Acts of space warfare likely by 2025

Report: Acts of space warfare likely by 2025 ZDNet.com

It’s no secret that the extension of military weapons beyond the atmosphere is a priority for space-faring nations that need to protect their increasing military and commercial assets in orbit.

For instance, in 2001, a commission headed by then US Defense Secretary-designate Donald Rumsfeld warned about a possible “space Pearl Harbor” which led to the development of the Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) project.

But the concern over space supremacy runs deeper than threats of Russian anti-satellite weapons. A forecast published by the Military Space Transparency Project (MSTP) warns of a second arms race that can erupt if the international community doesn’t take steps toward a space treaty program.

“Given how easily information can spread about the globe today, it is inevitable that space warfare technologies will proliferate. Once one country sets its sights on space domination, other countries are sure to follow,” writes Matthew Hoey.

Hoey is MSTP’s founder and a former senior research associate at the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies (IDDS), a United Nations non-governmental research organization located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he forecasted missile defense and military space technologies.

The report; Global Space Warfare Technologies - Influences, Trends & The Road Ahead, highlights the potential bridges and sequels between various existing and emerging technologies in the years leading up to 2025 that might culminate in acts of space warfare.

“The international community is in a race against time as technologies are evolving faster than ever before and will continue to accelerate exponentially in an almost biological fashion. If this process continues unabated, it will almost certainty result in the deterioration of peaceful collaborations, an increase in the creation of orbital debris, and the risk of an accidental or spasm nuclear event,” according to Hoey.

Armed with a strong technical aptitude, Hoey’s analysis of dual-use and emerging technologies that’ll lead to the weaponization of space–including artificial intelligence, robotics, directed energy and nanotechnology–is worth the read.

Dr Carl Sagan remembered - Visionary, philosopher and charismatic speaker, an inspiration to to his generation

The late, great Dr Carl Sagan, a professor of astronomy and space science at Cornell University and an adviser to Nasa, played a major role in setting up Seti, the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.

However, he is probably best known to the public for the television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, and his books Pale Blue Dot and The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.

As well as his research, he was a major science advocate and populariser, and a vociferous supporter of scepticism and rationality.

He was a visionary, philosopher and charismatic speaker, an inspiration to to his generation and hopefully, those that come on behind. A truly great human being and one that is sorely missed.

France: Helping to build Polish nuclear plants

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk agreed Thursday to work together on a 20-year programme to develop Poland's nuclear industry.

France will train Polish engineers and joint research will be carried out on equipping Poland with nuclear plants by 2030, the leaders said in a joint declaration following talks in Paris.

Tusk said Poland hoped to put a first reactor in service in around 2020 and a second around five years later, hailing the deal with France as the "grand beginning of Poland's nuclear programme."

Sarkozy welcomed "the Polish decision to launch exclusive high-level talks on developing a nuclear industry in Poland."

Warsaw announced plans to develop a nuclear energy programme in a bid to diversify its energy sources, as a row between Russia and Ukraine halted gas supply to Europe. Poland imports around 40 percent of its gas from Russia.

Poland, which currently relies on coal-fired plants for 94 percent of its electricity, has also committed itself to easing its dependence on coal as part of the EU's climate package which limits greenhouse gas emissions.

The three-part cooperation deal was struck on the sidelines of Tusk's visit, between the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and a consortium of Polish institutes and the Polish academy of sciences.

The French-Polish announcement comes days after nuclear regulators raised concerns over the design of France's new-generation EPR reactor, saying its day-by-day control systems were too closely entwined with emergency systems.

Experts have said there was a small chance the regulators' complaint could add to existing delays and cost overruns to the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) programme, led by French nuclear giant Areva.

But French Prime Minister Francois Fillon insisted Thursday the state had "full confidence" in Areva's ability to address the safety concerns.

France generates more than three-quarters of its electricity through nuclear power, more than any other country by proportion, and Sarkozy has made exporting French know-how a top priority.

China and Finland are already building French-designed new generation reactors, and talks are underway to export the EPR model to Britain, India, Abu Dhabi and the United States.

Ancient history yields modern management lessons

Ancient history yields modern management lessons - ABC News

Looking to iconic figures of history for guidance on how to take charge of today's corporations remains fertile ground for publishers of books on management and leadership.

The new book "Power Ambition Glory: The Stunning Parallels between Great Leaders of the Ancient...
The new book "Power Ambition Glory: The Stunning Parallels between Great Leaders of the Ancient World and Today . . . and the Lessons You Can Learn" by Forbes CEO Steve Forbes and classics professor John Prevas richly details the successes and failures of six leaders from the classical period.
(amazon.com)A recent search of Amazon.com reveals thousands of books with "leadership lessons" in the title.

Management writers have found useful lessons in the lives of such luminaries as Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, George Patton, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi. The roster is endless.

Now comes an addition to the genre, Power, Ambition, Glory: The Stunning Parallels between Great Leaders of the Ancient World and Today ... and the Lessons You Can Learn.

The book reflects a fusion of expertise of the two authors: classics professor John Prevas brings a knowledge of antiquity. Steve Forbes, the chairman, CEO and editor in chief of Forbes, brings a knowledge of management garnered from years in the executive suite.


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Schrödinger's cat and Economic Recovery

The White Tiger of Economic Recovery

I am currently re-reading one of my all time favourite books; Schrödinger's cat trilogy written by Robert Anton Wilson.

Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment, often described as a paradox. It was devised by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935.

It illustrates what he saw as the problem of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics applied to everyday objects.

The thought experiment presents a cat that might be alive or dead, depending on an earlier random event. In the course of developing this experiment, he coined the term Verschränkung—literally, entanglement.

Quantum Economics
Thought experiments are still alive and well, we hope but unfortunately, this book is now out-of-print. I am fortunate enough to have an old copy, originally published in 1979. Whilst reading the book, I am continuously reminded of how little has changed since then. To illustrate this, I would like to provide you with a short extract from the book concerning economics.

"DR. Rauss Elysium had summed up the entire science of economics in four propositions;

1. Find out who profits from it?

This is merely a re-statement of the old Latin proverb - cui bono, a particular favourite of Lenin.

2. Groups never meet together except to conspire against other groups;

This is a generalisation of Adam Smith's more limited proposition 'Men of the same profession never meet together except to defraud the general public.' Dr. Rauss Elysium had realised that it applies not just to merchants, but to groups of all sorts, especially in the government sector.

3. Every system evolves and expands until it encroaches upon other systems;

Ths is just a simplification of most of the discoveries of ecology and General Systems Theory. (Does chaos currently exist in the gaps? Waiting for a systematic order to restore itself or is it a different order that we do not comprehend and categorise, interpret or dismiss as chaos? - KB)

4. It all returns to equilibrium eventually;

This is based on a broad Evolutionary Perspective and was the basic belief structure of the Invisible Hand mystique.

Dr. Rauss Elysium had simply recognised that he Invisible Hand, first noted by Adam Smith, operates everywhere but most vehemently in economics."

Summary

In his book Robert Anton Wilson describes the Invisible Hand as a secret society of powerful, egotistical and self-promoting individuals. In our life time this has been replaced by the altruistic support of a benevolent, stable and civilising uber-organisation of global proportions, promoting co-operation, synergy and harmony, allegedly. Discuss!