The ancient Spartans believed that battlefield training began at birth. Those who failed the first round of selection, which took place at the ripe old age of 48 hours, were left at the foot of a mountain to die. The survivors would, in years to come, often wonder if these rejects were the lucky ones. Because to harden them up, putative Spartan warriors were subjected to a vigorous regime involving unending physical violence, severe cold, a lack of sleep and constant sexual abuse.

As with the English public schools, which used similar tactics to produce the warriors who carved out the British Empire, the Spartan regime worked; the alumni were the most feared soldiers in the eastern Mediterranean. And ever since then, military chiefs have wondered whether it may be possible to short-cut the long and demanding Spartan regime to produce a soldier who kills without care or remorse, shows no fear, can fight battle after battle without fatigue and generally behave more like a machine than a man.
(seriously??? So, this has been the mindset of every military since the Spartans?  How were we not aware of that?  That explains why our military personnel are treated so horribly, so monstrously abused, tortured, humiliated, abandoned, neglected and left to fend for themselves or starve. Had this been common knowledge, I doubt that anyone would voluntarily join the military.  I know there is not a mother on earth that would allow their child to join, we would give everything to spare them.  Gives me a new appreciation for the 70’s saying, “What if they gave a war and nobody came.”)

 

In the post-war era, the future of fighting was thought to be about tanks and missiles, large impersonal machines that would fight huge battles over the open terrain of Northern Europe. The soldiers would be pressing buttons in a command centre. But despite the advent of drone aircraft, much of 21st-century warfare is turning out to be a drawn-out, messy business, fought on a human scale in the mud and dust of Afghanistan. And fought against a mercurial army of irregulars who melt away into the fields and farms once the skirmish is over. Modern soldiers are not the cannon fodder of before. Highly trained and super fit, each one represents a huge investment by the nation that sends them into battle. A soldier who is too tired to fight effectively, who has gone mad or who is suffering from severe stress is like a broken-down tank, no use to anybody. What if soldiers could be made that did not break down?

The era of The Terminator, the perfect robotic killing machine, is decades away; to date, all efforts to create a humanoid robot that can climb the stairs, let alone fight the Taliban, have been risible. (so, that has been the focus of all the money, time, talent and effort of the military.  Not solving world problems and ending the need for war.  Building ROBOT Soldiers, who can kill more people, more effective, with no remorse.)  But scientists are reporting breakthroughs with the next-best thing – the creation of human terminators, who feel less pain, less terror and less fatigue than “non-enhanced” soldiers and whose very bodies may be augmented by powerful machines.

Efforts to understand the brain of the soldier and put this knowledge to good use have been going on for some time. Professor Jonathan Moreno, a bioethicist at Pennsylvania State University, studies the way neuroscience is being co-opted by the military. “Right now, this is the fastest-growing area of science,” he says.

The Pentagon is currently spending $400m a year researching ways to “enhance” the human fighter. The defence giant Lockheed recently unveiled its “Hulc” (Human Universal Load Carrier), a science fiction-like, battery-powered exoskeleton that allows a human to lift 100kg weights and carry them at a fast run of 16kph (10mph). The videos of the Hulc in action are truly impressive. Superman strength is one thing, but soldiers still need to sleep. In Afghanistan the average soldier in combat gets only four hours’ rest a day and sleep deprivation is the single biggest factor in reducing fighting performance. Not only are tired soldiers less physically able to fight and run, they make more mistakes with the complex weapons systems at their disposal – mistakes that can prove deadly to themselves and their comrades.

Using chemistry to attack fatigue is, of course, nothing new. Two centuries ago, Prussian soldiers used cocaine to remain alert and Inca warriors used coca leaves to stay alert long before that. Since then, nicotine, amphetamines, caffeine and a new class of stimulants including the drug Modafinil have all been used successfully, to the extent that American soldiers can now operate normally even after 48 hours without sleep. Now the chemists are trying to tweak the molecular structure of this drug so that it will switch off the desire for sleep for even longer.

Tiredness is not the only psychological problem faced by soldiers. Combat is immensely stressful and although proper training means that men and women can remain focused while in mortal danger, it is afterwards that problems begin. During the Vietnam War, one in three soldiers was treated for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and in the Second World War a significant proportion of Allied conscripts never fired a shot in anger because of stress and fear before the battle had even begun. Up to now, PTSD has been treated by a mix of psychotherapy and antidepressants – effective techniques but expensive and time-consuming. But as with fatigue there may be a chemical shortcut for PTSD.

