tagged w/ Intelligence
-
It’s the one of the most revolutionary — and one of the most chilling — weapons to come out of America’s decade of conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Gorgon Stare, a new “all-seeing” camera system for aerial drones, is supposed to boost U.S. surveillance by an order of magnitude, by installing a hive of nine or more cameras under the wing of an Air Force Reaper drone. Gorgon Stare-equipped Reapers are meant to watch over a “city-size” area, while also simultaneously sending video feeds to dozens of “customers” on the ground.
There’s just one problem. Gorgon Stare doesn’t work as promised, at least according to the Air Force squadron whose job it is to test the new system
Continued at:
http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=13995It’s the one of the most revolutionary — and one of the most chilling... more
-
-
Dagum
-
added this
-
2 years ago
- |
-
Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian are madly in love but when the L.A. Laker first met the reality star in 2009,he declare he had some doubts about her IQLamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian are madly in love but when the L.A. Laker first met... more
-
-
It’s a commonly held belief that beautiful people lack in intelligence. However, as per a recent study, beautiful people are not just blessed with good looks but it’s highly likely that they are smarter than their not-so-good-looking counterparts.It’s a commonly held belief that beautiful people lack in intelligence. However,... more
-
-
Alstom
-
added this
-
2 years ago
- |
-
FOX and Friends using Wikileaks to re-wright history on the big lie that led to the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq by US and the "Coalition of the Willing."FOX and Friends using Wikileaks to re-wright history on the big lie that led to the... more
-
-
Essay by Steven Soter, Scientist-in-Residence in the Center for Ancient Studies at New York University. Gedanken experiments, which have been used for hundreds of years by scientists and philosophers to ponder thorny problems, rely on the power of one's imagination to project these scenarios to logical conclusions. They do not involve lab equipment or, often, even experimental data. They can be thought of as focused daydreams. Yet, as in the famous case of Einstein's Gedanken experiments about what it would be like to hitch a ride on a light wave, they have often led to important scientific breakthroughs. http://www.makeahistory.com/index.php/submit-an-article/18758-where-is-everybody-how-many-technically-advanced-civilizations-exist-in-our-galaxyEssay by Steven Soter, Scientist-in-Residence in the Center for Ancient Studies at New... more
-
-
worrg
-
added this
-
2 years ago
- |
-
Anyone who has joined a social networking based website has had the misfortune of crossing paths with someone who is online with the sole intention of pissing the world off. Many people have learned the ways of the troll and can easily skip over the obnoxious bs that they spew. For those who can not and are unfortunately sucked into a web of gross lies and exaggeration, there is finally a solution. The TrollKiller 1.0, is set to launch next week on select news sites across the globe. The premise is simple: Trolls don't read, or quiet possibly can't read, so the tool forces them to read or go away. Basically, the software calculates the amount of time it would take the average person to read through a news article. The rate of scrolling is analyzed as well, so that a troll can not simply open a browser window and leave it inactive for awhile. Once an article has been open for longer than the average reading time, the comment section becomes available. No longer will a troll be able to read the title of an article, think of something stupid to say, then drop in and attempt to wreak havoc. Trolls will be incapable of starting up debates on subjects they know absolutely nothing about. Everyone will finally be free of those ridiculously long and annoying debates that dumb the topic at hand down to something far too general. The petty right vs left/liberal vs conservative political debates will end and be replaced by conversations about the subject the article is actually about. Join the revolution and save yourself from the stupid ones with TrollKiller 1.0Anyone who has joined a social networking based website has had the misfortune of... more
-
-
-
Well, I don’t buy the conspiracy theory. But one thing’s for sure – the leaks reflect far worse on Middle Eastern regimes, including but not only Iran, than on the United States.
Leaving aside the “Bomb bomb bomb Iran” stuff, what for example will President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen say to his people now he has been clearly revealed to have got the US to lie on his behalf (not that it wasn’t common knowledge)?
