A review of new research on swarming, a behavior that is transforming social, work, military and even political lives worldwide, especially among the young. It is the unintended consequence of people, cell phones in hand, learning that they can coordinate instantly and leaderlessly.
A fascinating article on the possibility of advanced genetic engineering and cyborg technologies being able to endow humans with comic book superhero powers.
A fascinating and accessible analysis of the new kind of war that the September 11th terrorist attack portends. The author argues that future adversaries will organize themselves into 'distributed networks' that will require a different method of attack and defense.
The author surveys the growing number of 'bird-watching' sites on the internet and argues that their combined effect is "bringing an explosion of intelligence and even global consciousness to the earth." He notes: "The projects are still embryonic -- perhaps 70,000 people contributed this year. But those numbers are vastly greater than in the days of paper and pen and have been doubling every year. The resulting picture of the natural world is consequently becoming richer and more complex. That's not the earth-moving part, however. The earth-moving part -- literally -- is that, as a result, a movement is spontaneously emerging that alters the physical nature of the planet so as to make it more amenable to the birds that are indicator species of global environmental health."
Bill Joy, the co-founder of Sun microsystems, warns that advanced technology (nanotechnology, genetic engineering, and artificial life) could threaten human extinction within two generations.