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U.S.
Army Tests High Energy Laser 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
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
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Whirl-making Weapon Is Like Genie in Terrorists’ Hands
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Putin Orders the
Clouds Not To Rain on his Parade
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September 25, 2003
Objective: 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
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 |
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 E 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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The Voice of God October 2003 |
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Britain
Plans to Introduce Identity Cards 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
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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Airlines Provided NASA with Passenger List for Top-Secret Program
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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. The use of space is highlighted throughout the report, with the document stating that space superiority combines the following three capabilities: protect space assets, deny adversaries’ access to space, and quickly launch vehicles and operate payloads into space to quickly replace space assets that fail or are damaged/destroyed.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:
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. "It will help the reader understand where the Air Force is going, and why we chose this path," McCaw concluded. |
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Navy Testing Unmanned
Underwater Glider By David Snow Wired News March 3, 2004 The U.S. Navy plans to begin testing a prototype for an unmanned underwater glider with a flying-wing design in March, according to the Office of Naval Research, which funds the project. If successful, tests of the Flying Wing Underwater Glider could lead to a new generation of gliders that researchers expect to be the largest and fastest to date. They would be capable of traveling thousands of miles under ocean waves, quietly conducting surveillance and gathering data for military and civilian purposes, researchers said. "Gliders have the potential of providing long-endurance mobile platforms for employing sensors," said Thomas Franklin Swean Jr., team leader for Ocean Engineering and Marine Systems Science and Technology at the Office of Naval Research, which has spent $500,000 on the project so far. "The endurance is measured in months rather than hours or days." The Flying Wing isn't the first glider to "fly" underwater, just the first of its kind. Over the past seven years, projects at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the University of Washington School of Oceanography and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have developed gliders whose designs incorporate torpedo-like shapes. The new wing design, akin to that of a B-2 stealth bomber, could be superior to them in some ways but inferior in others, sources said. New craft based on the flying-wing prototype, which has a 20-foot wingspan and a theoretical top speed of 5 nautical mph -- 10 times the speed of existing gliders -- might be effective in the open sea, but their size could hinder them in shallow waters and make them more difficult to deploy than existing gliders. The Flying Wing Underwater Glider's likely civilian applications include ocean science research, environmental study and fisheries monitoring, Swean said. It could map currents or follow marine animals without disrupting their behavior, according to Scott Jenkins, a senior engineer at Scripps who spearheaded work on the glider's design. Jenkins described two scenarios in which the glider could play a vital role. In the first, oil companies use it to monitor the activity of sperm whales. The industry's use of seismic refraction shootings to detect undersea oil deposits -- explosions are detonated and the resulting shock waves are studied -- is restricted when whales are nearby. In the second scenario, a glider monitors an offshore waste field to help determine its relationship to beach closures. "Nothing else is capable of doing that (kind of research) in an economical way," he said, pointing out that the use of ships is expensive, whether data gathering is carried out onboard or the ship is hired as a delivery vehicle for instruments on moorings. Moorings are susceptible to damage from storms, ship collisions and vandalism. The glider's other major applications are military, Swean said. They include surveillance and reconnaissance. "Homeland security applications would involve coastal monitoring, perhaps ship traffic," he added. In the future, gliders could take on other roles, such as payload delivery. "We're talking very large gliders," Jenkins said. "One practical thing would be to move underwater robots (vehicles) around. All of those devices have a mother vehicle. A glider could do it in a very clandestine way." The Navy's tests scheduled for March will take place in a vast basin at Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in San Diego. Tests scheduled for April will take place at sea off Point Loma, which lies between San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Precise test dates have yet to be determined, but the goals are clear. "These are basic tests to validate hydrodynamic design," Swean said. "We will observe glide trajectory at a prescribed net buoyancy to confirm the wing is flying as designed. Subsequent phases will