Upcoming Conferences of Interest

SENS4 Cambridge, England 3-7 September 2009

EMP Threat Niagara Falls 8-10 Sept 2009

AIAA Space 2009 Pasadena 14-17 Sept 2009

2nd Seasteading Conference San Francisco 28-30 Sept 2009

Singularity Summit NYC 3-4 Oct 2009

Upcoming Conference on Electromagnetic Pulse

North American Conference on the Threat Posed by Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) to U.S. and Canada to be Held in Niagara Falls Sept. 8-10

A man-made Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) is caused by a nuclear weapon detonated in the atmosphere. This threat is a realistic possibility in this day and age. In fact, two Congressional Commissions have recently warned that America could suffer catastrophic consequences from a nuclear EMP attack by terrorists or rogue states. Their reports also point out that the U.S. can be protected if we act quickly. A House Homeland Security subcommittee is currently meeting and considering legislation, but very little has been done so far. According to the Abstract of the original Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from EMP Attack, U.S. Congress, 2004: “Several potential adversaries have or can acquire the capability to attack the United States with a high-altitude nuclear weapon-generated electromagnetic pulse (EMP). A determined adversary can achieve an EMP attack capability without having a high level of sophistication.” Read the full report _EMPACTAmerica

EMP attack by rogue states or by independent actors supported by rogue states, is increasingly likely. Whether a successful paralysis of the US electrical grid would require the extra-atmospheric detonation of a single nuke or multiple nukes, is irrelevant. More than enough nuclear material can be made available by enemies of the US to cause untold hardship and tens of trillions of dollars in infrastructure damage.

While the US military may be sufficiently hardened against such an attack to continue functioning, the US at large is not. The loss of US economic productivity caused by a large scale EMP attack would force the US military to withdraw from foreign activities on land, sea, and in the air in order to assist in the recovery and defense -- if necessary -- of the far-flung regions of the US proper.

EMP, dirty bombs, biological attacks, and soon nanotechnology attacks are becoming easier and more realistic by the year. While resources and attention are diverted to phantom climate fears, genuine threats are going unmet.

It is clear that the Obama / Pelosi reich is uninterested in anything but the consolidation of power, and elimination of all potential centres of opposition from government and the private sector. It is up to individuals, private groups, and state / county governments to prepare for real threats, essentially without help from the federal government.

Be There Or Be Stuck on this Dirt Ball Forever!

Update: The NewSpace 2009 conference on July 18-20th at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, will be another space related conference worth attending. Focusing on private and commercial space ventures, the SF Bay area conference will be sponsored by the Heinlein Trust, DNK Co., Ltd, NASA Ames Research Center, National Space Society, Space Investment Summit, Space Angels Network, Tetra Wine, SEDS, and of course the Space Frontier Foundation.
Denver in an Ice Age Summer
From 2-5 August, 2009, in Denver Colorado, the 7th Annual International Energy Conversion Conference and the 45th Joint Propulsion Conference will explore a wide range of topics of interest to readers of the Al Fin blogs:

The 7th IECEC will explore the future of clean energy systems through a series of panel discussions and technical paper presentations. This year's hot topics include:

* Alternative power systems – such as fuel cell technology and solar system technology
* Biofuels, including biodiesel fuels and fuels created from food-waste
* Electric power systems which would replace traditional fossil fuel based propulsion systems
* Nanotechnlology applications for solar power systems, among many others. There will also be a discussion of future energy policy needs to answer the demand for “green” energy systems. _IECEC

In a special joint conference with the "Joint Propulsion Conference" the IECEC will also be taking a look at biofuels as the source of rocket propulsion fuel for space launch.

The 7th IECEC is sponsored by Battelle Memorial Institute and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The 45th JPC is sponsored by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.

The design of our next generation flight and space systems will be dependent more than ever on high performance, increasingly efficient, reliable and affordable propulsion systems. Our ability to incorporate new technologies into aircraft and spacecraft will have far reaching impacts to the evolutionary roles these complex systems play in our everyday lives. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control invite you to Denver and be a part of the exciting future of the aerospace propulsion industry. _AIAA

This joint conference is a great opportunity to rub shoulders with other innovation-oriented people. Denver in early August can be quite hot, but you will be spending most of the day in conference anyway. Evenings can be very pleasant. A number of beautiful summertime destinations are just a short hop from Denver.

Free Online Access to the International Conference on Climate Change: Audio, Video, PDF, PPT

The recent climate conference in NYC was a rare opportunity to hear a more scientific and objective approach to the issue of climate and climate change. The conference sponsors have made many of the talks and papers available online in video, audio, power point, and pdf formats. Below is a mere 2 1/2 hour snip out of the jam-packed two and a half day conference.

