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Adam Becker is a science journalist and astrophysicist. He has written for The New York Times, BBC, NPR, Scientific American, New Scientist, Quanta, Undark, Aeon, and others. He also recorded a video series with the BBC, and has appeared on numerous radio shows and podcasts, including Ologies, The Story Collider, and KQED Forum. Whats the big idea? Tech billionaires like to hype up delusional doomsday fantasies in which they are the saviors and overlords of civilization. Many people may just laugh or disregard these outlandish claims, but a closer look reveals the scary truth of how seriously, specifically, and consequentially these thought leaders are committed to their ridiculous visions for the future. They abstain from making meaningful choices to improve the here and now because of their faith in unreasonable techno-solutions. It is important that society stays aware that their nightmares and promised utopias are founded in fiction. Below, Becker shares five key insights from his new book, More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valleys Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity. Listen to the audio versionread by Becker himselfin the Next Big Idea App. 1. Tech billionaires have ludicrously implausible power fantasies about the future. Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and other tech billionaires have made surprisingly outlandish claims about what a good future for humanity should look like. Elon Musk has spoken repeatedly about the need to set up a colony on Mars. He has said that hes going to put a million people on Mars by 2050 by sending one rocket launch a day for years, and that the colony needs to be self-sufficient, surviving even if the supply rockets from Earth stop coming. Musk contends that this is vital for the future of humanity, claiming that our species will go extinct if it doesnt happen soon. He claims Mars is our lifeboat for civilization. This is all pure fantasy: Mars is too inhospitable to allow a million people to live there anytime remotely soon, if ever. The gravity is too low, the radiation is too high, theres no air, and the Martian dirt is filled with poison. Theres no plausible way around these problems, and thats not even all of them. Nor does the idea of Mars as a lifeboat for humanity make sense: Even after an extinction event like an asteroid strike, Earth would still be more habitable than Mars. Mammals survived the asteroid strike that killed the dinosaurs, but no mammals could survive unprotected on Mars today. Putting all of that aside, if Musk somehow did put a colony on Mars, it would be wholly dependent on his company, SpaceX, for supplies. Thats one feature that tech oligarchs fantasies have in common: they all involve billionaires holding total control over the rest of us. 2. AI isnt going to be as good (or bad!) as the tech industry claims. Silicon Valley billionaires and thought leaders have been making wild promises about AI. They claim that AI will soon become superintelligent, far outstripping human intellect, and this will lead to a total revolution in human civilizationif these godlike AIs dont destroy humanity first. Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, says that superintelligent AI is coming within the next four years. He also claims that once we have it, every product and service will halve in price every two years as AI takes over the economy. Bill Gates has made similar claims, suggesting that AI will free us for a life of leisure as it caters to our every need. Other industry leaders claim AI will revolutionize science, ushering in an unprecedented era of discovery and near-magical technology. Theres virtually no evidence for any of this: it is specious reasoning amplified by tech industry money and hype. These are narratives based on science fiction. They fundamentally misunderstand both the nature of intelligence and how current AI systems operate. Even calling something like ChatGPT AI is misleading; its a marketing term thats gotten way out of hand. 3. Were not colonizing space. Tech billionaires like Musk and Bezos have dreamed of colonizing space for decades. Despite their promises, its not happening. Musks dreams of Mars are modest compared to some of the other specious fantasies spun by tech billionaires and the think tanks they fund. Bezos doesnt want to put a million people in spacehe wants a trillion people living in a fleet of giant cylindrical space stations with interior areas bigger than Manhattan. He claims this is the best way to ensure future generations thrive. Otherwise, he warns, our species will stagnate on Earth. Yet such space stations would be staggeringly difficult and phenomenally dangerous to build. And Bezoss concerns about stagnation are based on a mix of faulty reasoning and an attachment to long-discredited ideas about sociology and history. Others in the tech industry (or funded by tech billionaires) have advocated for a future beyond our solar system, pushing humanity to take over the galaxy or the entire universe. This is even more unlikely to work: the distances between stars are too great, and theres little reason to leave the solar system. The impossible promise of an interstellar empire is held out as a shiny fantasy to justify the actions of tech billionaires. Musk has used the supposed need to colonize Mars as an excuse to ignore details like worker safety at SpaceX. Bezos has said that the pursuit of such a future is the most important thing he could be doing with his fortune, more important than addressing Earthbound problems here and now. 4. How Big Tech gets science wrong and distracts from present threats. Tech industry