integrate sensors and prove endurance (and) range." The prototype wing, built by Legnos Boat Building of Groton, Connecticut, is 1.3 feet thick and made up of fiberglass covering foam ribs, Swean said. Inside the glider, a steel pressure hull will protect inner workings during deep-sea diving, Jenkins added. The internal volume of 40 cubic feet will be enough space for control systems and research instruments. The most essential control system is the buoyancy engine, which uses battery power to drive the wing, Jenkins said. It powers a high-pressure pump that inflates a bladder, which displaces enough water to cause the glider to rise. Evacuating the bladder displaces less water and causes the glider to descend. As Swean described it, the wing moves forward when changes in its buoyancy create vertical forces; the wing uses the pressure of the water's mass to transform those forces into forward movement. In other words, it moves forward by changing its elevation. Jenkins added that the onboard computer will adjust the craft's center of gravity by sliding the batteries along a track, which will also help with steering. The new design's potential superiority over existing underwater gliders involves the efficiency of the wing shape, Jenkins said. With nearly all of the surface area creating lift, the vehicle can travel over long distances using only a small amount of energy. "The wing is the most efficient shape we know," Jenkins said. "The prototype for it is a bird. Nature's the most demanding of all engineers." The glider will surface to transmit data to a satellite or stay submerged to send acoustic communications, Swean said. The Navy isn't the only party interested in the outcome of the flying-wing glider tests. "We will certainly follow what Scott (Jenkins) has done and look into the capabilities of that (glider)," said Clayton Jones, a project engineer with glider manufacturer Webb Research. © Copyright 2004, Lycos, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
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Companies are starting to turn to powerful brain-scan technology in
order to figure out how we choose which products to purchase
By Clint Witchalls 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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Dangerous Space Rocks Under
Watch
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Transforming Rays Into Weapons April 8, 2004 Original headline: Transforming rays into weapons Stopping an adversary in his boots with a nonlethal ray gun is no longer just a sci-fi pipe dream, according to a local defense contract official. Nonlethal directed-energy scientists have tested a weapon that does just that, only on a slightly larger scale than a handgun, said Wade W. Smith, deputy of Raytheon Missile Systems' Directed Energy Weapons division. Smith spoke of the promise of directed-energy weapons yesterday at the Photon Forum 2004, held Monday and Tuesday at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, 7000 N. Resort Drive. The event was to expose potential investors and users to emerging technologies and give scientists and engineers a chance to network with the investment community. Like a massive laser gun mounted on a military-style Humvee, the Active Denial Technology (ADT) weapon, which uses directed energy technology, "gets the bad guy to stop what he's doing," Smith said. More importantly, weapons using directed energy technology can be made nonlethal to save lives by providing a way to stop individuals without causing injury before a deadly confrontation develops. The ADT weapon shoots a narrow beam of concentrated electromagnetic energy. Traveling at the speed of light, the energy penetrates less than 1/64 of an inch into the skin quickly heating up the skin's surface, according to the Department of Defense. The pain is nearly identical to that experienced when briefly touching a hot light bulb, but it leaves no burn mark or permanent damage. "The ADT weapon literally gets under your skin and causes high, nonlethal pain," Smith said. The technology was developed by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and the Department of Defense's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate. The weapon is in response to the needs of U.S. field commanders who wanted options short of deadly force. Although the ADT system is described as having a range of 700 yards, it is intended to protect military personnel against small-arms fire, which generally means a range of 1,000 meters. It also can be used for crowd control. Raytheon's Directed Energy product line has its headquarters at the missile plant on Tucson's South Side, with some of the engineering being conducted by local employees. Most of the development on the product line, including ADT, is being conducted at the company's California plant, said Barbara Starr, a Raytheon spokeswoman. Although field testing will begin in May, the technology is in its "embryonic stage" in terms of controlling the weapon's energy beam, Smith said. Nonlethal technologies can be used for protection of defense resources, peacekeeping, humanitarian missions or homeland defense. A Vehicle-Mounted Active-Denial System using a Humvee now exists, and versions of the weapon installed on military fighter aircraft and ships are 10 years down the road, Smith said. Tucson Citizen |
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Area 51 Microbiologist
Ready To Talk April 8, 2004 (Dr. Dan Burisch, who is in lock-down, working with the Lotus project, seeks immunity to stand before a Congressional hearing or other appropriatepublic body, to disclose his first-hand knowledge with proof of U.S. government involvement in designer viruses and other black-ops.)
