Related papers: Physical basis of sustainable development
The Earth's surface is composed of a staggering diversity of particulate-fluid mixtures: dry to wet, dilute to dense, colloidal to granular, and attractive to repulsive particles. This material variety is matched by the range of relevant…
Economic complexity has been linked to sustainability outcomes, such as income inequality and greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, it is unclear whether the pursuit of complex and/or related activities naturally aligns with these outcomes, or…
Geometric evolution represents a fundamental aspect of many physical phenomena. In this paper we consider the geometric evolution of structures that undergo topological changes. Topological changes occur when the shape of an object evolves…
Current cosmological data indicate that our universe contains a substantial component of dark vacuum energy that is driving the cosmos to accelerate. We examine the immediate and longer term consequences of this dark energy (assumed here to…
Inelastic surface growth associated with continuous creation of incompatibility on the boundary of an evolving body is behind a variety of natural and technological processes, including embryonic development and 3D printing. In this paper…
We investigate a class of cosmological solutions of Einstein's field equations in higher dimensions with a cosmological constant and an ideal fluid matter distribution as a source. We discuss the dynamical evolution of the universe subject…
Earth system analysis is the study of the joint dynamics of biogeophysical, social and technological processes on our planet. To advance our understanding of possible future development pathways and identify management options for…
Biological systems reach organizational complexity that far exceeds the complexity of any known inanimate objects. Biological entities undoubtedly obey the laws of quantum physics and statistical mechanics. However, is modern physics…
We explore how physical scale and population size shape the emergence of complex behaviors in open-ended ecological environments. In our setting, agents are unsupervised and have no explicit rewards or learning objectives but instead evolve…
Our planet is experiencing an accelerated process of change associated to a variety of anthropogenic phenomena. The future of this transformation is uncertain, but there is general agreement about its negative unfolding that might threaten…
This paper presents a physical perspective on the human migration phenomenon claiming that human social behaviors are somehow but not completely inspired by nature. Human displacement or migration in the world is highly affected by…
There is a general need of elaborating energy-effective solutions for managing our increasingly dense interconnected world. The problem should be tackled in multiple dimensions -technology, society, economics, law, regulations, and…
Despite the increase in observational data on exoplanets, the processes that lead to the formation of planets are still not well understood. But thanks to the high number of known exoplanets, it is now possible to look at them as a…
The shape of buildings plays a critical role in the energy efficiency, lifestyles, land use and infrastructure systems of cities. Thus, as most of the world's cities continue to grow and develop, understanding the interplay between the…
The growth of cities has traditionally been studied from a population perspective, while urban expansion-its spatial growth-has often been approached qualitatively. However, characterizing and modeling this spatial expansion is crucial,…
In this paper, I endeavour to construct a new model, by extending the classic exogenous economic growth model by including a measurement which tries to explain and quantify the size of technological innovation ( A ) endogenously. I do not…
The synergistic combination of deep learning models and Earth observation promises significant advances to support the sustainable development goals (SDGs). New developments and a plethora of applications are already changing the way…
Nature's many complex systems--physical, biological, and cultural--are islands of low-entropy order within increasingly disordered seas of surrounding, high-entropy chaos. Energy is a principal facilitator of the rising complexity of all…
Human settlements are the cause and consequence of most environmental and societal changes on Earth; however, their location and extent is still under debate. We provide here a new 10m resolution (0.32 arc sec) global map of human…
The dynamic nature of life's ability to thrive in diverse and changing planetary environments suggests that habitability and survival depend on the evolutionary path and life adaptation to environmental conditions. Here we explore such…