by R E Kearney
Terminator Lens – We all know about the terminator’s ability to zoom in on any object. As implied by its name this contact lens will do the same for the person wearing it. Even though it is not yet available for public purchase, it has been proven to work well. The terminator lens allows an individual to magnify their vision up to 2.8 times instantly, by using a liquid crystal shutter that is located in the lens itself. It works well in 3D glasses, but the manufacturers are still trying to come up with a way to put the crystal shutter in the softer plastic that is used to make normal contact lenses.
But this is just the beginning. Enhancements to our bodies using cyberwear need to be able to work in sync with our own central nervous system to function efficiently and become symbiotic with organic tissue. Combining the two and using the mind to control technology has become many manufacturers aim. The brain’s electrical activity can be recorded along the scalp, using a process called EEG. By monitoring these brain waves, technology has been designed to translate them into commands allowing various devices to be controlled with just the user’s thoughts.
Not only is this process convenient, but it has been useful in helping those with physical handicaps lead more fulfilling lives. Even though the technology is still being refined, paralysed individuals are able to control wheelchairs and other equipment by wearing a cap and training their brains to send the appropriate signals to the machine. EEG on its own has limited accuracy, however, and a combination of brain control and artificial intelligence seems to be the best way to operate these items. The combination means that the individual will not need to focus constantly on controlling their device. The brain would only have to produce the initial thought and then the artificial intelligence would take over.
Operating technology with the mind has an unlimited scope, and some of the ones available or coming soon are:
1. Prosthetic Arm by DARPA – Wearers are able to control this limb with their thoughts, and the arm will function in the same way as a real one. The introduction of these prosthetic devices means that many people will be able to use them to regain their independence, especially when the technology is applied to other prosthetic limbs.
2. NeuroSky MindWave – This is a headset that has been designed to improve the user’s brain ability and comes with educational, gaming and life improvement apps. One of the accessories for the MindWave is the Orbit Helicopter, which the user can fly by using their concentration to dictate the aircraft’s course.
3. Muse – This is a portable headset which controls relaxation and focus, making it easier for the user to perform mentally challenging tasks. The manufacturers are still working on the object however and in the near future the Muse will be used to control iPhones and Androids by brain wave activity.
4. Emotiv EPOC – This device allows people to control their computer using only their mind. It is particularly beneficial for gaming technology and can be adapted to control any electrical device.
5. Necomimi and Shippo – Not all the technology that is being produced to be used with brain waves is for ease or convenience, some of it is just for fun. This pair of ears and tail will scan brain waves and respond to them. For example, the Necomimi ears may stand up when the user is alert and the Shippo tail will wag whenever its human is happy.
The achievements we can make with technology are quite literally mind-blowing!
Viruses and their Threat to Mankind
Humans have come a long way in preventing viral diseases over the last one hundred years. Children receive vaccinations against nine viral diseases, including many that used to cause life-threatening complications, such as polio. But still, there are fewer treatments for viral diseases than for those caused by bacteria, and when infectious disease pandemics emerge, the pathogens that are the most lethal are the viruses.
Treatments for viral diseases have generally stayed far behind treatments for bacterial diseases. One reason for that is simply because scientists have been working on antibacterial treatments for longer. Viruses are also much smaller than bacteria, and they have fewer genes or proteins to target with treatments. Viruses also mutate much more quickly than bacteria, so any therapy that is developed may no longer work after a short time.
In addition, bacteria are living cells that divide on their own, and a lot of drug treatments against bacteria work by knocking out essential functions of those cells, such as the ability to replicate. But viruses are not made of cells, and they are even not exactly “alive” — they just hijack the machinery of their hosts' cells in order to replicate, so researchers can't target virus functions or replication in a traditional way.
When the first antibiotics were developed in the 1940s, they were considered something akin to a miracle cure for diseases that had once seemed unstoppable. A few decades later, scientists developed drugs against viruses, known as antivirals. However, although there are "broad-spectrum" antibiotics, which are single drugs that work against dozens of bacteria, the spectrum for antivirals is much narrower. Most antiviral drugs are specific for one type of virus, although some work against two or three.
Even though we are exposed to viruses in various forms from as early as we can remember, they still remain beyond our control. Many of them such as chicken pox and the common cold have symptoms that are very uncomfortable, while others pose a much more serious threat to humanity. The significant difference between the size of the organism and the amount of damage that it can do to the human population, almost seems to be a mockery of our systems.
Ebola Virus
Ebola is one of the viruses that is currently associated with many human deaths. It is believed to have originated in bats in West Africa, and is transferred in humans quickly and easily through contact with those that are affected. It is associated with an extremely high fatality rate, as approximately 50% of those that are infected end up dying from the virus. The symptoms are very flu-like in appearance but quickly escalate to include nausea and diarrhoea. In order to find a cure or vaccine to help decrease the amount of people that die from the virus, scientists are continuously studying the survivors.
