Bruce Schneier, a top security expert, says America's approach to protecting itself from terrorism will only make matters worse. Forget "foolproof" technology?we need systems designed to fail smartly.
The author reviews the arguments for and against publicly releasing genetic engineering research that could be used to improve biological weapons and concludes that on balance an open environment for research have "in all likelihood made the world a safer place."
The new science of artificial societies suggests that real ones are both more predictable and more surprising than we thought. Growing long-vanished civilizations and modern-day genocides on computers will probably never enable us to foresee the future in detail?but we might learn to anticipate the kinds of events that lie ahead, and where to look for interventions that might work.
Stephen Budiansky argues that advances in cryptography have outpaced the ability of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to decrypt communications.
After four decades of remarkably steady progress, advances in computer-chip technology seemed in danger of slowing. Not anymore, thanks to the development of the 'extreme ultraviolet' light technique for producing semiconducter chips.
Blume reviews Julian Brown's book Minds, Machines, and the Multivers and explores its central thesis -- that the real revolution from quantum computing will not be the boost in computing power but that he existence of a quantum computer will force us to accept the existence of an infinite number of universes or 'multiverse' theory.
An overview of the risks space debris poses to space exploration and commercialization.
One alternative to the contentious Yucca Mountain repository for nuclear waste is to bury the waste deep in the ocean seabed. Sub seabed disposal has been studied for decades and appears to be a feasible but politically unattractive option.
Security and privacy experts are struggling to define the ground rules for the emerging commercial satellite industry.
In this classic essay against developing and deploying Anti-Satellite weapons, Alton Frye argues that the U.S. should continue to develop its space power to "induce the Soviets to enter into adequately verifiable agreements reserving space for peaceful activities. Only by making sure that the dangers of hostile use of space are mutual can we be confident of ensuring reciprocal restraint in the deployment of space weapons and of preserving a stable strategic balance on earth."