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CONTRACT ISSUED FOR HAARP
EXPANSION May 7, 2004 The Office of Naval Research is awarding BAE Systems Advanced Technologies Inc. a $35 million contract (N00014-02-D-0479) to manufacture high frequency transmitters for installation in the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) Gakoma Facility phased array antenna system. Work will be performed at their Dallas, Texas facility and in Washington, D.C. and is expected to be completed by June 2007. HAARP is a very high power radio transmitter that beams radio waves into the ionosphere. Initial claims were that the facility, operated by the Air Force, Navy and University of Alaska are to conduct research to "enhance communications and surveillance systems for both civilian and defense purposes". However, HAARP is no longer used merely for research and may be an operational tool used for deep ground-penetrating radar and other purposes. During the initial stages of the invasion of Afghanistan, CNN reported that HAARP was being used to see inside mountains to find caves & tunnels that the Taliban might be hiding in, although personnel at HAARP deny that the facility is being used for anything 'operational'. Most of us know what happens inside a microwave oven - imagine what happens if the power is a million times greater. Upcoming modifications may boost HAARP's power to 10 billion watts. Even at its current 1 billion watts, HAARP can be used as a powerful weapon that could wreak havoc on the world if its operators so desired. Patents filed by the military and the project's founder, ARCO, suggest that HAARP can be used for weather modification and mind control. Evidence suggests that HAARP may have facilitated the massive black-outs in the US and other countries in 2003. The radio waves emitted by HAARP can be used to super-heat and lift the ionosphere or can be reflected off the atmosphere. When reflected off the atmosphere, the high frequency waves can be used as a carrier for low frequencies at the same level as the human brain. According to information on the official HAARP Website - "HAARP is used for research into communicating at frequencies useful for underwater platforms like submarines." The military currently uses ELF - extremely low frequency radio waves to communicate with its submarines. These frequencies go as low as 30Hz, well within the range of the human brain which operates at 1-40Hz. There is some speculation that HAARP is used in conjunction with aerial spraying (chem-trails). Spraying the air with fine particles of aluminum & barium makes the air more conductive so that HAARP can be used to support an experimental 3D radar system. This futuristic radar helps create a real-time three dimensional image of a location. The system operator can 'travel' through the computer simulation just as a person would in reality. Having a location mapped real-time in 3D within a computer makes it possible for large-scale push-button & automated warfare. Remotely controlled weapons can be controlled from any distance with enemies tracked by the computer. The radar could expose an enemy inside a building or even deep underground and there would be no escape once a person was identified as a target. Massive wars could be fought quickly and easily with very few people at the controls. The scenario of a robotic army in the movie "Terminator" may not be very far away. Armed robotic planes are already being used and it is only a matter of time before larger, smarter and more lethal robotic weapons are deployed against anyone who might be opposed to American ambitions. For more info. visit: www.haarp.net | www.haarp.alaska.edu | www.earthpulse.com/haarp/ | www.haarp.com | www.carnicom.com | www.padrak.com/ine/HAARP97.html Check out the following Patents: 4686605, 5038664, 4712155, 5068669, 4873928 Infoshop News May 07., 2004 |
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'Smart Bullet' Reports
Back Wirelessly May 28, 2004 NewScientist.com news service A "smart bullet" that can be fired at a target and then wirelessly transmit back useful information has been developed by US researchers. The projectile, created at the University of Florida in Gainesville, US, is 1.7 centimeters in diameter can be fired at from an ordinary paint-ball gun. The front is coated in an adhesive polymer that sticks it to the target. Inside, the elongated projectile holds a sensor, a tiny wireless transmitter and a battery. This enables it to report back its findings to a laptop or handheld computer up to 70 meters away. It can also reusable, because compressed gas within the gun provides the propulsion. The prototype developed by the researchers was fitted with an accelerometer. To test it, the students fired it at a target