Edible Computer Chips?

As technology continues to advance at an exponential rate, will we someday find ourselves living in a "scientific dictatorship" where virtually everything that we do, say and think is monitored and controlled by technology? To many of you that may sound like a wild assertion, but just keep reading. Our world is changing faster than ever before, and scientists have some absolutely wild things planned for our future. As you read this, they are feverishly developing edible microchips, cutting edge biometric identity systems, and mind reading computers. Many futurists envision a world where someday nearly all humans are embedded with microchips and have thousands of tiny nanobots living inside of them. The idea is that we can "take control of our own evolution" and use technology to "improve" humanity. But very few of those futurists address the potential downsides. The truth is that all of this technology could one day be used by a totalitarian government to establish a dystopian nightmare where nobody has any liberties and freedoms whatsoever. The world of tomorrow is not going to be anything like the world of today, and most people have no idea how dramatically the world is changing. For instance, many people have never even heard of "edible microchips". Unfortunately, they are not some wild idea that some wacky scientists are hoping to develop in the future. They are already here, and they are about to be marketed to the public in the UK. The idea is that these edible microchips will help doctors monitor your health conditions and the medicines that you are taking. The following comes from a recent article in the Daily Mail.... The sensor, which contains no battery, antenna or radio, creates a unique digital signature that is picked up and recorded by a patch attached to the patient's shoulder. The patch, which also monitors bodily functions such as heart rate and temperature, sends this encrypted information to blue-tooth enabled smartphones or computers owned by the patient and their doctors and carers. In this way, both patients and their doctors can work out exactly which pills have been taken. Medics can also interpret whether the patient is sleeping well, or taking enough exercise using the information transmitted from the patch. But could such edible microchips be used for more nefarious purposes in the future? Of course. And scientists are developing many other new ways for you to be tracked by technology as well. For example, do you remember in the movie "Minority Report" how Tom Cruise had to cover his eyes because he was being tracked by them wherever he went? Well, it won't be too long before that becomes a reality in our world. IBM is aggressively developing new biometric identity systems that could significantly change the way that we live our lives. The following is from a recent IBM press release.... You will no longer need to create, track or remember multiple passwords for various log-ins. Imagine you will be able to walk up to an ATM machine to securely withdraw money by simply speaking your name or looking into a tiny sensor that can recognize the unique patterns in the retina of your eye. Or by doing the same, you can check your account balance on your mobile phone or tablet. Each person has a unique biological identity and behind all that is data. Biometric data – facial definitions, retinal scans and voice files – will be composited through software to build your DNA unique online password. Referred to as multi-factor biometrics, smarter systems will be able to use this information in real-time to make sure whenever someone is attempting to access your information, it matches your unique biometric profile and the attempt is authorized. When biometric identity systems become widespread enough, authorities will pretty much know where you are and what you are doing at all times. But even more frightening is something else that IBM is developing right now. IBM scientists are actually working really hard to develop mind reading computers. The idea is that someday we will all be able to control various electronic devices simply by using our thoughts.... IBM scientists are among those researching how to link your brain to your devices, such as a computer or a smartphone. If you just need to think about calling someone, it happens. Or you can control the cursor on a computer screen just by thinking about where you want to move it. Scientists in the field of bioinformatics have designed headsets with advanced sensors to read electrical brain activity that can recognize facial expressions, excitement and concentration levels, and thoughts of a person without them physically taking any actions. But IBM is not the only one working on mind reading technology. Several video game makers have been attempting to develop games that you control not with a joystick or a gamepad but rather with your brain waves. This all sound fascinating, but could such technology someday be adapted for other purposes? Instead of us controlling the electronic devices that we connect our brains to, could they instead be used to control us someday? Being more "connected" is not necessarily a good thing. People have been looking for ways to stay more "connected" to the Internet for a long time, and many futurists are now suggesting that we should find a way to directly connect our brains to the Internet. An article on the website of the Science Channel put it this way.... What if it were possible to connect your brain to the Internet, either wirelessly or through a cable, download digital information at high speed, and then translate it automatically into a chemical form that could be stored by your brain cells as memory? The same article explained what some of the benefits from such a connection might be.... If you could pump data directly into your gray matter at, say, 50 mbps — the top speed offered by one major U.S. internet service provider — you’d be able to read a 500-page book in just under two-tenths of a second. But wouldn't this be potentially dangerous? If we found a way to connect our brains to the Internet 100% of the time, couldn't someone potentially "download" damaging programs or "viruses" directly into our heads? That is something to think about. A British researcher named Mark Gasson infected an RFID chip in his hand with a computer virus and found that the virus-infected chip implanted in his hand was able to contaminate external systems. So wouldn't the danger be far greater if we connected our brains directly to the Internet? I don't know about you, but I don't plan on ever connecting my brain directly to the Internet and I don't plan on ever letting anyone put an RFID chip inside of me either. Unfortunately, the use of implantable RFID chips in humans and animals is rapidly spreading. A lot of employers now require that their employees take them for