4:00 - 5:30 pm Session IV
Track 1: Climatology
Richard Keen - Volcanoes and Climate Change Since 1980: A View from the Moon (PowerPoint) (Listen to Audio)
David Douglass - The Models Still Do Not Agree with the Observations (PowerPoint) (Listen to Audio)
Nir Shaviv - New Solar-Climate Link and Implications for Our Understanding of Climate Change (Listen to Audio)
Track 2: Climatology
Anthony Watts - Weather Station Siting Issues within the USHCN Surface Station Network (Listen to Audio)
Stephen McIntyre - Do We Know that the 1990s Were the Warmest Decade of the Millennium? (PowerPoint) (Listen to Audio)
James J. O'Brien - The Truth about Climate Change in the Southeast United States (PowerPoint) (Listen to Audio) _ProceedingsICCC

Go to the link for audio, video, PDF, and more power point presentations.

Becoming better informed on this issue may save you from falling for yet another Obama / Pelosi scam -- programmed energy starvation. Whether referred to as "cap and trade", "carbon tax", or other euphemisms, it comes down to energy starvation in the name of an invented crisis. Obama zombies do not mind being suckers to their messiah. Thinking humans may feel differently.

Seasteading Conference Video Plus A Modest Al Fin Proposal

Here is the almost two and a half hour video presentation of the Oct 10, 2008, Burlingame, California seasteading conference previously promoted here at Al Fin. For those who have not yet read the Seasteading Book, the video will give a bit of background on the phenomenon of seasteading.

Wired.com just published an article on seasteading and the seasteading conference. You will find more embedded videos on seasteading there, along with some background information and a timeline of seasteading.Sharp-eyed observers will notice that the architectural concept of a seastead presented in the Wired article [see above] would probably not survive many years in the open ocean. Perhaps most early seasteads will be placed in relatively protected environments, such as bays or inlets. But the true promise of seasteading lies in the unprotected open ocean environment of international waters.

To survive in the open ocean, a floating settlement would require some way of dealing with large waves -- including rogue waves and large storm waves. Thirty feet of clearance is insufficient for oceans where 30 metre rogues are quite possible. Seastead designers must factor in the impact of sustained high winds and sustained tall waves and chop.

I propose that the bulk of early seastead research and development should go into the design and construction of a prototype "floating breakwater". Such a breakwater should be able to combine the deflection and dissipation of large wave energies with the transduction of wave energy into useful energy in the form of electricity and compressed air. It should be able to neutralise a wave as large as a 30 metre rogue, and stand up to sustained gale force winds and accompanying storm waves.

Once you have constructed a floating breakwater that can stand up to the worst the sea can throw at you, building the rest of the seastead would be a piece of cake. But until you demonstrate the ability to build such a structure, the "smart money" will probably not take you seriously.

There is a huge demand for viable offshore freeholds located in international waters. Whether sailing under a flag of convenience, or attempting to declare independent nationhood, an offshore tax and financial haven that is made tough enough to withstand bullying by both the world's oceans and the world's tax ministries would attract wealth of all types. Such a place would be a magnet for tourists and adventurers as well.

Aeroponics food growing would be a natural fit to provide fresh produce. Soon after, aquaculture for biomass and seafood, and marine energy technologies would be tested and proven on seasteads. Ultimately, seasteads would also provide ideal locations for mid-ocean space launch and recovery facilities.

Never underestimate the power of the wind and the sea. Such raw power must be addressed at the outset. Consider it a rite of passage.

Convergence 08 Mountain View, CA 08-11-15,16

Image Source

If you missed the recent Singularity Summit in San Jose, you still have a little time to make plans to attend Convergence 08. Two days of impressive speakers mixing it up with attendees who may be even more impressive than the speakers, in their own right. If I were choosing between the SS 08 and the C 08, I would choose the upcoming conference.

Synthetic Biology: life engineering moves into your garage

We're on the path to juggling biological components the same way we now juggle bits. Does this thrill you or scare you? Four visionaries sketch the huge upsides and weird downsides of bringing digital-style control and a hobbyist approach to the globby mess we are today.

The Future by Design.... as a group we co-evolve the world's most exciting conference schedule, to be implemented on our behalf this afternoon.

Competing Options, Tempting Choices, Intense Involvement. From the riches on offer we each grit our teeth and choose the top three we absolutely cannot do without – starting a nanotech career, extending our lifespan, building the first truly smart computer, maximizing security and privacy, and so many more. We may lead a discussion, do a demo, recruit for our next project or company, or incite a revolution – probably technological, but anything is possible at Convergence08.
...

