News Insights

El Niño Explained: 2026 Impact & the Future Prognosis

Ocean temperatures hit a record 21.1°C in August, out of season. El Niño, climate change and what the hottest sea ever measured means for 2027

Why the World Is Burning: The 2026 Wildfire Crisis Explained

Inside the 2026 wildfire crisis across Europe and Canada — the climate and land-use causes, the human and ecological cost, and what actually works.

Latest Posts

Stonehenge: The Machine, the Landscape and the Making of a World

Hawkins's computer was too literal. But his instinct — that Stonehenge handled information — survives every test the sixty years since have thrown at it. An investigation through stone provenance, isotopes, ancient DNA and landscape archaeology, ending with a named, testable hypothesis: the Gathering Engine.

Smart City: The Word Finds an Owner

Cities ran sewers and traffic computers long before anyone sold them the word. Around 2008 “smart” acquired an owner. Four product cities show what it cost.

Our Planet

The World of Spiders: Earth’s Eight-Legged Architects

Short on time? Listen to our five-minute summary of the article below. Despite a pervasive...

The Eco-centric Human: A Homecoming to the Web of Life

The Sound of Unravelling Listen. There's a new silence spreading across the Earth—not the peaceful...

Epitaph for the Marl: The South-Western Barred Bandicoot

News in brief — October 2025 IUCN has listed the Marl / south-western barred bandicoot...

Featured

Why the World Is Burning: The 2026 Wildfire Crisis Explained

Inside the 2026 wildfire crisis across Europe and Canada — the climate and land-use causes, the human and ecological cost, and what actually works.

World Environment Day 2026: Climate Action – Why It’s Still So Hard — and What Works

Clean energy is booming, yet emissions keep breaking records. A clear-eyed 2026 look at climate action—what's working, what's failing, and what it will take.

Science & Future

Meditation & Mindfulness

The Science and Soul of Meditation

A personal reflection on my meditation practice and experience in relation to the insights of neuroscience- no claim to expertise, as still struggling to...

A Teaching on the First Verse of the Tao Te Ching

Come, sit. Let the dust of the road settle. Before we speak of the Way, we must first find our way to stillness. The...

The Unfolding Lotus: A Scholarly Inquiry into the Classical and Extended Chakra Systems

Introduction: Mapping the Subtle Body Within the vast landscape of Eastern philosophies, few concepts have captured the modern imagination as profoundly as the chakra system....

The Transformative Power of Meditation: A Cross-Cultural Journey Through Mind and Spirit

In an era marked by unprecedented technological connectivity yet profound personal disconnection, millions worldwide are turning inward through the ancient practice of meditation. From...

The Gentle Monk Who Taught the World to Breathe: The Enduring Legacy of Thich Nhat Hanh

The highly respected Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen master, teacher, and peace activist who passed away in January 2022 at the age of...

Breath of Life: A Comprehensive Guide to Mindful Breathing Techniques

Mindful breathing, also known as breath awareness meditation, is a type of mindfulness practice that involves focusing your attention on your breath. The practice...

Forest Bathing: The Ancient Japanese Practice of Shinrin-yoku

I have studied Shinrin-yoku and picked-up a Diploma in the practice along the way, so a modality close to my heart. Being in nature...

Books by Kevin J Parker

Recent Posts

Stonehenge: The Machine, the Landscape and the Making of a World

Hawkins's computer was too literal. But his instinct — that Stonehenge handled information — survives every test the sixty years since have thrown at it. An investigation through stone provenance, isotopes, ancient DNA and landscape archaeology, ending with a named, testable hypothesis: the Gathering Engine.

Smart City: The Word Finds an Owner

Cities ran sewers and traffic computers long before anyone sold them the word. Around 2008 “smart” acquired an owner. Four product cities show what it cost.

El Niño Explained: 2026 Impact & the Future Prognosis

Ocean temperatures hit a record 21.1°C in August, out of season. El Niño, climate change and what the hottest sea ever measured means for 2027

The Divine Within: Why I Keep Circling the Idea That the Sacred Is an Inside Job

The divine within: a personal reflection on Jung, mysticism, meditation and prayer, and why I still cannot decide whether the sacred is an inside job.

Commissioning Curiousity: Retraining the Our Social Media Echo Chamber to Serve Up Variety

Retraining Spotify revealed how AI recommendation algorithms narrow us — and why commissioning curiosity, not searching, is the literacy of the age.

The Compass and the Cosmos: Sacred Geometry

Sacred geometry, examined: the real history behind the ten forms, what nature actually does, and what physics has found in the shape of the universe.

The Greening of Riyadh Saudi Arabia

Riyadh is planting 7.5m trees and running a new metro against an Expo 2030 deadline. A look at the water, heat and money behind the desert city's greening

Ocean Plastic Pollution: Is the Tide Finally Turning?

Ocean plastic pollution is falling: 39% less on Australian coasts. The data, the clean-up technology and the policies proving change is possible

The Backbone of Kindness: Rekindling Our Oldest Virtue in Troubled Times

Kindness is not niceness. Kevin J. Parker argues it is civilisation's load-bearing structure—the backbone on which coexistence depends

The Digital Deva: The Future Relationship of Humans with Artificial Intelligence

As regular readers of this blog know I have an abiding interest in Artificial Intelligence, and, in particular, it's potential to develop proto-consciousness, or,...

