Scientists are warning that if human beings continue to mine the world’s wildernesses for resources and convert them into cities and farms at the pace of the previous century, the planet’s few remaining wild places could disappear in decades. From a report: Today, more than 77 percent of land on earth, excluding Antarctica, has been modified by human industry, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, up from just 15 percent a century ago. The study, led by researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia and the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York, paints the first global picture of the threat to the world’s remaining wildernesses — and the image is bleak. “We’re on a threshold where whole systems could collapse and the consequences of that would be catastrophic,” said James R. Allan, one of the study’s authors. In the study, Mr. Allan and his colleagues urged the participants of a United Nations conference on biological diversity, scheduled for next month in Egypt, to protect all of the world’s remaining wilderness areas. “We cannot afford to lose more,” he said. “We must save it in its entirety.”

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Source: Slashdot – Scientists Warn That World’s Wilderness Areas Are Disappearing

Faraday Future, the startup that is working on a luxury self-driving electric car that looks to rival Tesla, is facing some management and investment issues. All five of the company’s “founding executives” have resigned. The latest is Dag Reckhorn, Faraday Future’s senior vice president of global manufacturing. “The news comes after investor trouble sparked two wild weeks of layoffs and salary cuts that quickly turned into furloughs and executive departures at the EV startup, and a co-founder calling the company ‘effectively insolvent,'” reports The Verge. “Reckhorn said in his email to staff that he is working to establish an emergency fund for employees affected by the furlough.” From the report: “I am heartbroken to have to let you know, that I will leave FF effective today,” Reckhorn wrote in the email, which was sent to the company’s remaining staff. “There are legalities that force me to do so. Please do not believe that I am ditching the best team I ever worked with.” Faraday Future spokesperson John Schilling confirmed Reckhorn’s resignation. “We thank him for his service to FF and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors,” he said.

Reckhorn mentioned in the email that he is “think[ing] about opening an emergency fund” for employees in “dire needs” as a result of the furlough, and that he’s putting in $10,000 to start. “Other colleagues are free to join and donate as well,” he wrote. The hope is to “help [employees] as best as the available funds allow.” Before the layoffs and furloughs, Faraday Future still had around 1,000 employees in the US. Following a now-prolonged fight with its main investor, China’s Evergrande Real Estate Group, Faraday Future announced the furloughs (or forced unpaid leave) to employees on Tuesday. All workers who joined the company after May 1st of 2018 were automatically furloughed, while full-time employees who have been with Faraday Future since before that date were given the opportunity to stay on board at a reduced salary rate of $50,000 per year. Hourly employees who joined Faraday Future before May 1st were given the opportunity to stay on at $13.25 per hour. The “legalities” Reckhorn mentioned have to do with what’s known as “director and operator insurance (or D&O insurance).” According to The Verge, citing two former employees, “D&O is a type of liability insurance that protects a company’s directors and operators from legal retribution in the event of a lawsuit.”

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Source: Slashdot – Faraday Future’s Last Founding Executive Resigns, Plans Emergency Fund For Employees