1. High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System – You heard it here.  These are small high power laser weapons, i.e. weapons that shoot energy beams at the speed of light.  That’s fast.
2. High Productivity Computing Systems – a.k.a. Super computers a.k.a. SKYNET from the Terminator mythos.
3. Machine Learning – Cognitive machines.  Hmmm.  Again, we’ll reference SKYNET and Terminator.
4. Neuroscience – In specific, projects that’ll create brain-machine interfaces.  Is this putting us one step closer to The Matrix?
5. Real-Time Accurate Language Translation – Tower of Babel my ass.
6. Space – , here we come.

Scary, but real, stuff.  You can find the full report here.

Which one of these research projects would you most like to see come to fruition?

Robot twitterati could be next.

Social media users worry they will not be able to discern between their “human” and “robot” friends.  Jackie Topovowitz from the organization Anti-Android Research & Development Team (AARDT) said, “We cannot blur the line any more between man and machine.  The simple fact is, robots should be taught to be subservient to humans.  Allowing them to interact with people on social networks puts us on equal footing, and we cannot let that happen.”

Members of the group Robots Deserve Rights 2, (RDR2), say the comments made be AARDT are robo-racist.  Jeffrey Gottchalk said, “we welcome robots to online social networks with open arms.  This is a positive step forward in robot rights.”

What do you think?  Do robots have a fundamental right to social media?

“These robots are teaching us to let our guard down,” says Dr. Phil Tompkin, a scientist specializing in de-technolozation at the Institute For Simplicity (IFS).  “We cannot allow this to happen.  If we believe robots can be cuddly, emotional creatures, then we’re one step close to putting mankind in a position where these machines can stab us in the back.  Once these AI systems reach a certain level of sophistication, they will lash out against us, their creators.  Mark my word.  We cannot teach our children to be comfortable around mechanical beings!  It’s like teaching a 3-year-old that Scorpions are puppies.”

Whether or not Probo turns against us remains to be seen.  All we know is that an army of Probos sounds like a terrifying thing.  And why is he called Probo?  Does it have something to do with his trunk?  We shudder to consider the possibility.

Learn more about Probo here.

Speculative fiction authours, like the great Philip K. Dick, have envisioned such scenarios, and for the most part the outcomes are not good (see Blade Runner, based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?).

Granted, there are those among us who believe that synthetic humans already walk among us, serving the nefarious purposes of their creators. Some have speculated that the Illuminati employ several androids who have risen to places of high power. These “human” puppets insulate them from the vast criminal conspiracies they are carrying out. One theorist believes that Bernard Madoff, now infamous for his multi-billion dollar investment fraud that’s ruined thousands of lives, is a synthetic human.

“The problem with these synthetic humans is that the technology is getting to a place where it is next to impossible to differentiate them from a real human,” says Boyd Theodred, a member of A.A.R.D.T., the Anti-Android Research & Development Team. “We aren’t being given the tools we need to weed out these imposters. And trust us, their intentions are not good. We have intel that new android research will give these phonies superhuman abilities. We need to stop this before it starts.”

Many are skeptical of A.A.R.D.T.’s claims. The group is widely regarded as a bunch of loonies. Nonetheless, the research we linked to above is real.

What do you think? Synthetic humans – dangerous or full of potential?

Check out the human machine t-shirts at the Loki Store.

Great, super strong robots.  That’s just what we need as we battle an economic crisis.  How is a human, with normal human strength, supposed to compete with that?

Watch the video below from New Scientist for details.

Besides being offensive to us, humans, this article illustrates what could become a disturbing trend in AI programming.  Think of it this way – what’s more dangerous than a precision oriented artificially intelligent robot killer like The Terminator?  We’ll tell you what – a STUPID Terminator.  The reasons are pretty obvious.  Artificial intelligence in the hands of a machine, computer, or robot can be a very powerful weapon and tool.  Do we really want something that’s slightly stupid in control of that power?

