GCRI believes it is important to stay up to date on news and discussions about global catastrophic risk. To that effect, we have compiled blogs and news feeds related to GCR as a service to the GCR community.
Items listed here are all free and publicly available online. All items have some connection to GCR, though many discuss non-GCR topics as well. This list is undoubtedly incomplete; to suggest an addition (or correction), please contact us. We would especially welcome additions in languages other than English.
This version was published on 18 October 2012. It contains 36 blogs and 18 newsfeeds. All links are active as of this date. See the accompanying blog post.
This resource was produced by Tony Barrett, Seth Baum, Tim Maher, and Grant Wilson.
Blogs
80,000 Hours Oxford-based non-profit promoting high-impact, altruistic careers with some emphasis on GCR
Accelerating Future Discusses emerging technologies and transhumanism; by Michael Anissimov of the Singularity Institute
Aetiology Discusses disease, including infectious disease, with some emphasis on communication; by Tara C. Smith for ScienceBlogs
Arms Control Now Discusses international relations and military build-up, including nuclear weapons; by the Arms Control Association
Arms Control Wonk Discusses nuclear weapons; by Jeffrey Lewis, Geoffrey Forden, Joshua Pollack, Michael Krepon, and others
Climate Progress Discusses climate change with some emphasis on communication; by Stephen Lacey & Joe Romm; sponsored by the Center for American Progress Action Fund
Defusing the Nuclear Threat Nuclear war blog by Martin Hellman of Stanford
Global Health: Infectious Diseases From Northwestern University
H5N1 “News and resources about influenza, infectious diseases, and the politics of public health”
Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies Discusses emerging technologies with some consideration of GCR
Federation of American Scientists: Strategic Security Discusses nuclear weapons issues (other FAS blogs here)
FluHelp Discusses “techniques for preventing and treating the flu virus”
Get Ready Public catastrophe preparedness; by the American Public Health Association
Home Station (Inactive) Covers homeland security issues including critical infrastructure, emergency response, and pandemics
Homeland Security: Law and Regulation Blog Monitors legislation & public policy related to homeland security
Infectious Diseases Today Covers a variety of infectious disease, some with potential for global catastrophe
Kurzweil AI blog Discusses emerging technologies especially artificial intelligence, transhumanism, plus astrobiology and other topics
Lawfare Discusses legal matters related to national security; by Brookings & Harvard Law
Less Wrong Discusses rationality, psychology, uncertainty, and effectiveness with some attention to GCR
Lifeboat Foundation Discusses a variety of GCR & related topics, especially high energy physics experiments and space exploration
Nanodot: The original nanotechnology weblog by the Foresight Institute
Ordinary Ideas Discusses artificial general intelligence, with emphasis on AI safety; by Paul F. Christiano
Ploughshares Fund Discusses nuclear weapons issues
Real Climate Discusses climate change, with emphasis on the physical science basis
Reflective Disequilibrium Discusses theoretical and applied ethics, with emphasis on GCR and related topics; by Carl Shulman
Responsible Nanotechnology (inactive) by Chris Phoenix
Rethinking Nuclear Weapons “a project to pragmatically re-evaluate the rationale for nuclear weapons”; by Ward Wilson
Risk Sense Discusses a variety of risks and risk topics, with some attention to GCR; by the University of Michigan Risk Science Center
Self-Aware Systems Discusses artificial general intelligence with emphasis on safety; by Steve Omohundro
Singularity Institute Discusses artificial general intelligence with emphasis on saftey
Skoll Global Threats Fund Discusses GCR topics including pandemics, climate change, and nuclear weapons
Superbug Discusses infectious disease; by Mary McKenna for Wired
The Chart: Infectious Diseases By Sanjay Gupta for CNN
The Singularity Hypothesis Discusses artificial intelligence, with some emphasis on risk; associated with an academic edited volume of the same name
Virology Blog Discusses virology and infectious disease; by Vincent Racaniello of Columbia University
Waging Peace Today Discusses nuclear proliferation; sponsored by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
News Feeds
AAAS Center for Science, Technology, and Security Policy RSS feeds for a variety of topics including biosecurity, climate change, global security, and nuclear Weapons
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs Harvard JFK School of Government; has RSS feeds for International Security, International Security and Defense, Latest Publications, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs: Managing the Atom, and Science, Technology and Public Policy. These discuss a variety of issues (with overlapping content) often related to nuclear weapons
Biosecurity News Today Daily email newsletter discussing developments in biosecurity and associated risks and social implications; by the UPMC Center for Biosecurity
Brookings RSS feeds for many topics including nuclear weapons, climate change, and pandemics
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Nonproliferation Program Discussions, news, and insights on nuclear war, energy, and nonproliferation
Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy Recent news on infectious disease; CIDRAP is based at University of Minnesota
Center for Strategic and International Studies Several RSS feeds on topics including nuclear weapons and security & climate change
Friendly AI Research Discusses research on benevolent AI
Future of Humanity Institute News Oxford University research group studying GCR and related topics
Global Security Newswire Daily news summary on nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons; by the Nuclear Threat Initiative
h+ Magazine Discusses issues surrounding transhumanism, AI, and related topics
Homeland Security Policy Institute News George Washington University group, discusses regional security issues with some GCR implications
Intelligence News Discusses environmental, economic, nuclear and political security issues; by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies Activities & Events feed, related to nuclear weapons
Oxford Martin Program on the Impacts of Future Technology News on existential risk, emerging technologies and applied ethics.
Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies News Discusses advancements in nanotechnology R&D and relevant laws and regulations
Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces aims “to provide Russian citizens and policy makers with information about nuclear weapons, arms control and disarmament based on open scientific analysis”
SpaceWar: NukeWars News on nuclear war, energy, and nonproliferation