leaders often present themselves as scientific experts on everything from human biology to astrophysics to nuclear fusion. The truth is that they are business leaders, not scientists, and frequently get in far over their heads when discussing scientific concepts. They believe that their wealth makes them general experts on everything. Musk has repeatedly gotten facts about Mars wrong, even when hes been publicly corrected. He has repeatedly claimed that Mars can be terraformed (made into a more Earth-like planet) by using nuclear weapons to melt the Martian ice caps. Musk contends this would beef up the Martian atmosphere enough to allow humans to live there, but this isnt true: There arent nearly enough frozen gases in those ice caps to get the job done. When scientists pointed this out to him, he doubled down. Hes not alone in this. Altman has never given good justification for his claims about AI. Bezoss ideas about space come from old plans from the 1970s that were later shown to be unworkable. These arent just careless mistakes about unimportant details. Getting these scientific facts wrong allows these tech billionaires to maintain faith in their power fantasies and gives them an excuse to ignore todays problems. Altmn has said that the AI systems he believes are coming soon will be able to solve global warming quickly and easily, and therefore, hes not concerned about new AI data centers requiring huge amounts of power. Pushing humanity toward the impossible goals of tech oligarchs will lead to destructive consequences for everyone. 5. The racist origins of the tech industrys core ideology. Underneath the bizarre proclamations of tech billionaires, there is an ideology that technology can solve every problem, even fundamentally social and political problems like strife in the Middle East or political polarization in the United States. This ideology of technological salvation stems from a toxic mix of misunderstood science fiction, fringe religious movements, and racist pseudoscience. The same online subcultures that spawned the ideas about AI that Altman, Musk, and the rest have swallowed also have connections with the American far-right and a troubling history of promoting scientifically discredited claims about fundamental differences in innate intelligence between different races. This goes hand in hand with their obsession with AI: They believe that AI can become godlike because they believe that intelligence is a single measurable trait corresponding to IQ, and that a sufficiently powerful AI would be able to simply dial up its IQ to an arbitrarily high number. But IQ has always been used for eugenics and institutional racism, and theres little evidence that it measures anything real about people. Its mostly just been used to say that some groups of people are inherently better than others. Its no surprise that such stories are attractive to billionaires who want to justify their desire to remain in power over the rest of us forever. Recognizing the hollowness of these ideas is the first step to taking back our power. They want to set the terms on which we imagine the future, but the future isnt theirs for the taking. The future is something we all build together. They want us to believe that their promised utopias and nightmares are our only option. But in reality, the future is open. This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.
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Parental leave is often treated as a checkbox issuehandled quietly by HR, focused on paperwork, and confined to a narrow window of time. But Amy Beacom, founder and CEO of the Center for Parental Leave Leadership and author of The Parental Leave Playbook, is reshaping that view. With over 25 years of experience in executive coaching and organizational development, Beacom, who has an EdD degree in industrial and organizational psychology from Columbia University, partners with leading companies to transform parental leave into a strategic advantage for retention, equity, and leadership growth. In this conversation, Beacom unpacks some of the biggest misconceptions about parental leaveand shares best practices and innovative strategies for companies of all sizes to better support employees before, during, and after this critical transition. What are some of the biggest misconceptions organizations still hold about parental leave today? First, that parental leave is solely about paid time off, administration, and compliance. When seen only through this limited lens, leave remains siloed in HR, and its broader potential is overlooked. In reality, parental leave can be a powerful driver of talent retention, employee well-being, DEI-B goals, leadership development, organizational culture, brand reputation, risk mitigation, and more. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/03\/acupofambition_logo.jpg","headline":"A Cup of Ambition","description":"A biweekly newsletter for high-achieving moms who value having a meaningful career and being an involved parent, by Jessica Wilen. To learn more visit acupofambition.substack.com.