BIG Exclusives

Key takeaways India’s energy demand is poised to soar, but duplicating China’s path could mean quadrupling coal use to 6 billion tonnes/year. Despite big gains in solar and wind capacity, low-capacity factors mean coal still delivers 70%+ of electricity consumed. India’s energy strategy is shaped by security and cost, not just climate goals, making coal more resilient in its energy mix than gas. If India consumed energy at China's per-capita level, its oil...

Right now, as you read this sentence, your brain is performing a feat so sophisticated that it makes quantum computing look simple. You are not just recognizing words; you are understanding that this is the beginning of an article about AI, inferring the author's intent, contextualizing it within your existing knowledge about technology, and simultaneously processing countless environmental cues about where you are, what you are doing, and what matters most in this moment. This...

Key takeaways China’s per capita GDP is five times that of India, and its per-capita energy use is four times higher than India’s. India’s population surpassed China’s in 2021, but its energy use per person remains far lower. Both countries still rely heavily on coal, which makes up 54% of China’s and 57% of India’s total energy mix. Despite impressive clean energy capacity gains, coal use has grown in absolute terms for both...

Training data bias — the hidden puppet master When you ask AI to recommend a stock, screen job applicants, or provide business strategy, you are relying on a mathematical engine whose every output is shaped by an unseen foundation: its training data. Behind the efficiency and power of every AI output, there is a silent influence shaping each decision — training data bias. This "hidden puppet master" is not a quirk; it is a structural...

I tell this story not to brag (OK, maybe a little) but to illustrate the value of rational people raising their voices in the face of false narratives. When a group of scientists, engineers, and I launched BIG Media in 2021, I figured that our facts/logic-focused news coverage would surprise many and draw criticism. I vowed to myself (and posted the promise on social media, which is the modern version of swearing on a stack of...

Mark Rutte, former Dutch Prime Minister and current NATO secretary general, made headlines during the June 2025 NATO summit in The Hague, when he made a quip comparing international conflicts to unruly children, saying: “Daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get them to stop.” He was referring to United States President Donald Trump’s blunt remarks about Israel and Iran, likening them to kids in a schoolyard fight. Rutte later claimed that he was not...

Today, in the final article of this series, let’s look at resources above ground. Although of course we need air to breathe, it is everywhere – so not a resource requiring specific efforts to access. We focus the discussion instead on energy resources above ground – wind and solar power. Then we will finish by revisiting the big picture on natural resources. The early days Before the Industrial Revolution and the introduction of coal, humanity got...

In the previous two articles in this series on the importance of natural resources (Part 1 – subsurface energy resources, Part 2 – other subsurface resources), we focused on resources buried deep – hundreds of metres or more – underground. So when we talk about surface resources, I want to include things that are easily accessed from the surface. Some, such as sand and gravel, require a bit of digging or quarrying. Potable (fresh)...

When ChatGPT creates your next dinner party menu or Claude develops a marketing plan for your business, there is a single mathematical mechanism working behind the scenes that determines every recommendation, every strategic insight, and every apparent moment of "understanding”. It is called the attention mechanism, and despite its fundamental importance to modern AI, most people – including many business leaders making multimillion-dollar AI investments – have no idea how it actually works. This is...

In the first article in this series, I divided natural resources into four categories: Subsurface energy resources – oil, natural gas, coal, radioactive energy minerals and geothermal heat Other subsurface resources – minerals (critical and non-critical) Water and land resources – oceans, lakes, and land Resources above ground – solar and wind energy Having examined the first group to start the week (Part 1 – subsurface energy resources), my focus shifts to #2: other...