A protein that acts as a possible cure for radiation sickness has been invented by Israeli and American scientists.
This would be a more effective defense against nuclear weapons than anti-missile SDI technology. A combinatin of SDI and radiation cure would massively undercut the threat of nuclear weapons. They would still be a deadly threat, but [...]
Question: Our societies are built on cooperation, mutual trust, and social networks. That’s hardly the law of the jungle. So how did we get that way? Why are we monogomous, pro-social, empathic creatures? Why did altruism evolve in humans?
Answer: (one answer, at least) So that soldiers would willingly go off to war.
Battlefield robots may be equipped with an ethics module that tells them when to fire or not fire.
Sounds like a great idea but it’s solving an imaginary problem. Fully autonomous battlefield robots don’t exist. All robots used in military and law enforcement operations have a human calling the shots somewhere.
Peter Singer on military robots.
“This is a booming new industry, and it’s not just an American industry,” he said. “There are 43 countries working on military robots right now. They’re countries like Britain, Israel — Israel’s very big into military robotics — China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan. … We actually shot down an Iranian drone [...]