MemeBox FutureBlogger

The Empty Playgrounds of Tomorrow: Europe's Negative Growth

jcchan — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:58:47 +0000

By JC Chan

In the next eight seconds 34 babies will be born to the world. Of these five will be from India and four will be from China. In ten years China will be the dominant English speaking country in the world. With world population exploding and shifting so dramatically, it’s easy to envision a future with billions more humans inhabiting Earth than do today. But that may not be the case.

Consider the scenario presented in the sci-fi film Children of Men (2006), a bleak vision of Earth in 2027 where humans have mysteriously lost fertility and the ability to procreate. In one scene, a scruffy-faced man named Theo, played by Clive Owen, and a woman named Miriam walk across the dreary rust of an abandoned school playground. Sitting on the squeaky swing set is the African woman they are protecting, miraculously nursing in her hands the first newborn the Earth has seen in over a decade. Miriam recalls her days as a nurse delivering births. She notes that over time fewer births were recorded until the day they ceased altogether.

“As the sound of the playgrounds faded, the despair set in. Very odd, what happens in a world without children’s voices,” she grimly states.

The backdrop for the film is a future England that has adopted a survivalist policy as it attempts to police millions of incoming immigrants into concentration camps to preserve the little remaining natural resources they have left. When I first watched Children of Men, the idea of humanity wiped out by widespread infertility seemed a little far-fetched. Certainly there are many other, more viable ways for us to go: nuclear weapons, terrorism, a nanotechnology nightmare, a super-resistant bacteria strain, asteroids, global warming.

Growing up in the 90’s, schools and media have always drilled into my head the post-war baby boom, exponential growth, limited allocation of resources, and recycling, oh lots of talk about recycling. (Note: I am an avid recycler.) Still, though we can and should do something about issues like global warming and runaway population growth, scenarios like the reality of the 2027 in Children of Men remind us that there may well be other formidable challenges on the horizon that may not be so much in our control.

Case in point, a recent NYTimes Sunday Magazine article by Russell Shorto entitled “No Babies?” addresses the very real possibility of population decline. Shorto examines the sleepy Italian town of Laviano in Southern Italy, a spectacular sight with magnificent steep slopes and wild poppies adorning medieval fortress ruins of a fortress, in which a population of 3,000 has fallen to just 1,600 and still dropping.

This has caused such alarm that the Laviano’s mayor has created a new fund to give any woman that would rear a child in the village, a sum of 10,000 euros ($15,000). Though the plan has resulted in a slight uptick in residents, Laviano is still steadily losing population. (cont.)

Category: Culture
Year: General
Tags: overpopulation, negative, growth, children, of, men, playground, explosion, humanity, end, the, world, doomsday, concentration, camps, fertility, sci, fi, al, gore, europe, france, latvia, estonia, seti, demographic, transition, china, japan, un, italy, nytimes, laviano, birthrate, civilization

Can We Outrace the Fourth Turning?

Alvis — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:23:24 +0000

Are we due for a massive cyclical U.S. crisis that finally spurs institutional change? A regular revolution not tied to the accelerating curves driving so much growth and innovation?

In large nations big spurts of institutional change tend to occur every four generations (roughly every 88 years, 1 generation = 22 years) when economic resources trapped by out-dated, inefficient systems are shifted over to efficient new systems once societies reach a cyclical tipping point for change. Generational theorists Strauss and Howe call this tipping point a fourth turning, a point in time where social power shifts to the generations too young to have witnessed the previous correction. They liken this pattern to a forest growth cycle: 1) new saplings take root, 2) the forest grows tall, 3) dead branches fall and choke off new species, 4) lightning strikes, the brambles burn and new saplings are free to grow—repeat.

As seen widely in biology, this sort of change is called Punctuated Equilibrium, which contrasts with the gradual evolution that many scientists intuitively believed to be true but ultimately was not supported by research nor the fossil record. Similarly, the historical record shows that the United States has regularly experienced punctuated social crises, aka fourth turnings, stretching all the way back to its roots in England. And just like all of the scientists that deny punctuated evolution/development, there is a huge % of the population that does not intuitively believe another fourth turning will occur because they have not encountered the historical evidence and are used to a relatively stable socio-economic situation. (Ironically, this blindness seems to be built into the very fabric of our social system and may result in more efficient growth when looked at from the broader context of inter-meshed life systems on our planet.)

Like it or not, cyclical crises pegged to human generations are real and should be considered when evaluating the future, right alongside accelerating change. So the questions we need to ask are 1) “When will the next fourth turning begin?”, 2) “Are there any dynamics that might break or trump the pattern of punctuated national change every 88 years?”

