I have decidedly mixed feelings about this. Like any tool, it could be either good or evil depending on who wields it, but the amount of power it provides greatly amplifies both possible outcomes — and in another five or ten years, it will probably be available to anyone who’s willing to spend the money. [...]
Archive of posts filed under the Science and Technology category.
“iPhone doc will detect cancer, diabetes – boffins”
I never thought that I’d live to see a working Star Trek-esque medical tricorder, but it seems that I might… at least a poor-man’s version of one, that requires placing a sample on or in the device. Even better, the smartphones we’re toting around today might already have all the hardware needed, if I’m reading [...]
“Star Trek tractor beam to save Earth from asteroid Armageddon”
No, there’s no real Star Trek-style tractor beam (yet, anyway). What they’re discussing is parking a large spacecraft near such an asteroid and using its gravity to drag the asteroid onto a course that would miss the Earth. That assumes that we detect the threat early enough to launch such a craft, get it into [...]
“Arsenic life does not exist after all”
Remember that claim, about a year ago, that a scientist had discovered arsenic-based life forms right here on Earth? It seems that other scientists are having trouble reproducing that research. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the original scientist was wrong, but it puts the assertion in doubt. If it does turn out to be wrong, [...]
“US Supremes: GPS tracking requires warrant”
Wow! Maybe the US won’t turn into a technology-driven police state, as all recent indications had pointed toward (and as I had cynically expected, as the “security” apparatus has more money, and thus influence, than ordinary citizens). Between this and the SOPA uprising, my flagging hope for the US has been renewed.
“Facebook exposes hackers behind Koobface worm”
The literary and film genre known as the Western covers a very short period of American history — 1850 to 1900 by the most commonly-accepted definition, but it’s more accurate to say from the end of the Civil War (1865) to maybe 1890, when our forefathers ran out of frontier — a small window of [...]
“Golden booty-shakin’ bug named after pop diva Beyoncé”
As someone who’s dealt with horse-flies, this seems to be a questionable honor.
“MPAA Directly & Publicly Threatens Politicians Who Aren’t Corrupt Enough To Stay Bought”
Remember the SOPA drama last week? It has given MPAA not-quite-lobbyist Chris Dodd a bad case of foot-in-mouth: he publicly threatened politicians who’d taken MPAA money for not doing what the MPAA wanted. On national television, no less. Un-freakin’-believable. And just this side of actually criminal. Dodd is a former senator — he should know [...]
“Ten 100-year predictions that came true”
Considering the poor accuracy of professional science fiction authors even in “near-future” SF, this guy‘s track record is nothing short of amazing. Too bad he can’t be around to enjoy his success, but when you’re making predictions for a century hence, that’s a bit problematic.
SOPA and PIPA stopped — for now
Wow. I didn’t expect anything like what happened, and apparently neither did anyone else — including the MPAA. From the e-mail I received from FightForTheFuture.org: The MPAA (the lobby for big movie studios which created these terrible bills) was shocked and seemingly humbled. “‘This was a whole new different game all of a sudden,’ MPAA [...]