applied science shit our living better . You ’re taking aMOOCclass , and have your appointment organise on your computer . You watch wepisodes on your internet - capablehigh - definition tv set . You devote your bills electronically and save time and money . That ’s fine and dandy , until someone takes out theelectronic bankingsystem and the machines take over the planet .
sound crazy ? Perhaps . None of the gadgets and origination we include in our leaning of 10 scary technologies is likely to rain death and destruction on our little planet , though that does n’t prevent masses from being unnerved by them . show on to find out what outlandishness may await in the future tense .
10: Hearing Voices at the Store
Imagine that you take the air into your favorable neighborhood big corner store and rather of being greet by a smiling retiree , you hear whispered voice prompting you to buy things . You spin around to see who ’s speaking , but there ’s no one there and none of the other shopper seem alarmed . Have you ultimately gone nuts ? No , but the]advertising industry has .
A company calledHolosonicshas acquire a engineering science called the Audio Spotlight organization , which uses tinyspeakersto focus sound into a very minute irradiation . Ultrasonic frequency are too high for the human auricle to hear , but as the sound go from the Audio Spotlight system ’s speaker system , gentle wind distorts the sound and make it audible . It ’s sodding for in - store advertizement , but you ’d have to be stand in the correct stead to hear it .
9: DNA Hacking
When the humangenomewas amply mapped in 2003 , researchers around the globe commence to analyze the genome ’s 3 billion - plus home pairs for the root causal agency of diseases like Alzheimer ’s and coarse malignant neoplastic disease . But that was only the beginning . The genuine dream of ergonomics is not only to see how our DNA expresses itself , but also to " write " Modern DNA that heals disease and repairs body from the inner out . J. Craig Venter , the bio - entrepreneur whose companionship avail map the genome , reached a new milepost in 2010 when he built the earthly concern ’s first synthetic , self - replicating chromosome [ source : Hessel ] . He loaded some homemade synthetic DNA into a bacterial electric cell and learn it arise and separate according to computer - generated As , Ts , Gs and Cs . By his own calculation , he had create " life . "
In the happy scenario , biologists of the penny-pinching future will figure out how to program viruses and bacteria to have custom - made cures that shrink cancerous tumors or rescind the lunar time period of dementedness . In the super scary scenario , bioterrorists engineer deadly superbugs that target us at a transmissible storey . In a 2012 article , The Atlantic imagined a technologically plausible scheme in which the United States President of the United States is assassinated by a highly contagious cold designed to target a unaccented link in his specific genetic code [ source : Hessel ] . To keep your DNA out of enemy manus , it ’s secure not to leave the theater without a hairnet and rubber glove .
8: Cyberwar
envisage a warfare push completely by computer . No , we ’re not talking about a scene out of the picture show " WarGames , " we ’re talk an all - out attack on a body politic ’s electronic infrastructure . What ’s that , you may ask ? Those are the systems that control emergency answer services , bank and other electronic commercialism , the system that launch the electric grid , water and fuel pipeline restraint , and oh , yeah : defense weaponry . A well - executed attack could cause serious disruption and launch the populace up to strong-arm threat .
In 2013 , FBI Director James Comey predicted that cyberattacks would soon overtake traditional international act of terrorism as the with child scourge to fatherland surety [ source : Johnson ] . In 2008,Georgia suspected Russia of denial - of - service attacks ( which Russia deny ) [ root : Markoff ] . In 2013 , South Korea impeach North Korea of cyberttacks . Hackers have take on the Pentagon , and some surmise terrorist organizations of train their operatives to establish computer assaults . So how do youdefend against a cyberattack ? Educating citizenry about computer virus and Trojan horses will help , and using updated antivirus software is also important .
Cyberattacks actually might be useful pecker against machine that have see to cerebrate for themselves and chosen to rule out humankind . It ’s the stuff of science fiction , but why do some citizenry believe this could happen ? Learn more on the next page .
7: The Technological Singularity
Artificial intelligence ( AI ) has come a foresighted way since reckoner first made the scene . Yet we ’re not at the edge of a dystopian society in which the machines race amok and humankind fights for its selection . At least , not yet .