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/acupofambition.substack.com","colorTheme":"salmon","redirectUrl":""}} Second, that parental leave begins when a child arrives and ends when a parent returns to work. The full employee experience often spans over a yearstarting before leave is announced and continuing long after the return. Without meaningful support across all three phasespreparing for, during, and returning from leaveorganizations risk losing talent and falling short of their intended ROI [return on investment].And third, that parental leave is only about moms. Leave benefits should be offered equally to all parents, not just mothers. Parental leave also impacts managers, teams, clients, and HR. When its seen not as a personal issue for moms but as a professional experience many employees will face, it becomes clear that leave is a standard part of the employee lifecycle. What are the core best practices every organizationregardless of sizeshould follow when it comes to supporting employees before, during, and after parental leave? Treat this time as unique and sacred, because for your employees it is. Begin with generous, gender-neutral paid family and medical leave benefits to create a strong foundation. Create a clear, centralized, and well-communicated intranet webpage that includes anything and everything leave-related. Include your policy, all benefits, expectations, assessments, coaching, training, templates, resources, etc. Provide structured guidance and planning support to both the employee and their manager before, during, and after leave. Train managers to understand the law, but just as importantly, train them how to confidently navigate the leave and return process with intentionality, empathy, and clarity. Normalize parental leave and return as a predictable part of the workplace experienceone that warrants consistent support and unlocks valuable opportunities for learning, growth, and leadership developmentnot as a disruption. Larger companies often have more resources. What innovative or exemplary approaches have you seen from bigger organizations when it comes to parental leave planning and reintegration?At the enterprise level, we help organizations integrate parental leave into leadership development, link manager support to performance goals, and use data to track and improve leave experiences across teams and regions. In some cases, we’ve scaled manager training across dozens of countries; in others, we’ve leveraged our digital coaching hub to build community and learning at scale. One of the most impactful and growing strategies we recommend is coachingusing certified RETAIN Parental Leave Coaches to support parents through leave and return, administer perinatal mental health screenings, and connect them to resources. Weve also helped organizations implement peer-based support like leave buddies and return-to-work cohorts to foster connection and ease the transition back to work. One area were currently focused onalongside several large companiesis designing effective leave coverage systems that double as developmental opportunities for high-potential employees or team members. We’re also exploring new ways to structure compensation and performance metrics that feel both fair and motivating. These arent just perkstheyre strategic tools for driving retention and performance Smaller organizations often cite resource constraints. What creative or low-cost strategies have you seen smaller employers use to support parental leave well?At the root of it, employees want to know they matter, especially during unpredictable times, and that simple act doesnt have to cost anything. The smaller employers we work with often shine through personalization and flexibilitythey use recognition in ways that feel meaningful and genuine. I also recommend using tools like shared planning templates and checklists for leave transitions, designating an HR point person to act as a leave concierge, and holding team-based planning sessions so responsibilities are clearly handed off and reintegrated. A warm, proactive conversation and a culture of support go a long wayeven without a big budget. Managers are often the linchpin in a parents leave experience. What support or guidance do they need?They need clear expectations, practical tools, and a safe, judgment-free space to ask questions. Most managers have never been trained on how to handle parental leave and return transitions and are afraid to say or do the wrong thing. Our evidence-based trainings provide communication frameworks, timelines, compliance essentials, and emotional intelligence skills. On top of training, the most impactful support we recommend is one-on-one coaching with a certified parental leave coach. When managers have confidential access to expert guidance, they feel more secure, parents feel more supportedand both are more likely to stay engaged and avoid burnout. Given the current political and cultural climate, what trends are you seeing in the future of parental leave policy and practiceand what might organizations need to prepare for?Theres growing recognition that leave is more than a benefitits a driver of long-term organizational health. Thirteen states plus D.C. have passed paid-leave legislation, and momentum is building toward federal standardization, and risin employee expectations are prompting companies to act ahead of mandates. Were also seeing a shift toward intersectional strategies that connect leave to leadership development, career growth, mental health, and caregiver support. Organizations that treat leave as a core talent strategynot just a compliance taskwill be best positioned for the future. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/03\/acupofambition_logo.jpg","headline":"A Cup of Ambition","description":"A biweekly newsletter for high-achieving moms who value having a meaningful career and being an involved parent, by Jessica Wilen. To learn more visit acupofambition.substack.com.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/acupofambition.substack.com","colorTheme":"salmon","redirectUrl":""}}
