November 6, 2002

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The U.S. Army used a high-energy laser to shoot down an artillery shell in mid-flight on Tuesday in a defense industry breakthrough, the Army and the manufacturer said.

The Army and TRW Inc., which developed the weapon, said in a joint statement that the laser tracked, locked onto and fired a burst of concentrated light energy photons at the speeding shell over the White Sands test range in New Mexico.

"Seconds later, at a point well short of its intended destination, the projectile was destroyed," the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command said.

The Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL) is being developed by TRW for the Army and the Israeli Defense Ministry. Lasers have been used in past tests at the range to shoot down slower Katyusha Rockets similar to those fired at Israel by militant guerrilla groups in neighboring Lebanon.

"This shootdown shifts the paradigm for defensive capabilities. We've shown that even an artillery projectile hurtling through the air at supersonic speed is no match for a laser," said Army Lt. Gen. Joseph Cosumano, head of the missile defense command.

"Tactical high energy lasers have the capacity to change the face of the battlefield," he added.

Burning up warheads in flight

The laser was fired from a static testbed in a carefully controlled test, but TRW officials said they looked forward to producing a truly mobile version as the program progressed.

Tuesday's test -- the first time a laser had shot down an artillery shell -- was part of a new series to determine MTHEL requirements and demonstrate the system's capabilities against a wide range of airborne targets.

In earlier tests in 2000 and 2001 the testbed focused on the threat of artillery rockets and shot down 25 Katyushas fired singly and in salvos.

The U.S. military has shot down dummy intercontinental missile warheads in tests both inside and outside the atmosphere using projectile weapons and is also examining the possible use of long-range lasers to burn up such warheads in flight.

Two soldiers stand next to the Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser beam director.

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Army's Secret 'People Zapper' Plans

Antony Barnett, public affairs editor
Sunday November 3, 2002
The Observer

Britain has been involved in secret talks with the United States over the development of so-called non-lethal weapons, including lasers that blind the enemy and microwave systems that cook the skin of human targets.

The Observer has established that British and US military leaders met at the Ministry of Defence HQ in London to discuss the operational benefits of such technology when used as a 'persuasive tool' against people from enemy regimes.

Documents obtained under the US Freedom of Information Act detail talks about battlefield uses of the weapons and whether they could be used to back up economic sanctions against target countries. The weapons include lasers that can blind and stun an enemy and cut through metal to disable vehicles.

Another weapon discussed was a system that uses microwave beams to heat the water in human skin in the same way as a microwave oven cooks a meal. The third category of weapons was the use of gases similar to those deployed to end the terrorist siege in a Moscow theatre, which killed more than 100 hostages.

The disclosures prompted demands last night from opposition politicians for a full statement on Britain's involvement in developing such weapons. Opposition MPs and campaigners believe the fact that the military is considering developing and using these weapons in war or as a tool to threaten other states breaches a number of international arms and humanitarian treaties.

Menzies Campbell, foreign affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, called on the Government to 'come clean' on Britain's involvement and will demand Foreign Secretary Jack Straw gives details.

'These reports have serious implications,' Campbell said. 'If Britain and American are together seeking to exploit loopholes in existing international arms convention, our credibility will be severely undermined. Suggestions that we use such weapons as part of any sanctions programme is a level of policy which must be discussed on the House of Commons.'

British personnel at the secret meeting with the US military included Vice Admiral Sir Jeremy Blackham and Dr Martin Hubbard, who heads the non-lethal weapons research programme at Porton Down, Wiltshire. US officers included Major General Bice, deputy commander of the US Marines in Europe, and Brigadier-General Richard Zilmer, deputy director of US operations at European Command Headquarters.

The documents reveal the full scope of the new weapons programmes that the US military is developing. The first was high-power microwave technology that cooks an enemy's skin. Its military name is the Vehicle-Mounted Active Denial System (V-Mads), but it has already been nicknamed the People Zapper. It works by harnessing electromagnetic power to fire an invisible pulse of energy at light speed towards a target. The beam causes the water molecules under the skin to vibrate violently, producing heat and discomfort. Scientists believe the system could heat a person's skin to about 130 degrees in two seconds.

The US delegation admits there might be problems with legal claims by victims.

The documents reveal that both the British and US military believe laser beams have a 'number of potential applications and desirable attributes as a non-lethal weapon'. They are impressed that laser guns can be 'tunable' either to stun or kill. Although laser weapons that permanently blind are banned under international law, the documents show officials are studying low-energy lasers that blind temporarily and others that produce a stunning effect.

The classified document, which is an 'assessment report' of a meeting that took place on 30 November 2000, admits the term 'non-lethal' was inaccurate.'

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Secret American Space Planes to Dominate Planet Earth

Pravda.RU

November 5, 2002

The USA has been working on secret, new-generation space planes
In the beginning of the 1990s, Russian intelligence uncovered the fact that the USA was testing a super-secret plane at one of its airbases. Russian agents attempted to see the new object with their own eyes and take pictures of it, but all attempts failed. The Americans provided incredible security for their secret weapon, and they tested the plane only at night. However, Russian agents managed to get some information about the new plane, which the USA calls Aurora, in honor of the Goddess of the Dawn.

The mystery aircraft is capable of flying very high, at a height of 40 and more kilometers. Even the latest pursuit planes cannot fly so high. The Aurora plane also possesses fantastic supersonic speed, the so-called 6M speed, as scientists call it. One M is equal to 340 meters a second. In other words, Aurora can fly at a speed of two kilometers a second, and this is not the limit. This speed is achieved due to extremely powerful engines and the special design of the plane's hull and wings.

The aircraft was constructed based on Stealth technology, which was selected by the American defense industry long ago. The technology poses great difficulties for both ground and air radar systems.

A picture of the real Aurora aircraft is even more rare than a picture of an UFO. So far, Russia has only one picture of the mysterious American plane. The picture was taken by a Russian intelligence officer at the moment when the Aurora plane was refueling in the air. Later, it became known that before the “flying tank of fuel” (KC-135 aircraft) refueled the Aurora, a spy plane flew across Russia from east to west and was not detected by any radar systems.

The Americans invented a new aircraft, which is almost like a rocket. The new plane was invented by American defense scientists with an eye towards the future. The most powerful pursuit planes can fly at heights of 35-40 kilometers. Russia is capable matching its strength with the USA in this respect. Russia has such aircraft: Su-2711, MiG-29, and MiG-31. However, these planes can only fly in the near-Earth environment, whereas the environment between the Earth’s atmosphere and space is still vacant, so to speak. That is why, the development of the near-Earth space environment weapon is so relevant for defense. Who gets there first becomes the winner.

Here, we are talking about totally new kinds of aircraft: spy planes, fighter planes, transport planes, ect. They will be able to fly from the atmosphere into space and then return to Earth. The Americans have been working on this kind of aircraft for years already, developing several “star wars” projects. The United States has been designing and testing such planes for a long time. They already have the X-33, X-34, X-37, and X-38 planes.

