Robots On Facebook
Filed under: Androids, Anti-Android Research & Development Team, Artificial Intelligence, Psychology, Robot Psychology, Robots, Robots Deserve Rights 2, Science Fiction, Social Media, Technology, The Future
A major breakthrough in human/robot relationships arrives as Facebook allows one of its first robot members. Read more here.
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?
DARPA Launches All Seeing Eye Into Stratosphere
Filed under: Conspiracies, Future Weapons, Government, Science, Science Fiction, Technology, The Future
Another step towards floating cities or Big Brother? You decide.
DARPA is moving project ISIS into its demonstration phase. ISIS (Integrated Sensor Is Structure) is a military project with goals to launch an autonomous statospheric-based airship equipped with supercharged sensors for surveillance. The lightweight structure will hover high above earth for years and be capable of tracking objects as small as a child from up to 300 km away.
But, the idea of hovering surveillance structures troubles privacy groups like the Anti-Satellite Sympathizers. A.S.S. founder and president Neil Kaminskigee said the following: “It’s just one more step towards a totalitarian police state, in which every square inch of earth has a dedicated ‘surveillance camera’ to watch over citizens.”
Others see this as another step towards floating airbases and cities. Population control organizations have promoted the idea of permanent, stratosphere based structures to help alleviate overcrowding on the surface of our planet.
Read the press release from DARPA here.
Brain Lasers – Controlling Your Mind
Filed under: Future Weapons, Human Intelligence, Psychology, Science, Science Fiction, Technology, The Future
New research by MIT scientists illustrates how special lasers could affect our brains (read report here).
The researchers say they’ve been able to induce gamma waves in the brains of mice. Gamma waves are high frequency brainwaves tied closely to consciousness. The scientists applied optogenetics, a technology that uses light in conjunction with genetic engineering to control specific nerves, to achieve their goals.
“Brain Lasers” have a variety of applications, including mind control. In its most frightening incarnation, a soldier armed with a “Brain Laser Rifle” would be able to fire at his enemy’s head and scramble their brain so they’d be unable to tell friend from foe. Or, the laser could be calibrated to shut down the enemie’s higher brain processes, reducing them to a moaning, zombie-like creature. However, there is no evidence yet to suggest the research is being used to produce weapons of any kind. Stay tuned to The Loki Times for continuing coverage.
Brain Lasers. Too dangerous for mankind? You decide.
Is This “Loveable” Creature a Trojan Horse for the Robot Apocalypse?
Filed under: Artificial Intelligence, Computers, Conspiracies, Robot Psychology, Robots, Science, Science Fiction, Technology, The Apocalypse, The Future
The robot is named Probo. He’s modeled after an imaginary alien creature with an elephant like trunk. Researchers designed Probo to study human-robot interaction. Probo is programmed to communicate and react to humans in a believable social manner. Probo can also imitate emotions. But, robot apocalypse watchdog groups think creations like Probo will act as a Trojan Horse for the mechanical armies they theorize we’ll face in the future.
“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.
Is Viral Power the Solution to the Energy Crisis?
Filed under: Biology, Conspiracies, Discoveries, Genetic Engineering, Science, Viral Intelligence
Viruses suck. They’ve killed millions of people. They make us sick. We have to get shots of their dead bodies to build up our immune systems. They are just nasty little life forms that endlessly replicate and harm. Despite all this, researchers at MIT think they’ve found a redeeming purpose for viruses. That purpose is battery power. Read here.
In short, scientists genetically engineered viruses to mimic the properties of the positively and negatively charged ends of a battery through which power flows. These new virus built batteries allegedly have the same power capacity and performance of as cutting edge batteries developed to power things like electric cars.
But many are skeptical of depending on viruses for one of our most valuable commodities, energy. Anti-Viral Anything (AVA) president Vlad Soresh had the following to say: “Given the history of our relationship with viruses, can we really depend on them for our energy? I think they’ve proven time and time again that they want to cause nothing but harm to mankind.”
Despite criticisms like those, the genetically engineered technology is a major breakthrough in battery research.
What do you think? Can we trust viruses to supply us with energy?