As I have just said in an online commentary, the disclosures, based as they are on diplomatic cables, set out extremely clearly the thinking underlying US government policy – including rationales that cannot usually be given publicly for fear of offending allies or revealing secrets. Their partiality might be questioned – but their coherence can’t.
Ultimately, they put the onus on Middle Eastern countries to explain themselves. The cables are America’s own explanations. Neither Iran nor many of its Arab friends and enemies like being held to account overmuch.
Now they have been. No wonder Iran thinks it’s a plot; I wonder if other countries agree. I wouldn’t be surprisedWell, I don’t buy the conspiracy theory. But one thing’s for sure –... more
-
-
Due to their friendly nature, dogs are more intelligent than cats , according to scientists at Oxford University.
Over millions of years, dogs have developed larger brains that their feline chums (or should that be enemies?) as a result of interacting more with humans and other animals.
Scientists previously thought cats were the smarter animal, apparently because they needed less attention, though it probably had something to do with them having their owner wrapped around their paws.
The change in thinking came after scientists charted the evolutionary history of the brain across different groups of mammals over 60 years and noticed huge variations in how their brains have changed.
The more social an animal was, the bigger its brain. The brains of monkeys grew the most over time, followed by horses, dolphins, camels and dogs. The brains of more solitary animals such as cats, deer and rhino grew more slowly during the same period.
Dr Susanne Shultz, who led the research, said: “Dogs have always been regarded as the more social animals while cats like to get on with their own thing alone. But it appears that interaction is good for the brain and extends to other species, like ourselves.
"We are even more social than monkeys and apes and it is this ability to get on with each other that has helped us dominate the planet."
[Edit: Story update to include a link to Oxford uni's site.]
Due to their friendly nature, dogs are more intelligent than cats , according to... more
-
-
richjm
-
added this
-
2 years ago
- |
-
Robots and other machines equipped with artificial intelligence shoot military targets, distribute cash (think: ATMs), drive cars and deliver medication to patients, to name a few. If people performed these duties, they would be expected to behave in a certain way and follow moral and ethical guidelines.
:http://news.discovery.com/tech/robot-makes-ethical-decisions.htmlRobots and other machines equipped with artificial intelligence shoot military... more
-
-
suzane
-
added this
-
2 years ago
- |
-
The human consumption of psychoactive drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin, is of even more recent historical origin than the human consumption of alcohol or tobacco, so the Hypothesis would predict that more intelligent people use more drugs more frequently than less intelligent individuals.
The use of opium dates back to about 5,000 years ago, and the earliest reference to the pharmacological use of cannabis is in a book written in 2737 BC by the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung. Opium and cannabis are the only “natural” (agricultural) psychoactive drugs. Other psychoactive drugs are “chemical” (pharmacological); they require modern chemistry to manufacture, and are therefore of much more recent origin. Morphine was isolated from opium in 1806, cocaine was first manufactured in 1860, and heroin was discovered in 1874.
Given their extremely recent origin and thus evolutionary novelty, the Hypothesis would predict that more intelligent individuals are more likely to consume all types of psychoactive drugs than less intelligent individuals. Once again, as with alcohol consumption, the fact that the consumption of psychoactive drugs has largely negative health consequences and few (if any) benefits of any kind is immaterial to the Hypothesis. It does not predict that more intelligent individuals are more likely to engage in healthy and beneficial behavior, only that they are more likely to engage in evolutionarily novel behavior. As I point out in an earlier post, more intelligent people are often more likely to do stupid things.
Consistent with the prediction of the Hypothesis, the analysis of the National Child Development Study shows that more intelligent children in the United Kingdom are more likely to grow up to consume psychoactive drugs than less intelligent children. Net of sex, religion, religiosity, marital status, number of children, education, earnings, depression, satisfaction with life, social class at birth, mother’s education, and father’s education, British children who are more intelligent before the age of 16 are more likely to consume psychoactive drugs at age 42 than less intelligent children.