identification purposes. Some cities in the U.S. are actually making it mandatory to put microchips into your pets. Increasingly, RFID implants are being injected into thousands of elderly Americans living with Alzheimer's disease who are at risk of wandering off and getting lost. In addition, RFID chips are being implanted into many people who are chronically ill so that doctors can access their medical information quickly in an emergency. And many companies are working hard to make it even easier to implant RFID chips into humans and animals. In fact, one company called Somark has developed a stunning breakthrough in chipless RFID ink. Their "RFID tattoos" are applied using a geometric array of micro-needles and a reusable applicator. Somark says that it is incredibly easy to apply one of these RFID tattoos. They say that it only takes about 5 to 10 seconds to tattoo an animal or a human. Once the tattoo has been applied, an RFID reader can read it from up to four feet away. Frightening stuff. But some say that there might be an even easier way than that to keep track of everybody in the future. IBM is actually working on a "bar code reader" that can read your DNA. The following is from a Fox News article about this project.... The DNA Transistor is a project from IBM Research that aims to advance personalized medicine, by making it simpler (and much cheaper) to read an individual's unique DNA sequence — the special combination of proteins that makes you unlike anyone else. The technology isn't finished yet, but its potential is tantalizin enough that IBM wanted to share it with the world. And the company claims researchers are making progress. Essentially a bar code reader for genes, the DNA Transistor is part technique and part device. It consists of a 3-nanometer wide hole, known as a nanopore, in a silicon microchip. A sensor in the pore can read DNA and determine its unique makeup. Our world is changing at a mind blowing pace right now. The decisions that are made now are going to have a dramatic affect on how the future plays out. That is why so many of us are speaking out about how the government is watching us and about how our liberties and our freedoms are being taken away. If we don't stand up for freedom and liberty right now, our children may one day wake up in a world where they are so controlled by technology that they are unable to do so. Right now we are not too far away from the kind of world that authors such as George Orwell once warned about. This article will conclude with a quote from his famous work 1984.... "It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself--anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face...; was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime..."

The mobile phone prototype feels a bit like a neoprene ruler and winds around the arm comfortably to resemble a bulky watch. Once perfected, the flexible phone should be waterproof, have two screens that can be joined to produce one, make movies, give the wearer access to the internet and, of course, be able to make phone calls. The polymer is also biodegradable, so once discarded the phone should break down to organic matter. Called the Tag, it has been in development at NEC Design's headquarters in Tokyo since 1999 and is getting awfully close to reality. The phone is part of NEC Design's Resonantware range, which includes a personal music player that uses tiny radio frequency identification chips that can be eaten once they are used and a pen-style gadget that's a phone, virtual keyboard, projector, camera scanner and personal ID chip. Eat your heart out, James Bond. If edible technology and wearable mobile phones sound more fiction than fact, it might be worth noting that less than 20 years ago the few personal mobile phones on sale weighed 900 grams. Advertisement Advertisement Compare that with one of the latest NEC camera phones on the Chinese market: a credit-card sized creation of less than 70 grams and touted as the world's smallest phone. When it comes to technology, the future has always been hard to predict. Even Microsoft's Bill Gates has occasionally got it wrong: in 1994 he famously said he could see little commercial potential for the internet for at least 10 years. The optimistic creators of cartoon The Jetsons set it in the 21st century. By their predictions, we should be flying rather than driving by now. That said, just why anyone would want to eat a gel-covered computer chip remains to be seen, but NEC Design director Akira Sakai said designers conducted exhaustive interviews with a wide cross-section of people before money and effort were poured into projects. Sakai was confident almost anything was possible in technology with enough time and money. Just why anyone would want to eat a gel-covered computer chip remains to be seen. NEC Design is an independent company established in 1972 and has a market capitalisation of $50 million. NEC Corporation is its sole shareholder and biggest customer. The company focuses on creating products that gadget enthusiasts will cherish. But all this is at least five years down the track and the research and development aspect of these concept items is still being worked through. In the nearer future, NEC Corporation's $2.4 billion research and development unit has produced, and in some cases is using in-house, new technology including personal tracking devices. Expenditure on research and development for NEC equals about 5 per cent of annual sales. At the Wireless Japan 2004 Exhibition last week, NEC displayed mobile phones that could be used as an electronic ticket serving as a movie pass, bank card or membership card, and a Star Trek-like interpreter that will translate and speak either from American English to Japanese, or vice versa. Civil libertarians may find some of NEC's other creations more disconcerting. Described as a location and presence solution for a broadband office, one device features a key-ring-like tag used to track workers around the building. NEC is pitching the "location management" device at hospitals, which could keep track of doctors and nurses. Some of these technologies may reach Australia in a year or so, but some may never arrive. What is confirmed is the continued roll-out of third-generation-capable telephones in Australia. Two entry-level 3G-capable phones from NEC are scheduled for Australian launch before Christmas. Hutchison Telecoms, which owns Australia's only 3G-capable network, said even entry-level 3G phones were far more capable in terms of the net and video streaming than any of the GSM and 2G phones on the Australian market. NEC expects global demand for GSM and 2G or 2.5G telephones to start dropping by 2007, while the 3G phones take off. Maybe The Jetsons was on track after all; it may only be a matter of time before our cars take to the skies. - West Australian