Science, Technology & Health: May 2009 Archives

Wikipedia has banned Scientologists from contributing to the site due to self-serving edits and malicious behavior, pictured below.

Tom Cruise (above) uses advanced Scientologist technology to edit Wikipedia.

The internet is one of the greatest tools for protecting the inalienable right to free speech that every man possesses, even those who live in oppressive regimes that refuse to acknowledge it. Here's a new method for hiding secret messages in "plain sight" on the internet by taking advantage of one of the error-correction technologies in TCP, one of the protocols that forms that backbone of the internet.

Web, file transfer, email and peer-to-peer networks all use TCP, which ensures that data packets are received securely by making the sender wait until the receiver returns a "got it" message. If no such acknowledgement arrives (on average 1 in 1000 packets gets lost or corrupted), the sender's computer sends the packet again. This scheme is known as TCP's retransmission mechanism - and it can be bent to the steganographer's whim, says Mazurczyk.

Their system, dubbed retransmission steganography (RSTEG), relies on sender and receiver using software that deliberately asks for retransmission even when email data packets are received successfully. "The receiver intentionally signals that a loss has occurred. The sender then retransmits the packet but with some secret data inserted in it," he says in a preliminary research paper (www.arxiv.org/abs/0905.0363). So the message is hidden among the teeming network traffic.

Could a careful eavesdropper spot that RSTEG is being used because the first sent packet is different from the one containing the secret message? As long as the system is not over-used, apparently not, because if a packet is corrupted the original packet and the retransmitted one will differ from each other anyway, masking the use of RSTEG.

(HT: NW.)

So what does the future look like according to the most far-out geeks?

The concept of ultrasmart computers — machines with “greater than human intelligence” — was dubbed “The Singularity” in a 1993 paper by the computer scientist and science fiction writer Vernor Vinge. He argued that the acceleration of technological progress had led to “the edge of change comparable to the rise of human life on Earth.” This thesis has long struck a chord here in Silicon Valley.

Artificial intelligence is already used to automate and replace some human functions with computer-driven machines. These machines can see and hear, respond to questions, learn, draw inferences and solve problems. But for the Singulatarians, A.I. refers to machines that will be both self-aware and superhuman in their intelligence, and capable of designing better computers and robots faster than humans can today. Such a shift, they say, would lead to a vast acceleration in technological improvements of all kinds. ...

Several years ago the artificial-intelligence pioneer Raymond Kurzweil took the idea one step further in his 2005 book, “The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology.” He sought to expand Moore’s Law to encompass more than just processing power and to simultaneously predict with great precision the arrival of post-human evolution, which he said would occur in 2045. ...

The science fiction author Ken MacLeod described the idea of the singularity as “the Rapture of the nerds.” Kevin Kelly, an editor at Wired magazine, notes, “People who predict a very utopian future always predict that it is going to happen before they die.”

I'm skeptical about the possibility of "strong" artificial intelligence so by extension I'm skeptical about the possibility of the Singularity. But hey, it would be cool to be wrong!

(HT: DD.)

Finally, an easier way to trick a child into sedation: PediSedate!

PediSedate is a medical device consisting of a colorful, toy-like headset that connects to a game component such as the Nintendo Game Boy system or a portable CD player. Once the child places it on his or her head and swings the snorkel down from its resting place atop the head, PediSedate transparently monitors respiratory function and distributes nitrous oxide, an anesthetic gas. The child comfortably becomes sedated while playing with a Nintendo Game Boy system or listening to music. This dramatically improves the hospital or dental experience for the child, parents and healthcare providers.

There's absolutely no way this could be used for evil.

(HT: LM.)

This look at the computer graphics of "Terminator Salvation" does a good job of illustrating the "uncanny valley" between humans and robots:

Hollywood and robotics researchers have long struggled with the "uncanny valley," where a movie character or robot falls into the unsettling gap between human and not-quite-human.

One psychologist likes to demonstrate this by holding up a plastic baby doll and asking audiences if they think it's alive. They say no.

Then she takes out a saw and starts cutting the doll's head off, but quickly stops upon seeing the uncomfortable audience reactions.

The uncanny valley isn't just about physical appearance, it's also related to all the other nuances of behavior we can perceive in each other.

"There are some people who say it's simply not true," MacDorman said. "I don't fully agree with that, because I think there's definitely something to the uncanny valley — but there's a problem with a simplistic view of the uncanny valley."

No one knows what it means to have 70 percent or 90 percent human likeness, MacDorman pointed out. Perhaps all the attributes of a robot, ranging from the eyes to body movement to voice tone, might have 90 percent resemblance to human characteristics.

Or a robot could be 99 percent perfect, except for a delayed reaction time during conversations with humans.

That could still trigger the uncanny valley sensation in observers who would quickly conclude that the robot was retarded, if not — gasp — non-human.

The "uncanny valley" concept is primarily just a way to label the "I know it when I see it" heuristic we use to recognize other humans. Even more interesting questions lie waiting on the other side of the valley: if a robot appears human and acts human and is indistinguishable from a human during typical interactions, do we have to treat it like a human?

(I say no.)

The artificial intelligence involved isn't that hard, but the visual effect of sneaky robots is undeniably cool.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem possible to embed the video on this page, so you'll have to follow the link.

It looks like the Space Shuttle was damaged during liftoff, as usual.