HIV
HIV is another virus that has affected the world population significantly. It is caught mainly from sexual or blood contact, and breaks down the immune system by attacking CD4 white blood cells directly. Different medications, over the years, have made it possible for people to live for very long periods without the virus advancing any further. Some of the most successful antiviral drugs inhibit a certain viral enzyme called reverse transcriptase, which synthesizes parts of the virus. Several drugs against HIV work in this way. However, only RNA viruses (HIV for example) use reverse transcriptase, so drugs against this enzyme will not work for DNA viruses. In addition, the structure of reverse transcriptase can be very different depending on the virus, which is why an antiviral that works against HIV might not work for Ebola.
Influenza Virus
Even though the regular influenza virus is responsible for a large number of deaths each year, it becomes even more dangerous when a new strain develops. One example of an influenza epidemic was the outbreak of the Spanish Flu in 1918, where in excess of 40% of the world’s population got sick and more than 25 million people died. Another strain of influenza that has proved fatal in more modern times was the swine flu (H1N1 virus) attack in 2009.
Our battles with these miniscule killers are long and continuous, but there is sometimes a great victory on our side. Smallpox was one of the most deadly viruses to plague us for centuries, leaving at least 1/3 of its victims dead and many survivors permanently scarred or blind. In 1980, it was announced that the world was now free of the threat of smallpox. Virologists, and doctors, took advantage of the distinct symptoms and began treating those exposed to the virus by giving them the ‘ring vaccine’ as soon as possible after exposure, resulting eventually in its complete eradication.
After being affected by certain viruses, our immune system produces natural anti-bodies so the
y cannot infect us more than once. Getting the full blown virus can be deadly so vaccines are made by introducing weakened forms of the viruses into the body, to allow it to develop its own immunity. This has been very successful in limiting the amount of people certain viruses affect. Virologists and other scientists continue to work diligently at finding ways to make vaccines for the ones that still continue to prove fatal.
Our battle for survival
Discovering antiviral drugs is easier today than it used to be, thanks to new technologies. That should continue to be a strong factor in favor of humanity when it comes to fighting diseases of the future. A few decades ago, researchers had to test potential drugs individually, and it could take three to six months to test three hundred potential drugs, Now, the process is automated with robots, so those same three hundred drugs would require only a few days to test.
In addition, researchers can now view three-dimensional models of viral components on a computer, and quickly design and "test" compounds with computer programs that simulate the binding of drugs to viral components. However, because new antiviral drug treatments may be years or decades away, public health organizations are focused on stopping pandemics before they start. New viral diseases typically emerge because of human activity that brings people into contact with wildlife, such as road building, hunting and agriculture expansion. About 75 percent of emerging diseases in people come from animals. So to reduce the risk of an outbreak, researchers need to figure out ways to reduce the activity that brings us into contact with wildlife, particularly in incredibly hot areas where diseases tend to emerge, such as tropical areas. Pandemics of the future will hang on the thread of researchers being able to fight the onset of the disease with all the technology that is available to them.
Chapter 6
Oh Canada
Heavy rain pelts the windshield of Robert Goodfellow’s self-driving car as it rolls out of Canada Forces Base Kingston and heads north to his emergency meeting with the Minister of Public Safety at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Headquarters in Ottawa. On a rainy morning like this, Robert relishes sitting back and leaving the driving to GPS satellites and computers. A contented member of the cybernetic generation, he has happily adopted the automated lifestyle. Manually operating a vehicle is a skill he neither possesses nor seeks.
Mental labor not manual labor. Robert considers manual labor to be something done by someone too unskilled to conceive a computerized or robotic method for accomplishing identical tasks. He thinks his brain should be his only muscle regularly exercised. He does not consider himself to be lazy, but to be smart.
‘Why do yourself what a computer and robot can do better for you?’ is his mantra for living life. It is also the slogan he employs to sell his services and earn his rent and meal money. Robert is a gig worker. Like the majority of today’s educated workers, he is a member of the freelance nation where he contracts out his knowledge and skills to any organization willing to pay his rate for as long as that organization is willing to pay. Since his gigs are primarily in the intelligence technology and threat intelligence arena, he and his fellow gigging friends call themselves, programming prostitutes.
Besides finding driving unnecessary and boring work, by not driving for the next two hours, he has time and freedom to nap and replace the sleep he lost last night. He always relishes a good nap. Or, he could concentrate on deciphering last night’s late night summons from the panicked Minister. He does not understand, and the Minister told him that he could not tell him, why the Canadian Security Intelligence Service is so insistent on interviewing him. After all, he is nobody important. He is just a Reserve officer completing his annual two weeks duty as the Operations Officer with the Canadian Forces National Counter-Intelligence Unit Detachment in Kingston.
Essentially, Robert considers his Reserve duty as just another part-time, paying gig. He enjoys his work for the military, although he does not enjoy the military. He is not a good soldier. He abhors and avoids physical combat. He is a reluctant soldier, but excellent cyberwarrior and manipulator of weaponized code.