X-33: This supersonic aircraft was designed based upon up-to-date titanic alloys. It is equipped with oxygen-hydrogen jet engines. This plane can reach speeds up to 4,420 meters per second. Graphite and ceramic (thermostable) technologies are used in its engines. Some of this technology was either bought or stolen from Russia. The maximum flight height is 120 kilometers.

X-34: A more modern supersonic aircraft. It is equipped with unique electronic devices and has a special heat-shielding coating. One of its peculiar features is the fact that the plane takes off from an aircraft-carrier, which is also a plane, not a vessel. The X-34 can reach speeds up to 5,440 meters a second. The maximum height is up to 150 kilometers.

Supersonic aircraft of the X class can be both unmanned and piloted planes, with vertical and horizontal takeoffs. It was officially reported that such planes are meant to considerably reduce the amount of money spent on delivering cargo into space. At the present moment, one such delivery costs 22 thousand dollars per one kilo of cargo. These new aircraft will definitely serve defense purposes, such as launching military satellites into orbit. Supersonic space planes can also be equipped with super-powerful telescopes and other equipment. Scientists and engineers are developing ways to equip these planes with missiles, laser weapons, and so on.

In other words, America is working on the first ever space army, which would provide the United States with complete domination in near-Earth orbit. It will not be possible for any anti-missile defense complexes to hit such planes, as they will be completely out of reach. The American space army will be able to hit any target on planet Earth at any moment.

Soviet engineers tried to challenge the Americans and designed a unique aircraft called the Buran. Unfortunately, the aircraft proved to be unsuccessful, and competition with the USA failed. When military opposition between the USSR and the USA was over, the Buran became a part of an exhibition in Moscow’s Park of Culture. The first Soviet space aircraft became a dull memory of a bygone power and might-have-been hopes.

Major General Sergey Kolganov, an academician of the Russian Space Academy, said that the USA's work on the development of supersonic space aircraft poses yet another potential threat to Russia. “I doubt that Russia is ready to fight with these American space planes. Some of our anti-missile defense complexes can hit targets up to 100 kilometers high. However, these new American aircraft can fly higher. Russia has very good ideas for defense, I am certain of that. The Americans have not even dreamed about them. However, they are only ideas, nothing more. Our scientists are not working on any projects that might counteract the American space planes,” Kolganov said.

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2003-01-20
Several mysterious catastrophes occurred with helicopters and small planes over the past years, when famous politicians, military and public figures tragically died. Causes of the catastrophes were declared unknown and were often explained with “a subjective factor.” There is every reason to suspect that the incidents occurred as a result of terrorist acts when secret military technologies, some special whirl-making weapons were used.

Let’s take an empty cigarette box, burn a hole through and blow as much cigarette smoke into it as possible. If you then flick on the surface opposite to the hole, an accurate gray ring of smoke will rush out of it. Many of us know the trick, but did you ever think that this simple physics can be assumed as a basis of a serious technology that can be further used in a military sphere?

It is known that for many years the USSR and the USA have been working secretly on development of a so-called “climate weapon.” It was believed that artificial cyclones, squall typhoons and tornado could be created over hostile territories, at that nature would be considered the author of these disasters. It is not clear whether military men were a success with such developments, but the public community still suspects that some climate disasters are of unnatural origin. Recently, Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky blamed Americans for a hurricane that raged in Moscow.

However, such global climate changes are just one effect of artificial influence upon the atmosphere. A whirl-making weapon that we are going to speak about is less destructive, but more compact and super-precise.

Let’s get back to the above mentioned trick with a ring of cigarette smoke. What actually happened during the trick? A solid surface hit the gas, an air wave appeared as a result of it; the air wave “hooked” on the edges of the hole in the cigarette box and a ring of smoke formed. This whirl is no longer a portion of amorphous air, but some kind of a compact object, rather strong and elastic: it has become an air shell capable of flying at a definite distance. Gunners know that the breech end of a gun cannot be sealed, as whirls may get “stuck” in the slots and block the outlets when shots are fired; that is why energy of the explosion is completely spent on shell pushing and is never wasted. In other words, whirls – air-locks - are rather “strong”.

Now imagine that we take some round surface of a suitcase size instead of a cigarette box; high-frequency electromagnetic field operates over the surface, it pushes some portion of artificially ionized air. Once again, an air wave forms; its edges will twist after hooking at the gas at the borders of this cylinder. Then a column of whirls forms above the activator circle. If the activator is horizontal, an invisible damage zone of several dozens of meters will be formed above the activator; this column will disperse moving cone-wise away from the activator and gradually losing its energy. Some kind of an inverted toy pyramid formed of successive thin whirls will be in the air. A similar weapon can be successfully used against low-flying targets: helicopters, small planes, etc. A large air liner may suffer if it meets such artificial tornado. The word “tornado” is used conditionally in this case, as the air turns into whirls not around the axis, but around circles strung on the axis. This intrusion into the quiet atmosphere inevitably causes different eddy flows of different directions.

The author would like to warn that the above mentioned facts are just his own scientific conjecture. Although any aerodynamics specialist will agree that this scheme is efficient, there is still no open information able to prove that such a military construction may actually exist. Consequently, I cannot take the liberty of declaring that crashes of helicopters and planes that entailed deaths of popular Russian figures (journalist Artyom Borovik, ophthalmologist Svyatoslav Fyodorov, politician Alexander Lebed, etc) were the results of using a whirl-making weapon. The usage of a whirl-making weapon is also incredible in those cases when “a sudden gust” takes some building down. However, we should keep it in mind that what is possible from scientific and technical points of view, it may become reality sooner or later.

In this connection, it would be extremely dangerous if a military technology of this kind would be used by some individual persons with a malicious intent. That is why the RF State Duma should find out whether secret developments on the problem were carried out in the Soviet era; Duma deputies should also find out whether some whirl-making weapon actually exists and take measures so that it won’t used for organization of terrorist acts.

Pavel Poluyan
Krasnoyarsk
Especially for PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Maria Gousseva

Read the original in Russian: http://science.pravda.ru/science/2003/6/20/55/5766_tornado.html

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May 23, 2003
From Clem Cecil in Moscow

PRESIDENT PUTIN has ordered fine weather for the St Petersburg summit and 300th anniversary festivities next week, and it is unlikely to rain on his parade.
Ten aeroplanes will take to the skies, equipped with cloud-seeding agents in an attempt to induce rain away from the city, allowing holidaymakers and visiting heads of state to enjoy dry weather below.

Celebrations of the anniversary of Russia’s historic capital and seat of imperial government a week today will be attended by hundreds of thousands of visitors. A weekend of festivities will be attended by President Putin, President Bush, Tony Blair and the leaders of other EU nations.

Vladimir Stepanenko, head physicist of St Petersburg’s Geophysics Observatory, said: “Our aim is to empty all clouds of rain before they hit the city borders.” Such practice may strike awe into the heart of every rain-soaked Brit, but Russians take “cloud-bursting” for granted, having enjoyed its benefits over public holidays since Stalin gave the order to research weather control in the 1930s.

