Wednesday 18 March In Tolhuistuin - Club Doors: 19:00, Support: 19:30, Main programme: 20:30 Tickets start from € 6,50 Membership not required Program is half seated, half standing This show is part of Kosmos Science ＆ Cocktails is a series of public talks by scientists with live music and smoky dry-ice chilled cocktails in your hand 19:00 doors open for cocktails 19:30 Loveth Besamoh (live) 20:30 Geoffrey West (talk) Be the first to know when the next Science ＆ Cocktails Amsterdam event(s) will take place by subscribing to our newsletter. Hidden Laws of Life, Growth, Death, and Singularities Why do we stop growing, live about 100 years and sleep 8 hours a day? Why do people, animals and companies age and die, whereas cities continue to grow and accelerate the pace of life? And how about the planet itself? Can the super-exponential growth of the anthroposphere be sustained or are we on the edge of some critical transition? Is "the end of the world nigh”? And how are these questions related to innovation, wealth creation, social networks and urbanisation? Beneath the extraordinary diversity and complexity of life lies a surprising mathematical simplicity: from cells to cities most of its key characteristics obey remarkably simple “universal” scaling laws which constrain much of the organisation and dynamics of biological, ecological and socio-economic life. These include metabolism, growth, development, lifespans, energy, patents, pollution, roads, crime and disease. These “hidden laws of life” originate in generic mathematical properties of social, infrastructural, resource and information networks that sustain life across all scales. They lead to dramatic consequences for long-term growth and sustainability, including the threat of impending singularities and tipping points. Can the resulting open-ended super-exponential growth, fueled by innovation and wealth creation, be sustained or does it sow the seeds for stagnation, depopulation and collapse?
