Ad Astra

Ad Astra magazine requests articles on the following topics

1. Cities as lifeforms - with particular reference to the possibility of cities developing sentience, self-awareness and intelligence .
2. The Lippisch P.13a - with particular reference to its use of ‘Kohlenpulverantrieb’
3. History of the vampire group known as ‘Tremere” - and its relationship with the Order of Hermes ["House Tremere"]
4. Translations of operating manuals for the the Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-301

Using virtual reality goggles, a camera and a stick, Scientists have induced out-of-body experiences (OOBE: the sensation of drifting outside of one’s own body). This is excellent training for Laboratory Assistants who are unfamiliar with the Virtual Web - and might eventually be extended to the general public

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Overview of a CCTV control centre.

A warning to anyone who uses “smartphones”

http://spymobile.in/index.html

There is a similar problem with iphones - via the metasploit hack

And - of course - all cellphone users should be aware of the facilities offered by the numerous UK companies that offer passive location services eg: MobileLocate

Bottom Line: Your mobile phone can spy on you and your conversations (online or just in the same room).  It can tell someone where you are - even take photos without your knowledge or permission

NWO DISCUSSION PAPER

SUPER-EMPOWERED INDIVIDUALS/GROUPS AND THE FIFTH GENERATION OF WARFARE

PROPOSITION: The Technocracy’s victory in the so-called “war for reality” has not necessarily made the world safer; the techniques used bring their own problems - and have given Reality Deviants one (last?) technique to use in their conflict with us.

For centuries, we have had to cope with the possibility that some psychotic Verbena Reality Deviant might release a new Black Plague - now we must deal with the possibility that the same result could be achieved by any competent genetic microbiologist. Likewise, major political changes have been achieved by quite ordinary individuals that use the WWW for the co-ordination of political campaigns.

It is therefore appropriate to guide the world’s nation-states into consideration of how to deal with super-empowered individuals and their associated networks. To provide a conceptual framework, this problem will be termed “Fifth Generation Warfare” or 5GW.

[Where 3GW is Maneuver Warfare (or Lightning Warfare aka 'Blitzkrieg') and 4GW is Netwar, 5GW is Secret War.]

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The US agency DARPA has been researching techniques for “augmenting” insects for nearly 2 years

see here for the official tender - specifying the desired capabilities

“the delivery of an insect within five meters of a specific target located at hundred meters away, using electronic remote control, and/or global positioning system”.

Once at the target, DARPA says, “the insect must remain stationary either indefinitely or until otherwise instructed … [and] must also be able to transmit data from [Department of Defense] relevant sensors … include[ing] gas sensors, microphones, video, etc.”
Gizmodo has pictures of a cyborg moth here

The implantation technique involves inserting the relevant microchips into the pupa of the insect - which has the capability to grow ‘around’ foreign objects

This machine/insect combination avoids many of the problems involved with micro UAV (Unmanned Air Vehicle) design. It simply uses an existing (and highly efficient) framework to transport a sensor payload.

There has been speculation about weaponizing the design - perhaps with ‘tailored’ viruses.

“We’re heading into an era where people will be writing DNA programs like the early days of computer programming…” Drew Endy, MIT.

“I see a cell as a chassis and power supply for the artificial systems we are putting together…” Tom Knight, MIT.

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http://aardvark.co.nz/pjet/cruise.shtml

source: New Scientist Article

Unawakened Science continues to provide interesting ideas for Awakened use. However, field testing and experimentation is necessary.

Scientists at University College London, UK, have now developed a high-resolution photoacoustic tomography scanner that shoots very short pulses of non-harmful near-infrared laser light. As the light is absorbed by tissue, the cells heat up and expand very slightly, creating an ultrasound wave that can then be detected by a sensor.

The intensity of the ultrasound wave depends on how well the tissue absorbs the near-infrared radiation, which produces high-contrast images of blood vessels because haemoglobin is very absorbent at these wavelengths.

If we assume that Vampires (and other “undead”) lack a functioning circulation system, this may give a capacity for speedy, wide-area detection.

What is Science? What is Reality?

In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962) Kuhn argued that science does not progress via a linear accumulation of new knowledge, but undergoes periodic revolutions, also called “paradigm shifts” (although he did not coin the phrase) in which the nature of scientific inquiry within a particular field is abruptly transformed.

No scientific paradigm or “disciplinary matrix” is perfect. As each theory is examined, more and more anomalous results are discovered. Eventually, Science reaches a crisis, until a new paradigm is accepted. This new paradigm, subsumes the old results along with the anomalous results into one framework.

Kuhn terms this Revolutionary Science.

Interestingly, Kuhn maintained that the perception of the world depends on how the percipient conceives the world: two individuals (two scientists) who witness the same phenomenon and are steeped in two radically different theories will see two radically different things.

According to this view, it is our interpretation of the world which determines what we see