Artificial Intelligence: the next level

"How can we use AI technology to build the world we want to live in?" Four AI pundits thrash it out, and then we all join in!

The Future by Design.

Competing Options, Tempting Choices, Intense Involvement. Feel free to session-hop if your first choice isn't what you expected. There's still time to convene your own session on the new topic of your choice – maybe something resulting from a session yesterday.

To get your new topic included, add it to the master schedule on the wall, labeled with your name as convenor.

Longevity: How can we get it in time?

..."life extension" does not mean "living longer in a decrepit state." It's all about feeling great and making a difference as long as we possibly can, starting now and continuing indefinitely – or at least a heck of a long time. Four longevity gurus let us compare their theories and figure out what to do now for ourselves and our loved ones.

It's one thing to read and discuss these topics over the net. Quite another to discuss them face to face with others who may have thought about them as long and well as you have yourself--perhaps longer and better. Wild ideas will fly like fireflies in June. The idea is not to shoot them down, but to learn to ride the light. Like the illuminati.

Brian Wang Covers the Singularity Summit

Be sure to check out Brian Wang's coverage of yesterday's Singularity Summit in San Jose. Brian links to several areas of progress covered at the conference, in the quest for a technological singularity. Particularly interesting to me at first glance are Dharmendra Modha's brain emulation project, the Intel digital "multi-radio" project, the impressive planned expansion of the XPrizes, and the collaboration between Carnegie Mellon and Intel in creating millimeter and smaller sized "catoms."

Also be sure to check out Brian's posting on the "mundane singularity" (a good antidote to "gee-whiz" futurism), and his article about the recent lunar lander X Prize contest $350,000 prize won by Armadillo Space.

The momentum achieved by many high-tech giga-corps such as Google, Intel, Microsoft, IBM, and others, will likely continue for some time in connection with their counterparts in Japan and Europe. They are less likely to be assaulted by the anti-business, anti-profit, anti-energy zealots in the possible Obama administration than are companies such as Exxon, Dow, Monsanto, GE, GM, etc. that are more directly connected to the misdirected environmental concerns of "green" ideologues entrenched in the current dysfunctional incarnation of the US Democratic Party.

What that means is that on the surface, much technological progress will appear to continue at an accelerating rate, due to the synergism of convergence and multi-disciplinary impacts of coming breakthroughs. At the same time, the economic foundation for the dissemination of this progress to all levels of society via the free marketplace will be undermined by the policies of a possible Obamanation. Simultaneously, surplus profits supporting new ventures and new private research projects will dry up, as increasing taxation, regulation, and preferential treatment to opportunity-destroying tort lawyers increases. All the time, vital energy infrastructure will be shut down by over-enthusiastic enforcement of unscientific, nonsensical greenhouse gas regulations.

All of which goes to point out the wisdom of Al Fin's emphasis on the improvement of the human brain, mind, and integrative competence, over the gee-whiz futurism of a technological singularity. It is important to keep up with developments in new technology, of course. Brian Wang's site is one of the best all-around news sites for significant future tech. Access to all types of tools will be important for next level humans.

Alice Finkel

World's Most Dangerous Un-Conference 15 Nov 08

On the 15th and 16th of November, 2008, Convergence 08 will be held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. What is convergence? It is the coming together of a number of disruptive technologies in a synergistic re-working of the world as we know it.The list of featured speakers is impressive, and the potential for seminal interaction between participants should be very high. Here is more:

"A host of technologies that seemed like daring science fiction just a few years ago are racing toward practical application with breathtaking speed. Convergence08 is a unique opportunity to look into the coming NBIC future, examine its implications, and prepare for the vast surprises in store for us all."

Both days feature debates on controversial NBIC topics including Synthetic Biology, Longevity, and Artificial Intelligence. Dr. Barney Pell, founder of Powerset and search strategist and evangelist at Microsoft, stated, "At this event we aim to use the power of collective intelligence to see farther along the convergence trajectories; each of the NBIC technologies is transformative on its own, and there's a strong interplay among them."

