News Highlights

We don’t only report the news, we make the news. Our news highlights and archive here.

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Doug Erickson Doug Erickson

Why Do Humans Fear AI?

Humans fear AI not for its imperfections, but for its unsettling similarities and potential superiority. As AI approaches truth more objectively than we do, it challenges our identity, forcing us to confront the myth of human intellectual supremacy.

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Doug Erickson Doug Erickson

Microsoft's AI Gamble

In late 2022, Satya Nadella made a wager that could define not just his tenure, but Microsoft’s identity for the next decade: a multibillion-dollar alignment with OpenAI and a wholesale reorientation of Microsoft around artificial intelligence. Will his wager pay off?

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Doug Erickson Doug Erickson

That Time We Bought a Pizza Shop

Sol Lipman, a successful tech entrepreneur known for ventures like 12seconds.tv and DRIVR, made an unexpected pivot from Silicon Valley to Santa Cruz’s downtown pizza scene. Alongside his wife Erica, Sol purchased Pleasure Pizza Downtown with a mission to reconnect with community in a tangible, day-to-day way.

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Doug Erickson Doug Erickson

The Rising Demand for Electricity

AI, advanced manufacturing, climate change, and electrification are driving global electricity demand. In the U.S., data centers and new factories are key contributors, though most new power comes from renewables.

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Malina Long Malina Long

MAH and American Museums and Libraries Need Your Voice

The Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (the MAH) faces potential significant challenges due to a recent Executive Order issued by President Trump on March 14th. This order proposes the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the sole federal agency dedicated to supporting American museums and libraries.

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Doug Erickson Doug Erickson

Everything Everywhere All at Once

We are entering even harder times but we must continue taking deliberate action to reduce the use of fossil fuels and eliminate them as quickly as possible to prevent continued warming of the atmosphere and eventual collapse of Earth’s ecosystems that have supported life as we know it for thousands of years. 

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Doug Erickson Doug Erickson

How Budget Cuts will Impact Santa Cruz and Research

In a powerful letter to the community (Santa Cruz Sentinel, March 20, 2025), UC Santa Cruz faculty members Needhi Bhalla, Susan Carpenter, and Nobel Laureate Carol Greider raise urgent concerns about recent cuts to federal biomedical research funding by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk

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Doug Erickson Doug Erickson

How Santa Cruz's Rail Trail Reflects a Broader Democratic Problem

A decade-long rail trail project in Santa Cruz has spiraled into a costly, unrealistic infrastructure fiasco. With $1 billion needed just for bridge repairs and a final price tag nearing $5 billion, it exemplifies how progressive ideals without pragmatic governance fuel public frustration — and inadvertently, MAGA’s political momentum.

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Doug Erickson Doug Erickson

Emergency Fundraiser for Human Trafficking Survivors

Hope is more powerful than fear –– That’s why Rising Worldwide, Santa Cruz’s international anti-human trafficking organization is hosting Rising at the Rio, a night of entertainment to fundraise emergency support for local and global survivors of human trafficking.  

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Doug Erickson Doug Erickson

Beaches, Books, Budgets, Bots – A Must-Attend Event on April 2!

Join us on April 2 at the stunning Chaminade Spa & Resort for an evening of cutting-edge insights, dynamic discussion, and top-tier networking at Beaches, Books, Budgets, and Bots. This exclusive event brings together leading innovators and thought leaders to examine how political instability is shaping our communities and the world at large.

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