Over decades, the observatory in St Petersburg has developed techniques to dispel clouds, divert hailstorms from harvests, arrest avalanches, disperse fogs from airports and bring rain to drought-afflicted regions.

The most reliable form of rain prevention is to induce the clouds to rain before they float over the area under protection. The pilots on board the cloud-bursters will be directed towards rainclouds by meteorologists on the ground. On the orders of geophysicists on board the aircraft, dry ice will be dispensed into the clouds from a mile away. The dry ice is fired in special pyrotechnic capsules that combust once empty. Once injected with dry ice, rain crystalises within the cloud and falls ten or fifteen minutes later.

Approximately one kilogram of dry ice is used for every square kilometre of rain cloud. Rainclouds will be burst at a safe distance of 30 miles (50km) outside the city, where locals, used to sudden rain on fine days, will have their umbrellas ready. But thunderclouds are feared because pilots are by law forbidden to fly within more than seven miles of them, making it impossible to seed them with rain inducing agents. The aircraft will patrol the skies until the end of the summit on May 31.

Russia’s first private weather controlling agency, the Atmosphere Technologies Agency, will be taking part in the delicate operation. It is hoping for rainclouds. “No rainclouds equals no pay,” Viktor Petrov, the deputy director, said.

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LifeLog

September 25, 2003 

Objective:
LifeLog is one part of DARPA’s research in cognitive computing. The research is fundamentally focused on developing revolutionary capabilities that would allow people to interact with computers in much more natural and easy ways than exist today.

This new generation of cognitive computers will understand their users and help them manage their affairs more effectively. The research is designed to extend the model of a personal digital assistant (PDA) to one that might eventually become a personal digital partner.

LifeLog is a program that steps towards that goal. The LifeLog Program addresses a targeted and very difficult problem: how individuals might capture and analyze their own experiences, preferences and goals. The LifeLog capability would provide an electronic diary to help the individual more accurately recall and use his or her past experiences to be more effective in current or future tasks.

Program Description:

The goal of the LifeLog is to turn the notebook computers or personal digital assistants used today into much more powerful tools for the warfighter.

The LifeLog program is conducting research in the following three areas:

1.      Sensors to capture data and data storage hardware

2.      Information models to store the data in logical patterns

3.      Feature detectors and classification agents to interpret the data

To build a cognitive computing system, a user must store, retrieve, and understand data about his or her past experiences. This entails collecting diverse data, understanding how to describe the data, learning which data and what relationships among them are important, and extracting useful information. The research will determine the types of data to collect and when to collect it. The goal of the data collection is to “see what I see,” rather than to “see me”. Users are in complete control of their own data collection efforts, decide when to turn the sensors on or off, and decide who will share the data.

Program Impact:

LifeLog technology will be useful in several different ways. First, the technology could result in far more effective computer assistants for warfighters and commanders because the computer assistant can access the user's past experiences. Second, it could result in much more efficient computerized training systems - the computer assistant would remember how each individual student learns and interacts with the training system, and tailor the training accordingly.

For the complete outline and more information follow this link:  http://www.darpa.mil/

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NASA Successfully Flies First Laser-powered Aircraft

Date Released: Thursday, October 09, 2003
Marshall Space Flight Center

Ever since the dawn of powered flight, it has been necessary for all aircraft to carry onboard fuel - whether in the form of batteries, fuel, solar cells, or even a human "engine" - in order to stay aloft.

But a team of researchers from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, Calif., and the University of Alabama in Huntsville is trying to change that.

They have now chalked up a major accomplishment... and a "first." The team has developed and demonstrated a small-scale aircraft that flies solely by means of propulsive power delivered by an invisible, ground-based laser. The laser tracks the aircraft in flight, directing its energy beam at specially designed photovoltaic cells carried onboard to power the plane's propeller.

"The craft could keep flying as long as the energy source, in this case the laser beam, is uninterrupted," said Robert Burdine, Marshall's laser project manager for the test. "This is the first time that we know of that a plane has been powered only by the energy of laser light. It really is a groundbreaking development for aviation."

"We feel this really was a tremendous success for the project," added David Bushman, project manager for beamed power at Dryden. "We are always trying to develop new technologies that will enable new capabilities in flight, and we think this is a step in the right direction."

The plane, with its five-foot wingspan, weighs only 11 ounces and is constructed from balsa wood, carbon fiber tubing and is covered with Mylar film, a cellophane-like material. Designed and built at Dryden, the aircraft is a one-of-a-kind, radio-controlled model airplane. A special panel of photovoltaic cells, selected and tested by team participants at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, is designed to efficiently convert the energy from the laser wavelength into electricity to power a small electric motor that spins the propeller.

The lightweight, low-speed plane was flown indoors at Marshall to prevent wind and weather from affecting the test flights. After the craft was released from a launching platform inside the building, the laser beam was aimed at the airplane panels, causing the propeller to spin and propel the craft around the building, lap after lap. When the laser beam was turned off, the airplane glided to a landing.

The team made a similar series of demonstration flights in 2002 at Dryden, using a theatrical searchlight as a power source. The recent flights at Marshall are the first known demonstration of an aircraft flying totally powered by a ground-based laser. The demonstration is a key step toward the capability to beam power to a plane aloft. Without the need for onboard fuel or batteries, such a plane could carry scientific or communication equipment, for instance, and stay in flight indefinitely. The concept offers potential commercial value to the remote sensing and telecommunications industries, according to Bushman.

"A telecommunications company could put transponders on an airplane and fly it over a city," Bushman said. "The aircraft could be used for everything from relaying cell phone calls to cable television or Internet connections."

Laser power beaming is a promising technology for future development of aircraft design and operations. The concept supports NASA's mission-critical goals for the development of revolutionary aerospace technologies.

Editor's note: A NASA TV VideoFile on this subject will be broadcast beginning at 12 noon EDT October 9, 2003. NASA TV is available on the AMC-9C transponder, C-Band, located at 85 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz.

Photos

http://www1.msfc.nasa.gov/NEWSROOM/news/photos/2003/photos03-180.html

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Air Force launches top secret satellite

Tuesday, September 9, 2003 Posted: 9:29 AM EDT (1329 GMT)

 

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- The Air Force launched a top-secret satellite Tuesday for the National Reconnaissance Office, which operates the United States' fleet of spy spacecraft.

A Titan IV-B rocket was used to launch the large spacecraft, believed to be an electronics listening satellite, into a position 22,300 miles above the Earth's equator.

The National Reconnaissance Office would not reveal any details about the satellite, including its cost, purpose or which contractor built it.

"I cannot discuss what the payload is other than to tell you that it will provide additional capabilities for our nation's leadership and military," said Art Haubold, a spokesman for the NRO.

This particular satellite was delayed for more than three years due to technical problems and had been scheduled for launch as recently as several months ago.

The NRO's electronics listening satellites use baseball diamond-size antennas which fold up like an umbrella for launch.

The large antennas permit the satellite to monitor extremely faint signals, even individual cell phone conversations.

It's believed that similar satellites have been used to monitor and track terrorists.

