The US numbers are normal for the developed world. Here are some total fertility rate (births/woman) numbers, copied from wikipedia.

Less developed regions: 2.35
More developed regions:1.46
USA: 1.41
Europe: 1.62
Africa: 3.95
China: 1.02
Replacement fertility rate (for sustained population) for most developed counties: 2.1

The UN has predicted, in 2024, that the worlds population will peak at 10.3 billion by 2084. Other thing to note is the the world's p population is expected to get significantly older, and a larger population will increase demand for resources.

Recall Tesla's "Battery Day" in 2020, when in he promised battery manufacturing with a process cutting costs by 50%. That production target is far from being achieved.

And let's not forget that Tesla has declining sales. In Europe, it is described as a bloodbath.

I suspect he is getting desperate.

The word "robot" comes from word Karel Capek's play "R.U.R." (Rossum's Universal Robots), where machines were made to perform difficult and dangerous work, and he used the Czech word "robota" meaning forced labor.

Why wouldn't you be able to have your own private, open-source AI, without the need for an internet connection, on a simple desktop? Not possible today perhaps, but maybe in the not-too-distant future.

Things are moving faster than you think. Several countries are investing heavily in SMR projects. There are 80 commercial designs underway. Russia has put out working floating SMRs. The British government has chosen the Rolls-Royce design, which is intended to be licensed to the United States, and six reactors will be exported to the Czech Republic by 2033.

Sorry if I misunderstood an article, but I think Starmer is betting on SMRs.
See https://www.bbc.com/news/artic...
And currently UK gets 14% of electricity from nuclear and wants to get that up to 25% and even signed a pledge to triple that capacity.

EDF is the state-owned French builder of nuclear power plants, but your claim is not true.

Germany has closed its nuclear power plants and is unlikely to build any new ones. Austria and Ireland are unlikely to build any.

However, European countries have a very divided attitude towards nuclear power.

France, with 57 reactors, wants to build 14 new ones and has brought together a variety of EU countries for an alliance. The UK has 11 new reactors in the pipeline. Belgium has lifted its nuclear ban and wants to extend the life of existing reactors. Spain is in similar discussions. Italy, which closed their nuclear reactors, has decided on new ones. Both Sweden and Finland and want to build new ones.

Other countries that are considering are, besides Australia, are Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and mentioned in the article Spain, France and the UK.

As I understand it, and I am not a psychiatrist, is that social media triggers the release of dopamine, which makes people feel good, but excessive use is addictive and leads to lack of concentration and sleeping problems.

Erik the Red was a Norwegian. In the 13th century (12xx), Greenland became an official part of Norway. And in 1380, Norway and Denmark entered into a union that allowed Denmark to be ruled directly from Copenhagen. The union was the Kalmar Union, consisting of Denmark, Sweden (including Finland), Norway and its colonies of Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Orkney and the Shetland Islands.

Vikings lived in Greenland until around 14xx, and the reason for the declining population is debated by historians, but is likely due to several factors, such as falling temperatures that made travel difficult. The remaining Vikings left Greenland possibly for Island or Norway, but could have lived there until 1480.

And later in the 17th century, Europeans tried again, when Denmark declared Greenland a Danish colony in 1721.

The Norse Viking Erik Thorgilsson, called Erik the Red probably due to a red beard, settled Greenland in the 970s.
His son was Leif Erikson who became the first Norseman to explore the land of Vinland, i.e. coastal North America, way before Christopher Columbus.
A statue of him was erected in Chicago in 1901.

But there are VPN services with communication that does not look like regular VPN communication, just regular internet traffic.

I assume secure VPN servers, with IP masking and chat support, are still available though. VPNs should be a necessity in Russia, right?

Just ride four-five intense minutes at home on an exercise bike, without the outside rain, and then you can still take the car or buss to work. That should be enough for most, according to this, even if there is certainly nothing wrong with long bike rides.

Copper certainly does have industrial uses, but you'll have to answer that question yourself, because it depends on many things, like your time perspective and your willingness to take risks. :)

Silver has a use in jewelry, as a catalyst, is the best electrical conductor of all metals, used in LED diods, DVDs, CDs, photovoltaic cells, film photography, medicines, and probably many other usages I don't know.
For medical use see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...