Cryptogon Reader Signs Up for Hosting with BlueHost
September 30th, 2010Thanks to the owner of tin-baby.com for signing up for hosting with BlueHost. Cryptogon received $90.
Breakthrough in Quantum Computer Race
September 29th, 2010Via: University of New South Wales:
A team led by UNSW engineers and physicists have developed one of the key building blocks needed to make a quantum computer using silicon: a “single electron reader”. Their work has been published in the journal Nature.
Quantum computers promise exponential increases in processing speed over today’s computers through their use of the “spin”, or magnetic orientation, of individual electrons to represent data in their calculations.
In order to employ electron spin, the quantum computer needs both a way of changing the spin state (write) and of measuring that change (read) to form a qubit – the equivalent of the bits in a conventional computer.
In creating the single electron reader, a team of engineers and physicists led by Dr Andrea Morello and Professor Andrew Dzurak, of the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications at UNSW, has for the first time made possible the measurement of the spin of one electron in silicon in a single shot experiment. The team also includes researchers from the University of Melbourne and Aalto University in Finland.
“Our device detects the spin state of a single electron in a single phosphorus atom implanted in a block of silicon. The spin state of the electron controls the flow of electrons in a nearby circuit,” said Dr Morello, the lead author of the paper, Single-shot readout of an electron spin in silicon.
“Until this experiment, no-one had actually measured the spin of a single electron in silicon in a single-shot experiment.”
By using silicon-the foundation material of conventional computers-rather than light or the esoteric materials and approaches being pursued by other researchers, the device opens the way to constructing a simpler quantum computer, scalable and amenable to mass-production.
…
Now the team has created a single electron reader, they are working to quickly complete a single electron writer and combine the two. Then they will combine pairs of these devices to create a 2-bit logic gate – the basic processing unit of a quantum computer.
General Strike in Spain; Demonstrations Around Europe
September 29th, 2010Via: Bloomberg:
Spanish workers disrupted transport and television broadcasts in the first general strike in eight years as demonstrators marched in a dozen European cities against government spending cuts.
More than 100,000 protesters descended on Brussels before a meeting between union members and European Commission President Jose Barroso, organizers said. In Athens, rail, communications and port workers struck. Police in Dublin made an arrest after a truck damaged the front gates of the parliament building.
Related: Spain Set for Credit Rating Downgrade
Pre-Crime Magic 8 Ball Uses “Resentment” in Spoken and Written Information to Identify “The Terrorists”
September 29th, 2010I like Tony’s commentary on this over at Technofascism Blog. He offers a couple of quotes from 1984:
“It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself–anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face…; was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime…”
-George Orwell, 1984, Book 1, Chapter 5
“Your worst enemy, he reflected, was your nervous system. At any moment the tension inside you was liable to translate itself into some visible symptom.”
– George Orwell, 1984, Book 1, Chapter 6
Via: Buffalo News:
Imagine using the same technology to locate a lone bomber before he carries out his terrorist act and to identify a troubled veteran or first responder ground down by tragedies and violence.
Stop imagining.
Some 120 local first responders from law enforcement and other agencies, the military and mental health professionals gathered Friday to hear firsthand about an advanced computer program that can accomplish those two seemingly different tasks.
The presentation was part of the International First Responder-Military Symposium held at Hilbert College in the Town of Hamburg.
A Swiss professor working with a Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientist who heads the Mind Machine Project there outlined how this program operates through computerized scanning of phone calls and electronic messages sent through e-mail and social networking mechanisms.
“Suppose you know there’s a threat to the president when he is visiting, say, Texas. Through information obtained by the National Security Agency, we have the tools to go through huge quantities of data obtained from that area,” said professor Mathieu Guidere of the University of Geneva.
How? “The computer system detects resentment in conversations through measurements in decibels and other voice biometrics,” he said. “It detects obsessiveness with the individual going back to the same topic over and over, measuring crescendos.”
As for written transmissions scrutinized by the computer program, it can detect the same patterns of fixation on specified subjects, said Guidere, who has worked for years screening mass data that involves radicalization and ideological indoctrination.
Using character traits that have been identified through psychological profiles conducted on lone bombers following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Guidere said he and his colleagues developed programs that isolate signs pointing to a potential terrorist.
He said lone bombers, in particular, are not mentally deranged but harbor hatred and deep resentment toward government. Their emotional spikes, Guidere explained, can be identified by the computer program.