The following graph shows the association between childhood general intelligence and the latent factor for the consumption of psychoactive drugs, constructed from indicators for the consumption of 13 different types of psychoactive drugs (cannabis, ecstasy, amphetamines, LSD, amyl nitrate, magic mushrooms, cocaine, temazepan, semeron, ketamine, crack, heroin, and methadone). As you can see, there is a clear monotonic association between childhood general intelligence and adult consumption of psychoactive drugs. “Very bright” individuals (with IQs above 125) are roughly three-tenths of a standard deviation more likely to consume psychoactive drugs than “very dull” individuals (with IQs below 75).
Read the rest of the article and see the graphs at:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/201010/why-intelligent-people-use-more-drugsThe human consumption of psychoactive drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin,... more
-
-
Learn about these so-called feathered apes.
"Although cultures around the world may regard the crow as a scavenger, bad omen, or nuisance, this bad reputation might overshadow what could be regarded as the crow's most striking characteristic - its intelligence. New research indicates that crows are among the brightest animals in the world.
A Murder of Crows brings you these so-called feathered apes, as you have never seen them before."
Watch this incredible documentary, you will be astonished.
For the people that do not have time go to 13m30s all the way to 17m52s to watch both experiments, it will blow your mind.
I truly recommend to watch it all though.Learn about these so-called feathered apes.
"Although cultures around the world... more
-
-
Neandertal Genome Yields Evidence Of Interbreeding With Humans - Science News
Some people don’t just have a caveman mentality; they may actually carry a little relic of the Stone Age in their DNA.
A new study of the Neandertal genome shows that humans and Neandertals interbred. The discovery comes as a big surprise to researchers who have been searching for genetic evidence of human-Neandertal interbreeding for years and finding none.
About 1 percent to 4 percent of DNA in modern people from Europe and Asia was inherited from Neandertals, researchers report in the May 7 Science. “It’s a small, but very real proportion of our ancestry,” says study coauthor David Reich of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. Comparisons of the human and Neandertal genomes are also revealing how humans evolved to become the sole living hominid species on the planet.
Neandertals lived in Europe, the Middle East and western Asia until they disappeared about 30,000 years ago. The new data indicate that humans may not have replaced Neandertals, but assimilated them into the human gene pool.
“Neandertals are not totally extinct; they live on in some of us,” says Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and leader of the Neandertal genome project.
He and other geneticists involved in the effort to compile the complete genetic instruction book of Neandertals didn’t expect to find that Neandertals had left a genetic legacy. Earlier analyses that looked at only a small part of the genome had contradicted the notion that humans and Neandertals intermixed (SN Online: 8/7/08).
“We as a consortium came into this with a very, very strong bias against gene flow,” Reich says. In fact, when he and his colleagues announced the completion of a rough draft of the Neandertal genome a year ago, the researchers said such genetic exchange was unlikely (SN: 3/14/09, p. 5).
But several independent lines of evidence now convince the researchers that humans and Neandertals did interbreed. “The breakthrough here is to show that it could happen and it did happen,” Pääbo says.
The result came as no surprise to some scientists, however. Archaeologists have described ancient skeletons from Europe that had characteristics of both early modern humans and Neandertals; evidence, the researchers say, of interbreeding between the two groups. But until the cataloging of the entire Neanderthal genome, genetic studies could find no evidence to support the idea.
“After all these years the geneticists are coming to the same conclusions that some of us in the field of archaeology and human paleontology have had for a long time,” says João Zilhão, an archaeologist and paleoanthropologist at the University of Bristol in England. “What can I say? If the geneticists come to this same conclusion, that’s to be expected.”
LINK - - - ( more,.....continues,.......e t c. ..........)
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/58936/title/Neandertal_genome_yields_evidence_of_interbreeding_with_humansNeandertal Genome Yields Evidence Of Interbreeding With Humans - Science News
Some... more
-
-
AND now for something completely stupid.