The trick is to erase unwanted memories, or at least take away their sting. Professor Roger Pitman, a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School in the US, has been experimenting with a drug called propranolol, a “beta blocker” normally used to treat high blood pressure, which he believes can erase the effects of terrifying memories.

Professor Pitman has given the drug to young volunteers who have suffered extreme trauma in, for example, road accidents. Those given placebos suffered nightmares, and remained fearful of the road. When exposed to recordings describing their accidents they suffered typical stress responses – sweating (ya, like IUDS and landmines), beating heart, dilated pupils. But those who had been on a course of propranolol showed no response at all. It was as though the trauma had not happened. (but our memories are very intricately connected with our development and who we are, this erasure of the memory can have dire consequences down the road due to the fact that those soldiers did experience the traumas which left body memories and more importantly, affects to their spirit.)  For a soldier, memory-altering drugs such as this could mean violent combat becoming no more troubling, retrospectively, than a visit to the gym. (wow, is that what we want?  Soldiers with no conscience? Mindless Killing machines that are then returned home an unleashed on an unsuspecting public?)  “The problem is,” Professor Moreno says, “what else are they blocking when they do this? Do we want a generation of veterans who return without guilt?” You may not even need drugs to short-out the unwanted side effects of battle. Dr Albert “Skip” Rizzo, a psychologist from the University of Southern California, has created a “virtual Iraq” video game, in which veterans have been able to re-enact their experiences to release pent-up stress.

Generals not only want stronger, more alert and less stressed soldiers; they want smarter ones, too. One of the most bizarre neuroscience findings in recent years is that by immersing the human brain in a powerful magnetic field, its powers of reasoning and learning are almost magically enhanced.

No one knows exactly how “transcranial magnetic stimulation” (TMS) works, but the Australian neuroscientist Professor Allan Snyder believes that magnetic fields in some way “switch off” the higher levels of mental processing that normally cloud our thoughts, allowing a “pure” form of reasoning to take over.

“Each of us could draw like a professional, do lightning-fast arithmetic,” he says. In fact, some subjects in TMS experiments have acquired (temporarily) similar abilities to the rare “autistic savants“, people who are able to perform astounding arithmetical feats and memorise whole telephone directories (an autistic savant was played by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man).

In 2009, a US Academy of Sciences report concluded that within 20 years we could be using TMS to enhance soldiers’ fighting capabilities. As Professor Moreno says, “there is talk of TMS machines being used on the battlefields within 10 years in vehicles and in 10 years more in helmets.” Why? Being a soldier demands a high level of technical expertise. It is no longer just a case of pointing a gun and shooting. Even combat rifles are now “systems” and mastering battlefield electronics requires a lot of training.

It may seem clear that if you could create a man with no scruples, who feels little pain and no fear, you would have an excellent fighting machine, but this may be a case of be careful what you wish for. We get scared for a reason – to avoid danger to ourselves and others. Fatigue may force us to rest before sustaining damaging injury. Even post-traumatic stress disorder may have a beneficial role. Moral scruples help soldiers to act as an effective team – in battle, troops will always say they are fighting for their mates before Queen and country.

Take away the humanity of the soldiers and there is a danger that the battles and wars we fight will become inhuman as well. Most of all there is, surely, a danger that these techniques, far from producing better soldiers, will actually produce a squad of zoned-out zombies, who will be no match for the determined, driven and highly motivated zealots of the Taliban.

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Wednesday, Nov 4th 2020 9PM 60°F 12AM 60°F 5-Day Forecast

Cyborg super soldiers: US Army report reveals vision for deadly ‘machine humans’ with infrared sight, boosted strength and mind-controlled weapons by 2050

By RYAN MORRISON FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 09:23 EST, 29 November 2019 | UPDATED: 10:45 EST, 29 November 2019

Future armies could be made up of half-human half-machine cyborgs with infrared sight, ultrasonic hearing and super strength, equipped with mind-controlled weapons. 