The practical side is that once the individual has been identified, the information can be passed along to authorities so surveillance can begin, he said.
Currently, the computer program can review 10,000 voice or other electronic transmissions in an hour. The goal, the professor said, is to increase the capacity to 100,000 per hour.
On the civilian side, the program can be used by psychologists and other mental health providers working with war veterans, law enforcement officials and others to measure their progress in recovery.
“By recording the voice of the patient, the program can rate negativity and positivity with depression and other emotional disorders,” said Guidere, who is working with Dr. Newton Howard, director of MIT’s Mind Machine Project.
Related: The Last Roundup: MAIN CORE
Russia: Medvedev Fires Yuri Luzhkov, the Mayor of Moscow
September 29th, 2010Via: Washington Post:
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stepped out of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s shadow long enough on Tuesday to fire Moscow’s larger-than-life mayor, rattling a political establishment that until now has accepted Putin as the nation’s undisputed authority.
How Elon Musk Turned Tesla Into the Car Company of the Future
September 29th, 2010What I found most interesting about this piece was how Toyota and Daimler got on board with Tesla. It seemed like those organizations saw Tesla as a catalyst that could help overcome their own bureaucratic inertia.
Toyota’s involvement with Tesla is definitely interesting. Toyota made a big miscalculation with its long insistence that hybrid technology was the only game in town for the foreseeable future.
And now… Nissan has 20,000 pre-orders for the LEAF (a pure electric vehicle).
My guess is that Akio Toyoda saw this… unfortunate development coming, and, probably after many stiff drinks, set about making sure that Tesla had its factory. In Tesla, Toyota gets a petri dish to study the design and manufacturing of EVs, and for the cost of pocket lint. This is called making up for lost time on a budget.
Via: Wired:
Four weeks later, Toyota decided to invest $50 million in Tesla. The auto giant also signed on to develop prototype electric vehicles with the startup and indicated that it would support Musk’s $42 million offer for the billion-dollar Nummi factory in Fremont.
The Left Right Paradigm is Over: Its You vs. Corporations
September 29th, 2010Careful, Barry, you might cause Maria to smear her lipstick.
Via: The Big Picture:
Every generation or so, a major secular shift takes place that shakes up the existing paradigm. It happens in industry, finance, literature, sports, manufacturing, technology, entertainment, travel, communication, etc.
I would like to discuss the paradigm shift that is occurring in politics.
For a long time, American politics has been defined by a Left/Right dynamic. It was Liberals versus Conservatives on a variety of issues. Pro-Life versus Pro-Choice, Tax Cuts vs. More Spending, Pro-War vs Peaceniks, Environmental Protections vs. Economic Growth, Pro-Union vs. Union-Free, Gay Marriage vs. Family Values, School Choice vs. Public Schools, Regulation vs. Free Markets.
The new dynamic, however, has moved past the old Left Right paradigm. We now live in an era defined by increasing Corporate influence and authority over the individual. These two “interest groups” – I can barely suppress snorting derisively over that phrase – have been on a headlong collision course for decades, which came to a head with the financial collapse and bailouts. Where there is massive concentrations of wealth and influence, there will be abuse of power. The Individual has been supplanted in the political process nearly entirely by corporate money, legislative influence, campaign contributions, even free speech rights.
This may not be a brilliant insight, but it is surely an overlooked one. It is now an Individual vs. Corporate debate – and the Humans are losing.
Wind Will Power Fossil Fuel-Free Denmark by 2050?
September 29th, 2010Via: Guardian:
The falling cost of renewable energy and rising cost of oil and gas will allow Denmark to develop an energy network entirely free of fossil fuels by 2050, according to a report published by the government’s climate commission.
The committee predicted that wind and biomass energy could meet the bulk of the country’s energy requirements.
It also argued that switching to renewables would be cheaper than continuing to use fossil fuels, particularly if predictions of soaring oil and gas prices are borne out.
Something in the GM Soy Diet Was ‘Wrecking the Ovary and Endometrium’ of the Rats
September 29th, 2010The opening words of the piece below are, “If you’re still eating genetically modified (GM) soybeans…”
People might read the article and think, “I don’t eat genetically modified soybeans, so this doesn’t apply to me.”
If you’re eating any industrial/feedlot/factory meat, you’re eating genetically modified soybeans. It’s in the feed that the animals are given. Chicken feed has the highest amount of soy added of all the livestock feeds. (FYI: Raw soybeans are poisonous for chickens. They have to be cooked to make the soy protein usable by chickens.)
