For your technothriller needs.
Originally shared by Singularity Hub
3D Printed Heads Can Unlock Phones. What Does that Mean for Biometric Security?
Jan
07
Category Archives: SFF Thought Starters
Jan
06
Worth a read; there’s another side to it than the obvious Orwellian one, though you may still end up feeling (as I…
Worth a read; there’s another side to it than the obvious Orwellian one, though you may still end up feeling (as I do) that the Orwellian risks outweigh any benefits, and the benefits should be sought through different means.
Originally shared by Singularity Hub
Blacklisted in China—Misbehaving Scientists Poised for “Social” Punishment
Jan
06
Interesting.
Interesting.
Originally shared by HACKADAY
Hacking #agriculture could make more food for everyone.
We think of hacking as bending technology to our will. But some systems are biological, and we’re also starting to see more hacking in that area. This should excite science fiction fans used to with reading about cultures that work with biological tech,…
http://hackaday.com/2019/01/05/green-hacking-overclocking-photosynthesis/
Jan
04
Cyberpunk is here, chummers.
Cyberpunk is here, chummers.
Originally shared by ExtremeTech
They mostly look like regular glasses, but the lenses include a smart heads-up display powered by Vuzix’s custom software and Amazon Alexa.
Jan
02
A heartening case of scientists not being so excited that they can do something that they fail to stop and think…
A heartening case of scientists not being so excited that they can do something that they fail to stop and think about whether they should. The technique remains controversial, though.
Originally shared by Singularity Hub
Gene Drives Survived a Proposed UN Ban in 2018—What’s Next?
Jan
01
An alternative to the “technological unemployment” narrative you usually read.
An alternative to the “technological unemployment” narrative you usually read.
I still think an automation tax to fund universal basic income is an idea worth exploring.
Originally shared by Singularity Hub
AI Will Create Millions More Jobs Than It Will Destroy. Here’s How
Dec
31
This guy is trying too hard to sound like his boss (“let’s dive into this exponential technology”), but it’s a good…
This guy is trying too hard to sound like his boss (“let’s dive into this exponential technology”), but it’s a good summary of the state of the play on a technology that’s often been portrayed in SF since an Asimov story in 1941.
Short version is that it’s currently prohibitively expensive to send up the large satellites that would be required, so we need the capacity to build them out of materials that are already in space.
Originally shared by Singularity Hub
Why the Future of Solar Power Is from Space
Dec
28
Asimov was optimistic in his timeline, but pretty accurate in general outline in this article from 1984.
Asimov was optimistic in his timeline, but pretty accurate in general outline in this article from 1984.
(I’m reading a book about him and some other SF “greats” at the moment. They were not wonderful people.)
Via Keith Wilson.
Originally shared by Filippo Salustri
35 years ago, Isaac Asimov predicted what 2019 would be like.
Dec
27
Stability of a rotating asteroid housing a space station
Originally shared by Winchell Chung
Stability of a rotating asteroid housing a space station
Today there are numerous studies on asteroid mining. They elaborate on selecting the right objects, prospecting missions, potential asteroid redirection, and the mining process itself. For economic reasons, most studies focus on mining candidates in the 100-500m size-range.
Also, suggestions regarding the design and implementation of space stations or even colonies inside the caverns of mined asteroids exist. Caverns provide the advantages of confined material in near-zero gravity during mining and later the hull will shield the inside from radiation.
Existing studies focus on creating the necessary artificial gravity by rotating structures that are built inside the asteroid. Here, we assume the entire mined asteroid to rotate at a sufficient rate for artificial gravity and investigate its use for housing a habitat inside. In this study we present how to estimate the necessary spin rate assuming a cylindrical space station inside a mined asteroid and discuss the implications arising from substantial material stress given the required rotation rate. We estimate the required material strength using two relatively simple analytical models and apply them to fictitious, yet realistic rocky near-Earth asteroids.
Dec
26
Via Raja Mitra, a long, well-written, interesting piece on identity and the ways it’s tracked.
Via Raja Mitra, a long, well-written, interesting piece on identity and the ways it’s tracked. Key takeaway for me: the ideal system would allow users to prove eligibility for a specific service (for example, confirming their age when buying alcohol) without revealing anything else about them.
Originally shared by John Hagel
Who controls your identity? The control of the state may be eroded as the ability to unbundle identities increases but there are far more dystopian outcomes as well