Historian of the future, Charles Ostman(1) discussed nanotechnology, AI and other breakthrough concepts. Among the latest innovations he mentioned are "nano barcodes," in which a product can be sprinkled with tracking devices on a molecular scale. Video games, he said, are moving towards a completely immersive environment and will eventually have a "neurological interface."
Ostman declared that we are nearing an "evolutionary event horizon" in which the complexity of these converging technologies may be exceeding human capacity. And yet he hopes that such advances can assist in solving our most vexing issue, the energy problem. Rather than coming from one alternative such as hydrogen, he suggested that a mixture of options that can be localized will be the ultimate solution.
The phrase A.I. (artificial intelligence) is somewhat of a misnomer, Ostman said, and A.L. (artificial life) might actually be a more accurate term. "We're going to see the pathway to sentience," with machines that can learn on their own. This trend of "evolutionary computing" in which organic molecules are incorporated into cyborgs will lead to a kind of "synthetic sentience," he forecasted.

1. http://www.technofutures.com/charles1.htm

Atlantis Found?

Los Angeles-based researcher Robert Sarmast(1) believes he has found the lost city of Atlantis off the coast of Cyprus. His team spent six days scanning the sea bed in that location with sonar technology and has found evidence of massive, apparently manmade structures. The area perfectly matches Plato's long fabled description of Atlantis (see graphic), Sarmast told BBC News(2).

1. http://www.discoveryofatlantis.com/press_sarmast_bio.htm
2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4011545.stm

Bumper Music

Bumper music from Monday November 15, 2004