byArlington Institute1.9k ViewsComments Off on Volume 26, Number 10 – 5/16/2023
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Volume 26, Number 10 – 5/16/2023
FUTURE FACTS – FROM THINK LINKS
HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED THAT….
A new gene editing technique has been developed that does not require modified viruses to deliver the template DNA.
Wind power was Britain’s largest source of electricity in the first quarter of 2023.
The first gun with facial and fingerprint recognition is now on the market.
Saturn’s rings are no more than 400 million years although Saturn itself is about 4.5 billion years old.
WATER: An Extraordinary Scientific Discovery
A Potential Revolution in Healthcare, Energy, Filtration (Without a Filter) and Desalination of Seawater with Just the Energy of the Sun!
It isn’t often that scientists discover a new form of the most common material on the planet – that can revolutionize fundamentally how very basic aspects of human life – like our healthcare – will be understood in the future.
But our TransitionTalks speaker for June, Dr. Gerald Pollack, has done just that. Dr. Pollack is the leader of a team that has discovered a fourth state of water – not liquid, solid or gas, but a kind of gel . . . that it turns out is everywhere! It makes up all of our cells, clouds, saps in plants . . . and no one ever knew that it had fundamentally different characteristics from ice, water or water vapor.
This new water (Dr. Pollack and his team call it Exclusion Zone water – or EZ water) has extraordinary characteristics. For instance, it can act like a little generator and can produce enough electricity to light LEDs! Just connect wires to the EZ water and the substrate that is next to it. Think self-powered biotechnology (like a heart monitor), that you wear and never have to change the battery.
EZ water can also be used to produce highly purified, filtered water – like removing the salt and other materials from sea water – by only using the energy from the sun. No batteries or external energy source required!
And you probably didn’t know that you’ve been looking at EZ water all of your life . . . because every cloud is made up of this newly discovered material. Better understanding the characteristics could easily translate into a far better understanding of our atmosphere, weather and even, perhaps climate.
Although it certainly is Nobel Prize-worthy science, the story and applications of EZ water are very interesting and easy to understand. And Dr. Pollack is a delightful speaker who tells the story of how they discovered it and what the extraordinary implications are, in a very delightful way.
The discovery of EZ water is a really big deal that will dramatically shape our understanding of the emergent new world. You’ll go away from this presentation with a really new perspective on how we and the life around us actually works. And you’ll get an early peek at what’s on the horizon headed this way.
Check out the videos below with Dr. Pollack and then come and join us to hear him speak on the 10th of June. If you stay for dinner afterwards, I promise you’ll get a chance to speak to Dr. Pollack . . . and meet new, like-minded friends!
If you can’t make it in person, connect with the livestream. You can watch it anytime for six months!
Hope to see you on Saturday, June 10th. More details HERE.
Gerald Pollack received his PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968. He then joined the University of Washington faculty and is now professor of Bioengineering. He is also Founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal, WATER, convener of the Annual Conference on the Physics, Chemistry and Biology of Water, and Executive Director of the Institute for Venture Science.
Recently Erik Brynjolfsson, a leading, technology-focused economist based at Stanford University, together with MIT economists Danielle Li and Lindsey R. Raymond, released what is, to the best of our knowledge, the first empirical study of the real-world economic effects of new AI systems. They looked at what happened to a company and its workers after it incorporated a version of ChatGPT, a popular interactive AI chatbot, into workflows. The story of this study starts a few years ago, when an unnamed Fortune 500 company — Brynjolfsson and his colleagues have not gotten permission to disclose its identity — decided to adopt an earlier version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. This company provides other companies with administrative software, e.g. programs that help businesses do accounting and logistics. The company’s customer support agents spend their days helping small businesses tackle various kinds of technical problems with their software. Such as: “Why am I getting this error message?” or “Help! I can’t log in!” Most of the customer interactions are through a chat window. Now, when the agents look at their computer screens, they don’t only see a chat window with their customers. They also see another chat window with an AI chatbot, which is there to help them more effectively assist customers in real time. It advises them on what to potentially write to customers and also provides them with links to internal company information to help them more quickly find solutions to their customers’ technical problems. Equipped with this new AI system, the company’s customer support representatives are now basically part human, part intelligent machine. Cyborg customer reps, if you will.
