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Using Humans as a Computer Model

October 16, 2001
Automated switching allowed AT&T/Bell Labs to keep up with the demand for telephones

The computer industry’s “next grand challenge” is the ever-increasing complexity of computing in the Internet era, with its global networks and proliferation of digital devices, says Paul M. Horn, a senior vice president who oversees the research labs at I.B.M., in a paper, “Autonomic computing.”

“Autonomic computing” is a biological metaphor suggesting a systemic approach to attaining a higher level of automation in computing.… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Computers/Infotech/UI

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Fiber weighed for chip interconnect

October 16, 2001

Semiconductor researchers are eschewing copper interconnect to bring optical fiber directly to the microprocessor for ultrafast data rates over a clean, low-power and low-noise pipe.
The nascent interest in fiber reflects a sense of urgency within the chip industry to bolster processor I/O, which has emerged as a major bottleneck to system performance.

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI

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Speaking of Voice Recognition

October 17, 2001

Intel, Microsoft, Comverse, Philips and SpeechWorks — the Speech Application Language Tags (SALT) Forum are working together to develop speech-enabled software that will let users call up any website on any device without having to click a button.

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Human Enhancement

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Waging war by remote control

October 18, 2001

The United States is for the first time flying armed, unmanned aircraft into combat and controlling them with operators in the United States via satellite.The use of the armed RQ-1 Predator drone planes is a revolutionary step in the conduct of warfare because they signal that the Air Force is now able to survey and then shoot at ground positions from lower altitudes without putting pilots at risk.

The… read more

Topics: Survival/Defense | VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

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KurzweilAI.net adds Events listing

October 18, 2001

KurzweilAI.net has added an Events section for forthcoming conferences related to accelerating intelligence. Coverage includes key events focusing on artificial intelligence, robots, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and the future of computers and microelectronics.

The listing is accessible on KurzweilAI.net’s home page.

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Scientists Report Gains in Knowledge of Bacterium

October 24, 2001

Scientists reported two major advances yesterday in their understanding of the anthrax bacterium — discoveries that could lead to the development of drugs custom-designed to interfere with the anthrax toxin at different stages of its operation.

Scientists from Harvard Medical School and the University of Wisconsin said that after a decade’s search they had found the receptor protein on the surface of cells that was targeted by the anthrax… read more

Topics: Biotech | Survival/Defense

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The Hypermedia Hazard

October 25, 2001

Media and political institutions responsible for providing clarity and coherent information appear to be unraveling under the stress of coping with terrorist attacks, especially the anthrax problems, casualties and resulting hysteria.

Topics: Survival/Defense

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Electron beams could be used to irradiate mail

October 25, 2001

The US Postal Service is installing irradiation equipment in an attempt to destroy biological weapons, such as anthrax, concealed in envelopes and parcels. Electron beam irradiation is a leading candidate technology for this purpose.
A system from Titan called SureBeam uses high-energy electron beams to break down molecules within DNA, either killing a micro-organism or rendering it unable to reproduce. SureBeam bombards its target with energy levels… read more

Topics: Survival/Defense

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Unlocking the Paralysis Riddle

October 25, 2001

Researchers studying spinal cord injuries have observed certain patterns of the human brain that may ultimately enable paraplegics and quadriplegics to regain some motor activity in their paralyzed limbs — or use their brains to control robotic limbs.

Researchers took MRI snapshots of the brains of quadriplegics as they were asked to move their hands, elbows, feet, knees and lips. The images revealed neural activity in all the places… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Human Enhancement

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Anthrax Powder is High-Grade, Scientists Say

October 25, 2001

Scientists in and out of government said yesterday that the anthrax strike on Capitol Hill involved an advanced, highly refined powder that is quite dangerous and not the primitive form of the germ that some federal officials have recently described.

The anthrax was altered from its natural state to reduce its electrostatic charge, a process that prevents small particles from sticking together and to nearby objects, thus making them… read more

Topics: Survival/Defense

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Entrepreneurs Respond to Fearful Times

October 26, 2001

Tinkerers and entrepreneurs have found a new source of inspiration: fear of terrorism.
New products beginning to hit the market include fish tanks transformed into special glass boxes for opening suspicious mail, a home anthrax-testing kit, powered parachutes for people who live and work in high-rises, a sealed glass case for people to open their mail in, flavored syrups that can be used to cover up the bitter taste of… read more

Topics: Innovation/Entrepreneurship | Survival/Defense

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Devastating attacks on the net ‘imminent,’ says report

October 26, 2001

A new wave of devastating Internet attacks is just waiting to happen and there is there is currently little chance of preventing it.
The threat is a variation of the “denial of service” (DoS) attack, commonly used by malicious hackers to block a website by bombarding it with spurious requests. However, the new threat would target routers, key hubs of the Internet’s infrastructure, instead of individual websites.

“We believe… read more

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Survival/Defense

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Subliminal study shows subconscious learning is possible

October 26, 2001

Subconscious learning probably is possible, say Boston University researchers, and subconscious learning may affect our conscious decisions — without our realising it.

Takeo Watanabe and his colleagues at Boston University found that people who had watched a particular direction of subliminal dot movement during a letter-naming trial were significantly better at picking it out later.

The finding challenges the idea that attention is an essential element of the… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Human Enhancement

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Security on the Brain, Solutions in the Eyes

October 26, 2001

Amsterdam airport is the first major international airport to introduce an iris scanner to identify travelers.
Holders of a card with the image of their iris captured in a computer code should be able to whip through a special passage and avoid passport control and long lines. All it takes is a few seconds of peering into a video camera, and the computer to recognize that the scanned eye matches… read more

Topics: Survival/Defense

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Can Congress Convene Online?

October 26, 2001

Spooked by anthrax in the Capitol, public officials and opinion makers are scrambling to figure out how to keep the government running if Congress can’t physically convene. Among the options being considered: having senators and representatives gather online, in “an electronic Congress.”

Topics: Internet/Telecom | Survival/Defense

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