Astronomer and satellite observer Ted Molczan said: "These satellites are so large they can be seen in high quality backyard telescopes. Some amateur satellite observers have photographed these satellites in their operational locations."

The launch marked the first NRO satellite from Florida in five years.

The previous launch, a less sophisticated listening satellite, did not reach orbit because the rocket's guidance system failed.

From Journalist Philip Chien

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October 2003

We are in Baghdad in 1991, and something strange is happening. A hush falls over the city as a huge shimmering face materializes in the sky. Soldiers and citizens prostrate themselves as each hears the voice of Allah, commanding them to overthrow the evil and treacherous Saddam Hussein. Within minutes an angry mob is storming the palace as the guards flee...

This highly imaginative scenario was proposed by US Air Force (USAF) planners for a bloodless victory in the Gulf conflict. The idea of putting words in God's mouth is not new. In the second century AD Lucian described a statue of the god Aesculapius that spoke to believers, aided by a hidden priest with a speaking tube.

The Baghdad plan involved projecting a giant hologram over Iraq. This kind of projection requires a mirror behind it. The scale of the project dictated a mirror several kilometers across up in space. So far the largest mirror developed has been 30 meters wide and present versions are too small to produce a convincing image at ground level.

Another approach would be to make a mirror out of thin air. When warm air lies on top of cold air, the difference in density is enough to bend light. At higher altitudes, a mirage can make whole landscapes appear in the sky. An artificial mirage could in theory be made by heating the atmosphere with radio waves or microwaves.

The military certainly appears to believe in the potential use of holograms. A USAF think-tank has devised uses ranging from deceptive holographic imaging to the Star Trek-sounding distortion field projector. These are described as useful for strategic deception purposes, particularly against an unsophisticated adversary. They would be projected by a special aircraft, an airborne hologram projector.

Perhaps the nearest current equivalent is the Commando Solo, a modified Hercules festooned with aerials and antennae and carrying pods of classified electronics. It can transmit across the electromagnetic spectrum, including radio and television signals.

The face of God needs a voice. A new technique using microwaves could produce this. When a high-power microwave pulse strikes the human body, a small temperature disturbance occurs, causing an expansion of tissue that can create an acoustic wave. A report from the USAF scientific advisory board says: "With a pulse stream, an internal acoustic field of 5-15KHz can be created which is audible. Thus it may be possible to 'talk' to adversaries in a way which would be most disturbing to them."

The practical difficulties in microwave transmission are formidable. The exact sound perceived depends on the size and shape of the hearer's skull and orientation to the source. Microwaves can be reflected or dampened by solid objects, so God's voice could have the underwater quality of poor radio reception. And would you believe in a God whose voice drops off when you walk behind a lamp-post?

But there were other problems with the plan. Images of Allah are forbidden in Islam. How can you project an image of God when nobody knows what He is supposed to look like?

And the citizens of Baghdad are not superstitious savages, prone to fleeing at the sound of a disembodied voice from a gramophone. They have been exposed to years of computer-generated imagery and flashy special effects. If God's image did appear in the heavens, someone would be bound to suggest it was all done with mirrors.

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By MICHAEL McDONOUGH 

Nov 11, 10:32 AM (ET)   LONDON (AP)

The British government said Tuesday it wants to introduce compulsory identity cards to protect against illegal immigration, welfare fraud and terrorism - though implementation is years away.  Home Secretary David Blunkett said the government would introduce the scheme after building a national database of biometric information using fingerprints, iris scans and facial recognition technology.  "An ID card scheme will help tackle the crime and serious issues facing the U.K., particularly illegal working, immigration abuse, ID fraud, terrorism and organized crime," Blunkett said.  The Home Office said "using multiple identities is one of the most common practices of those involved in terrorist activity."  But the issue of identity cards has split Prime Minister Tony Blair's government, with some ministers reportedly claiming that they are too expensive and threaten civil liberties.  Britain has not had compulsory identity cards for ordinary citizens since shortly after World War II. Such ID cards are mandatory in several Western European countries, including Belgium and Germany.  Blair has endorsed the idea in principle, but his office last week said it would take years to resolve the many complex issues surrounding the plan.  Britain is already working on upgrading passports to include chips containing biometric data, and the UK Passport Service will soon begin a six-month biometric pilot to test face, iris and fingerprint capture and recognition technology, the Home Office said. It said officials also planned to use biometric technology for driving licenses.  The information would be used to compile a national database, the Home Office added.

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 USAF Linked To Electronic Warfare Attack In Tennessee

By Alfred Webre
EcoNews Service - Vancouver, BC
www.ecologynews.com
11-22-3

HARTSVILLE, TENN - Newly-released documentary and eyewitness evidence now links an apparent July 6, 2001 electronic warfare attack on a radio station and weekly newspaper in Hartsville, Tennessee to a nearby unacknowledged secret access project (USAP). This secret project, eyewitnesses say, includes the U.S. Air Force as paymaster, U.S. government aircraft as transportation and security craft; military troops in black uniforms; and black unmarked triangular aircraft. The project may also include a secret electronic warfare unit capable of disabling nearby media outlets with destructive electromagnetic energy.  

It has now known that an official U.S. Air Force cheque was used to pay for the clandestine installation of massive telephone switching equipment at a defunct Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear power plant about five miles from the target media outlets. The private contractor who installed the unusually large switching system at a former nuclear power plant that is still officially defunct reported this to the WJKM investigators on condition of anonymity.  

Historically, the U.S Air Force has pioneered in the development and use of electronic warfare against civilian targets and populations, notably in the NATO war in Yugoslavia.  

Speaking to a live radio audience on July 21, WJKM general manager Ted Randall for the first time publicly released the results on his station's official on-going investigation of the attack. Dan Fluehe and Matt Aaron of WJKM, host Clyde Lewis along with this reporter, Alfred Webre, participated in the radio program.  

WJKM's investigation has eliminated other possible causes of the electromagnetic blast, such as power transformer malfunction caused by birds or internal mechanical problems. Centrexnews reporter Joel Skousen, who initially reported that birds caused the electronic attack, declined to participate in the radio program.  

Although the nuclear facility has been officially closed for some time, eyewitnesses now testify to clandestine activities going on at the site. These include sightings of tractor-trailer trucks entering and leaving the former nuclear power plant at 2 or 3 AM; sightings of C-130 military aircraft flying over the facility as if to land; sightings of unmarked black helicopters monitoring the area; sightings of military troops in unmarked black uniforms; and - yes - multiple witness reports of black triangular craft hovering over the former power plant. Civilians venturing near the site have also reported being aggressively ejected by a private police force of about 30 plain-clothes men.

 Randall presented live and audiotaped eyewitness testimony of the destructive effects of the electronic attack, including a tell-tale flashing blue pulse that accompanied the destruction, and usually accompanies the discharge of electromagnetic pulse weapons. He also presented audio recordings of the audible electronic hum that accompanied the alleged attack, a clear electronic signature of an electromagnetic weapon attack.  