Humanity is set to once again test the boundary between science fiction and fact by trying to build a classic imaginary weapon — the "stupid ray".
Different arms of the US military have recently been looking for ways to boost the mental abilities of troops.
Both DARPA and the Air Force Research Lab have projects underway aimed at finding external stimulants to temporarily enhance awareness and reduce stress.
But the boffins at the Air Force appear to have had a brainwave. If someone can do what they're asking, perhaps they could do the opposite too.
Wired reported this week that in an update to its call for research proposals, the Air Force has included a new topic for consideration.
First, it describes a few potential mind-enhancing technologies that could be used in the field.
Then, it says: "Conversely, the chemical pathway area could include methods to degrade enemy performance and artificially overwhelm enemy cognitive capabilities."
In other words, how about an invention that will make the other side dumber?
And if you think they’re not serious, there’s a chunk of $US49 million up for grabs for anyone who reckons they can do it.
Reports that sales of tinfoil hats tripled following the announcement are yet to be confirmed.AND now for something completely stupid.
Humanity is set to once again test the... more
-
-
eden49
-
added this
-
2 years ago
- |
-
Squared-jawed, with four stars decorating each shoulder, General Keith Alexander looks like a character straight out of an old American war movie. But his old-fashioned appearance belies the fact that the general has a new job that is so 21st-century it could have been dreamed up by a computer games designer. Alexander is the first boss of USCybercom, the United States Cyber Command, in charge of the Pentagon’s sprawling cyber networks and tasked with battling unknown enemies in a virtual world. http://www.makeahistory.com/index.php/free-stuff/7125-cyber-commandSquared-jawed, with four stars decorating each shoulder, General Keith Alexander looks... more
-
-
worrg
-
added this
-
2 years ago
- |
-
Over the past several years, entities closely linked to the private security firm Blackwater have provided intelligence, training and security services to US and foreign governments as well as several multinational corporations, including Monsanto, Chevron, the Walt Disney Company, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and banking giants Deutsche Bank and Barclays, according to documents obtained by The Nation. Blackwater's work for corporations and government agencies was contracted using two companies owned by Blackwater's owner and founder, Erik Prince: Total Intelligence Solutions and the Terrorism Research Center (TRC). Prince is listed as the chairman of both companies in internal company documents, which show how the web of companies functions as a highly coordinated operation. Officials from Total Intelligence, TRC and Blackwater (which now calls itself Xe Services) did not respond to numerous requests for comment for this article.
One of the most incendiary details in the documents is that Blackwater, through Total Intelligence, sought to become the "intel arm" of Monsanto, offering to provide operatives to infiltrate activist groups organizing against the multinational biotech firm.
Governmental recipients of intelligence services and counterterrorism training from Prince's companies include the Kingdom of Jordan, the Canadian military and the Netherlands police, as well as several US military bases, including Fort Bragg, home of the elite Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), and Fort Huachuca, where military interrogators are trained, according to the documents. In addition, Blackwater worked through the companies for the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the US European Command.
On September 3 the New York Times reported that Blackwater had "created a web of more than 30 shell companies or subsidiaries in part to obtain millions of dollars in American government contracts after the security company came under intense criticism for reckless conduct in Iraq." The documents obtained by The Nation reveal previously unreported details of several such companies and open a rare window into the sensitive intelligence and security operations Blackwater performs for a range of powerful corporations and government agencies. The new evidence also sheds light on the key roles of several former top CIA officials who went on to work for Blackwater.