The economists’ big finding: after the software company adopted AI, the average customer support representative became, on average, 14% more productive. They’re also, apparently, happier. Turnover has gone down, especially among new hires. Not only that, the company’s customers give higher ratings to support staff. They also generally seem to be nicer in their conversations and are less likely to ask to speak to an agent’s supervisor. But it turns out that the company’s more experienced, highly skilled customer support agents saw little or no benefit from using it. It was mainly the less experienced, lower-skilled customer service reps who saw big gains in their job performance. “This system took people with just two months of experience and had them performing at the level of people with six months of experience,” Brynjolfsson says. “So it got them up the learning curve a lot faster — and that led to very positive benefits for the company.” The AI has essentially figured out the recipe for the magic sauce that makes top performers so good at their jobs, and it’s offering that recipe for the workers who are less good at their jobs. And that leaves a few downsides and a great many open questions. (Editor’s note: We highly recommend this article.)
Large Language Models’ (LLM) first actual explosive point of contact with the world of humans may be around copyright law. Normally if you feed a book or a musical record into a computer, you make a copy. If the original is copyrighted, the rules are simple: you can only do what the copyright owner lets you. But training a neural network doesn’t create a permanent copy, it creates a mathematical set of connections and weights, intermingled with those created from other data. It’s analysis and synthesis, something we not only allow in humans but force people to do for a decade of their young lives in schools. And if using copyright works as training data is against the law, we’re in deep trouble. Conversely, if humans learn something verbatim and then make money from recreating it, then copyright law once again applies: an actor can’t tour a play in copyright with impunity just because they’ve learned their lines. However, things get really murky with derivative work, where something based on copyright work also needs that copyright holder’s permission. And every bit of an LLM’s output is derivative of its training data: there is nothing else it can be. This is not only unarguable, it’s culturally determined: if you want to see derivative works copyright law impugned on a galactic scale in the real world, go to a con (convention of some group or type of fans, e.g. Comic-Con).
Fandom has given us cosplay, fanfic, tribute shows, trademark appropriation, and an obsession with sharing every last quark of a franchise or favored work. Now and again, if something approaches commercial escape velocity, copyright holders may step in, but as a wholesale, global and public display of scofflawyer behavior, science fiction and fantasy fandom is getting away with it. The world is a far better place thereby. It’s not that ChatGPT is science fiction that matters, it’s that it’s a science fiction fan. LLMs work like a general-purpose fandom, creating new ideas clearly derived from analysis of, among other things, copyright works. How will copyright law react to this? The irony is that while LLMs work by probabilities rather than algorithms, so does copyright. Derivative work has no hard and fast rules over how much derivation counts as making a work derivative. Like the sea defenses on an eroding coastline, the concepts of derivative work can either be protected at ruinous expense against the rising levels of automated non-compliance or stage a managed retreat on the principle of least damage. Either way, the robots, like the sea, will win in the end. There will be a new landscape. And it will be perfectly habitable. See also: OpenAI’s ChatGPT May Face a Copyright Quagmire After ‘Memorizing’ These Books.
Pentagon officials, speaking at technology forums, said they thought the idea of a six-month pause in developing the next generations of ChatGPT and similar software was a bad idea: The Chinese won’t wait, and neither will the Russians. “If we stop, guess who’s not going to stop: potential adversaries overseas,” said the Pentagon’s chief information officer, John Sherman. “We’ve got to keep moving.” His blunt statement underlined the tension felt throughout the defense community today. No one really knows what these new technologies are capable of when it comes to developing and controlling weapons, and they have no idea what kind of arms control regime, if any, might work. The preliminary effort to put guardrails into the system is clear to anyone who has tested ChatGPT’s initial iterations. The bots will not answer questions about how to harm someone with a brew of drugs, for example, or how to blow up a dam or cripple nuclear centrifuges, all operations the United States and other nations have engaged in without the benefit of artificial intelligence tools. But those blacklists of actions will only slow misuse of these systems; few think they can completely stop such efforts. There is always a hack to get around safety limits, as anyone who has tried to turn off the urgent beeps on an automobile’s seatbelt warning system can attest.