In a US Army report, experts from Devcom – the Combat Capabilities Development Command – outlined a number of possible future technologies that could be used to enhance soldiers on the battlefield by 2050. (Which means they are already in the works.)

These include enhanced limbs for increased strength, an eye that provides infrared and ultraviolet vision, and an audio device that provides ultra- and subsonic hearing.

Military scientists say future armies could be made up of cyborgs with enhancements allowing them to see, hear and fight better than current soldiers.

They also suggest a future soldier could have a neural device that optimises brain power and allow them to control weapons with their mind.

The ‘thought experiment’ involved dozens of scientists, military personnel, ethicists and other experts discussing future technologies, what impact cyborgs would have on society and how it would change warfare.

The term ‘cyborg’ was first coined in a NASA study on the long-term impact of space study by Manfred Clynes and Nathan Cline.

The word is a portmanteau formed from cybernetic organism and is an organism that has been optimised by creating interactions between flesh and machine.

A cyborg soldier would include enhanced limbs for increased strength, an eye that provides infrared and ultraviolet vision and an audio device that provides ultra- and subsonic hearing (stock image)

The study involved breaking down the future design of a cyborg soldier into the main areas of enhancement likely to be possible by 2050. 

They examined changes to the eyes, ears, brain and muscular system through four ‘case studies’ examining the different technologies that could be developed and what impact they would have on society and warfare.

The study predicted that human machine enhancements would become widely available before 2050 and likely be led by medical use rather than the military.

‘The healthcare market will fuel human machine enhancements primarily to augment the loss of functionality from injury or disease’, the report claims.

The study involved breaking down the future design of a cyborg soldier into the main areas of enhancement likely to be possible by 2050 (stock image)

They examined enhancements to the eyes, ears, brain and muscular system through four ‘case studies’ examining the different technologies that could be developed and what impact they would have in each of the four areas (stock image)

Devcon suggests that as well as being better fighters, enhancing soldiers with technology could improve their chance of survival if hit during battle.

‘One could argue that failure to invest in responsible development of these potentially lifesaving technologies would be unethical.’

Authors of the report suggest that a lot of work would need to be done on changing ‘hearts and minds’ to make people more receptive of adapted soldiers, especially after they return to civilian life.

They say that an individual re-entering civilian life with enhanced abilities would have a defined competitive advantage over non-enhanced individuals.  (They will also be much more aggressive with less of a conscience.  More prone to violence without remorse.)

The report suggests that as well as being better fighters, enhancing soldiers with technology could improve their chance of survival if hit during battle (stock image)

The team questioned whether soldiers with enhancements should be ‘throttled’ back to a normal level when entering society and if so what normal levels should be.  

They also raised concerns over national security.

One participant in the study said: ‘If I can’t walk into a sensitive compartmented information facility wearing an iWatch or carrying a cellphone, how will security be confident it is safe to allow a cyborg to walk in there?’

This was just a thought experiment and we are unlikely to see an ‘enhanced soldier’ with all of these changes by 2050, however there is some suggestion in the report that part, if not all of the technologies could be fairly common within 30 years.

The team questioned whether soldiers with enhancements should be ‘throttled’ back to a normal level when entering society and if so what normal levels should be (stock image)

The Devcon team suggest the perception of cyborgs would need to be changed from one of danger to a more positive understanding.

‘Across popular social and open-source media, literature, and film, the use of machines to enhance the physical condition of the human species has received a distorted and dystopian narrative in the name of entertainment. 

‘More accurate depiction of technology and its applications in fiction and nonfiction media could lay the groundwork for a new generation that sees opportunity for societal benefits in cyborg technologies;, the report says.

They say that if if technology is to become a more intimate partner in the physical enhancement of the human species then defence personnel would need to work to alter cultural narratives to create a ‘more positive narrative’. 

So what exactly does the study think will be developed in order to create the cyborg super soldier of the future?

One of the areas ripe for enhancement is the eyes according to the report. They would replace part of the eye with implants that would allow the user to see in ultraviolet (stock image)

Enhanced vision through eye implants 

This implant would likely overlay the existing ocular tissue and make use of retinal walls to show streams of data that would be sent through the optic nerve to the brain where they could be processed.

The study says that this data would be very different to what the optic nerve normally processes so fighters would have to learn how to understand and interpret what the brain is being fed.

