Plausible Futures HomePlausible Futures Homehttp://www.plausiblefutures.com/CustomPublish.com - Web publishing made easyTue, 10 Apr 2007 11:51:53 +0200 I'm moving this website to plausiblefutures.wordpress.com Tue, 10 Apr 2007 11:51:53 +0200http://www.plausiblefutures.com/plausible-futures-gets-a-new-home.448830.htmlhttp://www.plausiblefutures.com/plausible-futures-gets-a-new-home.448830.html Technologies are emerging that extend survival by delaying death from chronic fatal diseases. Pushing this envelope may briefly quench our insatiable thirst for extended life and temporarily quell our fear of death, but continuing to do so may turn out to be harmful unless it soon becomes possible to scientifically engineer an extension of the vigor of youth in both body and mind. In this article we go beyond usual scientific reasoning and imagine how the human body might have been designed differently if biology were goal-oriented. Sun, 01 Apr 2007 14:41:22 +0200http://www.plausiblefutures.com/what-if-humans-were-designed-to-last.447881.htmlhttp://www.plausiblefutures.com/what-if-humans-were-designed-to-last.447881.html Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESLT) introducing at AUSA Winter the Versatile, Intelligent, Portable Robot (VIPeR), the newest member of its unmanned systems family. The new robot is displayed at the company's booth at the USA Winter Symposium and Exhibition. VIPeR was developed for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) within the framework of its Portable Unmanned Ground Vehicle (PUGV) program, and in close cooperation with The Israeli Ministry of Defences Directorate of Defense R&D (DDR&D). Following operational evaluation, the IDF plans on fielding VIPeR in its infantry platoons. Sat, 10 Mar 2007 15:21:47 +0100http://www.plausiblefutures.com/elbit-systems-unveils-viper-a-portable-combat-robot.442312.htmlhttp://www.plausiblefutures.com/elbit-systems-unveils-viper-a-portable-combat-robot.442312.html Today, scientists arent just mapping genomes and manipulating genes, theyre building life from scratch and theyre doing it in the absence of societal debate and regulatory oversight. Tue, 06 Mar 2007 14:51:35 +0100http://www.plausiblefutures.com/extreme-genetic-engineering-an-introduction-to-synthetic-biology.434753.htmlhttp://www.plausiblefutures.com/extreme-genetic-engineering-an-introduction-to-synthetic-biology.434753.html The Altair 8800, introduced in the early 1970s, was the first computer you could build at home from a kit. It was crude, didn't do much, but many historians would say that it launched the desktop computer revolution. Hod Lipson, Cornell assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, thinks a little machine he calls a Fab@Home may have the same impact. Tue, 27 Feb 2007 15:03:19 +0100http://www.plausiblefutures.com/low-cost-home-built-3-d-printer-could-launch-a-revolution.432977.htmlhttp://www.plausiblefutures.com/low-cost-home-built-3-d-printer-could-launch-a-revolution.432977.html The ongoing debate on the proposed missile defense shield in Europe is heating up. Poland and the Czech Republic are among the possible sites and the UK is now showing interest in supporting the missile shield. Fears over the destabilising effects of such a shield was confirmed by a Russian general who said that they would target the system. Sat, 24 Feb 2007 15:22:56 +0100http://www.plausiblefutures.com/missile-defense-shield-expands-to-europe.432296.htmlhttp://www.plausiblefutures.com/missile-defense-shield-expands-to-europe.432296.html For sure, Huxley was writing a satirical piece of fiction, not scientific prophecy. Hence to treat his masterpiece as ill-conceived futurology rather than a work of great literature might seem to miss the point. Yet the knee-jerk response of "It's Brave New World!" to any blueprint for chemically-driven happiness has delayed research into paradise-engineering for all sentient life. Sun, 11 Feb 2007 18:47:34 +0100http://www.plausiblefutures.com/brave-new-world-a-defense-of-paradise-engineering.428978.htmlhttp://www.plausiblefutures.com/brave-new-world-a-defense-of-paradise-engineering.428978.html I have decided to launch a Norwegian-speaking blog for the topics covered here. I'm firing off with some science-fictional writing I did last winter. Tue, 13 Feb 2007 23:55:32 +0100http://www.plausiblefutures.com/plausible-fremtider-nAring-pAring-norsk.429617.htmlhttp://www.plausiblefutures.com/plausible-fremtider-nAring-pAring-norsk.429617.html Since the time of the Industrial Revolution there has been a relatively consistent pattern of 50-year waves of techno-economic change. We are currently nearing the end of the fifth wave of information technology diffusion, while a sixth wave is emerging with converging advancements across the NBIC (nano-bio-info-cogno) space, making possible neurotechnology, the set of tools that can influence the human central nervous system, especially the brain. Thu, 08 Feb 2007 15:51:11 +0100http://www.plausiblefutures.com/neurotechnology-and-society-2010-2060.428486.htmlhttp://www.plausiblefutures.com/neurotechnology-and-society-2010-2060.428486.html The Universe offers humanity endless possibilities and new frontiers, but can we maintain the ideas of civilization and civility so far from home? Sun, 11 Feb 2007 18:46:06 +0100http://www.plausiblefutures.com/space-a-moral-vacuum.428976.htmlhttp://www.plausiblefutures.com/space-a-moral-vacuum.428976.html