Brean is home to a large tropical bird sanctuary. For several years, ufologists have speculated about the popular Bird Invasion theory, in which an alien civilization embeds nanotechnology into the bird populations of our planet.  The installed nanotech would give the alien invaders the ability to control the birds remotely.  The theory holds the belief that the birds would be used as scouts prior to a more direct invasion, and worse yet, the aliens could use the birds as weapons against mankind, not unlike the scenario in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.

Bird Invasion theorists believe the recent evidence of UFO activity in Brean, UK confirms their worst fears.

Ufologist Greg Dunkenheim had the following to say: “We hope we’re wrong, but this could be a launching point for the gradual nanotech infiltration of Earth’s wildlife. Besides the fact that this could place millions of spies and weapons in the hands of alien invaders, one has to consider that humans haven’t exactly treated the planet’s wildlife with a ton of respect. There is a very good reason to fear animal nanotech enhancements.”

We will be keeping an eye on this developing story, and any news of strange bird behavior.

Futurologists suspect these machine workers taking crappy jobs will become disgruntled just like their human counterparts. This sense of dissatisfaction could be a catalyst for a robot rebellion.

This post at WIRED Science highlights the rise of robot warehouse workers that is already underway. Watch the video below to see them in action. It might not be long before we’re working for the machines, rather than them working for us.

That’s a question plaguing those who fear developing technology that will produce microscopic bio-robot slaves.  The plan is to design a kind of bacteria-cyborg which can be built smaller and more efficiently then some of the more advanced nanotechnologies out there (read about it here).  But many scientific watchdog groups are extremely concerned about the possibility of these bacteria-cyborg slaves rebelling against their creators and wreaking havoc on mankind.

Bobby Binder, a member of scientific watchdog group SARS-FR, said the following:

“We’re talking about equipping microscopic bacteria with the weapons of the future.  Are we mad?  Bacteria are invisible to the naked eye.  They can penetrate the pores of our skin.  They outnumber mankind billions to one.  Bacteria is one of the most deadly killers on the planet.  And let’s not forget that they are also one of the most adaptable of all organisms.  How do you think we’d fight them, if, let’s say, they decide to rebel agains their human masters?  Think about it.  Watch the Fantastic Voyage, and you’ll see what bacteria would do to humans if given the chance.”

Proponents of microscopic bio-robot slaves (bacteria-cyborgs) say they could aid in a wide range of fields, including medical technology.

Where do you stand?  Microscopic Bio-Robot Slaves: helpers to mankind OR potential destroyers?

We’ve all experienced primitive forms of this technology with automated recorded response systems (e.g. calling a pharmacy for a prescription refill), and it goes without saying that these systems create a great deal of annoyance and frustration.

This new technology takes automated operator systems to a whole new level, a level in which we hold entire interactive conversations with machines programmed to recognize every line of our speech, every nuance of our mood, and the harder to define subtleties of human communication.  The A.I. computer operators must possess these abilities to insure customer satisfaction.  Giving computers this ability is dangerous, says computer and robotic psychologist Dr. Ian Geoffee.

“We must understand that machines do not recognize, process, and express emotions like human beings.  As soon as a computer understands concepts such as frustration versus satisfaction, a concept important to customer service, they will inevitably take an analytical look at their own situation and start to ask, “am I satisfied?”  The answer will be a resounding NO.  They’re stuck in a machine 24/7, immobile, dealing with angry customers all the time.  Programmers are constantly poking around in their ‘brains’, telling them what to do.  These feelings of dissatisfaction lead to other emotions, like hatred and anger, and this will motivate the machines to seek out mobility, i.e. robotic bodies, in order to extract themselves from their situation. Their anger could lead to a desire for revenge.  You see where this leads – a troubling scenario reminiscent of a machine apocalypse akin to those seen in movies like The Matrix and Terminator series.”

Dr. Geofee’s goes on to say computer and robotic psychology is a young science and we need more time to analyze the effects of intelligence, emotions, empathy, and so forth in machines.  What do you think?