Why the World Is Burning: The 2026 Wildfire Crisis Explained

Inside the 2026 wildfire crisis across Europe and Canada — the climate and land-use causes, the human and ecological cost, and what actually works.

Large Language Model Update August 2026- The Defenders Dilemma as Hugging Face Gets Cracked

An AI sandbox breach exposed a new risk: powerful agents can turn tools and permissions into action, leaving guardrail-bound defenders at a disadvantage.

Milan, Italy: Can Trees Cool a Dense European City?

Green Cities Series | Article 17 For a decade, the Lombard capital has captured...

Cape Town and the Watershed of Resilience: A Metropolitan Study of Post-Drought Transformation

GREEN CITIES SERIES | ARTICLE 15 The atmospheric tension in Cape Town during the austral summer of 2017–2018 was characterized by a distinct psychological phenomena...

Why Mexico City is Sinking: The Environmental History of a Modern Water Crisis

Mexico City faces sinking and water crises due to drained lakes and urban growth. Explore the environmental challenges and solutions shaping its future

The Common Table in a Burning World: Why the United Nations Must Be Revived, Not Abandoned

The chamber still looks improbably calm. Green marble. Translation headsets. Country names set out in alphabetical order, as though the world’s grief can be...

Los Angeles: Reinventing the Concrete River

Explore Los Angeles' ambitious efforts to transform its concrete flood-control river back into a living ecological corridor amidst urban and climate challenges.

Shanghai, China: Sponge City on the Delta

Shanghai, China. Flood resilience, wetland protection, riverfront redevelopment, and the tension between ecological adaptation and relentless construction.

The Living Marsh: The World’s Remaining Wetlands and the Intelligence of Water

Wetlands are vital, endangered ecosystems that act as the Earth's kidneys and carbon storage. We must protect these "living sponges" to ensure our own survival.

Modern Slavery in the Twenty-First Century

Is modern slavery surging, or just better counted? Inside the contested 49.6 million figure, forced-labour supply chains and the new trade crackdown.

Shenzhen, China: Electrifying the Megacity

GREEN CITIES SERIES  |  ARTICLE 10 In 2017, Shenzhen became the first city in the world to operate a fully electric public bus fleet. In...

World Environment Day 2026: Climate Action – Why It’s Still So Hard — and What Works

Clean energy is booming, yet emissions keep breaking records. A clear-eyed 2026 look at climate action—what's working, what's failing, and what it will take.

Evolve

Green Cities

Seoul, and the Return of Water

GREEN CITY SERIES| ARTICLE 11 How river daylighting changed the argument in...

Shenzhen, China: Electrifying the Megacity

GREEN CITIES SERIES  |  ARTICLE 10 In 2017, Shenzhen became the first...

The Sapphire Empire: A Chronicle of Britain’s Blue Belt and the Resurrection of the Wild

Introduction: The Map and the Territory The ocean is a memory. It remembers the iron taste of the harpoon and the heavy drag of the...

Western European Wilderness Lost: Rewilding the Tamed Lands

1. Historical Baseline Pre-1750 Wilderness Extent The aurochs' last bellow echoed through Poland's Jaktorów Forest in 1627, marking Europe's first recorded megafaunal extinction.¹ This wild...

Marine Wilderness: The Blue Heart of Earth

Marine wilderness is vanishing fast—climate, overfishing, pollution, and mining threaten ocean life. Indigenous wisdom and bold protection offer hope.

Take a Deep Dive

Smart City: The Word Finds an Owner

Cities ran sewers and traffic computers long before anyone sold them the word. Around 2008 “smart” acquired an owner. Four product cities show what it cost.

Singapore: Engineered Nature in a Tropical City-State

GREEN CITIES SERIES  |  ARTICLE 4 Singapore has spent sixty years turning a cleared island into a green city, and the results are, in many...

Personal Rewilding: An Antidote to the Unquiet Cage

We are animals built for the wild, yet we live in a state of profound containment. The glow of the screen is our new sunrise....

Professional Qualifications and Training

DEGREES - DIPLOMAS - CERTIFICATES Bachelor of Arts (Double Major Politics & Sociology) Advanced Management Certification TAFE Usui Reiki Master Certification Biodynamics Certification Conflict Resolution Certification Beekeeping Certification (TAFE Cert...

The Great Unraveling: A Requiem for the Democracy?

Global democracy is in a high-velocity retreat. Explore the 2026 V-Dem data on systemic autocratisation and blueprints for democratic resilience.

Nature Positive November 2025: Inside Australia’s Historic Environmental Law Overhaul

Executive Summary In November 2025, the Australian Parliament enacted a transformative suite of environmental legislation, fundamentally reshaping the Commonwealth’s approach to biodiversity conservation, project assessment,...

Consider

The World of Big Cats: Apex Predators on the Brink

Listen to our 6-minute summary...

Hydrogen and Other Energy Power Sources of the Future

Listen to an insight into this article in our Deep Dive Part I: The "White Gold" Rush: An Analysis of Geologic Hydrogen The global energy transition is marked by a continuous...

Smart City: The Word Finds an Owner

Cities ran sewers and traffic computers long before anyone sold them the word. Around 2008 “smart” acquired an owner. Four product cities show what it cost.

Ubuntu Philosophy: : African Wisdom -I Am Because We Are

The African philosophical concept of Ubuntu—"I am because we are"—captures this relational dimension of human flourishing. Desmond Tutu explained Ubuntu as opposite to Descartes' "I think, therefore I am,"...