The accompanying surges during the event fit the pattern of an electronic attack. According to WJKM, " These surges are not just coming into the power lines. They are also entering the radio station through phone lines and the antenna system. This is evident in blown telephone equipment. Sometimes the equipment is not destroyed but the program settings are scrambled or wiped out."  

On the air, Randall described photographs of dead, electronically-fried birds that littered a mile-square area around the radio station, now posted on the station's Internet website at <http://www.1090wjkm.com/>http://www.1090wjkm.com/  

Randall stated that local residents are experiencing adverse health effects. Randall said, "It is also interesting that according listeners have called in, there has apparently been an increase in what they are calling fibromyalgia. This is a disease name appointed to the unexplainable severe and disabling pain throughout the entire body over recent years, as well as, an increase in headaches mimicking migraines that are not actual migraines."  

Randall documented the 2.4 Richter underground seismic earthquake that struck the area on July 7, the day after the electronic attack, from 10-10:30 PM.  

Randall also posted the HAARP magnetometer readings on the WJKM website for the two days - July 6 and July 7. Both the electronic attack and the unusual earthquake were accompanied by massive, anomalous bursts of electromagnetic pulse energy from HAARP, the U.S. Navy's electromagnetic pulse military facility and possible environmental weapons system in Gakona, Alaska. Coincidentally (and perhaps causally) HAARP's magnetometer showed massive spikes of electromagnetic energy for both days.  

According to Randall, " At about 10:45 AM Friday [July 6], radio station WJKM and CMR (Country Music Radio), with studios in Hartsville, Tennessee was knocked off the air by a very powerful strange energy blast! There was a crystal clear blue sky, no clouds or rain. It was not lightning"  

According to WJKM, in the attack, "All the radio station's lines were knocked out. Several power transformers were blown several blocks away from the studios (smoke seen billowing out of one). All phone lines at the newspaper (The Hartsville Vidette), the local farm co-op and all other phones in this small radius were knocked out! Radio station transmitter lost all MOSFETS and the output - tuning network. All computers at WJKM lost motherboards, network cards etc. ISDN was knocked out. Most all the equipment Zephyr codec and EAS all knocked out."

 These effects on radio transmission systems closely resemble the effects on urban radio, television, power transmission and generation facilities attacked by U.S. Air Force electronic bombing in electronic warfare missions in recent military operations worldwide, including Yugoslavia and Iraq.  

How and why was electronic warfare carried out in rural Tennessee?  

From the known profile of electronic weaponry, the electronic attack upon WJKM appears to have been caused by a tactical electromagnetic weapon, emitting a directed electromagnetic plasma, beam, pulse, etc. at the target. Electronic weapons with this capability are known, and can be land mounted in a facility like the former power plant, mounted in portable facilities like vans, trucks, helicopters or airplanes.  

Electronic weapons may even be space-based, on satellite platforms. This reporter has personally met with an Assistant Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon who confirmed the existence of such secret space-based weapons as early as 1977.  

An alternative electronic warfare delivery system may involve newly constructed relays for the HAARP installation in Alaska. The potential tactical electronic warfare applications of HAARP are under investigation. Serious public interest researchers maintain that HAARP's electromagnetic energy may cause effects such as earthquakes, such as occurred on July 7 in Hartsville. Electromagnetic weapons have been used in tectonic warfare, intentionally causing earthquakes. Electromagnetic pulse energy accompanies most earthquakes. Research shows that ultra low frequencies emitted by the HAARP installation may affect the human limbic system, and be used for mood management and mind control.  

The close resemblance of the Hartsville attack to other U.S. Air Force electronic warfare led to speculation that radio station WJKM may have been chosen as a test target for a clandestine electronic warfare unit located within the power facility, or to which the power facility serves as electronic relay point. The likelihood that the electronic attack was accidental, rather than an intentional military test, is low, given that the targets were media outlets.

 One purpose of such test could be to evaluate the physical impact of electronic warfare on U.S. domestic radio installations, a well as the impact of intimidating the local community, as well as the U.S. media reporting of such attacks. The U.S. military has a long history of secretly testing weapons on its unsuspecting civilian population, a practice that is illegal.  

Another clue to the motive behind the disinformation attacks may lie in eyewitness accounts of military troops in black uniforms, wearing light blue patches, and military vehicles bearing license plates with the letters "UN" on them. This scenario would be consistent with a disinformation mission, in which United States government troops would be disguised with mock United Nations insignia in order to spread propaganda rumours regarding the actual source of this state terror. In fact, it would appear that U.S. paramilitary troops are carrying out military attacks on the U.S. civilian population. This modus operandi has been characteristic of Central Intelligence Agency sponsored warfare in developing countries, notably Guatemala.  

Randall, Dan Fluehe, Clyde Lewis, and this reporter, Alfred Webre, all noted that the electronic attacks targeted two media offices directly - a radio station and a newspaper - both protected entities under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  

Randall indicated that station WJKM and its parent corporation are pursuing an official investigation of the electronic attack, including surveillance of activities at the former TVA power plant. The U.S. Congress has legislative oversight over the many federal agencies that may be involved in this secret project, including the U.S. Air Force, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and other defense "black budget" agencies.  

Asked if his company intended to contact its members of Congress to seek a congressional investigation, Randall responded that WJKM is taking this attack and its investigation most seriously. WJKM's Congressperson is Bart Gordon, Dean of the Tennessee Delegation, and currently serving his ninth term in Congress, representing the Sixth District, which includes 15 Middle Tennessee counties.  

Links WJKM's Report on the Electronic Attack Environmental War Desk: Electronic warfare

  Was the Seattle-Vancouver earthquake triggered by environmental (electronic) war?  

USAF Linked to Electronic Warfare Attack in Tennessee  

Alfred Webre, JD, MEd, was a member of the Governor's Emergency Taskforce for Earthquake Preparedness for the State of California, 1981-82

(Source Jeff Rense)

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 Northwest Airlines provided info on millions of passengers to NASA for a secret U.S. government air-security project soon after 9/11...

Confidential Passenger Data Used for Air Security Project

By Sara Kehaulani Goo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 17, 2004; 6:50 PM


Northwest Airlines provided information on millions of passengers for a secret U.S. government air security project soon after the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks, raising fresh concerns among some privacy advocates about the airlines' use of confidential consumer data.



The nation's fourth-largest carrier publicly asserted in September that it "did not provide that type of information to anyone." But Northwest acknowledged Friday it had already turned over three months of reservation data to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Ames Research Center by that point.

Northwest is the second carrier to have been identified as secretly passing travelers' records to the government. The airline industry has publicly said it would not cooperate in development of a new government computer passenger screening program because of concerns the project would infringe on customer privacy. But the participation of two airlines in separate programs underscores the industry's clandestine role in government security initiatives.

In September, JetBlue admitted that it turned over passenger records to a defense contractor and apologized to its customers for doing so. Northwest said in a statement Friday that it participated in the NASA program after the 2001 terrorist attacks to assist the government's search for technology to improve aviation security. "Northwest Airlines had a duty and an obligation to cooperate with the federal government for national security reasons," the airline said.

