# reading matter | 5 most frightening technologies of our time

Страшный глаз

Technology makes our life better, we repeat. High definition televisions, entertainment with a personal computer. We have e-commerce that saves time and money. All this is fine, but exactly until the moment when someone takes control over the Internet banking systems and machines across the planet.

Sounds crazy? Maybe. None of the technologies that we have included in our list will sow death and destruction on the planet. But this does not mean that you can sleep peacefully, miserable people: the future of technology may turn out to be much worse than you think.

1. "I hear voices in the store"

Тележка

It doesn't sound very scary, but when you find out what's the matter, the fear will go away completely. But tell me, would you not be worried about reality if you went to the store and heard voices around you telling you to buy certain things? Look around - no one. Only you can hear voices.

A company called Holosonics developed the Audio Spotlight system, which uses tiny speakers that focus sound into a thin beam. Ultrasonic frequencies are too high for the human ear, but when the sound passes through the Audio Spotlight system, the air makes the sound audible. Ideal for in-store advertising: you just have to get up where you need to hear it. We have already debunked the myth that companies manipulate our minds on a subconscious level, but no one is immune from sound waves.

Well, if you are not afraid of sounds from nowhere (oh, this generation is born with headphones in your ears), what if they take away your computer?

2. By law, you can be deprived of a laptop.

Вкусный ноутбук

In the US, there is a law that allows the customs and border guards to withdraw your technical devices when you go to the territory of America. Perhaps there is nothing illegal on the hard disk of your computer, but if law enforcement bodies find at least photos of your children suspicious, your equipment will be taken away.


The fact of the matter is that in the interests of national security, US officials considered even a hint of a crime to be a sufficient condition for confiscation. The presumption of innocence will not save you. On the other hand, security can take away your laptop, but will it prevent global cyber warfare?

3. Cyber ​​War

Glados

Imagine a war that is fully computer controlled. No, we are not talking about the simulation of hostilities through remote access, we are talking about the attack on the electronic infrastructure of the state. “SHIT?” You ask. This is the system that controls the Ministry of Emergency Situations, banks and other e-commerce, the power supply system, water, gasoline, communication networks and - most importantly - the defense system. A well-planned act could lead to serious problems and leave us without protection of the body that cares about our security, the state.

If this seems fantastic to you, attacks of this type have already been carried out against some countries. Russia "attacked" Georgia with a denial of service. Hackers hacked the Pentagon. Some terrorist organizations teach their agents to break computers. There are botnet services all over the world. How to protect against cyber attacks? Computer literacy will help. We'll have to convey to people what viruses and “Trojans” are, timely updated antivirus and other precautions that, in the conditions of the current total chaos in the virtual space, leave much to be desired.

Cyber ​​wars can be useful tools against machines that have learned to think and decide to destroy humanity. Do not think that we have re-read science fiction - progress is progressing much faster than the technical training of generations, and the next point will explain this to you.

4. Technological singularity

Технологическая сингулярность

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has come a long way since the first computer in the world started working. But we, it seems, are not yet in a gloomy society, where cars took power and subjugated humanity (as in this short video, for example). At least for now.

Vernor Vinge, a professor of mathematics at the University of San Diego, proposed his own characteristic of singularity. In his opinion, this is the time when computer networks will gain self-awareness, thanks to advanced artificial intelligence and interfaces that help computers and people interact. Biological progress is so complex that scientists may well one day imagine the human intellect created in the laboratory. Works on a virtual brain simulation are already underway.

There is a certain probability that artificial intelligence will allow machines to master the world. There are no guarantees that this scenario will really come true, and we will not have the opportunity to pull the plug out of the socket. Nevertheless, the idea that cars will ever be able to consider us unworthy of existence and want to destroy us sounds horrible.

In 2008, scientists have completed work on a giant machine, which, in their opinion, will be able to shed light on some of the mysteries of the universe. Some were so scared by the power of such a mechanism that they filed a lawsuit against its inclusion. Why? Look further.

5. Large Hadron Collider

Большой адронный коллайдер

BAK is the largest and most powerful particle accelerator ever built by humans. It was created in order to push the smallest particles together and look, from what, what is our Universe made of. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), which built the collider, was very optimistic about the prospects for finding the Higgs boson (which, according to preliminary data, was found). Now, the discovery of the Higgs boson prompted us that the Universe is likely to be killed by another Universe. The miracle of discovery has become a fatal omen.

Critics were against launching the BAC. They were worried that the Large Hadron Collider could create a black hole on the Earth’s surface (and that’s what would happen) or strange — that is, hypothetical — material called strapel, which scientists believe could have devastating consequences for the gravitational field. CERN scientists reject both theories (and we will agree with them - Hawking radiation of such microscopic black holes, if they appeared, would not allow them to swallow the blue ball).

Combine the potential power with the probability of destruction - and get the scenario of the development of such a terrible future that the guys from the film “The Matrix” would envy on their spaceship.

Source: howstaffworks.com

The article is based on materials https://hi-news.ru/technology/chtivo-5-samyx-pugayushhix-texnologij-sovremennosti.html.

Comments