A Likely Fourth Turning Scenario

79 years ago, on October 24, 1929, the Great Wall Street Crash sparked the Great Depression and the last U.S. fourth turning. What followed was the New Deal Era, WWII, the transformation of most U.S. socio-economic sectors and ultimately the birth of what we now refer to as “The American Dream”.

79 years later the U.S. economy is facing a variety of problems that could spark a down-turn and a new fourth turning. (cont.)

Category: Economics
Year: General
Tags: geration, generations, fourthturning, generationaldynamics, peakoil, strausshowe, strauss, howe

Earth 12000: Exploring space, time, and parallel universes

futuretalk — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:23:27 +0000

A glance at what life may be like ten millennia from now, by Dick Pelletier

Of course, nobody can predict exactly how the future will unfold in 10,000 years, but by tracking technology advances expected in the coming centuries, we see changes that will transform humanity into super-intelligent beings focused on developing space, exploring universes, and traveling through time.

Imagine if you could peek in on the dinosaurs’ first-hand, enjoy an exotic vacation thousands of light years from Earth, or jump into a parallel universe where another you is living a far more exciting life than yours – and you could stay there if you like.

For years, scientists around the world have bandied about the revolutionary idea that future humans could zip across the universe using wormholes as high-speed portals enabling faster-than-light travel to explore space, enter other universes, and witness the past and future.

Wormholes enable travel between its two openings. One end of the wormhole stays home while the other is carted away at sub-light velocities to the destination, connecting the two locations through a tunnel in warped space-time. A person enters the wormhole, and depending on the connection, exits to a remote destination in space, another time in the past or future, or into a parallel universe.

Consensus among most scientists has been that wormholes are so destructive; people would be torn to subatomic bits if they tried such a thing. However, a new paper by University of Utah physicist Lior Burko now raises the possibility that wormholes may not annihilate all matter, and the potential for hyperspace travel could one day be realized. (cont.)

Category: Other
Year: General
Tags: farfuture, distantfuture, spacetime, physics, pelletier, dickpelletier, futuretalk

Robots Advance

juldrich — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 03:38:15 +0000

By Jack Uldrich

Cross-posted from www.jumpthecurve.net

Last week, I explained how humans might soon be learning things from robots. Today, I’d like to explain why robots might become a more integral part of our lives faster than most people expect.

Yesterday, Technology Review published an interesting article entitled: “Robots Learns to Use Tools.” What is really intriguing about the article, which describes a new robot called the UMass Mobile Manipulator or UMan for short, is that the robot is employing sophisticated algorithms to teach itself how to deal with unfamiliar objects.

One of the major barriers to date with robotics is that programmers have had to write complicated software code to help robots deal with almost every contingency that it might encounter. For example, for a household robot to be effective, it needs to recognize every item that might conceivably be in someone house – everything from a pair of scissors to a flower vase. This is no easy chore.

In the near future, however, robots need not necessarily know how to handle every object; they merely need to learn how to deal with that object in an appropriate fashion. Using the scissors as example, UMan can study the device and then can tinker with the blades until it understands how they are connected and how the object operates. Presumably, the robot will then know that it would be inappropriate to “run with scissors.” (cont.)

Category: Business & Work
Year: General
Tags: robots, householdrobots, umass, uman

Ghost Imaging, Solar Roofing & French Space Revolution

Marisa Vitols — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:58:48 +0000

The Future Scanner Daily Top 5 serves to highlight 5 of the best scans submitted to the Future Scanner during the last 24 hours.

France plans revolution in space
- Scanned by jcchan

Air Force Demonstrates ‘Ghost Imaging’
- Scanned by jcchan

Is Helium 3 Exploitation China’s Hidden Lunar Agenda?
- Scanned by jcchan

Sanders to Introduce Solar Roofing Act
- Scanned by Austra Zubkovs

It’s About Time for Online Voting
- Scanned by Austra Zubkovs

Category: Other
Year: General

Evolutionary theories of aging, as applied to lifespan extension

mycophage — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:25:23 +0000

(cross-posted from Ouroboros: Research in the biology of aging)

Prominent biogerontologist and evolutionary biologist Michael Rose (recently named the chief scientific officer of the Biogerontology Research Foundation) has reviewed the decades-old interplay between evolutionary theories of aging and efforts to extend animal lifespans.

