More Articles You Need to Read
Another Set of Eye-Opening Stories from the World's Leading NF Mags
From the pages of Popular Science, TIME and National Geographic comes another trio of articles sure to update your take on things
Every now and again, paging through that random magazine on your dentist’s waiting room table can put before you a story that does more than merely fill the time before your 3pm root canal with Dr. de Sade. Publications like Popular Science, TIME Magazine and National Geographic are often packed with revelatory investigations and in-depth explanations that keep the fan of history, politics, religious issues and technology thoroughly updated, though only if one can find the time to do more than snatch a few quick paragraphs during lunch or before flying out the door each morning.
On that note, when next you do manage a few precious spare moments, use them to check out the following three pieces (and those described in similar collections) and find your curiosity sated and time well-spent.
Prelude to an Attack on Iran
TIME Magazine – August 18th, 2007, by ROBERT BAER
Written by a former CIA field officer, this brief article examines just how close some recent steps taken by American officials have come to crossing the proverbial line in Iranian sand. With mounting evidence suggesting that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is lending aid to Iraqi insurgents, Baer cites numerous government sources who warn that the decision to place IRGC members on the terrorist watch list may be the first rattled sabre in an upcoming war with Iraq’s unfriendly neighbour to the northeast.
At a time when most would like to believe that even the current American administration has learned from previous mistakes and to take comfort in dismissing Iran-war rumours as little more than ratings-fueled media speculation, Baer’s sources warn that a fresh war in the Middle East is an all-too tangible cloud on the horizon.
The Greenest Green Fuel
Popular Science – July, 2007, by ELIZABETH SVOBODA
Believe what you will about global warming and whether or not there exists a need to switch-off of fossil fuels, what cannot be denied is that while the corner gas station’s sign may not be a thermometer, its numbers are climbing, nevertheless. On that note, be you a lover of green in either the environmental or the financial sense, take heart, as there now exists yet another form of environmentally friendly fuel that may one day oust OPEC, and it comes from algae.
That’s right – algae, and as Svoboda explains in her interview with engineer-turned-pioneer Jim Sears, a host of upstart biodiesel companies have either adopted algae-derived fuel as one of the prongs in their thrust toward an alternate-fuel revolution or have started up with the fledgling process as their sole area of focus.
Though it remains a naïve eye that sees oil being replaced in any major way as the world's fuel within the near future, with everything from super-advanced electric engines to literal pond-scum now offering viable alternatives to the motoring public, earth-friendly fuels – and articles about them – will continue to garner widespread interest.
Robot Code of Ethics to Prevent Android Abuse, Protect Humans
National Geographic News, March 16th, 2007, by STEFAN LOVGREN
‘One shall not get jiggy with one’s robot.’ – Article 13(b) of the Universal Robot Ethics Code.
Although this sounds goofy, it may be that such a restriction (albeit a more formally worded version) will soon govern the life of the average human. In his article published by the daily news wing of National Geographic, Lovgren discusses a code of ethics for human-robot interaction currently being developed, not by Roddenberry or Lucas, but by the government of South Korea.
Some may likely find this an odd resolution for a real-world government to be working on, as while science-fiction authors have often been lauded for their roles as techno-prophets (indeed, the rules for robot behaviour created by renowned fiction-author Isaac Asimov are being seriously evaluated by the code’s developers), sci-fi’s revelatory role can often cut both ways. In this case, although the prospect of life alongside robotic servants is a familiar concept for most, it remains difficult to accept the notion of actually finding robots among us because of the intense association between this idea and the realm of make-believe.
Nevertheless, some of the more technologically oriented nations like South Korea have begun planning for a not-so-distant future wherein a robot in every home will be a very non-fictional fact, and as Lovgren writes, they hope to have a governing set of measures in place for when that day arrives.
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