The carrier declined to say how many passengers' records were shared with NASA from the period offered, October to December 2001. More than 10.9 million passengers traveled on Northwest flights during that time, according to the Department of Transportation.

NASA documents show that NASA kept Northwest's so-called "passenger name records" until September 2003. Such records typically include passenger credit card numbers, addresses and telephone numbers.

NASA said it used the information to investigate whether "data mining" of the records could improve threat assessments of passengers, according to the agency's written responses to questions. At the time the agency also was exploring other possible projects aimed at improving air security, it said. NASA said no other airlines were involved in the project and that it did not share its data with other parties. The agency said it did not pay for the data.

The company said it did not inform any passengers that it shared data with NASA. It also said it did not believe that the data-sharing violated its privacy policy.

. "Our privacy policy commits Northwest not to sell passenger information to third parties for marketing purposes," the company said in its statement Friday . "This situation was entirely different, as we were providing the data to a government agency to conduct scientific research related to aviation security and we were confident that the privacy of passenger information would be maintained."

The carrier tells passengers visiting its Web site that "when you reserve or purchase travel services through Northwest Airlines nwa.com Reservations, we provide only the relevant information required by the car rental agency, hotel, or other involved third party to ensure the successful fulfillment of your travel arrangements."

The disclosure of Northwest's participation with NASA comes just four months after JetBlue's admission of involvement in a secret security project conducted by the Pentagon. The airline conceded that it violated its own privacy policy when it turned over records of 1.1 million passengers and the carrier is now being sued by passengers in class action lawsuits.

The Northwest and NASA documents were released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a non-profit organization that advocates privacy rights and open government. The organization, which provided the documents to the Washington Post, said it plans to take legal action this week in an effort to force the government to disclose more information about NASA's secret security project and to investigate the airline's actions.

"We strongly believe aviation security programs should be developed publicly," said David L. Sobel, general counsel for the Electronic Privacy group. "While the airline in this case might have thought the action appropriate, the public at large sees it as a serious violation of personal privacy."

Northwest's data sharing might also have implications in Europe, where European Union officials have balked at providing European passenger data to the TSA as part of the agency's computer passenger screening program, known as CAPPS II. The European Union has said that turning over passenger records to TSA for the CAPPS II program would violate EU privacy laws.

NASA officials did not seem concerned about potential privacy violations until last fall, when news about JetBlue's cooperation with the Pentagon surfaced.

In an e-mail written on Sept. 23, 2003 to Northwest's security manager, a NASA official indicated he wanted to return the airlines' passenger data, which was stored on CD-ROMs.

"As you probably have heard by now, our 'data mining for aviation security' project did not receive any FY2003 funds. My interpretation is that NASA management decided that they did not want to continue working with passenger data in order to avoid creating the appearance that we were violating people's privacy," wrote NASA engineer Mark Schwabacher to Northwest Airlines' security manager Jay Dombrowski. "You may have heard about the problems that JetBlue is now having after providing passenger data for a project similar to ours."

In its written responses, NASA said it terminated the program in late 2002 because data mining was not a "viable line of investigation."

The e-mail to Northwest included a link to a news report about the JetBlue matter.

On the same day as the NASA e-mail, news media quoted Northwest officials responding to the JetBlue incident. "We do not provide that type of information to anyone," Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch told the New York Times in a Sept. 23 article.

An article in the following day's St. Paul Pioneer Press reported, "Northwest Airlines will not share customer information, as JetBlue Airways has, Northwest CEO Richard Anderson said Tuesday in brief remarks after addressing the St. Paul Rotary."The Electronic Privacy Information Center said it originally filed a Freedom of Information Act request in 2002 with the Transportation Security Administration as part of an effort to obtain details of development of CAPPS II. Surprisingly, TSA responded to the request by providing NASA documents that indicated NASA was involved with the "data mining" system with Northwest Airlines. The CAPPS II system, scheduled to debut this summer, seeks to identify all U.S. passengers using commercial databases and then rate the security risk of each passenger as red, yellow or green.

The Electronic Privacy group and other privacy activists have argued for years that CAPPS II is being developed under strict secrecy and they believe that plans disclosed so far appear to violate personal privacy.

The organization said it plans to file a complaint about the Northwest incident this week with the Department of Transportation, which oversees the airline industry's compliance with "safe harbor" principles of guarding private consumer information. The group said it also plans to file suit against NASA in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., this week, because the organization said the agency did not disclose enough information in the FOIA request.

The Electronic Privacy group seeks to know more about the NASA program, including whether the agency shared the information with other parties and whether any other airlines were involved.

"There doesn't seem to be a classic space exploration endeavor here," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's technology and liberty program.

The TSA has said that it is developing CAPPS II as a means to better identify people who might be terrorists. But the program will also be used by law enforcement officials to identify and question suspected violent criminals.

Steinhardt said the Northwest incident, coupled with the JetBlue data sharing, provides Americans with one more reason to be wary about CAPPS II. "What this makes plain is that we cannot believe the assurances we've received that this passenger data will only be used for limited purposes," he said. "Inevitably, it will leak out for other uses."

Researcher Margaret Smith contributed to this article.

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The U.S. Air Force has filed a futuristic flight plan, one that spells out need for an armada of space weaponry and technology for the near-term and in years to come.

Called the Transformation Flight Plan, the 176-page document offers a sweeping look at how best to expand America’s military space tool kit.

From space global laser engagement, air launched anti-satellite missiles, to space-based radio frequency energy weapons and hypervelocity rod bundles heaved down to Earth from space – the U.S. Air Force flight plan portrays how valued space operations has become for the warfighter and in protecting the nation from chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high explosive attack.

Now to far-term needs

A number of space-related transformational capabilities are described in the document. While some of these are seen as needed in the near-term (until 2010), others are described as mid-term efforts in 2010-2015, while some efforts are viewed as far-term, beyond 2015.

Among a roster of projected Air Force space projects:

• Air-Launched Anti-Satellite Missile: Small air-launched missile capable of intercepting satellites in low Earth orbit and seen as a past 2015 development.
• Counter Satellite Communications System: Provides the capability by 2010 to deny and disrupt an adversary's space-based communications and early warning.
• Counter Surveillance and Reconnaissance System: A near-term program to deny, disrupt and degrade adversary space-based surveillance and reconnaissance systems.
• Evolutionary Air and Space Global Laser Engagement (EAGLE) Airship Relay Mirrors: Significantly extends the range of both the Airborne Laser and Ground-Based Laser by using airborne, terrestrial or space-based lasers in conjunction with space-based relay mirrors to project different laser powers and frequencies to achieve a broad range of effects from illumination to destruction. 
• Ground-Based Laser: Propagates laser beams through the atmosphere to Low-Earth Orbit satellites to provide robust, post-2015 defensive and offensive space control capability.
• Hypervelocity Rod Bundles: Provides the capability to strike ground targets anywhere in the world from space.
• Orbital Deep Space Imager: A mid-term predictive, near-real time common operating picture of space to enable space control operations.
• Orbital Transfer Vehicle: Significantly adds flexibility and protection of U.S. space hardware in post-2015 while enabling on-orbit servicing of those assets.
• Rapid Attack Identification Detection and Reporting System: A family of systems that will provide near-term capability to automatically identify when a space system is under attack.
• Space-Based Radio Frequency Energy Weapon: A far-term constellation of satellites containing high-power radio-frequency transmitters that possess the capability to disrupt/destroy/disable a wide variety of electronics and national-level command and control systems. It would typically be used as a non-kinetic anti-satellite weapon.
• Space-Based Space Surveillance System: A near-term constellation of optical sensing satellites to track and identify space forces in deep space to enable offensive and defensive counterspace operations.