They say this would offer small teams the ability to acquire and share data in real time including visual images in infrared and ultraviolet light. 

The report suggests that this technology could also be used in medicine to give sight to people who are blind.

Small sensors could be implanted throughout the body that would allow for a soldier’s limbs to be remotely controller (stock image)

Better muscle control through a sensor web 

A web of sensors would be implanted under the skin of the soldier that would be networked to deliver stimulation through programmed light pulses. 

The implanted network would be able to interact with external sensors in clothes, boots and eye wear linked to a central computer controller.

This network of sensor could make the muscles ‘dance’ in a consistent way and be used to improve performance, decrease injury and create automated hazard avoidance where the soldier’s movement could be controlled remotely. 

‘The network could be programmed to control their bodies to perform complex tasks for which they are not accustomed. It would in effect, take control of the motions of a warfighter’s limbs, thereby allowing a novice to perform functions professionally.’

The middle-ear bone and cochlea could be replaced completely with an implant that improves hearing and give soldiers supersonic hearing (stock image)

Improved hearing through cochlea implants 

Experts suggest that to improve hearing and communication abilities, especially in the early days of cyborg soldiers, the middle-ear bones and cochlea would need to be replaced or modified.

This would give those soldiers a greater dynamic range of hearing which would help filter overexposure and increase sensitivity to low-amplitude sounds.

This could expand to allow the fighter to hear infrasonic and ultrasonic sounds and allow for covert speech through neural signalling.

‘The current level of evasiveness suggests that this technology would only be employed by individuals with significant hearing loss’, the authors say.

The final major change would be an implant in the brain that would allow the soldier to control technology with their mind (stock image)

Technology control through brain implants

This would come in the form of direct neural enhancements that would allow data to be transferred between the human brain and technology as well as between two human minds without having to speak.

‘These interactions would allow warfighters direct communication with unmanned and autonomous systems, as well as with other humans, to optimise command and control systems and operations’, the report says.

The technology would likely involve electrodes being implanted into the brain giving the soldier the ability to directly communicate with others and machines.

‘It is anticipated that specialized operators will be using neural implants for enhanced operation of assets by the year 2030′, the report claims. 

BIOHACKING: ADDING TECHNOLOGY TO THE BODY

Biohackers, or grinders, are people who hack their own bodies with do-it-yourself devices.

They practice body modification in an effort to extend and improve human capabilities.

They usually turn to body modification experts like piercing artists to perform the implant procedures – but many do it themselves too.

One of the first biohackers was Kevin Warwick, an engineer and the Vice-Chancellor at Coventry University who had an RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) chip implanted into his arm which allowed him to control devices such as lights by simply snapping his fingers. 

Professor Kevin Warwick undertook a ground-breaking experiment with an implanted computer chip in his arm. Professor Warwick became the first human cyborg by implanting a computer chip in his arm to control machines with signals from his brain

A Utah based biohacker named Rich Lee has six implants; one in each ear that serve as headphones, two magnets in two different fingertips for feeling magnetic fields, an NFC (Near Field Communication) chip in his hand for controlling devices and a bio-therm chip in his forearm for monitoring temperature.

The first implant was a finger magnet, which he got because ‘the thought of being able to feel an invisible force and gain a new sense was too intriguing to pass up.’

He explains that he used to have implants in his shins to see how well they would protect his bones from impact.

While a few of the implants were done himself, most were carried out by body modification experts such as piercing artists.

Rich Lee receiving an implant in his hand. He usually asks body modification artists to do the procedures for him, but he’s done a few on himself when he thinks the risk is extremely limited

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Reversing Ageing: New Studies Show it Can be Done

ColdFusion

Apr 27, 2020

— About ColdFusion — ColdFusion is an Australian based online media company independently run by Dagogo Altraide since 2009. Topics cover anything in science, technology, history and business in a calm and relaxed environment.

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CRISPR in Context: The New Word of Human Genetic Engineering

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You are probably oblivious to this fact.  It is true.  AI has already surpassed human intellect.  Yet “Scientists” continue to feed it greater and more massive amounts of data.  They keep building bigger and bigger Machines with bigger and wider networks from more and more sources.  There will be no controlling AI.  IF GOD does not come and rescue mankind, it is GAME OVER