The Robots are coming (Page 65)

chronology: Lasers on clouds are pretty lame. They do not look anything like real. The USA has said to have experimented with aircraft spraying a layer of crystals in the sky then projecting laser images onto the crystals. But that too never worked out. The most complex laser experiment was said to be a NASA test of using lasers from satellites to project images down onto high altitude clouds. But again, that too seems to have been dropped.

The most stunning 3D images are created by people using double screen LCD TVs with mirrors at the sides. You cannot tell the real person from the projected image if they were stood near each other.

SandeeLggs: you scare me

kittybobo34: I knew it,, its aliens with giant LCD TV screens,, so insidious!

ghostgeek: Talking of aliens:

In 1960, Stanford radiophysicist Ronald Bracewell first suggested the idea that "superior galactic communities" could disperse autonomous interstellar probes as "hypothetical feelers" throughout space in order to observe, monitor, and maybe even communicate with other life-forms, including those on Earth.

"A probe located nearby could bide its time while our civilisation developed technology that could find it, and, once contacted, could undertake a conversation in real time," Benford explains in his new paper.

"Meanwhile, it could have been routinely reporting back on our biosphere and civilisation for long eras."

But while this decades-old concept of Bracewell probes has been explored in subsequent research and embraced by science fiction – most notably as the eerie monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey – there's never been any evidence for the existence of such robotic sentinels.

Now, Benford has proposed the ideal place where alien-made 'lurkers' could be present in our Solar System, stationed to observe in ever-watchful silence.

In his new paper, the physicist says such hidden, long-lived robotic lurkers would do well to set up their stakeout on a class of rocky near-Earth objects (NEO) called co-orbital objects.

[ https://www.sciencealert.com/alien-lurkers-could-be-covertly-watching-us-from-space-physicist-says ]

ghostgeek: Like their name suggests, these quasi-satellites of Earth perform orbital loops around the Sun that are similar to Earth's own orbital pattern, and they do it in close proximity to Earth, being gravitationally bound to our own planet in addition to the Sun.

Only a small number of such objects has ever been found by astronomers. The closest known one to Earth, called 2016 HO3, is a small asteroid described by NASA as "Earth's constant companion".

"2016 HO3 loops around our planet, but never ventures very far away as we both go around the Sun," NASA NEO researcher Paul Chodas explained in 2016.

"In effect, this small asteroid is caught in a little dance with Earth."

But co-orbital objects could turn out to be much more than Earth's dancing partners, Benford suggests. Due to their constant orbital proximity, these nearby space rocks might offer an optimal vantage point for robotic probes seeking to keep tabs on us.

"These near-Earth objects provide an ideal way to watch our world from a secure natural object," his paper explains.

"That provides resources an ETI might need: materials, a firm anchor, and concealment."

[ https://www.sciencealert.com/alien-lurkers-could-be-covertly-watching-us-from-space-physicist-says ]

ghostgeek: Why hasn't Earth received any messages from extraterrestrials yet? Perhaps because we're already unwitting inhabitants in a so-called galactic zoo.

This was one of the scenarios a group of international researchers explored on March 18 at a meeting organized by the nonprofit organization Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence ( METI ). The gathering, which took place at the City of Science and Industry museum in Paris ( Cité ), brought together about 60 scientists who research the possibility of communication with hypothetical intelligent extraterrestrials.

There, they debated "The Great Silence" — why aliens haven't contacted us — exploring one possibility known as the "zoo hypothesis." First proposed in the 1970s, it describes Earth as a planet that is already under observation by "galactic zookeepers" who are deliberately concealing themselves from human detection, Forbes reported.

[ https://www.livescience.com/65063-meti-galactic-zoo-aliens.html ]

kittybobo34: hmmm is that why aliens sexually abused me?

Seriously, finding a planet that is right for any particular species would be very rare. So if they are there they would treat the earth just like we observe animals in the wild.
Once an intelligent race got sophisticated enough there would be no reason to colonize any planet. Everything needed is out in space already.

chronology: Ghost, I have to agree with kitty on this one. First, the chance of being visited by Aliens is so remote it is a 'once in a million year's' kind of event. The next point is just as valid. The chance of such Aliens being remotely similar biologically is just as remote. So put those two unlikely chances together and you would have to conclude visitors from outer space are a once in two million year's events.