which was then shaken to activate the accelerometer and produce data for transmission. But the US firm Lockheed Martin, which provided funding for the project, is interested in developing a version containing a miniature sensor capable of detecting traces of the explosive TNT. "If you had a good chemical sensor on this projectile, you could fire it into the trash, stand back and determine whether it could detect TNT leaking out," says Leslie Kramer, director of engineering for the Lockheed Martin subsidiary Missiles and Fire Control. Loc Vu-Quoc, one of the university team, says the potential advantage of the system is that "you'd be able to stand far away from the target". He says other researchers are already working on miniaturizing TNT detection However Colin King, editor of the British defense industry magazine Jane's Explosives Ordinance Disposal says this goal may be unrealistic. "Methods for detecting traces of explosives require a lot of equipment," he told New Scientist. "I can't think of a sensible way it could work." The smallest explosive vapor detectors currently available are handheld. King also warns that firing a projectile at a potential explosive goes against bomb disposal guidelines. Nevertheless, King believes the projectile sensor might still be useful. "It sounds like there could be better applications in counter-surveillance," he suggests. |
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Japan:
School kids to be tagged with RFID chips
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RFID
Gets Skin-Deep Alternative German start-up launches human body transmitters August 4, 2004 by Jo Best One German start-up has created an alternative to RFID that is likely to get under consumers' skin. Ident Technologies has dreamt up Skinplex - which could be used in all the same ways as RFID and Bluetooth - but uses a different transmitter: human skin. Like RFID, Skinplex works by reading a unique identifier remotely using an electromagnetic signal, normally between a microchip and a reader. Unlike RFID, however, Skinplex uses the skin to transmit the signal and an identifier carried on a person. The signal is transmitted when the carrier touches the receiver. The Skinplex system can also be worked from a distance of 50cm, transmitting through the ether. One possible use for the technology the company is touting is for unlocking car doors remotely. With the car owner carrying his own unique code, the idea is Skinplex becomes an anti-theft device, with only the car owner being able to get in the car without setting off an alarm. With RFID set to become a billion-dollar market by 2010, the idea of keeping the costs down might tempt some the way of Skinplex. Some hospitals are even talking about implanting staff and patients with RFID technology, potentially opening up a huge market for humans to carry RFID chips or Skinplex identifiers. However, last month, Microsoft patented a way of turning your skin into a power conduit and data bus. IBM also jumped on the bandwagon some years ago - showing off a way of electronically sharing business cards when two people shake hands. |
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US Air
Force works on plan for near-space vehicle WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Top U.S. Air Force officials are working on a strategy to put surveillance aircraft in "near space," the no man's land above 65,000 feet but below an outer space orbit, Air Force chief of staff Gen. John Jumper said on Tuesday. Jumper said he would meet next Tuesday with the head of the Air Force Space Command, Gen. Lance Lord, to map out plans to get lighter-than-air vehicles into that region above the earth, where they could play a vital role in surveillance over trouble spots like Iraq. Jumper said the Air Force was working with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, to develop a stealthy aircraft without metal that could be equipped with special sensors and remain in the air for months at a time, keeping a watchful eye on specific regions of concern. That would help answer the increasing need for persistent surveillance, which is difficult with current satellites, which circle the earth in orbit at altitudes above 188 miles 300 kilometres. Unlike satellites, the new breed of near-space aircraft could hover for longer periods in one area, and since they are closer to the earth, far fewer would be needed to maintain surveillance of the entire globe, Jumper said. He said this ability could greatly improve the military ability to conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions in the future. The U.S. military already has some aerostats, or blimp-like aircraft, in use to raise antennas and provide surveillance over U.S. bases in Iraq. But in near space, such aircraft could carry out radar and imaging missions, carry communications nodes and even potentially relay laser beams from a ground-based source against a wide variety of targets, industry sources said. Jumper gave few details, but said one of the remaining issues was dealing with such aircraft on the ground, where they can be unwieldy. © Copyright Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. |
