Showing posts with label Star Wars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Star Wars. Show all posts
March 22, 2023
September 2, 2021
Join U.S. Space Force
January 25, 2019
August 10, 2018
Space Force: Up Up And Away
The things that get focused on, get accomplished.
Space is the "final frontier."
And as Gene Roddenberry realized with the creation of Star Trek in 1964, it is the future of Mankind's very survival.
It's time to stop thinking small as in planet Earth, and start thinking big as there is a whole universe out there!
Russia and China get it--hence their development and testing of anti-satellite rockets and other "kill vehicles" in space as well as lasers and jamming equipment against our satellites, and of course, their plans to colonize the Moon and land men on Mars and beyond.
Why have we in America only gotten it in Hollywood?
Yes, there have been a few notable exceptions such as President Reagan with his vision for the Star Wars' Strategic Defense Initiative and President Trump with the bonafide stand up of a Space Force.
Some of the Pentagon brass, particularly the Air Force, may hem and haw about the politics of this thing...losing money and prestige for their branch of the military, but their power is not the concern, our power as a nation is!
I envision a day in the not too distant future when the Air Force doesn't run Space Command, but rather Space Force runs the Air Force.
We need to put politics aside and stop laughing at our own ignorance about the potential of space for our future survival and for conflict. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
January 21, 2015
Stop The Nuclear Threat
Before we get too rosy on the State of the Union...
Fascinating article in Forbes on the threat from nuclear armageddon.
- The Russians nuclear missile survivability is improving with missiles "equiped with four warheads that can be independently targeted."
- Typical yield is 500 kilotons--"equivalent to half a million tons of conventional explosives."
- The impact of a single nuclear explosion is that it heats the targeted areas to a "few thousand degrees."
- If/when exploded over a major city, "everything within a one-mile radius is destroyed, heavy damage extends to three miles, and fires will be widespread out to five miles."
- People at ground zero will be annihilated immediately "by the blast effects or a wind-spread firestorm...(initial wind speed 700 mph)"
- Those father from the epicenter will "linger longer before succumbing to the effects of prompt and delayed radiation."
- Due to the magnetic pulse, "electronic devices will be shut down for a hundred miles in every direction."
- How many long range nuclear missiles does Russia have? Over 2,000 (that are known)!
- Just 50, would leave every American city with over half a million people, "uninhabitable."
Now think about the Mullahs of Iran targeting, America, "The Great Satan," should they get this capability.
And do you think a Congressionally, bipartison endorsed, deadline-triggered sanctions on Iran should be vetoed or championed by the administration to stop this threat?
May G-d bless us with the wisdom and strength of character to see through the delay tactics and subterfuge of our enemies and remove this real threat from us.
As to the Russians' strategic nuclear arsenal, we better get moving along on Reagan's Star Wars Strategic Defense Initiative--because 2,000 is a heck of a lot of incoming! ;-)
January 27, 2013
Ready, Aim, Phaser
I am not just talking about things like laser sights mounted on assault rifles, but actual portable high energy laser weapons for taking out ships, planes, drones, rockets, mortars, and surface to air missiles.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense Systems (HELLADS) is looking for smaller and lighter 150 kilowatt laser systems "enabling integration onto tactical aircraft to defend against and defeat ground threats" and is powerful enough to destroy aircraft!
Just about all science fiction weaponry relies on lasers to fight and defeat the future enemy whether the phasers and disrupters from Star Trek, turbolasers and laser cannons on Star Wars, and laser torpedeos and blaster turrets in Battlestar Galactica.
According to Mashable (27 January 2013) "this year liquid-cooled, solid-state laser weapons will be installed on fighter planes" for testing.
Fast Company (8 March 2012) points out the challenges with laser tracking and killing including clouds, haze, and dust that weaken the laser. However, these challenges no longer seem insurmountable.
All the talk on gun control is so 20th century, the real conversation for the new era will be on laser weapons and whether phasers should be set on stun or kill. ;-)
(Source Photo: here with attribution to UK Ministry of Defence)
November 20, 2012
The Guardian Of Israel
Much is being celebrated about Israel's new Iron Dome missile defense system with approximately 90% success rate for shooting down incoming missiles threatening populated areas and critical infrastructure.
However, Foreign Policy Magazine (20 November 2012) is touting another amazing advance by Israel, this time in robotic weapons systems.
It is called The Guardian Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV), and it is made by G-NIUS.
It's a fully armored vehicle with 660 pounds of electronic sensors and weapons.
The Guardian can autonomously "run patrol of predetermined routes" or it can be controlled via remote or mobile command center.
- It can run at 50 miles per hour, has powerful off-road capability, and an robust obstacle detection and avoidance system.