Rapid launch needs

The newly issued Air Force document makes the following point: "The U.S. space capability rests on the foundation of assured access." There is need to deploy, replenish, sustain, and redeploy space-based forces in minimum time to allow them to accomplish the missions assigned to them - through all phases of conflict.

In this regard, the Air Force is exploring various future system concepts to launch, operate, and maintain space assets responsively. These include the Air Launch System, a dedicated, weather avoiding, on-demand (within 48 hours) system that can rocket into the sky at a wide variety of trajectories and can loft a Space Maneuver Vehicle, Common Aero Vehicle, or a conventional payload.

As explained in the Air Force document, a Space Operations Vehicle (SOV) enables an on-demand spacelift capability with rapid turnaround. This SOV can be one of the vehicles that could deploy the Space Maneuver vehicle – a rapidly reusable orbital vehicle capable of executing a range of space control missions. In addition, the SOV can be utilized to deploy the Common Aero Vehicle, or CAV.

The CAV is an unpowered, maneuverable, hypersonic glide vehicle deployed in the 2010-2015 time period. The CAV could be delivered by a range of delivery vehicles such as an expendable or reusable small launch vehicle to a fully reusable Space Operations Vehicle. It can guide and dispense conventional weapons, sensors or other payloads world wide from and through space within one hour of tasking. It would be able to strike a spectrum of targets, including mobile targets, mobile time sensitive targets, strategic relocatable targets, or fixed hard and deeply buried targets. The CAV’s speed and maneuverability would combine to make defenses against it extremely difficult.

Directed energy beams

Given the growing number of nations that utilize space, Air Force strategists see that trend as worrisome.

"The ability to deny an adversary’s access to space services is essential so that future adversaries will be unable to exploit space in the same way the United States and its allies can. It will require full spectrum, sea, air, land, and space-based offensive counterspace systems capable of preventing unauthorized use of friendly space services and negating adversarial space capabilities from low Earth up to geosynchronous orbits.

The focus, when practical, will be on denying adversary access to space on a temporary and reversible basis," the document states.

Air Force scientists and technologists are busy in the labs exploring the possibility of putting a warning energy "spot" on any target worldwide that could be rapidly followed with varying levels of effects.

A possible breakthrough, the document adds, deals with a solid-state directed energy beam systems, operating at 100-kilowatt levels. "If the generation of large quantities of heat could be managed, the Air Force could develop highly effective, cheap, high power energy weapons."

For example, Air Force researchers are looking at ways to collect or generate large quantities of energy on orbit in order to rely on space-based platforms for more missions and provide a greater degree of true global presence. "This would change many equations about traditional ideas of rapid response," the document explains.

Sensor-to-shooter

The report emphasizes that space capabilities are integral to modern war fighting forces, providing critical surveillance and reconnaissance information, especially over areas of high risk or denied access for airborne craft.

Space capabilities also provide weather and other Earth observation data, global communications, precision position, navigation, and timing to troops on the ground, ships at sea, aircraft in flight, and weapons en route to targets.

Space assets are critical to achieving information superiority as they enable predictive and dominant battlespace awareness. As a result there can be a reduction in the "sensor-to-shooter" cycle to minutes or even seconds, the document explains.

Real-time picture of the battlespace would involve an initial space-based Ground Moving Target Indicator capability.

This capacity provides U.S. global strike forces with the ability to identify and track moving targets anywhere on the surface of the Earth. Also desirable is the ability to detect, locate, identify, and track a wide range of strategic and tactical targets that the United States currently has minimal capability to detect. These include weapons of mass destruction, hidden targets, and air moving targets.

A real-time picture of the battlespace enables a commander to know where all friendly forces are, not only to better coordinate operations and avoid fratricide -- accidentally injuring or killing your own troops.

Roadmap to the future

In a February 17 press statement issued from the office of the Secretary of the Air Force, the public document on Air Force transformation is described as "a roadmap to the future".

The Air Force flight plan is a reporting document that enables the Secretary of Defense to evaluate and interpret the Air Force's progress toward transformation.

"Transformation is using new things and old things in new ways, and achieving truly transformational effects for the joint warfighter," said Lt. Gen. Duncan McNabb, Air Force director of plans and programs.

The newly issued, publicly releasable report is the one unclassified document that presents an overarching picture of Air Force transformation, added Lt. Col. James McCaw, from the plans and programs directorate's transformation branch.

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By Clint Witchalls
Newsweek InternationalMarch 22 issue

The woman lying in the huge, doughnut-shaped magnet having her brain scanned is perfectly healthy. Radiologists at the Neurosense clinic in south London aren't looking for lesions or lumps. Instead, they've set up a periscope that allows her to view a series of videotaped advertisements. She doesn't have to do anything but watch—and perhaps daydream about whether a particular brand of chocolate seems yummy, or what it would be like to drive that new family sedan. While she's thinking, the doctors are looking to see if certain brain circuits are active and, if so, how excited they get.

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Her experience could foretell the future of marketing. Sellers have always expended a great deal of time and energy trying to figure out what potential buyers really think (as opposed to what they say when you ask them). Now, using powerful brain-scan technology, they can do so scientifically. Ford of Europe uses such "neuromarketing" techniques to better understand how consumers make emotional connections with their brands. DaimlerChrysler has funded several research projects at the University of Ulm in Germany, using brain-imaging technology to decode which purchasing choices go into buying a car. Firms like Oxford-based Neurosense have sprung up to make neuromarketing a bona fide business tool. "The 1990s were declared 'the Decade of the Brain'," says Justine Meaux, a neuroscientist and marketing strategist at BrightHouse, an Atlanta, Georgia-based neuromarketing company. "We learned more about neuroscience in those 10 years than in the entire history that preceded them. I think business neuroscience is just one more field of inquiry."

Since the 1950s, the best tool for identifying which ads and products people will like has been the focus group. The problem is, it's notoriously unreliable, largely because social dynamics get in the way of truthful answers. Some subjects want to please the focus-group leader. Others want to dominate the group. "Almost every focus group throws up someone more vocal and bossy, who either inspires others to follow or react against [them] or both," says Tim Ambler, senior fellow at London Business School. Perhaps that's why only one in 100 products survives in the marketplace after the typical product launch.

