
Richardson, Robert 107
ricin 32
Ritalin 36, 37
Robbins, Trevor 37
Robock, Alan 27, 28
robots 69, 70–2
nanorobots 64–5, 66–7, 67
rock paintings 254
Rodinia 123, 124
Rosetta Disk 256
Rosi-Marshall, Emma 61
rotational axis, shifting of Earth’s 175–8, 176
Rumsfeld 264
Russia, population in 51
S
Sachs, Jeffrey D. 110
Sagers, Cynthia 60
Sahara Forest project 94
Sainsbury, David 65
Sandman, Peter 17
sarin attack, Tokyo subway (1995) 32, 32, 33
SARS outbreak (2002) 16, 17
Sato, Kentaro 109–10
Schrag, Daniel 124, 126
Schwartz, Peter 118, 120
Schweizer, Francois 219, 220, 221
Scully, Jackie 243
sea level rises 111–15
areas at risk 113–15
causes of 112–13, 115
impact of 112
likelihood of 115
Search for Extra Terrestrial
Intelligence (SETI) 208, 210, 212
Senovilla, José 226, 227
Sepkoski, Jack 9
Shamatha Project 247
Shara, Michael 199, 200, 201
sharks, disappearing of 260, 261
Shockley, William 240
Shoemaker-Levy 9 138
Shostak, Seth 211, 212
simian foamy virus 17
simulation, living in a computer 249–51
singularity 74, 187, 202–3, 226
Snowball Earth hypothesis 122–6
soil
effect of pollution on fertility of 130
erosion 91, 96
solar collision 198–201
solar storms 168–73, 170
Somalia 98
South America water stress 103
South Atlantic Anomaly 159
Soviet Union
nuclear weapons 25
Perimeter (doomsday machine) 18–22
space dust 179–83
Space Odyssey, A 70
Spanish influenza (1918) 14
special relativity 225
“species clock hypothesis” 246–7
sperm count, fall in 50–1
Star Wars 21–2
stars
collisions of 199–201
life cycle of 214–17, 215
Steiner, Achim 86, 88, 89
stellar collisions 199–201
stem-cell research 78
sterilization
cosmic 232
human 242
Stern, Nicholas 114
Stewart, Ian 209–11
Stindl, Reinhard 244, 246, 247
storms, super 163–7
Stothers, Richard 181
strange-matter hypothesis 230
strangelets 228–32
Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) 21–2
string theory 204, 227
Sudan 97, 98
Sumatran orang-utan 259–60, 260
Sun 169, 186
collision with 198–201
death of 213–17
shift in Earth’s orbit around 175–8
solar storms 168–73, 170
superintelligence, artificial 69–74
supernovas 191
superstorms 163–7
supervolcanoes 147–52, 149
Swine flu (H1N1) (2009) 13–14
Syngenta 61
synthetic biology 59
T
Taleb, Nassim Nicholas The Black Swan 265–7
Tambora, eruption of (1815) 148, 149
telomerase 247
telomeres 244–7, 245
terrorism 29–34, 108–9
cyber 53, 54–6
and dirty bombs 30–4
Thailand 98
thermohaline circulation 116–21, 119
causes of shutting down of 118–19
impact of shutting down 120–1
likelihood of shutting down 121
Tilton, John E. 106
time
definition 224–5
end of 223–7
Toba eruption 149, 150, 151
Tokyo subway sarin attack (1995) 32, 32, 33
Toon, Owen Brian 28
transhumanism 75–9
trilobites 10
tsunamis 144–5
Indian Ocean (2004) 144 [same as below?]
mega 142–6
Pacific Ocean (2004) 267
Turco, Richard 27
Typhoon Tip (1979) 166
U
Uganda
GM crops 60
uncertainty principle 194
United Nations 101, 102
United States
cities threatened by sea level rises 114
GM crops 60
nuclear weapons 25
unknown unknowns 263–7
unpredictable, predicting the 264–5
UN’s Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) 91
uploads 79
uranium 24–5
US Geological Survey (USGS) 92, 161, 162
UV radiation 132–3, 192
V
vacuum decay 194–7, 196
van Court, Marian 242
van Dam, Jan 177
varroa mite 82
Venter, Craig 62
Vietnam
impact of sea level rise on 114–15
Vinge, Vernor 73
“volcanic winter” 151
volcanoes, super 147–52, 149
von Foerster, Heinz 43
Vonnegut, Kurt 230
W
Wallace, Alfred Russel 240–1
Ward, Peter D. 155, 156, 157
water/water shortages 100–4
areas under stress 102–3
and climate change 101, 102, 103
consumption of 101
green 104
as risk factor for health 103
solutions 104
water hyacinth 88
Watson, James 233–4
Webber, Michael E. 101
Weissman, Paul 181, 183
Wien, Lawrence 33
Wilczek, Frank 205
Williams, Darren M. 177
witchweed 88
Wolfe, Nathan 16
Woodwell, George M. 131
World Conservation Union (IUCN) 260
World Health Organization (WHO) 14, 261
Worldwatch Institute 95
WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), Living Planet Report 258, 259
Y
Yarynich, Valery 20
Yellowstone volcano 152
Young, Rob 114
Younger Dryas 119
Z
Zyvex Corporation 66
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Alok Jha, The Doomsday Handbook