- Guardian can carry 1.2 tons of ammunition and supplies.
- The robotic vehicle is outfitted with all-weather video and thermal cameras, microphones, loudspeakers, and electronic countermeasures.
- It alerts to suspicious activity, identifies sources of fire, and by human operator can open fire with "auto-taret acquisition".
This versatile weaponized robot can be used for force protection or to guard strategic assets, it can be used for perimeter, border or convey security, and for combat or logistical support missions.
It is easy to see how UGVs like this, especially in concert with UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) can take on the enemy and help keep the troops out of harm's way.
For the future of UGVs and UAVs, think of a swarm, with masses of robots managing the battlefield both with and without human operators, and the vision of Star Wars on the ground and in space is just generations of robots away.
February 28, 2012
The Star Wars Internet
I just love the creativity of this Star Wars-like animation video to explain how we communicate over the Internet (using the guidelines of Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, TCP/IP). From the initiation of the data packets to the transport over the LAN, WAN, and Internet, and through the routers, switches, proxy servers, and firewalls. The data is packed, addressed, transmitted, routed, inspected, and ultimately received. This 13 minutes video explains Internet communications in a simple, user-centric approach. It helps anyone to understand the many actors and roles involved in ensuring that our communication get to where it's going accurately, timely, and hopefully safely. I guess to make this really like Star Wars, we need the evil Darth Vader to (cyber) attack and see how this system all holds up. Where is Luke Skywalker when we need him? ;-) Great job by Medialab! |
September 26, 2009
The Doomsday Machine is Real
There is a fascinating article in Wired (Oct. 2009) on a Doomsday Machine called “the Perimeter System” created by the Soviets. If anyone tries to attack them with a debilitating first strike, the doomsday machine will take over and make sure that the adversary is decimated in return.
“Even if the US crippled the USSR with a surprise attack, the Soviets could still hit back. It wouldn’t matter if the US blew up the Kremlin, took out the defense ministry, severed the communications network, and killed everyone with stars on their shoulders. Ground-based sensors would detect that a devastating blow had been struck and a counterattack would be launched.”
The Doomsday machine has supposedly been online since 1985, shortly after President Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI or “Star Wars”) in 1983. SDI was to shield the US from nuclear attack with space lasers (missile defense). “Star Wars would nullify the long-standing doctrine of mutually assured destruction.”
The logic of the Soviet’s Doomsday Machine was “you either launch first or convince the enemy that you can strike back even if you’re dead.”
The Soviet’s system “is designed to lie dormant until switched on by a high official in a crisis. Then it would begin monitoring a network of seismic, radiation, and air pressure sensors for signs of nuclear explosion.”
Perimeter had checks and balances to hopefully prevent a mistaken launch. There were four if/then propositions that had to be meet before a launch.
Is it turned on?
Yes then…
Had a nuclear weapon hit Soviet soil?
Yes, then…
Was there still communications links to the Soviet General Staff?
No, then launch authority is transfered to whoever is left in protected bunkers
Will they press the button?
Yes, then devastating nuclear retaliation!
The Perimeter System is the realization of the long-dreaded reality of machines taking over war.
The US never implemented this type of system for fear of “accidents and the one mistake that could end it all.”
“Instead, airborne American crews with the capacity and authority to launch retaliatory strikes were kept aloft throughout the Cold War.” This system relied more on people than on autonomous decision-making by machines.
To me, the Doomsday Machine brings the question of automation and computerization to the ultimate precipice of how far we are willing to go with technology. How much confidence do we have in computers to do what they are supposed to do, and also how much confidence do we have in people to program the computers correctly and with enough failsafe abilities not to make a mistake?
On one hand, automating decision-making can help prevent errors, such as a mistaken retaliatory missile launch to nothing more than a flock of geese or malfunctioning radar. On the other hand, with the Soviet’s Perimeter System, once activated, it put the entire launch sequence in the hands of a machine, up until the final push a button by a low-level duty station officer, who has a authority transferred to him/her and who is perhaps misinformed and blinded by fear, anger, and the urge to revenge the motherland in a 15 minute decision cycle—do or die.
The question of faith in technology is not going away. It is only going to get increasingly dire as we continue down the road of computerization, automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Are we safer with or without the technology?
There seems to be no going back—the technology genie is out of the bottle.
Further, desperate nations will take desperate measures to protect themselves and companies hungry for profits will continue to innovate and drive further technological advancement, including semi-autonomous and perhaps, even fully autonomous decision-making.
As we continue to advance technologically, we must do so with astute planning, sound governance, thorough quality assurance and testing, and always revisiting the technology ethics of what we are embarking on and where we are headed.
It is up to us to make sure that we take the precautions to foolproof these devices or else we will face the final consequences of our technological prowess.
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