Imaging technology, on the other hand, holds out the promise of objectively measuring a person's reaction by seeing how his brain is responding. Given that 95 percent of human cognition takes place unconsciously, there's a lot more information to be had by going straight to the source and observing which regions of the brain are active. Forget what the focus-group participant is telling you—look at those lovely spikes on her left inferotemporal cortex.

The roots of neuromarketing go back to neuroscientist Antonio Damasio's assertion a decade ago that humans use the emotional part of the brain when making decisions, not just the rational part. That's precisely what marketers wanted to hear. Since then, researchers have turned to fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), which maps blood flow to different areas of the brain, to explore what goes on in the act of buying. The idea is that when the "buy" regions of the brain go into action, they draw a bigger blood supply to support their work, which shows up—millisecond by millisecond—on an fMRI scan. (According to researchers, the act of deciding whether to make a purchase lasts 2.5 seconds.)

When the possibility of buying something first occurs to a person, the visual cortex, in the back of the head, springs into action. A few fractions of a second later the mind begins to turn the product over, as though it were looking at it from all sides, which triggers memory circuits in the left inferotemporal cortex, just above and forward of the left ear. Finally, when a product registers as a "strongly preferred choice"—the goal of every advertiser—the action switches to the right parietal cortex, above and slightly behind the right ear. "We can scan people looking at lots of different images, find out afterward which ones they remembered and then go back to the scan data and find out what was specific about the brain activity that occurred in response to the remembered images," says Michael Brammer, chairman of Neurosense.

Companies still need to come up with several product designs and ad campaigns for screening. But fMRI scans should help them narrow down which ones work across the broadest range of people. Or neuromarketing could be useful in finding out how a consumer experiences a product. For instance, does the brain respond first to the crunching sound of a candy bar, or to its flavor? Neuromarketers are still exploring exactly what kind of information they can tease out of test subjects with questionnaires and fMRI scans.

The use of brain research to sell products has created some controversy. Detractors fear that once the "buy button" in the brain is identified, unscrupulous companies will use this knowledge to get us hooked on their products, to the detriment of our health, our wallets and our sanity. Already, they point out, aggressive marketing contributes indirectly to obesity, diabetes, alcoholism, lung disease and gambling. Others object to the commercial use of medical equipment. In December, Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert, a public-interest watchdog, sent a letter to Emory University, which conducts research on behalf of BrightHouse, asking it to stop its experiments.

Neuromarketing researchers argue that the technology shouldn't be stopped just because it might be abused. "This is a descriptive technique—it describes what the brain is doing," says Neurosense cofounder Gemma Calvert. "With fMRI you can't modify brain behavior. You can't make people go out and buy something." Companies like BrightHouse are trying to distance themselves from the term neuromarketing, which has a sci-fi feel to it, and their clients and funders often prefer to remain anonymous.

Perhaps the best defense is that the research may help scientists understand the workings of the brain. "I cannot think of a more important issue these days than understanding the neural substrates of cultural messaging," says Read Montague, director of the Human Neuroimaging Lab at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. "As far as I know, humans are the only creatures that will die for an idea. However, we know very little about the neural substrates that allow some ideas or messages to insinuate themselves in our nervous system and control behavior." Why, for instance, do people have strong preferences for Pepsi or Coke, even though chemically the two soft drinks are virtually identical? That's a tough one, even for brain scientists.

© 2004 Newsweek, Inc.

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(Asteroid protection plan proposed)


WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- They are out there, ready to smack into the Earth and wipe out human civilization, but astronomers said on Wednesday they are well on their way to finding every asteroid that poses a threat.

The next task will be to look for smaller objects that might just destroy, say, a city, the experts told the U.S. Senate's Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space.

In an update on the Near Earth Object Observation Program, experts told the Senate subcommittee that they are on schedule to finding everything bigger than 1 kilometer in diameter that might approach the planet.

"The survey officially started in 1998 and to date more than 700 objects of an estimated population of about 1,100 have been discovered, so the effort is now believed to be over 70 percent complete and well on the way to meeting its objective by 2008," NASA's Lindley Johnson told the hearing.

There have been a few scares.

Last September, scientists spotted asteroid "2003 QQ47" and first measurements suggested it could hit the Earth on March 21, 2014, with an explosion the size of 20 million Hiroshima atomic bombs. But the forecast was revised: It won't hit, after all.

Objects certainly have hit the planet. An asteroid, or several asteroids, are believed to have kicked up so much dust and set off so much volcanic activity 65 million years ago that the resulting climate change wiped out the dinosaurs.

But scientists believe an event of that size would only occur about every 700,000 years on average.

A smaller asteroid is believed to have leveled 400 square miles of Siberian forest in 1908.

"Although the probability of the Earth being hit by a large object in this century is low, the effects of an impact are so catastrophic that it is essential to prepare a defense against such an occurrence," Michael Griffin, head of the Space Department at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, told the hearing.

But when? "At the current state of knowledge it is about as likely to happen next week as in a randomly selected week a thousand years from now," said Johnson.

If an asteroid was confirmed to be on a catastrophic collision course with Earth, the experts said it would take about 30 years to get ready to do anything about it.

"The Space Shuttle's main engines and the fuel contained in the large external tank could successfully deflect a 1 kilometer object if it were applied about 20 years in advance," of a projected collision, Griffin said.

Using a nuclear bomb might make matters worse because the pieces of the blown-up asteroid would stay in the same orbit and eventually come back together again.

The next task will be to find smaller objects that may not destroy the Earth but could do considerable damage if they hit, the scientists said.

A single satellite orbiting the sun just inside the Earth's orbit could find 90 percent of all near-Earth objects 100 meters or more in diameter within 10 years, Griffin said. It would cost about $300 million and could be ready within five years, Griffin said.
 

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LAS VEGAS, NV USA (PRWEB) April 8 2004 -- Dr. Dan Burisch has first-hand knowledge of the U.S. government's involvement in funding the creation of designer viruses for use in biowarfare and other applications. He is also intimately privy to other covert operations that violate normal standards of human ethics.

Because such involvement could implicate him for war crimes charges, he requests full immunity before making such disclosure. The terms of his agreement prohibit that he should specifically request such an appointment for disclosure. He has stated that if subpoenaed he will disclose what he knows, answering specific questions directly.

By splicing together components of various organisms, microbiologists today are able to create new living organism with specific outcomes, both in terms of target as well as resulting disease.

Burisch stated that microbiologists have a way of encoding their "signature" into the designer DNA they create, whether in short sequences or those long enough to encode an entire virus.

As a possible scenario, for example, the signature could be comprised of a short segment of base-pairs that bear the microbiologists mark in such a way that other microbiologists can see the signature and readily identify it.

Because Burisch does not yet have such disclosure immunity granted, he spoke hypothetically, saying that if there were a microbiologist involved in such activities, that the microbiologist could place his signature on the resulting organism, unbeknownst to those authorizing the project. That signature could then be called forth from all progeny organisms as evidence of the laboratory origin of the organism, and of the exact microbiologist who created the organism.

This would then provide unambiguous proof more telling than finger prints in a crime scene. In this case, such finger prints are placed there intentionally with the intent of p