The Atlantis astronauts uncovered a 21-inch stretch of nicks on their space shuttle Tuesday, but NASA said the damage did not appear to be serious.

The damage was likely the result of debris that came off the fuel tank shortly after liftoff Monday. The astronauts were inspecting their ship while racing to the Hubble Space Telescope when they came across the nicks spread over four to five thermal tiles, on the bottom of the shuttle where the right wing joins the fuselage.

"It doesn't look very serious," Mission Control said. "Those tiles are pretty thick. The nicks look to be pretty small."

It seems that every Shuttle launch since the Columbia disaster in 2003 has come with another announcement that the ship was damaged during liftoff. I imagine that almost every launch in the Shuttle's history has caused similar damage, but until Columbia they weren't paying attention or treating it seriously.

The Space Shuttle is a technological marvel --- from the 1960s. It's way past time for the system to be retired and for modern technology to be applied to the problem of space access.

Director Blue explains that the government, corporations, and the media have got us surrounded and that the fix is in for socialized medicine.

Immelt, a member of Mr. Obama's economic recovery advisory board, went on to say that, "The intersection of government and business will be changed, maybe for a generation." Put simply, Marxism is on the way and GE is positioning itself to profit.

The business case behind Healthymagination hinges on nationalization of the health care industry. Computerization of health care records is not only a vaunted component of the Obama stimulus package, it is also a $75 to $100 billion business over the next ten years.

Fortunately, Healthymagination just happens to be building a health care record management system.

And with Obama's buddy Tom Daschle in tow, Healthymagination is certain to get some nice fat contracts out of the deal.

Oh, and did I mention NBC? It's involved, too. Health Imaging reports that the GE-owned media conglomerate -- something out of the movie Rollerball -- will do its part.

• NBC Universal and NBC News will air more than 5,000 televised reports annually on health and wellness.

• MSNBC will launch a new, daily program dedicated solely to health information... in addition to medical issues it will also examine health policy.

Put simply, the media will broadcast the propaganda; government will enact policy "by popular demand"; and the chosen corporation will profit at taxpayer expense.

I'm starting to feel like a sucker for choosing the losing team. If only the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy were as well-coordinated.

(HT: Instapundit.)

I've been toying around with the idea of discrete and objective categorizations of intelligence levels, and here's what I've come up with. The criteria for each level is essentially defined by a capability to comprehend various concepts. Let's jump in and you'll see what I mean.

Level 0: Unintelligent -- Just about everything falls into this category. Rocks, trees, fungi, stars, virii, and most animals. Unintelligent objects may be living or non-living, but are essentially bundles of blind natural processes that progress without any intentionality or agency.

Level 1: Self-aware -- A few animals seem to be self-aware, and many humans fit into this category. Self-aware objects are implicitly "alive" almost by definition: if a non-living object (e.g., a computer) were to exhibit self-awareness it would be considered to be "alive" by a significant proportion of undisputedly living beings. Self-aware beings understand the general nature of their own existence, consider themselves (and other intelligent beings) as distinct individuals set apart from the unintelligent objects that make up most of the universe, and are capable of intentional behavior and agency.

Level 2: Ignorance-aware -- Ignorance-aware beings are capable of comprehending the enormity of the gulf between their own intelligence and the level 3 intelligence of universe-aware beings. Although some humans are exclusively level 1 beings, most have rare "flashes of brilliance" and exhibit transient level 2 intelligence. Ignorance-aware beings understand how much about the universe remains unknown and unknowable to them regardless of the time and study they devote to the pursuit of knowledge.

Level 3: Universe-aware -- Universe-aware beings are capable of comprehending every aspect of the universe, given enough time and study. Implicitly then, a universe-aware intelligence is the most complex object in the universe, able to know and understand everything that exists (including itself). For the sake of the theory, let's set aside the question of whether it is possible for the universe to contain more than one level 3 intelligence (i.e., if there were two, could they understand each other?).

I've interjected my own opinion of how humans fit into these categories: generally level 1, with transience into level 2. Others would probably argue that humans are level 3 intelligences and capable of understanding everything, given enough time. A weaker form of this belief is that human civilization as a whole is a level 3 intelligence: even if no single human can understand everything, groups of humans working together can eventually comprehend the universe and ourselves. (Let's say, then, this weaker belief puts humans in a new category we shall call level 2.5.)

It's possible that the weaker belief is true and that humans are level 2.5; this is a classic halting problem that can never be satisfied. Who's to say that when we think we "know it all" that something new won't pop up in 1000 years? Or worse, what if we think we "know it all" but aren't even smart enough to recognize that there's still something about which we remain in ignorance? That would bump us all the way back down to level 1 without us even realizing it!

I see no reason to believe that the level of intelligence of the human brain is high enough to comprehend every aspect of the universe. Call the level of intelligence of a dog A, the level of intelligence of a human B, and the level 2.5 intelligence X. Few people would argue that A > X. Therefore, those who believe that B > X need to provide some explanation for why X just happens to fall between A and B:

B > X > A

Since we won't ever be able to prove or demonstrate that B > X, it would at least be nice to hear an argument for why anyone would believe such a thing. I personally believe that B < X, but I'm not sure why yet.

Here's an piece about spooky effects in quantum physics that has prompted me to write the post following this one on the nature of intelligence.

(HT: SW.)