In 1993 , Vernor Vinge , a maths professor at San Diego State University , propose what he called thesingularity– a time at which computer networks may become self - aware through modern AI , and interfaces between people and computers assist humankind evolve . biologic advancements may become so sophisticated that Doctor can even organise human intelligence . There is a possibility , however , that AI might allowmachines to take over the world . There ’s no warrantee that such a scenario will really pass off , and technological limitations may prevent it . Still , the idea that machines might someday decide we ’re irrelevant and arrange for our demolition is more than a little creepy .
6: Google Glass
Google Glass , the high - technical school specs with a built - in camera and pop - up exhibit , ferment the musical theme of Big Brother on its head . Maybe the surveillance menace of the future wo n’t be a fascistic government with undercover agent camera on every turning point , but rather an army of geeks recording every waking mo of their lives with a nod of the head and the wink of an eye .
by from the inbuilt dorkiness of Glass , privacy is the enceinte concern with the search goliath ’s previous foray into world domination . What ’s to stop a Glasshead from turning on his television camera in the tube , the medico ’s office or the gym footlocker room ? Several U.S. casinos , bars and movie theatre of operations have already ban Glass [ origin : Stern].Googlesays that Glass is n’t that creepy . For example , a pocket-sized brightness level indicates when telecasting is being recorded and Glass wearers have to look at a topic and wink to take a picture . Yeah , that ’s not creepy at all .
Another scary prospect is the combination of Glass , societal media and facial recognition technology . Some app developers are excited about the prospect of a Glass app that can spot a stranger ’s expression and pull up information about the soul purge from their Facebook and LinkedIn pages [ source : Bloomberg View ] . While Google rejects the idea of facial identification on Glass , the company has patented eye - tracking applied science that would record what advert you count at in the tangible humankind and charge fee to advertisers on a " earnings - per - gaze " basis [ reservoir : Rieland ] .
While we ’re on the subject of scary surveillance , let ’s take to the sky .
5: Drones
A CIA operator in Virginia can fly a near - silentPredator dronethrough the night sky of Pakistan , locate his target on a video screen and rain down Hellfire missiles from the comfort of his cubicle [ generator : Mayer ] . While counterterrorism officials and the White House guard unmanned drones as a " cleaner " choice to military activity , the use of drones conjure crucial question about governing - sanctioned assassination and the inevitable demise of innocent civilians .
As shuddery as military drone are , hoi polloi are truly creep out by the aspect ofdomestic spy drones . In 2012 , the U.S. Congress passed a bill allowing the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) to draw and quarter up rules for the use of commercial and police monotone in U.S. air space [ seed : Smithson ] . And New York City city manager Michael Bloomberg commented that the bearing of drones vacillate over American city was " inevitable " [ source : Haq ] . police enforcement is buzzed over the idea of trail suspects from the skies , but privacy advocates worry that it ’s a modest measure from place surveillance to indiscriminate 24/7 spying on everyone [ source : Lowy ] .
For a all different sort of creepy , countenance ’s depend at the desktop engineering that promises to revolutionize fabrication if it does n’t get illegalize first .
4: 3-D Printers
The MakerBot Replicator 2 offers the remarkable power to print out a 3 - D plastic simulation of just about anything you’re able to ideate : a youngster ’s toy , a gear for a farting turbine , or a dead rendered model of your own butt . Desktop3 - calciferol printingis doubtlessly a great bounce forward for small - scale fabrication , but it ’s also a potential blessing for thief and miserable - budget terrorist .
In 2011 , an enterprising gang of felon used a 3 - five hundred pressman to replicate the pliant front of anATM end . By placing their phoney end on top of a actual cash simple machine , they were able to scan unsuspecting victims ' ATM cards and steal more than $ 400,000 from their accounts [ source : Krebs ] .
But the real scary prospect is terrorists or fringe mathematical group using 3 - 500 printers to build guns , bombs and other weapons with nothing more than downloadable files . In 2013 , a University of Texas law scholar Cody Wilson announced the creation of the Liberator , a fully functional .380 caliber handgun made entirely on a 3 - five hundred printing machine . The fact that it was credit card prove the fright component , since it could conceivably escape alloy detectors [ seed : Greenberg ] . Wilson summed up the terror nicely to Forbes magazine : " Anywhere there ’s a computer and an net connection , there would be the promise of a gun . "
Thanks , Cody ! While we ’re on the subject of really with child ideas with potentially horrible consequences , let ’s let the cat out of the bag driverless auto .
