Ongoing Research Excerpts from DARPA’s Strategic Plan
Filed under: Alien Intelligence, Aliens, Animal Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence, Biology, Computers, Conspiracies, Future Weapons, Human Intelligence, Intelligence, Mind Control, Robots, Science, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Technology, The Future
DARPA (The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) recently released a 50+ page strategic plan highlighting some of the most advance research projects it is currently undertaking. On page 9, section 2.6, DARPA outlines a “short list” of ongoing research. We list the highlights here.
- 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.
- High Productivity Computing Systems – a.k.a. Super computers a.k.a. SKYNET from the Terminator mythos.
- Machine Learning – Cognitive machines. Hmmm. Again, we’ll reference SKYNET and Terminator.
- Neuroscience – In specific, projects that’ll create brain-machine interfaces. Is this putting us one step closer to The Matrix?
- Real-Time Accurate Language Translation – Tower of Babel my ass.
- 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?
Real Life Star Trek: DARPA Rewards VULCAN Engine Contracts
Filed under: Future Weapons, Outer Space, Science, Science Fiction, Technology, The Future
Right before the release of J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency kicks off their VULCAN Engine Program by rewarding four contractors with funding to begin first phase development of the proposed super engine system.
When we hear the word Vulcan, our thoughts wander to the Star Trek character Spock, his home planet, and his people. The VULCAN Engine Program is appropriately named since it is a “propulsion system demonstration effort to design, build, and ground-test an engine capable of accelerating a full-scale hypersonic vehicle from rest to Mach 4+.”
This could be our first steps towards a “warp drive” propulsion system like the one that propels the Enterprise across vast distances in space.
Read the DARPA News Release here (via DARPA’s news room.)
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.
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?