Complex Ice

The Two Achilles Heels Of Complex Systems

The Honest Sorcerer | 25th May 2025

Electric grids exemplify two vulnerabilities in all manmade complex systems: tight coupling and the limits of human comprehension. Cascading collapses happen within seconds of things going slightly wrong, as with the blackout in the Iberian peninsula. “We are lurching towards a post-electric world, where national grids will gradually become unaffordable, and be broken down into smaller local grids” (3,500 words)

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Ice Sculpted Canada

Tomas Pueyo | Uncharted Territories | 13th May 2025

“In the far north, it rains less. The ice sheets dig deep holes into the ground, strip the sediments away, leaving the soil bare, which tends to produce hills and valleys. The stripped land is more hermetic. Water stays there and ponds. The ice pushes the mantle down. When it melts, the land bounces back unevenly, forming peaks and valleys. This is why Canada hosts 60% of all of the world’s lakes” (2,500 words)