The coordinator of Blackwater's covert CIA business, former CIA paramilitary officer Enrique "Ric" Prado, set up a global network of foreign operatives, offering their "deniability" as a "big plus" for potential Blackwater customers, according to company documents. The CIA has long used proxy forces to carry out extralegal actions or to shield US government involvement in unsavory operations from scrutiny. In some cases, these "deniable" foreign forces don't even know who they are working for. Prado and Prince built up a network of such foreigners while Blackwater was at the center of the CIA's assassination program, beginning in 2004. They trained special missions units at one of Prince's properties in Virginia with the intent of hunting terrorism suspects globally, often working with foreign operatives. A former senior CIA official said the benefit of using Blackwater's foreign operatives in CIA operations was that "you wouldn't want to have American fingerprints on it."
While the network was originally established for use in CIA operations, documents show that Prado viewed it as potentially valuable to other government agencies. In an e-mail in October 2007 with the subject line "Possible Opportunity in DEA—Read and Delete," Prado wrote to a Total Intelligence executive with a pitch for the Drug Enforcement Administration. That executive was an eighteen-year DEA veteran with extensive government connections who had recently joined the firm. Prado explained that Blackwater had developed "a rapidly growing, worldwide network of folks that can do everything from surveillance to ground truth to disruption operations." He added, "These are all foreign nationals (except for a few cases where US persons are the conduit but no longer 'play' on the street), so deniability is built in and should be a big plus."
The executive wrote back and suggested there "may be an interest" in those services. The executive suggested that "one of the best places to start may be the Special Operations Division, (SOD) which is located in Chantilly, VA," telling Prado the name of the special agent in charge. The SOD is a secretive joint command within the Justice Department, run by the DEA. It serves as the command-and-control center for some of the most sensitive counternarcotics and law enforcement operations conducted by federal forces. The executive also told Prado that US attachés in Mexico; Bogotá, Colombia; and Bangkok, Thailand, would potentially be interested in Prado's network. Whether this network was activated, and for what customers, cannot be confirmed. A former Blackwater employee who worked on the company's CIA program declined to comment on Prado's work for the company, citing its classified status.
In November 2007 officials from Prince's companies developed a pricing structure for security and intelligence services for private companies and wealthy individuals. One official wrote that Prado had the capacity to "develop infrastructures" and "conduct ground-truth and security activities." According to the pricing chart, potential customers could hire Prado and other Blackwater officials to operate in the United States and globally: in Latin America, North Africa, francophone countries, the Middle East, Europe, China, Russia, Japan, and Central and Southeast Asia. A four-man team headed by Prado for countersurveillance in the United States cost $33,600 weekly, while "safehouses" could be established for $250,000, plus operational costs. Identical services were offered globally. For $5,000 a day, clients could hire Prado or former senior CIA officials Cofer Black and Robert Richer for "representation" to national "decision-makers." Before joining Blackwater, Black, a twenty-eight-year CIA veteran, ran the agency's counterterrorism center, while Richer was the agency's deputy director of operations. (Neither Black nor Richer currently works for the company.)
As Blackwater became embroiled in controversy following the Nisour Square massacre, Prado set up his own company, Constellation Consulting Group (CCG), apparently taking some of Blackwater's covert CIA work with him, though he maintained close ties to his former employer. In an e-mail to a Total Intelligence executive in February 2008, Prado wrote that he "recently had major success in developing capabilities in Mali [Africa] that are of extreme interest to our major sponsor and which will soon launch a substantial effort via my small shop." He requested Total Intelligence's help in analyzing the "North Mali/Niger terrorist problem."
ARTICLE CONTINUES AT LINK: http://www.thenation.com/article/154739/blackwaters-black-opsOver the past several years, entities closely linked to the private security firm... more
-
-
A malware-laden flash drive inserted in a laptop at a U.S. military base in the Middle East in 2008 led to the "most significant breach of" the nation's military computers ever. The malicious code on the flash drive was placed there by a "foreign intelligence agency." http://www.makeahistory.com/index.php/free-stuff/3426-bad-flash-driveA malware-laden flash drive inserted in a laptop at a U.S. military base in the Middle... more
-
-
worrg
-
added this
-
2 years ago
- |
-
For students entering college this fall, e-mail is too slow, phones have never had cords and the computers they played with as kids are now in museums.