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Security
cameras patrol Big Easy's dangerous areas
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Paying by Fingerprint
at the Supermarket Mon Mar 14,10:31 AM ET Oddly Enough - Reuters BERLIN (Reuters) - Customers of a German supermarket chain will soon be able to pay for their shopping by placing their finger on a scanner at the check-out, saving the time spent scrabbling for coins or cards. An Edeka store in the southwest German town of Ruelzheim has piloted the technology since November and now the company plans to equip its stores across the region. "All customers need do is register once with their identity card and bank details, then they can shop straight away," said store manager Roland Fitterer. The scanner compares the shopper's fingerprint with those stored in its database along with account details. Edeka bosses said they were confident the system could not be abused. |
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Iris
Scanning To Begin At Orlando International Airport May 11, 2005 ORLANDO, Fla. -- Florida's busiest airport will begin using high-tech iris-scanning technology to filter out possible terrorists and add an additional layer of security, according to Local 6 News. Workers and other people at Orlando International Airport will have both irises scanned at special computers to determine their identity. "This will be an additional layer of information that is enrolled, which will be biometric information," OIA director of security Brigitte Rivera Goersch said. "Employees irises will be enrolled for the additional layer of security." The Airport Access Control Pilot Program or AACPP is a first of its kind, according to the report. A person would be required to stand in front of a special mirror and have both eyes scanned. "It has to verify both irises, not just one iris," Goersch. "Statistically it is very reliable. Iris scanners -- the technology of iris scanning -- is considered one of the most reliable biometric technologies." "You know just like we did with the airplanes with the cockpit doors and air marshals and all of that kind of stuff," federal security director Art Meinke said. It is just another step to try to figure out what can we do better." Local 6 News reported that the 90-day test could be expanded and eventually moved to airports throughout the nation. Copyright 2005 by Internet Broadcasting Systems |
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Missile Detection System
Unveiled
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Microchip
Implants Raise Privacy Concern Microchip Implants Raise Privacy Concern Jul 21, 2007 By TODD LEWAN CityWatcher.com, a provider of surveillance equipment, attracted little notice itself - until a year ago, when two of its employees had glass-encapsulated microchips with miniature antennas embedded in their forearms. The "chipping" of two workers with RFIDs - radio frequency identification tags as long as two grains of rice, as thick as a toothpick - was merely a way of restricting access to vaults that held sensitive data and images for police departments, a layer of security beyond key cards and clearance codes, the company said. "To protect high-end secure data, you use more sophisticated techniques," Sean Darks, chief executive of the Cincinnati-based company, said. He compared chip implants to retina scans or fingerprinting. "There's a reader outside the door; you walk up to the reader, put your arm under it, and it opens the door." Innocuous? Maybe. But the news that Americans had, for the first time, been injected with electronic identifiers to perform their jobs fired up a debate over the proliferation of ever-more-precise tracking technologies and their ability to erode privacy in the digital age. To some, the microchip was a wondrous invention - a high-tech helper that could increase security at nuclear plants and military bases, help authorities identify wandering Alzheimer's patients, allow consumers to buy their groceries, literally, with the wave of a chipped hand. To others, the notion of tagging people was Orwellian, a departure from centuries of history and tradition in which people had the right to go and do as they pleased, without being tracked, unless they were harming someone else. Chipping, these critics said, might start with Alzheimer's