From: Max M (maxmcorp@worldonline.dk)
Date: Wed Dec 11 2002 - 01:21:19 MST
[www.futureport.dk/news] Summary - 2002-11-12 (8 articles)
Not much interresting today, but come rain, come snow, the news must go out.
regards Max M Rasmussen, Denmark
NASA creating synthetic planets
===============================
[Space] Found by: maxm
http://www.msnbc.com/news/845677.asp?0si=-
Somewhere between reality and the unknown, science fiction has always
flourished. The best sci-fi authors rigidly adhere to one principle:
Make it as real as possible, given what’s known. Now, as if lifting a
chapter from an Isaac Asimov novel, NASA plans to create hundreds of
“synthetic planets” that might represent real worlds orbiting faraway stars.
Open Source and Its Enemies
===========================
[Politics] Found by: maxm
http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/techwrapper.jsp?PID=1051-250&CID=1051-121002D
It should surprise nobody to learn that Bill Gates is not a fan of Linux
or open source software [OSS], for roughly the same reason that light
bulb manufacturers might resent sunny days. What ought to be surprising
is that many libertarian writers have recently launched a series of
vehement attacks against OSS, and especially against proposals to
preference open software in government procurement.
Plant-derived drugs hit crossroads
==================================
[Science] Found by: maxm
http://www.msnbc.com/news/843716.asp
In Kentucky, tobacco plants are turning into cancer-fighting drug
factories. In Virginia, corn is being harvested to treat cystic
fibrosis, and in Nebraska, researchers are hoping that fertile farm
fields will yield part of a cure for AIDS. From fields of barley in
Washington state to Hawaiian sugar cane groves, scientists are
cultivating agricultural advances that have nothing to do with food and
everything to do with finding cheaper and faster ways to treat a range
of human ailments.
Be Afraid - Michael Crichton is very, very afraid of technological
progress—again.
==================================================================================
[Sceptiscism] Found by: maxm
http://www.reason.com/rb/rb121102.shtml
Over the weekend, I read Prey, Michael Crichton's latest
screenplay—sorry, novel.
The techno-thriller effectively fictionalizes Bill Joy's notorious Wired
article, "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us." Joy, a chief scientist for
Sun Microsystems, warned, "Our most powerful 21st-century
technologies—robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotech—are threatening
to make humans an endangered species." Crichton doesn't leave the
didacticism to the novel itself; he provides a self-important
introductory essay on the dangers of new technologies that makes it
clear he wholeheartedly agrees with Joy.
Energy Needs May Limit Size, Ability Of Quantum Computers
=========================================================
[Science] Found by: maxm
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/chip-tech-02l.html
The energy required to create an accurate quantum computer may limit the
ability of scientists to make these novel devices small, fast, cheap and
efficient, says a University of Arkansas researcher.
Patent policy flaws complicate commercialization of federally funded
university discoveries
===========================================================================================
[Politics] Found by: maxm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-12/du-ppf120602.php
The process of commercializing university research discoveries is beset
with complex problems: excessive secrecy, inadequate government policy
and inappropriate patent law that affect academe, government funding
agencies and industry, according to a new study published in the
December 2002 issue of The Milbank Quarterly.
For Improving Health, Most Americans Approve of Reproductive Genetic
Technologies
=================================================================================
[Health] Found by: maxm
http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2002-12-10-1
A survey of American attitudes on reproductive cloning, genetic testing
and genetic modification shows that despite divisions between men and
women and the religious and secular, most people support using genetic
technologies to improve health.
Human or Computer? Take This Test
=================================
[Science] Found by: maxm
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/10/science/physical/10COMP.html
As chief scientist of the Internet portal Yahoo, Dr. Udi Manber had a
profound problem: how to differentiate human intelligence from that of a
machine.
-- hilsen/regards Max M http://www.futureport.dk/ Fremtiden, videnskab, skeptiscisme og transhumanisme
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed Jan 15 2003 - 17:58:40 MST