Annalee Newitz of IO9 interviewed Michael Dillon, an atmospheric scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. They focused on Dillon's research about how the government should respond in a disaster scenario where an airborne threat can continue to spread. If you're interested in future scenarios happening after a man-made calamity, this is a great source of information.
In 1964, Isaac Asimov made 10 predictions looking forward 50 years. In 2014, the year he was predicting, Eric Mack reviews the list on CNET. While the list is interesting, I find the view of the events influencing Asimov's prediction more engaging.
The combination of governmental and corporate data tracking are enabling outside entities to track increasingly granular details about our lives and interactions. Most of the reasons offer positives and are focused on protecting citizens or providing services we find useful. In order to do these jobs more efficiently, inroads to more data are critical in order to query across enough channels to create accurate connections such as identifying a terrorist organization's leader or helping us make certain we get enough exercise per day.
Too many future visionaries depict a future full of clean energy and cleaner air. It's as if our need for clean air makes us willing to ignore the development and natural resource costs associated with powering all of these high-energy devices we keep adding to our lives. I'm beginning to believe most of us have certain fears which keep us from crossing a line where everything crashes into a horrific vision where every breath has a painful consequence.