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PECOS, TexasExtreme drought has diminished the flows of the Rio Grande and Pecos River, two of the most iconic waterways in Texas. The advocacy group American Rivers recently named the Lower Rio Grande one of its most endangered rivers, describing a near-permanent human-induced megadrought threatening all life that depends on it. On the Pecos River, there hasnt been enough water to distribute to irrigation districts below the Red Bluff Reservoir in recent years. While farmers and cities face increasing water scarcity, oil and gas companies use billions of gallons of water from these rivers annually. An exclusive Inside Climate News analysis found that drillers used more than 31,000 acre feet, or more than 10 billion gallons, of Rio Grande water for drilling and fracking operations in the Eagle Ford Shale between 2021 and 2024. Thats enough water to meet the needs of 113,500 Texas households for an entire year, based on average daily use of 246 gallons per household. At the Red Bluff Reservoir on the Pecos River, Daniel Arrant of Kingsley Water Company reports to have sold more than 75 million barrels of water, or more than 4 billion gallons, for oil and gas operations since 2016. Numerous Texas oil and gas companies have made voluntary commitments to reduce their freshwater use and shift to brackish or recycled water for use in fracking for oil and gas. But the water sales, like those reported by Arrant of the Kingsley Water Company, show that oil and gas drilling is still reliant on surface water from Texas rivers. Surface water sold for drilling and fracking is categorized as mining consumption under Texas law. Pumping water underground to drill or frack a well often permanently removes it from the natural hydrologic cycle, given the presence of chemical fracking fluids and natural toxins like arsenic following its use in the extraction process for oil or gas. Inside Climate News obtained Rio Grande water data from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) through a public information request. Kingsley Water Company, an oil field water services firm based in the Woodlands, a Houston suburb, was the top user of Rio Grande water for oil and gas drilling, followed by SM Energy Company, Segundo Navarro Drilling, and Select Water Solutions. Between the Rio Grande and the Pecos River, Kingsley has sold enough water for drilling to meet the needs of more than 100,000 Texas households for a year. Kinglsey and Arrant did not respond to multiple requests for comment. State Representative Vikki Goodwin criticized Apache Corp. for buying water from the Pecos River when, she says, recycled produced water from fracking was available. Inside Climate News independently confirmed the water purchase. Investments in projects to clean up and recycle frack water will dry up if oil companies dont opt to use the recycled water, Goodwin, a Democrat who represents Travis County, said. My hope is we dont wait until too late to make better decisions about our water resources in Texas. A spokesperson for Apache, headquartered in Houston, said the company minimizes the use of fresh water and is using non-fresh, non-potable water for fracking its oil and gas wells in Loving County near the reservoir. Eagle Ford Drillers Tap Rio Grande Tributaries in Mexico feed the Rio Grande in South Texas. But with Mexico behind on water deliveries to the United States, tensions on the river are high. The Amistad Reservoir, where water delivered by Mexico is stored, hit a historic low in July 2024. Extreme drought in counties like Webb and Maverick, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, is compounding the problem. Groundwater springs and tributaries are feeding less water into the river. Flows have decreased on the Rio Grande by more than 30% in recent decades. The Rio Grande is the sole source of drinking water for the city of Laredo in Webb County. Because of the drought, Laredo has asked residents to reduce water use for several consecutive years. Planners are considering costly alternative water sources to prepare for the day, projected to come around 2040, when the Rio Grande wont be enough to supply the city. Agriculture consumes the lions share of Rio Grande water, followed by municipal use. While groundwater is the primary source for oil and gas drilling, several companies still consume substantial volumes of surface water from the river. Webb County is at the heart of the fracking boom that took off in South Texass Eagle Ford Shale formation in 2010. The Eagle Ford Shale is now consistently one of the top three oil-producing basins in the country. Inside Climate News found that between 2020 and 2024, Kingsley Water Company used 12,363 acre feet of Rio Grande water, SM Energy used 11,379 acre feet, Segundo Navarro used 3,979 acre feet, and Select Water used 3,776 acre feet. An acre foot is the amount of water needed to cover one acre of land to a depth of one foot, or 325,851 gallons. The companies did not respond to requests for comment. Rio Grande water rights are overseen by the TCEQ Rio Grande Watermaster. Water rights are adjudicated by the state and then can be bought and sold by private parties. Rights holders are allowed to divert a pre-approved amount of water at a specific location. Most of these rights are held by cities, farmers, and irrigation districts. Oilfield companies hold a small number. Kingsley Water Company is a subsidiary of Kingsley Constructors, headquartered in the Woodlands. In 2011, Daniel Arrant led the purchase and permitting of the Rio Grande water rights, according to the website of Voyager, the Houston private equity firm where he is a partner. Arrant entered contracts to resell the water to operators completing wells in the Eagle Ford Shale. These deals have sold more than 235 million barrels, or 9.87 billion gallons, of Rio Grande water, according to the Voyager website. Select Water