3: Driverless Cars
Worldwide , roughly 1.3 million people are kill in car accidents each twelvemonth [ source : Khazan ] . And then there ’s the evilness of traffic itself ; the American commuter is trapped in his or her machine for an norm of 38 hours each year [ source : Werbach ] . That ’s a full week of lost productiveness !
Enter the Googleself - driving cable car , an self-reliant fomite that promises to guide clear of accidents and keep traffic flowing smoothly via algorithm . Powered by Google Chauffeur software , the railcar uses GPS and a rooftop scanner to ride out on course and respond to nearby vehicles . As of 2013 , the railcar was still in its genus Beta testing phase , but piles of automatic car were already on the road in California and Nevada .
One of the biggest concern aboutdriverlesscars is n’t a software bug , but the ill-chosen transition from golem mode to human mode . The soothing part of Google Chauffeur alert its human driver of forthcoming situations that ask hands - on control , like a tricky merge or a tollbooth [ source : pekan ] . But Google engineers are still working out how much admonition time is needed before the hand - off , or what to do if the driver has done something clearly human like doze off [ rootage : Bosker ] . No one require to wake up behind the wheel of an SUV barreling down on a tolbooth at 65 mph ( 105 kph ) . And even few people want to be in that tollbooth .
2: Geoengineering
The most authoritative applied science invention of the industrial age — motorized vehicles , electricity generation and industrial manufacturing — are the greatest sources of CO2 emission [ source : EPA ] . Since world leadership appear unwilling or ineffective to take meaningful activeness to reduce nursery emissions , some maverick scientists are proposing a risky solution calledgeoengineering .
Geoengineeringuses science and technology to " hack " the major planet back into conformation . Sinceglobal warmingis the large threat , scientists are pop the question creatively creepy-crawly ( and very expensive ) ways to artificially cool down the atmosphere by either blocking the Lord’s Day ’s rays or sucking up excess CO2 . Among them [ source : Bullis , KintischandMadrigal ] :
Even geoengineering promoter warn of unintended side effects . Out - of - ascendance algae flush could make monumental dead zones in the ocean ; one Carry Amelia Moore Nation ’s brine spray could cause monsoon halfway around the world ; chemical reactions could cause widespread legal injury to instinctive habitats and human life . Geoengineers argue there ’s just as much peril in doing nothing . By researching these proficiency now , at least we ’ll have some intemperate data point when it ’s time to push the terror release .
For our last scary applied science , we consider a little thing call the cyberspace .
1: Internet Surveillance
More than 380 million people visited World Wide Web sites possess by Google and Yahoo in an average calendar month in 2013 [ source : Wohlsen ] . Every e - ring mail sent through Gmail , every spreadsheet saved in Google Docs and every confab conversation hold on Yahoo Messenger is hive away in " the cloud , " a global net of server and data centers . You might assume that all of this secret selective information and personal data is encrypted and protect from pry eyes . But now we know better .
Thanks to the leak out revelations of formerNational Security Agency(NSA ) contractor Edward Snowden in 2013 , we con that the U.S. intelligence agency is actively sifting through eastward - mails , search histories and telephone record of gazillion of innocent mass , looking for potential terrorist activity . As part of a undercover program called PRISM , the NSA get ahead court favourable reception to force party like Google and Yahoo to change by reversal over phonograph record on extraneous entanglement users . If that was n’t enough , the NSA also on the Q.T. pink into Google and Yahoo ’s cloud server without the ship’s company ' knowledge or commendation [ source : Peterson ] . critic call it blatantly unconstitutional to submit every ignorant WWW user to blanket surveillance .
As scary as it is , you should get into that all your on-line activities are beingcollected by someone , whether it ’s your Internet provider , Google or a secret governing spying program . Sleep close and do n’t let Big Brother chomp !
