The space shuttle has always been... basically just a retrievable manned satellite. "It can’t shed 130 miles of altitude, establish a new orbit on a radically different inclination and maneuver to ISS. Because our things that fly in space still aren’t really spaceships as we’ve been brought up to think of them."

Bookmarked mostly for the US training and the DARPA-esque "sonic gun": "TV pictures showed officers and soldiers using a range of weapons to disperse crowds, including rubber bullets, tear gas and a sonic gun."

"Previous systems only allowed people to make a few movements, one after the other, but the new one can be used to direct 16 distinct arm, hand and finger movements."

"The key aim of this paper is to facilitate informed debate amongst doctors, scientists, policy-makers, and members of the public about the future development and use of cognitive enhancements."

"the prospect of human enhancement is being taken increasingly seriously. The World Economic Forum discussed it at its most recent meeting in January. The US NSF and the UK OST are investigating the issues it raises. Even President Bush has been briefed"

"As others have pointed out, our culture has a thing for memory right now. Articles about it seem to be everywhere. Here are a few of the most recent:"

"When the environment undergoes rapid change within the space of a generation or two, as it has been for the last couple of millennia... then evolution can’t happen because nature can’t determine which traits to select and which to eliminate."

"we're in Reynolds' "anachronesis" -- living in a time of constant, delusional recursion, in a limbo of a dozen different pasts. ... That's what it comes to, in the anachronesis condition: it's exciting because it's only a bit old."

“"...urban warfare... It can be deploying weapons systems. It can be doing re-supply operations, taking ammo or water to troops who are pinned down, perimeter security and building clearing,” Helen Greiner, iRobot chairman... tells Army Times."

"And here we are now in 2027, with people in Wisconsin having to wheel barrows full of dollars into stores to buy a loaf of bread. Next stop, Soviet Russia. We need to do this. Now."