In the article, Rose critically evaluates several of the assumptions underlying SENS (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) as formulated by anti-aging activist Aubrey de Grey, placing them in the context of demographic and population-biological observations. Ultimately, Rose concludes that life-extension therapeutics must address the issue of age-specific adaptation in order to be effective (link; emphasis below is mine):

Making SENSE: Strategies for Engineering Negligible Senescence Evolutionarily

Thirty years ago, in 1977, few biologists thought that it would be possible to increase the maximum life span characteristic of each species over the variety of environmental conditions in which they live, whether in nature or in the laboratory. But the evolutionary theory of aging suggested otherwise. Accordingly, experiments were performed with fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster, which showed that manipulation of the forces of natural selection over a number of generations could substantially slow the rate of aging, both demographically and physiologically. After this first transgression of the supposedly absolute limits to life extension, it was suggested that mammals too could be experimentally evolved to have greater life spans and slower aging. And further, it was argued that such postponed-aging mammals could be used to reverse-engineer a slowing of human aging. The subsequent discovery and theoretical explanation of mortality-rate plateaus revealed that aging was not due to the progressive physiological accumulation of damage. Instead, aging is now understood by evolutionary biologists to arise from a transient fall in age-specific adaptation, a fall that does not necessarily proceed toward ineluctable death. This implies that SENS must be based on re-tuning adaptation, not repairing damage. As evolutionary manipulation of model organisms shows us how adaptation can be focused on engineering negligible senescence, there are thus both scientific and practical reasons for making SENS evolutionary; that is making SENSE.

(cont.)

Category: Health & Medicine
Year: General
Tags: aging, evolution

Cybercrime in tomorrow's hands-free voice-activated Web

futuretalk — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:18:35 +0000

By Dick Pelletier

Futurist Ray Kurzweil, in his book “The Singularity is near”, offers the possibility that computers will one day become self-aware, which will result in the melding of humans and machines. He sees this process well underway by 2025, as nanobots begin to surf bloodstreams to combat disease and alter our brains to increase intelligence.

In a recent article appearing in The Futurist, “Cybercrime in the year 2025,” criminal-justice expert Gene Stephens predicts that computer and Internet use will become seamless, as hands-free, voice-activated data entry and retrieval becomes commonplace between 2010 and 2015. By 2020, nanotech will increasingly impact cyberspace; and as we try to gain the most advantages possible from our new “wonder-net,” dangerous security gaps will emerge that could turn into nightmares if not handled carefully.

For example, in 2025, as databots are implanted in users’ brains, secure firewalls must be developed to keep intruders from hacking into the ‘bots and terrorizing recipients. “Could there be a more frightening crime than having your brain-stored knowledge erased or scrambled,” Stephens asks, “or hearing voices threatening to destroy your memory unless you pay blackmail? Welcome to the world of mindstalking.”

This brings us to the long-ignored issues of who owns the Internet, manages it, and has jurisdiction over it. The answer now is: nobody. Can this powerful socio-politico-economic network continue to operate at random, open to all, and thus be vulnerable to bad guys? Attempts to restrict or police the web are met with idealists who believe that the Internet should always be free from “big brother’s” interference. (cont.)

Category: Communication
Year: General
Tags: cybercrime, internet, wireless, hacking

Happiness Rising, Data on Molecules, & Email in Danger?

Marisa Vitols — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:41:00 +0000

The Future Scanner Daily Top 5 serves to highlight 5 of the best scans submitted to the Future Scanner during the last 24 hours.

Storing data on molecules using quantum flux
- Scanned by tgansert

Happiness is rising around the world
- Scanned by jcchan

Intel says to prepare for ‘thousands of cores’
- Scanned by victoria15

Mail-Order Genetic Screening
- Scanned by victoria15

Is Email In Danger?
- Scanned by Joe Meme

Category: Other
Year: General

A Trillion Reasons to Care About Genomics

juldrich — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:49:11 +0000

By Jack Uldrich

Cross-posted from www.jumpthecurve.net

I speak to a great many student groups and I am often struck by how few of them appreciate the difference between one million, one billion and one trillion. (In the name of fairness, the same is true of many adults). Perhaps, it is because the three figures are all large numbers that most people don’t think there is an appreciable difference. Perhaps, it is because the words – million, billion, and trillion – the rhyme; or maybe it’s just because they’re dumb—or have had poor teachers. I really don’t know.

One way I have tried to convey the difference between the numbers is by explaining the figures in a different way. To wit:

One million seconds was 12 days ago; One billion seconds was roughly 30 years ago; One trillion seconds was approximately 30,000 years ago – 28,000 B.C.!

