Futurist

There are 391 posts filed in Futurist (this is page 28 of 40).

Shaffer: How much does your soul weigh?

The N&O’s Josh Shaffer takes a look at the upcoming experiments at the Rhine Center in Durham, attempting to weigh the soul. Shaffer calls it an “oddball” branch of science, but I prefer to call it “offbeat,” myself. It is science and no one knows what the experiments will find until they’ve been tried.

I look forward to the results!

DURHAM — For at least 100 years, the more oddball branches of science have struggled to answer this metaphysical head-scratcher: How much does the human soul weigh?

In 1907, a Massachusetts doctor named Duncan MacDougall settled on the figure of 21 grams – the average weight loss experienced by six terminal tuberculosis patients he strapped to a scale at the moment of death.

A dozen years ago, an Oregon rancher named Lew Hollander tried to measure the souls of one ram, seven ewes, three lambs and a goat. His findings: The animals actually gained weight as they shook off this mortal coil – anywhere from 18 to 780 grams.

Now this summer, the Rhine Research Center in Durham will host the latest experiment aimed at nailing down the intangible essence of mankind.

The method: 1.) Stand on a scale. 2.) Have an out-of-body experience. 3.) Record weight.

via Shaffer: How much does your soul weigh? – Shaffer – NewsObserver.com.

Scientists crack RSA SecurID 800 tokens

Remember when I said we are living in a world without secrets? The security tokens that provide two-factor authentication for a number of companies and organizations have been broken. Instantly, countless confidential files became unprotected.

In the age of globally-distributed mathematic expertise, high-speed computers, and Internet collaboration, codes and ciphers that once looked impenetrable now fall on a weekly basis.

Scientists have devised an attack that takes only minutes to steal the sensitive cryptographic keys stored on a raft of hardened security devices that corporations and government organizations use to access networks, encrypt hard drives, and digitally sign e-mails.

The exploit, described in a paper to be presented at the CRYPTO 2012 conference in August, requires just 13 minutes to extract a secret key from RSA’s SecurID 800, which company marketers hold out as a secure way for employees to store credentials needed to access confidential virtual private networks, corporate domains, and other sensitive environments. The attack also works against other widely used devices, including the electronic identification cards the government of Estonia requires all citizens 15 years or older to carry, as well as tokens made by a variety of other companies.

via Scientists crack RSA SecurID 800 tokens, steal cryptographic keys | Ars Technica.

Cheap Thoughts: Solar roads

How long do you think it will be before someone invents a way to easily coat roads with photovoltaic cells so that they generate electricity? Think of how much power that would generate!

Roads and silicon cells are both made of sand, so why not combine them?

A world without secrets

I felt compelled to read up on a recent email thread on the Triangle Linux User Group list that discussed the recent LinkedIn password fiasco. While the discussion didn’t really tell me anything I didn’t already know, it did get me thinking.

I decided that LinkedIn could be cut some slack for their outdated notions of what constituted password security, because the truth is that 99.9% of us also hold outdated notions of password security. That is, the vast majority of us still believe in password security when in fact there is no such thing!
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NC-20’s stunningly-ignorant climate change memo


I was drawn to the memo from the NC-20 group pushing the state to ignore climate change research and, quite frankly, I’m stupefied that otherwise-rational people would take this stance. The memo was helpfully provided by Laura Leslie at WRAL [PDF] as part of her story on the group’s science advisor, Mr. John Droz, who apparently knows as much about climatology as I do.

The whole thing reminds me of the mayor in the movie Jaws, who knows the killer shark is out there but refuses to tell the tourists because it would scare them away. I’ve highlighted some of the more outrageous statements in it below.

I swear it seems like North Carolina Republicans have declared a war on science itself.

MEMO: NC 20 Members
FROM: Tom Thompson, Chairman
DATE: December 2, 2011
SUBJ: Sea level Rise Negotiations

As all of you know, the State has been pushing hard to declare a 39” (1 meter) Sea Level Rise (SLR) by 2100 a fact. The CRC came within 24 hours of mandating it for NC 20 counties Land Use Plans. Larry Baldwin and I met with Bob Emory, CRC Chair, the night before the key meeting and persuaded him to retract the mandate. To his credit and our relief, he did.
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Don’t Mean To Be Alarmist, But The TV Business May Be Starting To Collapse

This is right on the money. Business Insider is proving what I’ve been saying for years about the television business: it must change or die.

