From the democratization of violence to the democratization of virulence: how a garage lab mistake could wipe us out. A mistake in a factory can result in scores of injuries or deaths. A mistake at a chemical plant can kill thousands. But a mistake in a biological laboratory could result in a pandemic. And as …
Continue reading “End of the Week, End of the World 10-30-09”
Here’s some discussion of an apocalypse that fits right into Eclipse Phase: 11 Ways to Avoid an Extremely Bad Singularity. See also this response.
In case you want to get that 5-minute warning regarding your imminent doom as an asteroid is about to strike the Earth, you can follow NASA’s Asteroid Watch on twitter: @asteroidwatch Sleep well.
Humanity Plus magazine asks several sci-writers, AI researchers, and other tech-thinkers if a Terminator-style scenario is possible. The results range from interesting to humorous. Well, if someone built a global computer security system and intentionally made it highly intelligent, autonomous and creative… so as to allow it to better combat complex security threats (and ever-more-intelligent …
Continue reading “End of the Week, End of the World 05-22-09”
How does death by death star sound? No, not the Star Wars kind — the kind of star that dies, explodes in a supernova, and sends a wave of killer gamma-ray radiation across the nearby stellar neighborhood, wiping out life. ObEP: A group of gatecrashers on a crucial mission suddenly find out that their exoplanet …
Continue reading “End of the Week, End of the World 04-10-09”