patients or Army Rangers, but would eventually be suggested for convicts, then parolees, then sex offenders, then illegal aliens - until one day, a majority of Americans, falling into one category or another, would find themselves electronically tagged. The concept of making all things traceable isn't alien to Americans. Thirty years ago, the first electronic tags were fixed to the ears of cattle, to permit ranchers to track a herd's reproductive and eating habits. In the 1990s, millions of chips were implanted in livestock, fish, dogs, cats, even racehorses. Microchips are now fixed to car windshields as toll-paying devices, on "contactless" payment cards (Chase's "Blink," or MasterCard's "PayPass"). They're embedded in Michelin tires, library books, passports, work uniforms, luggage, and, unbeknownst to many consumers, on a host of individual items, from Hewlett Packard printers to Sanyo TVs, at Wal-Mart and Best Buy. But CityWatcher.com employees weren't appliances or pets: They were people made scannable. "It was scary that a government contractor that specialized in putting surveillance cameras on city streets was the first to incorporate this technology in the workplace," says Liz McIntyre, co-author of "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID." Darks, the CityWatcher.com executive, dismissed his critics, noting that he and his employees had volunteered to be chip-injected. Any suggestion that a sinister, Big-Brother-like campaign was afoot, he said, was hogwash. "You would think that we were going around putting chips in people by force," he told a reporter, "and that's not the case at all." Yet, within days of the company's announcement, civil libertarians and Christian conservatives joined to excoriate the microchip's implantation in people. RFID, they warned, would soon enable the government to "frisk" citizens electronically - an invisible, undetectable search performed by readers posted at "hotspots" along roadsides and in pedestrian areas. It might even be used to squeal on employees while they worked; time spent at the water cooler, in the bathroom, in a designated smoking area could one day be broadcast, recorded and compiled in off-limits, company databases. "Ultimately," says Katherine Albrecht, a privacy advocate who specializes in consumer education and RFID technology, "the fear is that the government or your employer might someday say, 'Take a chip or starve.'" Some Christian critics saw the implants as the fulfillment of a biblical prophecy that describes an age of evil in which humans are forced to take the "Mark of the Beast" on their bodies, to buy or sell anything. Gary Wohlscheid, president of These Last Days Ministries, a Roman Catholic group in Lowell, Mich., put together a Web site that linked the implantable microchips to the apocalyptic prophecy in the book of Revelation. "The Bible tells us that God's wrath will come to those who take the Mark of the Beast," he says. Those who refuse to accept the Satanic chip "will be saved," Wohlscheid offers in a comforting tone. --- In post-9/11 America, electronic surveillance comes in myriad forms: in a gas station's video camera; in a cell phone tucked inside a teen's back pocket; in a radio tag attached to a supermarket shopping cart; in a Porsche automobile equipped with a LoJack anti-theft device. "We're really on the verge of creating a surveillance society in America, where every movement, every action - some would even claim, our very thoughts - will be tracked, monitored, recorded and correlated," says Barry Steinhardt, director of the Technology and Liberty Program at the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington, D.C. RFID, in Steinhardt's opinion, "could play a pivotal role in creating that surveillance society." In design, the tag is simple: A medical-grade glass capsule holds a silicon computer chip, a copper antenna and a "capacitor" that transmits data stored on the chip when prompted by an electromagnetic reader. Implantations are quick, relatively simple procedures. After a local anesthetic is administered, a large-gauge hypodermic needle injects the chip under the skin on the back of the arm, midway between the elbow and the shoulder. "It feels just like getting a vaccine - a bit of pressure, no specific pain," says John Halamka, an emergency physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. He got chipped two years ago, "so that if I was ever in an accident, and arrived unconscious or incoherent at an emergency ward, doctors could identify me and access my medical history quickly." (A chipped person's medical profile can be continuously updated, since the information is stored on a database accessed via the Internet.) Halamka thinks of his microchip as another technology with