Spooky Doo - the robotic dogs are coming

Filed under "signs of the Apocolypse" - You have to see this to believe it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww

http://www.bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?section=BigDog

Turing test candidate - already?

IBM's Blue Gene, the world's most powerful supercomputer, will power an avatar in a virtual world such as Second Life in an attempt to pass a modified Turing test. Could AI be that close to passing a computer off as a human?!

http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206903246

Telepathy underway

Soon we will be able to silently communicate with each other. And perhaps translate our thoughts into other languages.

Thoughts in the form of nerve signals are intercepted by a neckband and translated into words. Currently the system only understands 150 words, eventually it will recognize the full gamut, much like word recognition software. The device could then translate the words into another language prior to transmitting.

The device only picks up thoughts intended to be spoken, so it doesn't read your mind. At least not yet. :)

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn13449-nervetapping-neckband-allows-telepathic-chat.html

Use radar to see thru brick walls

While not cutting-edge (this came out in 2006), this is still ground-breaking. Prism 200 provides the ability to see thru brick and concrete walls and display the location of occupants using Ultra-Wideband Radar.

http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/prism200.shtml

Minority Report interaction coming soon...

The use of cameras, combined with software to interpret gestures will enable a whole new form of interaction between humans and electronic devices. We will advance beyond the constraints of the primitive keyboard and mouse and interact with computers more intuitively in 3-D space...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080304200631.htm
http://www.news.com/8301-13772_3-9873205-52.html?tag=tb

Bionic eyes: restoring sight to the blind

Restoring sight to the blind.
No need for a miracle, just a retinal implant.
Human trials to begin in the next few years:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1078909

Not for viewing in America

It's interesting to me that we have endless television debates between presidential candidates, yet debates on one of the most significant issues of our time - Muslim extremism - get absolutely no television coverage in America.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/mar/09/middleeastthemedia.islam

http://www.thedohadebates.com/output/page12.asp

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=doha+debates&search_type=

Mouth swabs and the Genetic Police

The world's largest DNA database is in the UK. The UK police swab for everything except for littering and traffic violations. Even though the DNA fingerprint is not your fully sequenced genome, it is linked to your DNA and other personal info.

Where will this end up? It may start with capturing DNA fingerprints to match crime scene artifacts, but could eventually evolve into full genome sequencing to build personal profiles based on genetic markers. Match it up with neuroscientific advances in brain scanning and they may be able to peer into our bodies and our minds. :)

Interesting twists:
They can use your DNA to implicate your family members.
Some human chimeras / hermaphrodites contain two DNA fingerprints.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/aug/05/comment.politics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_National_DNA_Database
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimera_(genetics)

New camera sees through clothing

This amazing device detects the natural electromagnetic emissions of material to distinguish any kind of foreign object carried by a person.

Presumably the claim that the device the device doesn't reveal the body means it's calibrated to ignore the wavelengths emitted by flesh.

Fears of a surveillance society are well-founded. It should be possible in the near-term for completely automated surveillance that is able to log the details of a persons movements and associations over a lifetime, now including ones personal possessions.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23554544/

scientists say Kyoto cuts not enough

So now we have a report confirming what many of us have believed all along - that emissions cuts will not have a significant effect on global warming.

Given the fact that the vast majroity of greenhouse gases (both in volume and potency) are not man-made, this seems seems to be a tacit admission that global warming is largely not a man-caused issue.

So let's say that regardless of the cause we agree that a cooler globe is desirable. That means we need to get to net zero or net negative carbon emissions, or employ other measures.

Is the socio-economic toll of the current approach of emission conservation worthwhile, or should the efforts be put into technologies that can actually have a significant impact on global temperature?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23552526/

Sierra Club reveals it's Marxist

Liberal editor Joel Connely describes the Sierra Club's attack on John McCain as a partisan play, but I think it just demonstrates the core beliefs of the leftists.

Commonly described as "the ends justifies the means", the Sierra Club appears to be adopting the Marxist / consequentialist philosophy by using unethical means to attack a candidate who closely aligns with their stated values, just because his affiliation is with a party that has been traditionally a foil.