The Weaponization of the electromagnetic spectrum

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The information age is evolving the very nature of warfare. Today, each nation increasingly depends on closely integrated, high-speed electronic systems across cyberspace, geospace, and space (CGS). But, it’s a cause of great concern if an enemy can easily use a weapon like a small, inexpensive EMP device. An EMP weapon can deny any individual or entity across a nation the ability to use electromagnetic waves for their digital infrastructure and digital connectivity, e.g. radio, infrared, and radar. Moreover, a nuclear blast can also trigger an EMP effect, as can a solar storm. Individually and collectively, this emerging reality understandably changes the nature of warfare, the focus of the war, and the target of warfare, shaking up the very foundation of security.

Electronic warfare is on our doorstep, and no nation seems to be fully prepared. Since electronic warfare appears to already be on our doorstep, in order to meet the complex EMP warfare challenges that are seriously threatening the very progress and advances nations have made in CGS, it is essential to evaluate how prepared each nation is today in their defensive as well as offensive capabilities. How are nations addressing the security challenges to their CGS?

The weaponization of the electromagnetic spectrum is becoming a reality. Acknowledging this emerging reality, Risk Group initiated a much-needed discussion on Electromagnetic Warfare with Colonel Avraham Cohen, Head of National Security Cyber Research Group and the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Sphere-SOC based in Israel on Risk Roundup.

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Fecal transplants result in massive long-term reduction in autism symptoms

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A two-year study on fecal transplants in autism sufferers has found they can reduce symptoms by as much as 45 percent(Credit: Arizona State University)

Scientific research continues to uncover interesting connections between the gut microbiome and human health, including everything from depression to PTSD to autoimmune disease. Another example of this are the emerging ties between gut health and autism, with an exciting new study demonstrating how boosting microbial diversity via fecal transplants can dramatically reduce its symptoms in the long term.

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ETH Zurich makes lightweight concrete ceiling using 3D sand-printing

A lightweight concrete ceiling with formwork 3D-printed from sand is among the innovations to feature in an experimental robot-made house built by university ETH Zurich.

The DFAB House, currently under construction in Dübendorf, Switzerland, showcases five digital building methods that have never before been seen in architecture, and the concrete Smart Slab is the latest addition.

The structure has been computationally designed to use only the minimal amount of material necessary to make it load-bearing, and is less than half the weight of usual concrete slabs.

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Chinese scientists have put human brain genes in monkeys—and yes, they may be smarter

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A quest to understand how human intelligence evolved raises some ethical questions.

Human intelligence is one of evolution’s most consequential inventions. It is the result of a sprint that started millions of years ago, leading to ever bigger brains and new abilities. Eventually, humans stood upright, took up the plow, and created civilization, while our primate cousins stayed in the trees.

Now scientists in southern China report that they’ve tried to narrow the evolutionary gap, creating several transgenic macaque monkeys with extra copies of a human gene suspected of playing a role in shaping human intelligence.

“This was the first attempt to understand the evolution of human cognition using a transgenic monkey model,” says Bing Su, the geneticist at the Kunming Institute of Zoology who led the effort.

Continue reading… “Chinese scientists have put human brain genes in monkeys—and yes, they may be smarter”

As cashless stores grow, so does the backlash

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Hembert Figueroa just wanted a taco.

So he was surprised to learn the dollar bills in his pocket were no good at Dos Toros Taqueria in Manhattan, one of a small but growing number of establishments across the U.S. where customers can only pay by card or smartphone.

Cash-free stores are generating a backlash among some activists and liberal-leaning policymakers who say the practice discriminates against people like Figueroa, who either lack bank accounts or rely on cash for many transactions.

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Billion-dollar bets on electric vehicles await payoff

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If carmakers have any hope of making money on electric vehicles, they’ll need to re-think how they design and sell them, a new McKinsey study suggests.

Why it matters: Automakers will pour $255 billion into EVs by 2023 but are resigned to losing money on them for the foreseeable future — an expected outcome of a market dictated by regulators and lawmakers, rather than consumers. But because they’re key to future self-driving cars, they’ll keep investing in them.

The big picture: Right now, electric vehicles are an expensive black hole for carmakers.

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CBD goes mainstream

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A mother uses CBD to treat her son’s seizures. A veteran hopes it will help her wean off opioids. A dietitian says it helps her sleep through the night. Even a pet owner uses it to calm his anxious Saint Bernard. These are just some of the estimated 64 million Americans who have tried CBD, or cannabidiol, in the past 24 months, according to a January 2019 nationally representative Consumer Reports survey of more than 4,000 Americans.

The survey found that more than a quarter of people in the U.S. say they’ve tried CBD—a compound in marijuana and hemp that doesn’t get you “high”—for a slew of mental and physical reasons. One out of 7 of those people said they use it every day.

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German inventors develop bracelet to test drinks for date-rape drugs

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Inventors in Germany have developed a bracelet aimed at combatting a fear of many clubbers — drink spiking.

Kim Eisenmann and Sven Häuser’s “Xantus” bracelet only needs a drop of liquid to be applied to tell if it contains traces of “date rape drugs” — substances put in a person’s drink to incapacitate them.

The band, which is already available at German healthcare shop dm-drogerie markt, is white and resembles the ribbon used to enter many clubs.

It has two green circles that turn blue if the wearer applies some of their drink and the result is positive for the drugs.

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A massive new study says these 5 fears separate people who take risks and follow their dreams from those who never try

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It’s a funny thing, fear.

Nearly one in five full-time employees in this country has a dream–and that dream is to no longer be a full-time employee.

But there’s something holding back the vast majority of them.

A new survey by cloud-based accounting software firm Freshbooks concludes that 24 million U.S. workers truly want to become their own bosses–but only about two million of them actually managed to quit their jobs last year to launch their own companies.

Continue reading… “A massive new study says these 5 fears separate people who take risks and follow their dreams from those who never try”

Ford CEO says the company ‘overestimated’ self-driving cars

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Ford thinks there will be limits on what first self-driving cars can do.

Ford CEO Jim Hackett scaled back hopes about the company’s plans for self-driving cars this week, admitting that the first vehicles will have limits. “We overestimated the arrival of autonomous vehicles,” said Hackett, who once headed the company’s autonomous vehicle division, at a Detroit Economic Club event on Tuesday. While Ford still plans on launching its self-driving car fleet in 2021, Hackett added that “its applications will be narrow, what we call geo-fenced, because the problem is so complex.”

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Human error, not artificial intelligence, poses the greatest threat

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A robot and a dancer perform during the opening ceremony of an industry fair in Hanover, Germany on 31 March 2019.

The risk that humanity faces comes not from malevolent machines but from incompetent programmers, writes Martyn Thomas.

The long read (28 March) on the threat from artificial intelligence misses the point. In a paper written in 1951, Alan Turing demolished all the arguments against AI one day surpassing human intelligence, but there is no sign that that “singularity” is on the horizon. The imminent threat is that we’ve built a digital society on software foundations that are too vulnerable to failures and cyber-attacks, as a recent report from the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre oversight board powerfully illustrated. The risk that humanity faces comes not from malevolent machines but from incompetent programmers who leave their customers vulnerable to cyber-attacks and other failures.

If we survive long enough to see truly intelligent machines, then there is no known barrier to them developing consciousness. But how could we tell?

Martyn Thomas

Emeritus professor of IT, Gresham College, London

Via The Guardian

 

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