practical value, like his BlackBerry. But it's also clear, he says, that there are consequences to having an implanted identifier. "My friends have commented to me that I'm 'marked' for life, that I've lost my anonymity. And to be honest, I think they're right." Indeed, as microchip proponents and detractors readily agree, Americans' mistrust of microchips and technologies like RFID runs deep. Many wonder: Do the current chips have global positioning transceivers that would allow the government to pinpoint a person's exact location, 24-7? (No; the technology doesn't yet exist.) But could a tech-savvy stalker rig scanners to video cameras and film somebody each time they entered or left the house? (Quite easily, though not cheaply. Currently, readers cost $300 and up.) How about thieves? Could they make their own readers, aim them at unsuspecting individuals, and surreptitiously pluck people's IDs out of their arms? (Yes. There's even a name for it - "spoofing.") What's the average lifespan of a microchip? (About 10-15 years.) What if you get tired of it before then - can it be easily, painlessly removed? (Short answer: No.) Presently, Steinhardt and other privacy advocates view the tagging of identity documents - passports, drivers licenses and the like - as a more pressing threat to Americans' privacy than the chipping of people. Equipping hospitals, doctors' offices, police stations and government agencies with readers will be costly, training staff will take time, and, he says, "people are going to be too squeamish about having an RFID chip inserted into their arms, or wherever." But that wasn't the case in March 2004, when the Baja Beach Club in Barcelona, Spain - a nightclub catering to the body-aware, under-25 crowd - began holding "Implant Nights." In a white lab coat, with hypodermic in latex-gloved hand, a company chipper wandered through the throng of the clubbers and clubbettes, anesthetizing the arms of consenting party goers, then injecting them with microchips. The payoff? Injectees would thereafter be able to breeze past bouncers and entrance lines, magically open doors to VIP lounges, and pay for drinks without cash or credit cards. The ID number on the VIP chip was linked to the user's financial accounts and stored in the club's computers. After being chipped himself, club owner Conrad K. Chase declared that chip implants were hardly a big deal to his patrons, since "almost everybody has piercings, tattoos or silicone." VIP chipping soon spread to the Baja Beach Club in Rotterdam, Holland, the Bar Soba in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Amika nightclub in Miami Beach, Fla. That same year, Mexico's attorney general, Rafael Macedo, made an announcement that thrilled chip proponents and chilled privacy advocates: He and 18 members of his staff had been microchipped as a way to limit access to a sensitive records room, whose door unlocked when a "portal reader" scanned the chips. But did this make Mexican security airtight? Hardly, says Jonathan Westhues, an independent security researcher in Cambridge, Mass. He concocted an "emulator," a hand-held device that cloned the implantable microchip electronically. With a team of computer-security experts, he demonstrated - on television - how easy it was to snag data off a chip. Explains Adam Stubblefield, a Johns Hopkins researcher who joined the team: "You pass within a foot of a chipped person, copy the chip's code, then with a push of the button, replay the same ID number to any reader. You essentially assume the person's identity." The company that makes implantable microchips for humans, VeriChip Corp. (CHIP), of Delray Beach, Fla., concedes the point - even as it markets its radio tag and its portal scanner as imperatives for high-security buildings, such as nuclear power plants. "To grab information from radio frequency products with a scanning device is not hard to do," Scott Silverman, the company's chief executive, says. However, "the chip itself only contains a unique, 16-digit identification number. The relevant information is stored on a database." Even so, he insists, it's harder to clone a VeriChip than it would be to steal someone's key card and use it to enter secure areas. VeriChip Corp., whose parent company has been selling radio tags for animals for more than a decade, has sold 7,000 microchips worldwide, of which about 2,000 have been implanted in humans. More than one-tenth of those have been in the U.S., generating "nominal revenues," the company acknowledged in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing in February. Although in five years VeriChip Corp. has yet to turn a profit, it has been investing heavily - up to $2 million a quarter - to create new markets. The company's present push: tagging of "high-risk" patients - diabetics and people with heart conditions or Alzheimer's disease. In an emergency, hospital staff could wave a reader over a patient's arm, get an ID number, and then, via the Internet, enter a company database and pull up the person's identity and medical history. To doctors, a "starter kit" - complete with 10 hypodermic syringes, 10 VeriChips and a reader - costs $1,400. To patients, a microchip implant means a $200, out-of-pocket expense to their physician. Presently, chip implants aren't covered by insurance companies, Medicare or Medicaid. For almost two years, the company has been offering hospitals free scanners, but acceptance has been limited. According to the company's most recent SEC quarterly filing, 515 hospitals have pledged to take part in the VeriMed network, yet only 100 have actually been equipped and trained to use the system. Some wonder why they should abandon noninvasive tags such as MedicAlert, a low-tech bracelet that warns paramedics if patients have serious allergies or a chronic medical condition. "Having these things under your skin instead of in your back pocket - it's just not clear to me why it's worth the inconvenience," says Westhues. Silverman responds that an implanted chip is "guaranteed to be with you. It's not a medical arm bracelet that you can take off if you don't like the way it looks..." In fact, microchips can be removed from the body - but it's not like removing a splinter. The capsules can migrate around the body or bury themselves deep in the arm. When that happens, a sensor X-ray and monitors are needed to locate the chip, and a plastic surgeon must cut away scar tissue that forms around the chip. The relative permanence is a big reason why Marc Rotenberg, of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, is suspicious about the motives of the company, which charges an annual fee to keep clients' records. The company charges $20 a year for customers to keep a "one-pager" on its database - a record of blood type, allergies, medications, driver's license data and living-will directives. For $80 a year, it will keep an individual's full medical history. --- In recent times, there have been rumors on Wall Street, and elsewhere, of the potential uses for RFID in humans: the chipping of U.S. soldiers, of inmates, or of migrant workers, to name a few. To date, none of this has happened. But a large-scale chipping plan that was proposed illustrates the stakes, pro and con. In mid-May, a protest outside the Alzheimer's Community Care Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., drew attention to a two-year study in which 200 Alzheimer's patients, along with their caregivers, were to receive chip implants. Parents, children and elderly people decried the plan, with signs and placards. "Chipping People Is Wrong" and "People Are Not Pets," the signs read. And: "Stop VeriChip." Ironically, the media attention sent VeriChip's stock soaring 27 percent in one day. "VeriChip offers technology that is absolutely bursting with potential," wrote blogger Gary E. Sattler, of the AOL site Bloggingstocks, even as he recognized privacy concerns. Albrecht, the RFID critic who organized the demonstration, raises similar concerns on her AntiChips.com Web site. "Is it appropriate to use the most vulnerable members of society for invasive medical research? Should the company be allowed to implant microchips into people whose mental impairments mean they cannot give fully informed consent?" Mary Barnes, the care center's chief executive, counters that both the patients and their legal guardians must consent to the implants before receiving them. And the chips, she says, could be invaluable in identifying lost patients - for instance, if a hurricane strikes Florida. That, of course, assumes that the Internet would be accessible in a killer storm. VeriChip Corp. acknowledged in an SEC filing that its "database may not function properly" in such circumstances. As the polemic heats up, legislators are increasingly being drawn into the fray. Two states, Wisconsin and North Dakota, recently passed laws prohibiting the forced implantation of microchips in humans. Others - Ohio, Oklahoma, Colorado and Florida - are studying similar legislation. In May, Oklahoma legislators were debating a bill that would have authorized microchip implants in people imprisoned for violent crimes. Many felt it would be a good way to monitor felons once released from prison. But other lawmakers raised concerns. Rep. John Wright worried, "Apparently, we're going to permanently put the mark on these people." Rep. Ed Cannaday found the forced microchipping of inmates "invasive ... We are going down that slippery slope." In the end, lawmakers sent
the bill back to committee for more work. |