I have never said I believe in Aliens. But the speculation is that past civilisations that lived on earth, biologically similar to humans, could still be in this Solar neighborhood. But it is clear by now they have no interest in contacting humans, and do not seem to have much interest in humans other than ridiculing them now and then.

ghostgeek: Having nothing to guide us except speculation, it seem unhealthy to be too dogmatic about the prevalence of aliens in the universe, how close to us biologically they might be or what might motivate them. I'm personally not of the opinion that they're buzzing around the night sky but I could easily be wrong.

ghostgeek: On Aug. 8, 2019, Russian authorities issued a surprising announcement. Some sort of accident had occurred during a test of a missile engine near the city of Severodvinsk, along Russia’s Arctic coast. Two people died, and there had been a brief spike in radiation detected. Soon after, images and videos appeared on social media of first responders in hazmat suits, ambulances, and a helicopter for an emergency airlift.

The reference to radiation was striking—tests of missile engines don’t involve radiation. Well, with one exception: In 2018, Russia announced it had tested a cruise missile powered by a nuclear reactor. It calls this missile the 9M730 Burevestnik. NATO calls it the SSC-X-9 Skyfall.

[ https://getpocket.com/explore/item/a-mysterious-explosion-took-place-in-russia-what-really-happened?utm_source=pocket-newtab ]

ghostgeek:

kittybobo34: These are weapons that used to be banned under treaty.. Brave new world we are in now.

ghostgeek: It might be a new world but parts of it seem a little short on bravery. Over here in the UK, doctors are going to get a letter telling them to see patients face to face.

Health bosses have ordered GPs to see more patients in person, with only half of appointments currently taking place face to face.

All practices will today receive a letter warning them that many patients ‘are experiencing difficulty in accessing their GP’.

The letter instructs family doctors to remind all patients that they can come in for appointments if they need to - and warns them not to send people to A&E instead. ...

It is the second time in two months that NHS bosses have had to issue a reminder to GP practices about the importance of welcoming patients in person.

At the end of July GPs were warned that failure to offer appropriate face-to-face appointments would be considered a breach of their contract.

[ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-8729069/GPs-ordered-patients-face-face.html ]

ghostgeek: Perhaps it really is time for robot doctors.

TheCovenant: If you plan , the ceramic microphone in your back molar, and the tin foil on your vocal cords will transmit your sub vocalization, or you ll speak in your sleep. If you listen to the voices in the back of your head your miniature hearing aid pads behind your ears, your spirit guide will always betray you.

escape from Diyarbakır Prison 2040

ghostgeek: “Noise is a ubiquitous by-product of our modern mechanized society. Since it is difficult to find a device that does not produce noise, the number of noise producers in this country is gigantic.” Transportation accounts for some of the largest percentages of man-made noise production, and in the four decades since the report was released, air travel has tripled. The number of cars worldwide will soon surpass 2 billion. Do we even know what silence sounds like?

In a word, no. According to the U.S. National Park Service’s Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division, which has sent researchers to measure the acoustics of more than 600 outdoor American sites for the past 15 years, noise pollution is growing faster than the U.S. population and is more than doubling every 30 years. One writer’s calculations even show that more than 145 million Americans—roughly 44 percent of the population—are exposed to noise exceeding the recommended limits. (Anything over 85 decibels can harm a person’s ears, like lawn mowers (90 decibels), trains (90 to 115 decibels), the wail of a siren (120 to 140 decibels), and loud concerts, at around 110 to 120 decibels.) All told, more than 97 percent of the U.S. population is constantly exposed to noise from planes and highways at around 50 decibels—comparable to the buzz of a humming refrigerator—but the loudest sounds appear most frequently in low-income neighborhoods.

