Technology
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The corporate-government power nexus
Mass surveillance and manipulation should not be allowed to become the new normal. Continue reading »
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In the 1930s, scholars made remarkably accurate predictions on the China of 2030
“This nation, after three thousand years of grandeur and decay… exhibits today all the physical and mental vitality that we find in its most creative periods… Very probably such wealth will be produced in China [by 2030] as even America has never known and once again, as so often in the past, China will lead Continue reading »
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Knowing who we are: coping with Artificial ‘Intelligence’
We are at an existential turning point in the human story and, with it, the habitability of our planetary home. Continue reading »
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Visiting the doctor in the age of AI
On 8 May, Four Corners (Artificial Intelligence Rising: the new reality of artificial life), portrayed an isolated man’s relationship to a robotic woman and a sex doll, and in another scenario, artificial memories were generated for family members to communicate with the long dead – weird stuff. Continue reading »
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US trade restrictions may eclipse UAE’s moon plans
Recent reports indicate that the United Arab Emirates’ Rashid 2 rover planned for China’s Chang’e 7 mission to the moon in 2026 has hit an American speed bump. This ambitious mission is merely the next in the impressive Chang’e lunar series. It includes a moon orbiter, a lunar lander, a so-called “hopper” that can move Continue reading »
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Primed for the ultimate AI disconnection
Time to leave for planet Zog. That’s what came to mind recently I as pondered an article about young Japanese men and female holograms. Continue reading »
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‘Red scare’ in US causes multi-year flood of refugees with PhDs to China
OECD data shows China sustains net gain of scientists while US suffers net loss as ethnic Chinese researchers fear US government surveillance and prosecution. Continue reading »
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If only it was happening in Australia
The French Government’s Research Minister, Silvie Retailleau, has announced a plan to shake up the country’s scientific research including investing an extra Euro 26 billion (equivalent to A$42.5 billion.) Continue reading »
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Chinese scientists create sodium car
Breakthroughs set to make a big difference in energy sector Continue reading »
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President Biden resorts to extortion
President Biden has resorted to extortion to destroy one of China’s leading digital companies ByteDance, the owner of the highly successful social media group, TikTok. Continue reading »
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The US wants TikTok banned or sold
The United States’ issue with TikTok is uncannily reflective of its ongoing problem with China. It grew too fast for their comfort, is too economically and technologically successful and so deeply enmeshed in their lives that they felt the impulse to disengage. Continue reading »
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“Billion-dollar coffins”: detection tech to render AUKUS submarines useless
Speaking at a summit in San Diego on Monday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a decades-long strategy to deliver the most costly defence project in Australia’s history. Continue reading »
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Why China has passed the United States in science and technology
In recent weeks there have been a multitude of news items and reports emanating from various quarters indicting China has passed the United States in science and technology and this is likely an irreversible trend. Continue reading »
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Australia needs to think beyond China about data security
The discussion on TikTok and Hikvision infiltration in Australian government departments has centred inarticulately and dogmatically on the country of origin. But there are other more realistic and probable security threats lurking in plain sight. Continue reading »
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Neurofeedback works for trauma – let’s use it!!!
Everyone who has suffered abuse as a child deserves the opportunity to live free of its detrimental effects. Continue reading »
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What’s not to like about nuclear fusion?
Recently the mass media have bombarded us with hype about a ‘breakthrough’ in controlled nuclear fusion. Continue reading »
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Nuclear Fusion: It’s really about nuclear weapons, not clean energy
The development of Nuclear Fusion is not, as the media claims, about clean energy. Instead, it is driven by the United States’ desire to continue wielding its terrifyingly destructive nuclear weapons arsenal. Continue reading »
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(Un)common sense in the National Electricity Market grid design
In a recent (21 October) edition of Pearls and Irritations, Roger Beale suggested (amongst other things) that the Commonwealth should “seize sole control of the national electricity market” (the NEM) to bring stability to the energy transition and stop the states going their own way. Continue reading »
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This Techno-life: to simplify or not to simplify!
Understanding the difference between “needs” and “wants” is an essential lesson in the quest for simplicity. Continue reading »
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The story behind China’s fourth generation nuclear reactors
The fact that only China has implemented a Small Modular Nuclear Reactors is a testament to the skills and capacities of Chinese nuclear engineers and the policy makers that the West, despite renewed interest in the idea, will find difficult to match. Continue reading »
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Australia: An Electric Vehicle Battery manufacturing powerhouse?
Is it too late for Australia to enter the global market for Electric Vehicle Battery (EVB) manufacturing? It has become apparent that Australia’s exit in 2016 from local car production has made it more difficult for us to participate fully in one of the 21st century’s fastest growing, technically advanced and environmentally critical industries. Continue reading »
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Optus privacy policy vague, full of holes
I was a midwife at Optus’ conception and birth. So it gives me no joy to watch Optus’ privacy predicaments. As a long time privacy law practitioner, I have a particular insight into Optus’ responses to the massive haemorrhage of the personal data of half the Australian adult population. Continue reading »
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Optus must be prosecuted for Privacy Act breach
Late September data privacy muscled its way onto the centre stage courtesy of Optus and some as yet unnamed hacker. Continue reading »
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The Defence Strategic Review: the greatest threat to Australia’s security arises from its uncritical attachment to the United States
The Defence Strategic Review, or the Porcupine Strategy, cannot ignore the reality that the greatest threat to Australia’s security arises from its uncritical attachment to the United States, and to the assumption that the US will persist as a reliable and rational partner into the future. Continue reading »
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Defamation reform
A meeting of Attorneys-General was convened on 12 August in Melbourne and chaired by Commonwealth Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus QC. Continue reading »
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U.S.-China fight to lead planet earth will be decided “within 15 years”
The clock is ticking on which of the two superpowers will gain primacy over the planet – a lead which will last indefinitely, becoming unassailable, a stunning new study shows U.S. leadership over the planet would lead to a colonial model as seen in recent centuries, with the west assertively pushing its values, says a Continue reading »
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Stumbling Surveillance: The end of the COVIDSafe App
It took a few years of tolerable incompetence, caused fears about security, and was meant to be the great surveillance salvation to reassure us all. Instead, Australia’s COVIDSafe App only identified two positive cases of infection during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, and failed, in every sense of the term, to work. Continue reading »
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Chegg, cheating and Australian Universities
The note on Radio National’s Background Briefing on the morning of July 31 was sombre. A student, who did not divulge his real name (he is professionally pseudonymised as Ramesh), talks about services that aid him in his study. Aid is less accurate than do – given that he is working gruelling night shifts in Continue reading »
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Facial recognition technology down under
The language is far from reassuring. Despite being caught red handed using facial recognition technology unbeknownst to customers, a number of Australia’s large retail companies have given a meek assurance that they will “pause” their use. The naughty will only show contrition in the most qualified of ways. Continue reading »
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How modern technology could bring democracy to a crossroads
Advances in technology have resulted in employment and wage dislocations that are polarising society and undermining trust in political institutions. Continue reading »
