energy

artificial intelligence eliminates a lot of complexities required for sustaining biological intelligence

but at least for centuries to come, the existence of intelligence on earth will depend on survival of humankind

our basic biological needs are:

, air (oxygen plus nitrogen and/or helium to adjust its density, with suitable temperature and pressure)

, clean water (H2O plus some minerals to adjust the pH)

, nutrients

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soylent_(meal_replacement)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huel

naturally the environment we evolved in, supplies our basic needs

but in general, it's unstable, slow and insufficient (considering the current population and standards of life)

thus we have to find methods to do it faster and in larger amounts, without damaging our environment

in a prosperous society:

, no one's health is threatened by the lack of

clean water, healthy food, shelter, sanitation, or medical services

, proper education (free of any kind of ideology) is available for every body

, the more one's work benefits society, the richer one will be

ie exactly the opposite of what is happening now, in most parts of the world

obviously, energy is the central issue here

energy is the second major problem of humankind (the first is our ego)

and in fact, any kind of intelligence needs energy

it seems that there is only one source of energy which is inexhaustible, the nucleus of abundant elements

we live because of the Sun, and because we are far enough from it

but this also means that the energy is dispersed on earth and to harness it we need a lot of space

solar power tower is a good method to do it

additionally we can use natural cyclic systems powered by the Sun:

, water cycle, which its use is almost saturated

, high altitude wind, like Magenn air rotor system

we can store energy in the electron arrangement of special materials

they are called batteries or fuels, if the released energy is electricity or heat, respectively

fossil fuels are how nature stores energy, they have very good energy densities,

but burning them pollutes air, and their natural resources will eventually expire

biofuel is a ridiculous and at the same time a sad lie

it leads to more hunger, and it is the most inefficient way to harness the energy of the Sun

to export intelligence beyond the solar system, we need to harness nuclear energy directly

currently the most common way to harness nuclear energy is by splitting a heavy nucleus apart,

a process called fission

in addition to not being an abundant energy source, fission is in general a very dirty process,

producing high'level nuclear waste

though maybe new generation reactors can solve these problems (partially at least)

fusion:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_radiation#Health_hazards_and_protection

quantum gravity -> controlling gravity? -> fusion