[ https://www.afar.com/magazine/gordon-hempton-quiet-parks-international-saving-quiet?utm_source=pocket-newtab ]

semp10: did any see a computer beat the national champ in go

semp10: face book computers even made up their own language facebook shut it down,

semp10: bit by bit our slaves will become ur masters

LoisS: *Sings...You'll be wrapped around their finger........

freedomfirst1797: The PROS and CONS of robots replacing workers:

PROS:
1. They never eat lunch or take breaks
2. They never join unions, or ask to see their shop steward
3. They don't require vacations, sick days, or holiday pay
4. They work hard, and rarely make mistakes
5. They never sue their employer for discrimination.
6. They don't socialize much. It is strictly business.
7. They learn new tasks very quickly
8. They don't need to sleep. They can work 20 hour shifts.
9. They don't require heat or air conditioning.
10. You won't need a large parking lot.
11. Once you buy them, you never have to pay for them again.
12. It is pretty easy to fire them. Just toss them on the scrap heap.
13. They do not require diversity training.
14. You won't need any bathrooms.
15. They really don't complain a lot. About anything.
16. They never go on strike, or make any demands.
17. You won't need to buy them uniforms.
18. You won't need to have a company picnic or Christmas Party.
19. You won't need to buy expensive health care insurance.
20. You won't have to worry about office romances.
21. Training is easily done by inserting a new memory card.
22. They never show you pictures of their kids birthday parties.
23. You won't have to attend retirement dinners, funerals, or weddings.
24. When they become obsolete, you can sell them to third world countries to get some money back. Just like old IBM PCs.

CONS:
1. They are pretty expensive to buy.
2. They require a lot of expensive maintenance work.
3. You will need to hire more mechanics.
4. Or, alternatively... you could buy robots to repair the other robots.
5. No more Superbowl Pools at work.
6. They don't have a lot of personality. They are pretty quiet.
7. They don't have much of a sense of humor. Your jokes will be wasted.
7. When they make mistakes, which is pretty rare, it can be very costly.
8. You will have zero payroll expenses, but high fixed capital costs.
9. Since they don't get paid, they won't be buying your products.

After you weigh all the pros and cons, robots seem like a really good investment. Very expensive at first, but it probably pays for itself in five years. After that, it is like free labor. Plus, if you hire very talented lawyers and lobbyists, and make strategic campaign contributions, you can probably get the taxpayers to subsidize your investment.

kittybobo34: Or get the courts to not only say Corporations are people, and so are Robots.

ghostgeek: Research on job loss due to automation from 2017 suggests that automation will happen in three overlapping waves that will have different levels of impact on different industries. That is why some branches of the economy, like financial services, will face a bigger threat from the algorithm wave, for instance, as advanced algorithms are bound to outperform humans on pure data analysis.

Other industries, especially transportation and storage, are at the top of the list because they face huge impact from the augmentation wave and the autonomy wave.

The same goes for manufacturing. The construction industry follows at third place, while industries like education and social work stand firmly at the bottom of the list, making them the least likely to face significant automation job displacement.

[ https://fortunly.com/statistics/automation-job-loss-statistics/#gref ]

ghostgeek: Just as the IT boom was mostly confined to big-city states on the coasts, so automation is likely to be bring employment opportunities to displaced educated workers on on the east and west coasts. States in the heart of the US are at the highest risk of losing jobs due to automation. The biggest problem these places have is that in some, only 25% of adults hold bachelor’s degrees. This automatically puts them at high risk of being disrupted by automation, especially considering that heartland states rely heavily on industries like manufacturing, agriculture and transportation.

To better illustrate the threat, the statistics on projected job loss due to automation in some rural parts of Alabama, Arkansas, and other states show that these places face potential risks of up to 64.4%. This is in stark contrast to metropolitan places with more highly educated employees. They face disruption rates below 31.6%.

[ https://fortunly.com/statistics/automation-job-loss-statistics/#gref ]

ghostgeek: Population data indicates that we are living in a civilization that’s increasingly growing older. In fact, it is estimated that by the year 2050, the percentage of 60-year olds will go from 12% to 22%. Robots taking over jobs in the medical field will alleviate some of the issues that plague an aging population. Robots are expected to take over some of the tasks in hospitals, clinics, and assisted living homes, and sales are already increasing year over year. By the end of 2018, the total sales of medical robots amounted to $1.9 billion.

[ https://fortunly.com/statistics/automation-job-loss-statistics/#gref ]