Solutions, headquartered in Gainesville, Texas, also resells Rio Grande water to drilling companies. The companys 2023 sustainability report states that it places the utmost importance on safe, environmentally responsible management of water. Select Water Solutions reported selling a larger share of recycled water each year between 2020 and 2023. But the total volume of freshwater sold also increased in 2023 to a four-year high of more than 97 million barrels, or more than 4 billion gallons. SM Energy, a Denver-based independent exploration and production company, does not have public sustainability targets for minimizing water use and protecting water quality. Neither does San Antonio-based Segundo Navarro Drilling, a subsidiary of Lewis Energy Group. TCEQ does not collect data on how oil and gas companies use the surface water they purchase. Drilling, well completion, and fracking are all different steps in the lifecycle of a well that require water. TCEQ spokesperson Ricky Richter said that between 2009 and 2023, annual surface water use for mining, which includes oil and gas operations, averaged 40,000 acre feet statewide, or about 13 billion gallons. TCEQ defines mining use as water for mining processes including hydraulic use, drilling, washing sand and gravel, and oil field repressuring. Martin Castro, watershed science director at the Rio Grande International Study Center (RGISC) in Laredo, analyzed water use in oil and gas operations for a 2021 report. He found drillers used 19 billion gallons of Rio Grande water between 2010 and 2020. Any reductions of the rivers water supply, when coupled with recurring droughts, will have disastrous consequences for Webb County and South Texas, Castro wrote at the time. Inside Climate Newss analysis found slightly higher annual rates of water diversions for oil and gas between 2021 to 2024 than rates noted in RGISCs report spanning the preceding decade. Castro was concerned that drillers are still using large volumes of Rio Grande water. Were not doing any better than four years ago, he said. Castro previously worked for TCEQ and observed water diversions used for fracking. But he said that, without reporting requirements, the true scale is unknown. Castro would like to see TCEQ collect data on how much surface water goes to drilling as opposed to fracking. He has also called on TCEQ to publish Rio Grande water diversion data, which currently is only available through records requests. There is no transparency, he said. RGISC collaborated with American Rivers in its campaign that named the Lower Rio Grande one of the countrys most endangered rivers. Castro said improving resilience on the river will require thinking outside of the box and increasing investment. The only way were going to improve conditions on the river is if we make serious federal investments, he said. Water rights downstream of Amistad Reservoir on the Rio Grande operate on a priority system, which ensures cities get their share of water during times of scarcity. Priority is given to municipal use, and municipal priority is guaranteed through a municipal reserve, said TCEQ spokesperson Laura Lopez. Water for mining use, as with irrigation and recreational use, is allocated to a water right holders account based on available storage in the system. Pecos River Water Sold from Red Bluff Reservoir The Pecos River begins in the mountains of New Mexico and flows through West Texas to meet the Rio Grande. An inter-state compact requires New Mexico to send Pecos River water to Texas, where it is impounded at the Red Bluff Reservoir. Reduced flows on the Pecos have lowered water levels at Red Bluff. On paper, the Red Bluff Power and Irrigation District, which manages the reservoir, holds rights to 292,500 acre feet a year of water. But its been a long time since there was that much water in the reservoir. Red Bluff sat at 65,000 acre feet in early May. Because of the low reservoir levels, Red Bluff is often unable to send water downstream to irrigation districts. Kingsley secured the mining water right in 2014 for up to 7,500 acre feet of water a year, about 2.44 billion gallons. The Red Bluff district told Inside Climate News that Kinglsey purchased 1,400 acre feet, or more than 450 million gallons, in 2024. District general manager Robin Prewit said the water sales to oil and gas drillers are a drop in the bucket. She said that even if the district did not sell water to Kingsley, because of evaporation and transportation losses, there would not be enough water to send to the irrigation districts. Im not having to choose one or the other, she said. What she said she could really use is more rain in the Pecos River watershed in New Mexico. Salinity is another challenge. The water at Red Bluff is salty enough to be considered brackish. Farmers in the area grow salt-tolerant plants. But to be potable for human consumption the water would have to be treated. Apache, which purchased water from Kinglsey early this year, reported using 98.2% nonfresh water in 2023. Water from Red Bluff would be considered nonfresh because of the salinity levels. Ernest Woodward, a rancher outside McCamey, opposes the water sales for oil and gas drilling. It should not be, he said. Its for irrigation. He gave up farming barley after several years without irrigation water from Red Bluff. You go to all the labor to get the land prepared, and then you dont get the water, he said. Woodward would like to see water flowing in the river again. We dont have enough water, he said. Were starving. This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News. It is republished with permission. Sign up for its newsletter here.
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