British scientists are optimistic that they might be on the way to finding a cure for HIV after a promising clinical trial, in which a test patient was shown to have no symptoms of the virus following treatment.
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Nice POV read.
We know that emerging innovations within cutting-edge science and technology (S&T) areas carry the potential to revolutionize governmental structures, economies, and life as we know it. Yet, others have argued that such technologies could yield doomsday scenarios and that military applications of such technologies have even greater potential than nuclear weapons to radically change the balance of power. These S&T areas include robotics and autonomous unmanned system; artificial intelligence; biotechnology, including synthetic and systems biology; the cognitive neurosciences; nanotechnology, including stealth meta-materials; additive manufacturing (aka 3D printing); and the intersection of each with information and computing technologies, i.e., cyber-everything. These concepts and the underlying strategic importance were articulated at the multi-national level in NATO’s May 2010 New Strategic Concept paper: “Less predictable is the possibility that research breakthroughs will transform the technological battlefield … The most destructive periods of history tend to be those when the means of aggression have gained the upper hand in the art of waging war.”
As new and unpredicted technologies are emerging at a seemingly unprecedented pace globally, communication of those new discoveries is occurring faster than ever, meaning that the unique ownership of a new technology is no longer a sufficient position, if not impossible. They’re becoming cheaper and more readily available. In today’s world, recognition of the potential applications of a technology and a sense of purpose in exploiting it are far more important than simply having access to it.
While the suggestions like those that nanotechnology will enable a new class of weapons that will alter the geopolitical landscape remain unrealized, a number of unresolved security puzzles underlying emerging technologies have implications for international security, defense policy, deterrence, governance, and arms control regimes.
A top U.S. general has issued a sobering warning that both China and Russia, given their years of emphasis on upgrading and renovating their space war arsenals, could, in the future, place the United States in a position of weakness if matters were to degenerate into a state of war between the countries. Air Force Gen. John E. Hyten believes that China and Russia have been attempting to outpace the U.S. in military matters with regard to space and that the Pentagon is now moving to counter the foreseen “challenge” of possibly being outmaneuvered and outgunned in space. If a World War 3 scenario were to actualize, he thinks the U.S. should be prepared to meet said challenge.
The Washington Times reported last week that Air Force Gen. John E. Hyten, who has been chosen as the next commander of Strategic Command, told Congress’ Senate Armed Services Committee that the U.S. is moving to counter the threat of a space war disadvantage with China and Russia. He said China and Russia are currently in the process of developing anti-satellite missiles, laser guns, and maneuvering killer space robots that could, once deployed, knock out or incapacitate strategic U.S. communications, navigation and intelligence satellites. As military experts know, these craft are crucial to the maintenance and actionability of America’s high-technology warfare systems.
“The Department of Defense has aggressively moved out to develop responses to the threats that we see coming from China and Russia. I believe it’s essential that we go faster in our responses.”
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An exotic “impossible” space propulsion technology known as “Cannae Drive,” less known than the EmDrive but equally controversial, made news headlines a few weeks ago with the announcement that it is about to be tested in space. There are speculations that the Cannae Drive could exploit physics known as “Mach Effect.” But perhaps the same physics plays a role in the EmDrive as well.
Cannae Inc., the company formed by engineer Guido Fetta to commercialize Cannae Drive technology, announced the forthcoming launch of a cubesat to test its space propulsion technology. “Cannae’s technology requires no on-board propellant to generate thrust and will provide station-keeping for a cubesat flying below a 150-mile orbital altitude,” claimed the announcement. “The demonstration satellite will remain in this orbit for a minimum of six months.”
Ending a wave of speculations on the similarities between Cannae Drive technology and the anomalous EmDrive effect, Fetta posted a clarification a few days ago:
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Still keeping my optics working looking for news to apply to your cyberpunk games and writings.
A way to defend against counterfeit drugs and maybe food too, miniature edible barcodes. Inexpensive, practical and readable with a slight modification of a smart phone.
For some reason, the idea of edible food wrappers just seems very cyberpunk to me. Full of advertising and nutrition!
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Machines enrich and enhance our lives, whether it’s the smartphones that allow us to stay connected or the supercomputers that solve our toughest computational problems. Imagine how much more productive and innovative our world will be when computers become infinitely more powerful. Indeed, the growing field of quantum computing may make our current technological capacities look feeble and primitive in comparison. It could even transform the workings of the human brain and revolutionize how we think in ways we can’t begin to imagine.
Today, computers operate at the most basic level by manipulating two states: a zero or a one. In contrast, quantum computers are not limited to two states, but can encode information in multiple states that exist in superposition, also known as quantum bits or qubits.
In other words, this technology takes advantage of one of the most fascinating properties of the quantum world: the ability of subatomic particles to exist in more than one state at any given time. Consequently, a quantum computer can perform many calculations at the same time, whereas a traditional Turing machine can only perform a single calculation at once. Such quantum machines will be millions of times more powerful than our most powerful current computers.
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How we can use CRISPR/Cas9 to treat the processes of aging.
Oliver Medvedik, Cofounder of the Life Extension Advocacy Foundation and the Lifespan.io Crowdfunding platform, discusses the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system in depth and highlights how it may be used to help overcome the diseases and disabilities of aging. He also gives an overview of other promising areas in aging research, such as senescent cell-clearing drugs, or “senolytics”, and “augmentive” compounds that may help restore the body to youthful functionality.
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Technology for reading signals directly from the brain developed by Stanford Bio-X scientists could provide a way for people with movement disorders to communicate.
The system directly reads brain signals to drive a cursor moving over a keyboard. In a pilot experiment conducted with monkeys, the animals were able to transcribe passages from the New York Times and Hamlet at a rate of 12 words per minute.
Earlier versions of the technology have already been tested successfully in people with paralysis, but the typing was slow and imprecise. This latest work tests improvements to the speed and accuracy of the technology that interprets brain signals and drives the cursor.
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A new survey of existing and planned smart weapons finds that AI is increasingly used to replace humans, not help them.
The Pentagon’s oft-repeated line on artificial intelligence is this: we need much more of it, and quickly, in order to help humans and machines work better alongside one another. But a survey of existing weapons finds that the U.S. military more commonly uses AI not to help but to replace human operators, and, increasingly, human decision making.
The report from the Elon Musk-funded Future of Life Institute does not forecast Terminators capable of high-level reasoning. At their smartest, our most advanced artificially intelligent weapons are still operating at the level of insects … armed with very real and dangerous stingers.
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