Additives made from genetically modified soybeans are present in most conventional processed foods.
In other words, unless you’re making a conscious effort to avoid GM soybeans and the foods that contain them, including industrial/feedlot/factory meats, you’re eating a GM soy diet.
Via: Huffington Post:
If you’re still eating genetically modified (GM) soybeans and you plan on having kids, a Brazilian study may make you think again about what you put in your mouth. Female rats fed GM soy for 15 months showed significant changes in their uterus and reproductive cycle, compared to rats fed organic soy or those raised without soy. Published in The Anatomical Record in 2009, this finding adds to the mounting body of evidence suggesting that GM foods contribute to reproductive disorders (see summary at end).
Unlike women whose menstrual cycle starts automatically at puberty, female rats need to be “inspired.” Their (estrous) cycle conveniently kicks in only after being introduced to male rats. Since no males were present in this study, the females fed organic soy or no soy were appropriately untriggered (diestrus). For some odd reason, however, those fed GM soy appeared to have their ovulation cycle in full gear.
Although the researchers did not perform a check on the estrous cycle directly, their microscopic analysis of ovaries and uterus tissue showed that the hormone-induced changes (i.e. early ovulation and formation of corpus luteum) were well underway. In addition, the lining of the uterus (endometriim) had more cells than normal and the glands were dilated. In simpler terms, according to senior UK pathologist Stanley Ewen, something in the GM soy diet was “wrecking the ovary and endometrium” of the rats.
…
Genetically modified soybeans are called Roundup Ready. They are inserted with a bacterial gene, which allows the plants to survive a normally deadly dose of Roundup herbicide. Although the spray doesn’t kill the plant, its active ingredient called glyphosate does accumulate in the beans themselves, which are consumed by rats, livestock, and humans. There is so much glyphosate in GM soybeans, when they were introduced Europe had to increase their allowable residue levels by 200 fold.
Although there is only a handful of studies on the safety of GM soybeans, there is considerable evidence that glyphosate—especially in conjunction with the other ingredients in Roundup—wreaks havoc with the endocrine and reproductive systems. “I think the concentration of glyphosate in the soybeans is the likely cause of the problem,” says Ewen.
Glyphosate throws off the delicate hormonal balance that governs the whole reproductive cycle. “It’s an endocrine buster,” says Ewen, “that interferes with aromatase, which produces estrogen.” Aromatase is required by luteal cells to produce hormones for the normal menstrual cycle, but it’s those luteal cells that have shown considerable alterations in the rats fed GM soybeans.
Related: Glyphosate Herbicide Could Cause Brain, Intestinal and Heart Defects in Fetuses
Research Credit: DC
New Zealand Government to Place More Restrictions on Foreign Ownership of Large Farms
September 29th, 2010I’m actually amazed by this. I didn’t think anything came “too close to home” for the New Zealand government when it came to China. I fully expected the acquisition of the Crafer farms by China Jin Hui Mining Corporation (later changed to “Natural Dairy” for perception management purposes) to sail through without any problems.
Thankfully, somebody wasn’t asleep at the switch on this one. Although, I’d expect back room arm twisting to commence forthwith.
Via: Guardian:
New Zealand plans to tighten controls on foreign land purchases amid fears that the Chinese acquisition of local farms may not be in the country’s strategic interests.
The new rules were announced today after a fierce public backlash against a Hong Kong-listed firm that attempted to buy New Zealand’s biggest private dairy farm.
Natural Dairy – previously known as the China Jin Hui Mining Corporation – offered to pay NZ$1.5bn for farmland, cattle and milk powder production plants, according to the domestic media.
This bid for the Crafer family’s farms – now under review – has stirred up considerable concern in a country that depends on the dairy industry for almost a quarter of its export earnings.
New Zealand’s farmers warn that state-backed Chinese investors are taking advantage of the economic downturn to buy land cheaply, so that they are in a strong position for a sharp rise in global population and demand for food. China already feeds a fifth of the world’s population on less than a tenth of the planet’s arable land.
The Federated Farmers of New Zealand say planned Chinese purchases of arable land are unfair because foreign firms are forbidden from acquiring similarly large swathes of farmland in China.
Under the new rules, the government will introduce extra tests on overseas investment applications for “sensitive land”. The buy-ups will have to be judged in relation to the nation’s economic interests before approval.
More: Investment Rules Full of Holes
