ThreatWatch | The Big Round-Up

I always think I'm going to write an in-depth post about a particular issue I see as a Threat to Survival. It's not quite working out that way. Mostly because I am lazy. So here is a round-up of a few of the things I have perceived as Something We need to Watch.

Collecting items related to ThreatWatch.

- Remote-Controlled Bacteriophage
The phrase "remote-controlled" is always eye-catching for the ThreatWatcher. This is an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 2009 Jan 27;106(4):1234-8. Epub 2009 Jan 13. [PNAS] [PubMed] And as a side-note, why, National Academy of Science, would you call your journal "Proceedings", knowing that the acronym will be Pnas? You can find it on the magazine rack next to the Transations of the Institute of Topographers.

- Mind Control
The world is edging ever closer to what we see in film and literature. If there is truth to the idea of a self-fulfilling prophecy, why could it not be the same for humanity itself? Our dreamers show us what can be imagined, and scientists imagine they can bend nature for the purpose of fulfilling that imagined idea. We have invisibility cloaks coming down the pipe, and we are steps away from connecting a self-aware computer. (Personally, I imagine if we turn on that self-aware computer we shall need those invisibility cloaks.)

But the one I bring before the assembled: Mind Control.

Researchers from Japan’s ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories have developed new brain analysis technology that can reconstruct the images inside a person’s mind and display them on a computer monitor, it was announced on December 11, 2008. [PinkTentacle]

The article went on to say: The researchers suggest a future version of this technology could be applied in the fields of art and design — particularly if it becomes possible to quickly and accurately access images existing inside an artist’s head.

Imagine being able to see the scene of your favourite movie direct from the director's mind? One day the entertainment world will be ruled by Professional Thinkers, those that can imagine a scene with the clarity and power of a film. (I envision a world where explosions or stunts that are impossible to pull off in the physicial world are created, at least in rough form, with the mind of the Professional Entertainment Thinker. I suspect there will be a highly successful marriage between Professional Thinkers and Professional CGI Engineers.)

But in addition to art and design, there is the Total War Application.

After all, we are talking about seeing images in another person's mind. The intelligence-gathering possibilities alone are staggering. The only trick is to get the suspect to think about what the interrogator wants to know.

- The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
An interesting theory... the news was all about the Air India Bombing report that came out... and then the CBC released vague unverifiable comments about how foreign interests are trying to exert influence on Canadian politics. Instant witch-hunt, and much rebuking by politicians who feel saying stuff like that is irresponsible. The funny part to me: the first guy to shout "no fair" was Mr. Bilderberg-er Invitee himself, Gordon Campbell. But back to the CBC: maybe our "Government" is learning the tricks of media manipulation from the Chinese...! So the question: did the CBC help CSIS change the story from Air India Bombing to Foreign Espionage Witch-hunt so they could take the heat off their own butts for failure in the Air India thing...?!

- The Media
The always-interesting Vigilant Citizen posted a good documentary, saying that in PsyWar the battlefield is the Mind, and is already raging.

- The Atomic Bomb
As filmmaker Lucy Walker points out in her documentary Countdown to Zero, we are in a precarious state in regard to nuclear weapons. The activists who fought against The Bomb through the Cold War have all but disappeared, perhaps overshadowed by Global Warming, perhaps just fooled that the end of the Cold War brought about the end of the atomic threat. [cbc] How far from the truth!

- Rocks from Space!
So unless we get our act together the poor folks in 2182 (assuming we haven't already burned up, or are fighting each other over the last locations with liquid water, or... you get the idea...) may have to deal with a huge asteroid (1999-RQ36, for those keeping track) that scientists say have a 1 in 1,000 chance of striking earth. [cbc]

And in June, 2009, a 14-year-old German boy was hit by a meteorite going about 30,000 mph. He survived with just a nasty three-inch long scar on his hand, even though there was a foot-wide crater in the pavement beside where he had been standing. [telegraph]

- Renegade Stars!
National Geographic reported that Hubble is tracking at least 14 rogue stars, careering out of control across the cosmos, causing unimaginable damage to neighbouring systems. [NatlGeo]

- Aliens!
While always an old favourite, there have been recent developments in this field simply due to the reputable brains willing to get involved in the discussion. My take has always been that life expands to the limit of available resources, and the only way for the continuance of a species is by expanding beyond the resources of a single planet. Humanity must move into the exploration and exploitation of our celestial neighbourhood if it is to survive. Upon doing so, there are three perspectives I can think of in regard to interaction with non-human lifeforms, assuming such exists: we share, we defer, or we fight. If those are our choices, the reverse may be true: we are beholden to the choice that non-human lifeform has taken. I believe the highest probability will be conflict. If so, we may be in trouble.