My point with the analogy is that one trillion of anything is a really BIG number, and it is much, much different than one billion. This analogy is important because on January 17, 2006 the Wellcome Sanger Institute announced it had archived it’s one billionth DNA sequence. It was an impressive accomplishment.

Well, today, Wired magazine reported that the prominent genetics institute sequenced its trillionth base of DNA. This is a one thousand-fold improvement in just over two years. (cont.)

Category: Biotechnology
Year: General
Tags: genomics, wired, dna, genesequencing, exponentials, orderofmagnitude

Stem-cell magic: despite controversy, research goes forward

futuretalk — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:30:42 +0000

By Dick Pelletier

Northwestern University’s Dr. Richard Burt has treated 170 patients with stem cells, and increasingly, others are following his lead. There are now more than 1,000 stem-cell therapies in early human trials around the world.

The majority use cells from patients’ own bone marrow, but some also use cells from healthy adults, and last year the first patient was treated with embryonic cells, which have triggered debate in the U.S. After working its way out of science fiction, stem-cell therapies are finally becoming scientific fact.

Burt has treated patients with lupus, arthritis and a host of other disorders. He’s just written up the results of a stem-cell trial for type-1 diabetes. Three years after treatment, some patients now have normal blood sugar and do not require insulin. Trials for Lou Gehrig’s disease and autism are next.

The FDA is fast-tracking stem-cell therapy for leukemia which could hit the market later this year. And an approach that has helped congestive heart failure patients abroad is coming to America. Amit Patel, at the University of Pittsburgh, has injected 10 patients’ own stem cells into their hearts and has consulted on 2,000 similar operations worldwide. Stem cells help the heart by forming new blood vessels.

By the end of the next decade, researchers predict this wonder technology will create new heart muscle – and even a complete heart – but this may require the use of embryonic stem cells, which regulations currently deny government funding. (cont.)

Category: Health & Medicine
Year: General

Car Exodus, Chembots & Zero-Emissions Cities

Marisa Vitols — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:16:07 +0000

The Future Scanner Daily Top 5 serves to highlight 5 of the best scans submitted to the Future Scanner during the last 24 hours.

Jeff Rubin Predicts ‘Mass Exodus’ From Cars in US
- Scanned by Austra Zubkovs

Futuristic Chembots Squeeze Through Small Spaces
- Scanned by Field of Memes

Building the Zero-Emissions City
- Scanned by victoria15

Retuning Bacteria
- Scanned by victoria15

The World Is No Longer Flat
- Scanned by Joe Meme

Category: Other
Year: General

Space tourism - from lofty dreams to commercial reality

futuretalk — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:22:47 +0000

By Dick Pelletier

Space tourism has come a long way in a short time. The idea was just a dream in the 1990s, but recently, tourists have shelled out mega-bucks for a glimpse of the wild blue yonder.

Though only the rich can afford space travel today, experts predict prices will drop with new systems under development. Later this year, Virgin Galactic’s returnable Space-Ship-Two hopes to provide orbital round-trips for $200,000, and one-day, take vacationers to the moon.

By 2030, the Space Elevator, a revolutionary system under development now would climb up a nanotech-ribbon extending 62,000 miles from Earth to space and could transport passengers into the wild blue yonder for as low as $20,000 initially, then prices could drop to the $2,000-per-person range when multiple elevators become available.

As more people become space travelers, they will need a place to stay. Budget Suites of America owner Robert Bigelow has launched the first phase of a human-rated habitat module dubbed Sundancer, to an altitude of 250 nautical miles at an orbital inclination of 40 degrees. Once Sundancer is in position and verified safe, Bigelow will add more sections creating a full-scale lodging/industrial complex as early as the middle of next decade.

Satellite Industry Association President Richard Dalbello says, “Once hotel companies start to build and operate orbital accommodations, they will be endlessly improving them and competing to build more exotic facilities”. We will see hotels that provide normal gravity for rooms, bars, and restaurants; and gravity-free areas for recreation and sports activities. (cont.)

Category: Space
Year: General
Tags: space, spacetravel, spacetourism

Gene Editing, Eco-Friendly Trains & Ray Going to Die?

Marisa Vitols — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:59:22 +0000

The Future Scanner Daily Top 5 serves to highlight 5 of the best scans submitted to the Future Scanner during the last 24 hours.

