Conscious Earthling

DARPA: Here’s what 2045 will look like | Alphr

In a series of videos entitled “Forward to the Future”, three researchers give their best guesses. Bravely, they uploaded these to YouTube so be prepared to dig them out in 10,950 days time and marvel at their clairvoyance/inaccuracy.

Predicting the future is a mug’s game.

Read more on http://www.alphr.com/the-future/1002238/darpa-here-s-what-2045-will-look-like

Snowden Unveils NSA “God Mode” Malware That Lives On Your Motherboard And Can Not Be Traced | The Internet Chronicle

Original documents released by Snowden reveal surveillance powers that go beyond root access, and into the hardware of all computer systems everywhere.

The exploit hooks itself into a computer’s boot loader, initiating an “infected” BIOS that is in no way distinguishable from normal computer activity, and can only be discovered through forensic investigation of the physical data chip using…

Someone stole $1 billion from Moldova. That’s an eighth of its GDP.

About $1 billion disappeared in an apparent banking scandal that’s mystified Europe’s poorest country.  The money reportedly vanished in a series of murky loans dealt out last November by three major banks — one of them state-owned — to as yet unknown recipients.

Despite the growing prominence of pro-Western politicians who pledge to pull Moldova closer to Europe, critics claim the authorities…

25,000 Mexican Fishermen Sue BP over Environmental Disaster

Mexican fishermen filed a class action lawsuit in a U.S. court against BP oil company, as collectives or individuals, seeking compensatory and punitive damages over alleged negligence and missteps that led to the massive leak at the Macondo well that led to about 5 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico between April and September 2010.

This is the first time the U.K. energy…

Can GMOS end hunger in Africa?

Depending on who you ask, genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are the solution to malnutrition and hunger in the developing world, or a threat to food sovereignty.

Scientists at Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) — which receives funding from the Gates Foundation — created a genetically modified banana by inserting a green pepper gene into the banana’s genome. The…

Most Earth-Like Worlds Have Yet to Be Born, According to Theoretical Study

Earth came early to the party in the evolving universe. According to a new theoretical study, when our solar system was born 4.6 billion years ago only eight percent of the potentially habitable planets that will ever form in the universe existed. And, the party won’t be over when the sun burns out in another 6 billion years. The bulk of those planets – 92 percent – have yet to be born.

A big…

New Test Suggests NASA’s “Impossible” EM Drive Will Work In Space

NASA’s advanced propulsion research wing made headlines by announcing the successful test of a physics-defying electromagnetic drive, or EM drive. Now, this futuristic engine, which could in theory propel objects to near-relativistic speeds, has been shown to work inside a space-like vacuum.

The EM drive is controversial in that it appears to violate conventional physics and the law of…

France to force big supermarkets to give unsold food to charities

French supermarkets will be banned from throwing away or destroying unsold food and must instead donate it to charities or for animal feed, under a law set to crack down on food waste.

The French national assembly voted unanimously to pass the legislation as France battles an epidemic of wasted food that has highlighted the divide between giant food firms and people who are struggling to eat.

Re…

The 116 photos NASA picked to explain our world to aliens

If any intelligent life in our galaxy intercepts the Voyager spacecraft, if they evolved the sense of vision, and if they can decode the instructions interstellar space provided, these 116 images are all they will know about our species and our planet, which by then could be long gone.

New Horizons was sent into space without any message like the Golden Record, but it’s not too late to add one.…

Bad Day For Bacon: Processed Meats Cause Cancer, WHO Says

The World Health Organization has deemed that processed meats — such as bacon, sausages and hot dogs — can cause cancer.  In addition, the WHO says red meats including beef, pork, veal and lamb are “probably carcinogenic” to people.

The conclusion puts processed meats in the same category of cancer risk as tobacco smoking and asbestos. This does not mean that they are equally dangerous, says the…

NASA Finds Antarctic Ice Shelf a Few Years From Disintegration

The last intact section of one of Antarctica’s mammoth ice shelves is weakening fast and will likely disintegrate completely in the next few years, contributing further to rising sea levels, according to a NASA study.

Once that happens, glaciers held in place by the ice shelf will slip into the ocean at a faster rate and contribute to rising sea levels, scientists say.  The pace of their…

MIT Cracks Nanoscale Heat Transfer Calculations

MIT researchers derived a formula that can determine the maximum heat transfer between two objects that are less than eight microns (10-6 m) apart, even on the nanoscale. MIT reports that as long as the material of the objects and the distance between them is known, the formula can calculate the maximum heat that can be passed between these objects.

This simple equation can be applied to various…

10 Nordic Principles for a Hyperconnected Planet

Planet Earth is becoming hyperconnected. This transformation is called the Internet of Things, Connected Devices, Programmable World, and many other names. As a result, we are at a major crossroad.

Our actions create us. Everything we do builds our identity. But when all of our actions are recorded, we lose the possibility to rebuild.  In the digital world, where we lack access and control, our…