Often, Robert intentionally forgets to salute and properly address his superior officers, as well as regularly failing his physical fitness tests. Actually, he stays in reasonably good physical shape and could easily pass his physical fitness tests if he tried. After all, he ran track in High School and at the University. But, he enjoys how much his close-call failures exasperate his commander. Transforming his commanding officer into a fiery-red, stuttering, spitting maniac is one of his joys. It helps him pass the time. Inventing different methods for aggravating his superior officers is simply a game he plays to ease his boredom. Robert asserts that he is a professional in the military, but neither a military professional nor professional military.
So, the fretful recall from the Minister forces Robert to mentally review his recent actions for possible reasons to be beckoned north. He does not recollect any major screw-ups during his previous two weeks of Reserve duty. When you do not do much, you cannot mess up much, and he had not had that much to do these preceding two weeks. After all, Canada is happily at peace. For that reason, Robert considers that being yanked north cannot be good. It just is not routine.
Also, he does not understand why the Minister insisted that he wear only civilian clothes and pack and bring all of his personal belongings. Or why the Minister routed Robert’s car travel to Ottawa using isolated Highway 15 instead of the faster route of Highways 401 and 416. Highway 15 between Kingston and Ottawa is a mind numbing ride through mile after mile of uninhabited Canadian wilderness. Only passing through the small town of Smiths Falls breaks the monotony, and that is if you do not blink and miss it.
Robert dislikes small towns like Smiths Falls and shuns them, when possible. He is a blissful member of the Metropolitan Generation. City born and city raised, he grows nervous and uneasy when traveling outside of cities. He is comfortable in crowds, but suspicious and wary of rustics. He would rather walk through the worst neighborhoods of Toronto than waste thirty minutes in a country burg. Too many bad experiences haunt him from his brief sojourns in rural areas.
Although a nap is a welcome thought, he decides that under these strange circumstances and since he is alone in the countryside he should stay alert. Fighting to keep from falling asleep, he activates the car’s Canadian news network holograph.
Immediately the banner, BREAKING NEWS appears followed by a holograph of former US Vice President Richard Chennai. Behind the holograph, a newscaster reports, “Former US Vice President Richard Chennai was found dead from a heart attack at his home late last night. Officials say they believe Chennai was killed by a computer hacker that gained control of his Bluetooth-enabled pacemaker. The hacker made Chennai’s pacemaker increase his heart beat to more than three hundred beats per minute. According to his doctor, his heart beat him to death.”
The newscaster is five minutes into reading a history of Chennai’s life when he halts for another BREAKING NEWS announcement. A holograph of National Robot Association President Pierre LeVayne flashes before Robert, as the newscaster reads, “National Robot Association President Pierre LeVayne was found dead at his home early this morning. NRA President LeVayne is best known for fighting against legislation designed to control robots and for repeatedly stating, ‘Robots don’t kill people – people kill people’. A police investigator, who wants to remain anonymous, told this network that LeVayne was killed by his sex surrogate robot when its mechanical penis punctured his large intestine and ruptured his anus, and that LeVayne and his robot were still coupled when found. LeVayne’s doctor will only say that LeVayne died from internal bleeding.”
“Coincidentally, today is the two year anniversary of the forty thousand US soldier increase in the Nordic conflict, which critics declare led to the escalation of hostilities. The US actions have been blamed for causing more than one hundred thousand civilian deaths. Both Chennai and LeVayne were strong proponents of the US troop i
ncrease. Critics claim that the two men reaped millions of dollars from their investments in US arms manufacturing companies, due to the US escalation they promoted,” the newscaster announces before returning to reading a history of Chennai’s life.
Robert recognizes the two attacks as being the work of cyberkillers operating through the Internet of Things. Simple stuff, Robert thinks. No more difficult than operating his home’s refrigerator from this car. He cannot believe Chennai and LeVayne left themselves so vulnerable. They committed cyber suicide.
After discussing the life of Chennai and then the life of LeVayne, the newscaster switches to international news. Robert notices that the international news consists of a recitation of the usual long list of riots, rebellions, small conflicts and regional wars. Peace is as rare as water, these days.
Endless fire is scorching the earth. Years of increasing high heat and drought have created water shortages and water wars; food shortages and land wars; and starvation and death on every continent. Destitute and desperate, throughout the world, neighbor is hacking neighbor to death for a scrap of bread. Hungry and hated, millions of homeless, starving climate refugees are migrating from one killing field to another searching for reprieve in the rubble. No water. No food. No future. No hope. Their living hells are ending only with their deaths.
Blood runs throughout the Middle East and Central Asia where genocide between bands and clans of Sunnis and Shias rages. Terrorist gangs rule the spreading desert, now. Governments no longer exist. When the crude oil market collapsed, so they could no longer subsidize their supporters, the nations of Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Emirates disappeared beneath the shifting political sands. Intent on erasing the images of the despots and tyrants of their oppressed past, the rebels are crushing every remnant of their ancient civilizations and former societies into dust.