Gene Editing Could Make Anyone Immune to AIDS
- Scanned by Austra Zubkovs

$30k All Electric Car by 2013 Predicted
- Scanned by Pfepher

Moving Forward with America’s Fastest Eco-friendly Train
- Scanned by jcchan

Taking Out Space Trash
- Scanned by jcchan

Ray Kurzweil, you’re going to die.
- Scanned by adbatstone80

Category: Other
Year: General

15 Ways Nanotechnology is Making Life Better Today

juldrich — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:22:23 +0000

By Jack Uldrich

Cross-posted from www.jumpthecurve.net

Nanotechnology is expected to be a $2.6 trillion market by 2015. At the heart of this big new sector is something very small – molecules. To understand how and why nanotechnology – which is defined as the manipulation of matter at the molecular level – matters, you can begin at home.

The Writing is Off-the-Wall

Behr and others are now using nanoparticles to produce anti-mildew paints and anti-graffiti paints. Another company is perfecting a nano-enhanced wall paint that blocks cellphone calls and, longer-term, researchers expect to create a nano-solar paint that can turn your wall and even your house into a giant solar cell.

Scratch-Free

BASF has developed a nanoceramic material that is three times more resistant to scratching. It is already being employed on kitchen tabletops and car exteriors. The company hopes to have self-healing materials on the market in the near future.

Wipe Away Your Worries

Pilkington’s “Activ” glass uses nanoparticles of titanium dioxide to create self-cleaning windows; while Eddie Bauer, Tommy Hilfiger and Brooks Brothers all sell clothes that contain tiny “nano-whiskers” and make pants, shirts and ties resistant to stains of every kind. Upholstery and carpet are up next.

Wrap Your Head Around This: The New Flat Will Be Round

Nanostructured polymer films are being used in next-generation OLED (organic light emitting diode) lights. The benefit is that the lights are ten times more energy-efficient than regular lightbulbs and can be wrapped around poles. Super-thin, flexible electronic television screens that can be curved to create a more immersive experience are on the drawing board. (cont.)

Category: Business & Work
Year: General

Quantum computers will transform our lives in 20 years

futuretalk — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:32:57 +0000

By Dick Pelletier

In the last two decades, advances in computing technology, from processing speed to network capacity and the Internet, have revolutionized our lives. From sequencing genomes to monitoring the climate, many scientific advances would have been impossible without an increase in computing power – and now with quantum computers (QC) on the verge of harnessing atoms and molecules to calculate billions of times faster than silicon-based computers, scientists predict an even more amazing future unfolding.

In a recent Fortune Magazine article, writers Peter Schwartz and Rita Koselka describe a QC world that includes microscopic sensors embedded in our homes, vehicles, and workplace that monitor our well-being 24/7; and a thin headband of ultrasonic transducers that wirelessly transmits information both ways between the Internet and our brain, and to other headbands.

UVA scientist Stuart Wolf anticipates that within 20 years, instead of cell-phone conversations we will have “network-enabled telepathy” – we will ‘speak’ directly to another person’s headband from anywhere in the world using just our thoughts.

Several trends drive this future forward. The cell-phone and PC are already beginning to merge and will eventually be reduced to mere ‘chips’ on our headband. If you wonder how devices can get smaller and still be accessible, keep in mind that vastly-improved voice-recognition software will soon arrive.

While voice technology only works efficiently on fast processors today, rising bandwidth will one day make this the only way to communicate with PCs and cell-phones. Goodbye keyboard!

The following scenario portrays what life might be like in this quantum future:

(cont.)

Category: Communication
Year: General

Future Scanner Weekly Top Ten

Marisa Vitols — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:20:00 +0000

In addition to our weekly awards, every week MemeBox releases a Top 10 List of the most interesting and useful Future Scans posted the during the preceding week. This list is a great way to get acquainted with what the Future Scanner has to offer and to quickly digest some great information.

Will a Computer ‘Symbiote’ be Implanted in Future Human Brains?
- Scanned by juldrich

It’s a long way to a ‘real’ Mars landing
- Scanned by jcchan

The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete
- Scanned by juldrich

Colony Collapse Disorder: Without bees, we will die.
- Scanned by adbatstone80

A neural implant that learns with the brain
- Scanned by Bora

Flying Saucers coming soon.
- Scanned by phaik

Whatever happened to artificial intelligence?
- Scanned by adbatstone80

Neuromorphic Brain
- Scanned by Mike10201

IMAGES – Sub-orbital flight moves closer to reality
- Scanned by garrygolden

Aging and disease as modifiers of stem cell therapy
- Scanned by mycophage

Category: Other
Year: General

And the weekly MemeBox awards go to...