Today’s “cord cutters” might be considered the “early adopters” (if there is such a thing when people skip a service) but soon the masses will begin eschewing traditional television and then TV as we know it will collapse.

We still consume some TV content, but we consume it when and where we want it, and we consume it deliberately: In other words, we don’t settle down in front of the TV and watch “what’s on.” And, again with the exception of live sports, we’ve gotten so used to watching shows and series without ads that ads now seem extraordinarily intrusive and annoying. Our kids see TV ads so rarely that they’re actually curious about and confused by them: “What is that? A commercial?”

via Don’t Mean To Be Alarmist, But The TV Business May Be Starting To Collapse – Business Insider.

NC Considers Making Sea Level Rise Illegal

My friend Scott Huler takes down the attempt by coastal developers and the Republican leadership in North Carolina General Assembly to pretend climate change doesn’t exist.

According to North Carolina law, I am a billionaire. I have a full-time nanny for my children, I have won the Pulitzer Prize, and I get to spend the entire year taking guitar lessons from Mark Knopfler. Oh, my avatar? I haven’t got around to changing it, but by law, I now look like George Clooney. There’s also a supermodel clause, but discussing the details would be boasting.

You think I’m kidding, but listen to me: I’m from North Carolina, and that’s how we roll. We take what we want to be reality, and we just make it law. So I’m having my state senator introduce legislation writing into law all the stuff I mentioned above. This is North Carolina, state motto: “Because that’s how I WANT it to be.”

via NC Considers Making Sea Level Rise Illegal | Plugged In, Scientific American Blog Network.

Coastal N.C. counties fighting sea-level rise prediction

While there’s still enough sand left on our coast to do so, state lawmakers and coastal county officials intend to bury their heads in it.

State lawmakers are considering a measure that would limit how North Carolina prepares for sea-level rise, which many scientists consider one of the surest results of climate change.

Federal authorities say the North Carolina coast is vulnerable because of its low, flat land and thin fringe of barrier islands. A state-appointed science panel has reported that a 1-meter rise in sea level is likely by 2100.

The calculation, prepared for the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission, was intended to help the state plan for rising water that could threaten 2,000 square miles. Critics say it could thwart economic development on just as large a scale.

A coastal economic development group called NC-20 attacked the report, insisting the scientific research it cited is flawed. The science panel last month confirmed its findings, recommending that they be reassessed every five years.

via Coastal N.C. counties fighting sea-level rise prediction – Local/State – NewsObserver.com.

Duke professor, billionaire debate higher education’s value

One day about a dozen years ago, I interviewed with a bored-looking Vivek Wadhwa for a sysadmin position with Relativity Technologies. I didn’t get the job, perhaps because I don’t have a college degree. In hindsight I am glad I wasn’t hired because Relativity soon tanked, finally being bought by Micro Focus (which also bought my former employer, Intersolv). Perhaps the company would’ve been more successful with a few more creative, independent thinkers like me.

Wadhwa is now making a case against forgoing college. For some professions that make sense, but for others like IT one does not need a degree to be successful. Sure, a degree is fine if one wants to work for someone else, but for many entrepreneurs that time is better spent making things happen.

The best thing college gives you is connections. If those connections can be gained through other means, like hackathons, user groups, or the like then one wonders if loading oneself up on massive student debt is as wise a move as it once was.

Experience is, and always will be, the best teacher.

Vivek Wadhwa, a former high-tech entrepreneur in the Triangle who now teaches at Duke and Stanford universities, is matched against billionaire Peter Thiel Sunday night in a CBS “60 Minutes” segment exploring the value of a college degree.

Thiel is paying 20 young people $100,000 a year to drop out or not go to college in order to pursue new business ideas.

Wadhwa says Thiel is sending the wrong message.

via Duke professor, billionaire debate higher education’s value on ’60 Minutes’ :: WRAL Tech Wire.