Headliners include:

* Dr. Bruce Ames, biochemistry professor at UC Berkeley, founder of Juvenon
* Dr. Gregory Benford, physics professor at UC Irvine, founder of Genescient
* Denise Caruso, executive director of Hybrid Vigor Institute
* Dr. Aubrey de Grey, CSO and chair of Methuselah Foundation
* Dr. Ben Goertzel, CEO of Novamente, director of research at Singularity Institute
* Terry Grossman, MD, co-author, Fantastic Voyage
* Andrew Hessel, consulting biologist and author
* Dr. Chris Heward, president of Kronos Science Laboratories
* Dr. Peter Norvig, director of research at Google
* Dr. Steve Omohundro, founder and president of Self-Aware Systems
* Dr. Barney Pell, founder of Powerset, search strategist and evangelist at Microsoft _NantoechnologyNow

Here is a partial list of topics to be discussed:

* Neurotechnology
* Artificial general intelligence
* Synthetic biology
* Human enhancement
* Space tourism
* Social software
* Prediction markets
* Nanotechnology
* Smart drugs

* Bioethics
* Cleantech
* NBIC startup tips
* Reputation systems
* Life extension / anti-aging
* Accelerating change
* Biotechnology
* Open source everything
* Sousveillance / privacy _C08

It is important not to allow the economic downturn to jaundice your viewpoint of the future. Fewer resources will be devoted to many promising areas of science and technology, for a few years. But much vital work will continue. Even should the worst occur, and Obamanation be brought into existence, ways of routing around the corruption and mismanagement will be devised to allow the most important pivotal discoveries to be made.

While tens and hundreds of billions of dollars will be squandered on politically correct science such as faux climate catastrophe, and abundant resources diverted to political friends and cronies of elected officials, intelligent people are working behind the scenes to allow vital functions to survive. And while the minds of most children are twisted and warped in government schools and universities - cum - indoctrination centers, a large enough trickle of young minds bypass the waste mainstream to feed into the unseen competent core--the ones who get things done, fend off unmentionable catastrophes, and prod human development toward a better future.

Announcing First Annual Seasteading Conference

The seasteading movement is still young, but active--particularly around the west coast of North America and in Hawaii. The first annual seasteading conference will be held at the Burlingame (California) Embassy Suites on October 10th, 2008, beginning at 8 AM. Register by October 8. The event is free for students, $195 for private individuals, and $95 for journalists.

Seasteads are floating islands that provide full-time work and residency for individuals looking for a lifestyle somewhat out of the ordinary.

The Seasteading Institute advocates a modular, incremental approach, where cities are built up one block, or even one house, at a time. Patri says: "Cruise ships already demonstrate that people can live on the ocean in big, movable buildings at reasonable cost. We've got a slightly different design: we're going to build a city out of interconnected floating platforms. That way you'll be able to move cities, and take your house and yard with you! And we are designing these platforms to be comparable in cost to high-end land-based homes."

...."Modern democratic governments are often unresponsive to the needs of their citizens. Our floating cities will change that - if you don't like your government, you'll be able to pull up anchor and sail to a better one, or start your own. Imagine the reduction in worldwide violence if Israel could just move away from Palestine, Georgia from Russia, or Hong Kong from China. On floating cities, this is actually possible!" _Source

Seasteads can be designed for a wide range of floating environments, from a sheltered cove, bay, or harbour, to the natural hazards of the open ocean. Likewise, these floating islands can fly under the flag of a recognised nation, but will eventually fly under their own flags--once political and legal accommodations can be made.

For much more information, go to www.seasteading.org where you can read the online fact-filled seasteading book.

Global Catastrophic Risks Conference: TEOTWAKI

This weekend's Global Catastrophic Risks conference at Oxford (17-20 July) offers a full menu of global doom.

The savants gathered here in Oxford will consider a wide variety of potentially apocalyptic risks. For example, Michelangelo Mangano from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) will explore the possibility that certain scientific research—e.g., the Brookhaven Lab's high energy experiments that might produce a black hole—could inadvertently destroy the world. Mike Treder and Chris Phoenix from the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology will discuss how the advent of molecular manufacturing could lead to massive economic and social disruptions, including a new arms race, the spread of tyranny, and dangerous environmental degradation. At the cosmic level, the Technion Institute's Arnon Dar will look at the devastation that a nearby supernova could wreak, and astronomer and author William Napier will evaluate the chances that the earth might soon suffer an asteroid strike. Whether future advanced artificial intelligences will think of us as pets or pests will be pondered by Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence research fellow Eliezer Yudkowsky.

In addition to the more exotic risks noted above, the conferees will also be discussing the prospects for nuclear war and nuclear terrorism. _Reason

Of course, it's usually the doom you don't expect that gets you in the end. But that shouldn't keep anyone from enjoying the contemplation of any number of disasters that suit their palate. If you are a peak oil punkass or a global warming freak, you would almost certainly be welcome in the pubs of Oxford this weekend, to commiserate about the various impending dooms of humanity.

If you actually want to live through most of the scenarios being discussed, you should probably join the nearest chapter of the Society for Creative Apocalyptology ®.

Update 20July08: Here is Ronald Bailey reporting from the conference with a roundup of catastrophic risks from space.

Update 24July08: This is Ron Bailey's final installment from the conference, with some not so reassuring looks at nuclear proliferation.