The Class of 2014 thinks of Clint Eastwood more as a sensitive director than as Dirty Harry urging punks to "go ahead, make my day." Few incoming freshmen know how to write in cursive or have ever worn a wristwatch.
These are among the 75 items on this year's Beloit College Mindset List. The compilation, released Tuesday, is assembled each year by two officials at this private school of about 1,400 students in Beloit, Wis.
The list is meant to remind teachers that cultural references familiar to them might draw blank stares from college freshmen born mostly in 1992.
Of course, it can also have the unintended consequence of making people feel old.
And ofcourse this list only allows these young students to continue to live in the fast paced world, and not stopping to look back and learn an appreciate a bit of history.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100817/ap_on_re_us/us_mindset_listFor students entering college this fall, e-mail is too slow, phones have never had... more
-
-
Humans are designed by evolution to believe in God
Published on April 11, 2010
It is natural to believe in God, so more intelligent individuals are more likely to be atheists.
Religion is a cultural universal, and its practice is observed in every known human society. However, as I explain in earlier posts (Why do we believe in God? Part I, Part II), recent evolutionary psychological theories suggest that religiosity may not be an adaptation in itself but may be a byproduct of other evolved psychological mechanisms variously called the “animistic bias” or the “agency-detector mechanisms.”
These theories contend that the human brain has been selected to overinfer agency – personal, animate, and intentional forces – behind otherwise natural phenomena whose exact causes cannot be known. This is because overinferring agency – and making a Type I error of false positive – makes you a bit paranoid, but being paranoid is often conducive to survival. In contrast, underinferring agency – and making a Type II error of false negative – can result in being killed and maimed by predators and enemies that were incorrectly assumed not to exist. So, evolutionarily speaking, it’s good to be a bit paranoid, because being paranoid can often save your life. Religiosity – belief in higher powers – may be a byproduct of such overinference of agency and intentional forces behind natural phenomena.
If these theories are correct, then it means that religiosity – belief in higher powers – may have an evolutionary origin. It is evolutionarily familiar and natural to believe in God, and evolutionarily novel not to be religious. Consistent with this reasoning, out of more than 1,500 distinct cultures throughout the world documented in The Encyclopedia of World Cultures, only 19 contain any reference to atheism. Not only do these 19 cultures exist far outside of our ancestral home in the African savanna, but all 19 of them without an exception are former Communist societies. There are no non-former-Communist cultures described in The Encyclopedia as containing any significant segment of atheists. Nor is there any reference to any individuals who do not subscribe to the local religion in any of the ethnographies of traditional societies.
It may therefore be reasonable to conclude that atheism may not be part of the universal human nature, and widespread practice of atheism may have been a recent product of Communism in the 20th century. So belief in higher powers is evolutionarily familiar and natural, and atheism is evolutionarily novel. The Hypothesis would therefore predict that more intelligent individuals are more likely to be atheist than less intelligent individuals.
Once again, analyses of large representative samples from both the United States and the United Kingdom support this prediction of the Hypothesis. Net of a large number of social and demographic factors, including education, more intelligent individuals are more likely to be atheistic than less intelligent individuals. For example, among the American sample, those who identify themselves as “not at all religious” in early adulthood have a mean childhood IQ of 103.09, whereas those who identify themselves as “very religious” in early adulthood have a mean childhood IQ of 97.14.
Even though past studies have shown that women are more religious than men, the analyses show that the effect of childhood intelligence on adult religiosity is twice as large as that of sex. Remarkably, childhood intelligence has a significant and large effect on adult religiosity even when religion itself is statistically controlled for. So it appears that more intelligent children are more likely to grow up to be atheists than less intelligent individuals, and the Hypothesis provides one explanation as to why.Humans are designed by evolution to believe in God
Published on April 11, 2010
It... more
-