Marisa Vitols — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:39:00 +0000

Here at MemeBox, Sunday is the day we look back at all of the Future Blogger posts and Future Scanner scans in an effort to distill and recognize the best of what you, the community, have contributed to the site throughout the previous 7 days.

Future Scanner of the Week: victoria15 for scans including The Fight to End Aging Gains Legitimacy, Funding and Scientists believe that Mars’ soil may be able to support human life.

Future Blogger of the Week: futuretalk for posts including Quantum computers will transform our lives in 20 years and Identity chips will soon track everything—including you.

Future Scan of the Week: Whatever happened to artificial intelligence?
- Scanned by adbatstone80

Future Blogger Post of the Week: More Predictions for the Near Future and Beyond
- Written by Jason

Congratulations, winners!

Category: Other
Year: General

IBM-Swiss scientists to create artifical human brain by 2015

futuretalk — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:54:37 +0000

By Dick Pelletier

Director Henry Markram of the IBM-Swiss Blue Brain project believes that his team of up to 125 researchers is on target to create the world’s first artificial brain by as early as 2015.

In June 2005, IBM and the Swiss Brain Mind Institute announced a plan to create a digital 3D replica of the human brain. Named after the IBM Blue Gene supercomputer, the Blue Brain Project has started modeling, in precise detail, the cellular infrastructure of the cerebral neocortex.

Although Markram expects his creation may eventually learn to speak, he is not holding his breath waiting for consciousness to rise from its brain. What he is after is something far more useful than a talking machine. By creating a better understanding of how human brains perform, doctors will learn more about why our brains fail.

Disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, and dementia are the price we pay for having complicated brains. “We don’t understand what goes wrong inside those circuits,” says Markram. “We’re still in empirical medicine. If a drug works; great. If not, we try another one.”

Blue Brain will accelerate today’s slow drug approval system of animal testing and human clinical trials by providing scientists with an immediate and accurate brain response to new drugs.

Category: Health & Medicine
Year: 2015

Unlearning Death

juldrich — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:17:00 +0000

By Jack Uldrich

Cross-posted from www.unlearning101.com

In 1899, just a few years before the Wright brothers achieved their historic accomplishment, Lord Kelvin – then one of the world’s brightest men and most accomplished scientists – declared heavier than air machines to be "impossible."

He was wrong. To add insult to injury, Lord Kelvin was proved wrong by a pair of bicycle repairmen from Dayton, Ohio.

A few years ago, a relatively unknown computer scientist, Aubrey de Grey, declared that aging should not be viewed as something which will necessarily ultimately result in death. Rather, he theorized that aging is a disease and should be treated as such.

The outcry from the scientific community was similar to Lord Kelvin’s reaction to human flight. One group of scientists even declared that de Grey’s idea was "so far from plausible that it commands no respect at all within the informed scientific community."

Well, according to this article in Wired, the idea is now beginning to gain some acceptance within scientific circles. (cont.)

Category: Business & Work
Year: 2020
Tags: death, aging, aubreydegrey, degrey

Identity chips will soon track everything -- including you

futuretalk — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:38:56 +0000

By Dick Pelletier

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips will soon be used in stores at point-of-sale checkout to replace cashiers. Sensors can detect purchases and automatically charge your ATM or credit card – or direct you to a cash machine. Merchants eliminate cashiers, and in our competitive world, some of the savings gets passed on to customers in lower prices.

Wal-Mart recently ordered 100 of its suppliers to place RFID tags on pallets and cases. They plan to start with inventory control, and evolve into this new technology over the coming years. Target, Home Depot, Kroger, Safeway, and most other stores are expected to follow soon.

This revolutionary identification system also gives merchants more security. If a certain Beverly Hills store had installed RFID tags, a famous actress would not have been caught shoplifting. Sensors would have detected her purchases as she walked out the door, and automatically charged her credit card – no harm no foul.

RFID chips can also be implanted in our body. Whether it’s your little one’s first day walking home from the bus stop alone, or the millionth time she’s wandered too far from the house, a chip under her collarbone reports her exact location. You chart her every move. This allows her to become more independent, and it gives you greater peace of mind.

This is not as futuristic as it sounds. Driven by 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security, in its US-VISIT program, is testing biometrics in a $15 billion attempt to build a “virtual border” around the country. This high-priority project will use facial recognition, fingerprint, hand geometry, and iris and voice recognition in an attempt to separate bad guys from good guys.

Category: Information
Year: General
Tags: rfid, tracking, chip, chips, rfidchip