Though the new software has popularized the issue, it is hardly a new one for the Pentagon. The first rules on developing autonomous weapons were published a decade ago. The Pentagon’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center was established five years ago to explore the use of artificial intelligence in combat. Some weapons already operate on autopilot. Patriot missiles, which shoot down missiles or planes entering a protected airspace, have long had an “automatic” mode. It enables them to fire without human intervention when overwhelmed with incoming targets faster than a human could react. But they are supposed to be supervised by humans who can abort attacks if necessary. So far there are no treaties or international agreements that deal with such autonomous weapons. In an era when arms control agreements are being abandoned faster than they are being negotiated, there is little prospect of such an accord. But the kind of challenges raised by ChatGPT and its ilk are different, and in some ways more complicated. In the military, A.I.-infused systems can speed up the tempo of battlefield decisions to such a degree that they create entirely new risks of accidental strikes, or decisions made on misleading or deliberately false alerts of incoming attacks. “A core problem with A.I. in the military and in national security is how do you defend against attacks that are faster than human decision-making, and I think that issue is unresolved,” Mr. Schmidt said. “In other words, the missile is coming in so fast that there has to be an automatic response. What happens if it’s a false signal?” The bigger risks may come from individual actors, terrorists, ransomware groups or smaller nations with advanced cyber skills — like North Korea — that learn how to clone a smaller, less restricted version of ChatGPT. And they may find that the generative A.I. software is perfect for speeding up cyberattacks and targeting disinformation. (Paywall waived.)
Scientists have invented a language decoder that can translate a person’s thoughts into text using an artificial intelligence (AI) transformer similar to ChatGPT, reports a new study. The breakthrough marks the first time that continuous language has been non-invasively reconstructed from human brain activities, which are read through a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine. The decoder was able to interpret the gist of stories that human subjects watched or listened to—or even simply imagined—using fMRI brain patterns, an achievement that essentially allows it to read peoples’ minds with unprecedented efficacy. While this technology is still in its early stages, scientists hope it might one day help people with neurological conditions that affect speech to clearly communicate with the outside world.
“Currently, language-decoding is done using implanted devices that require neurosurgery, and our study is the first to decode continuous language, meaning more than full words or sentences, from non-invasive brain recordings, which we collect using functional MRI,” said Jerry Tang, a graduate student in computer science at the University of Texas at Austin who led the study. However, the team that made the decoder also warned that brain-reading platforms could eventually have nefarious applications, including as a means of surveillance for governments and employers. Though the researchers emphasized that their decoder requires the cooperation of human subjects to work, they argued that “brain–computer interfaces should respect mental privacy,” according to a study published in Nature Neuroscience.
Governments around the world are engulfing us with their plans to fight ‘disinformation’ and ‘misinformation’ as they make war upon freedom of speech. It’s really nothing new and nothing more than an attempt to censor voices they deem to be a threat to their own. Why? Because our thinking is itself dependent upon the sharing of ideas and opinions and the engagement with those whose opinions and ideas can differ. Freedom of speech leads to freedom of thought, and freedom of thought may lead to the kinds of actions that politicians and so-called elites find threatening to their monopoly on power. Many of us have been saddened by the loss of friends who refuse not only to entertain a perspective that may differ from their views about COVID-19, mandates, jab apartheid practices and the like, but even to allow a discussion or exchange of views with another.
The new normal is not to debate or discuss, but to disavow and disallow. When I recently asked a friend whether he would consider a peer-reviewed article in an established journal which gave evidence of jab shortcomings – mind you, to me this was a meek beginning – I was told ‘no’. Plainly and simply, no, there was nothing I could show him that could change his mind and, furthermore, I was told that I was crazy and forbidden to bring the topic up again. He was, it seems, working very hard to remain willfully blind and obtuse. Speaking of evidence, thanks to the brave efforts of a whistle-blower here in New Zealand some truth is leaking out about the actual consequences of ex-Prime Minister Ardern’s efficient campaign of inoculation: highly disturbing rises in serious medical conditions since the introduction of the jab, including a doubling of heart attacks.
People are being maimed and dying in large numbers from the COVID-19 injection bioweapon, and the data is official, widespread, and incontestable. Until someone shows me otherwise, we are in the middle of a most perverted genocide, where most of the victims are willing volunteers. For some time I (Martin Geddes, author of this article) have been mulling the moment when the masses are forced to confront the realities of betrayal, treason, human trafficking, silent weapons, economic warfare, and — the deadly consequences. The social division may be eased, but at an awful price of collective horror. I cannot know what will be the initial triggers — dam bursts, high profile arrests, empty bank accounts, rescued children, emergency alerts, internet outage, media blackout, or something else. All I know is that unprecedented change is baked into our future.
The process of awakening a brainwashed population to their predicament is a kind of collective surgery of the psyche, where if you rush it you kill the patient who cannot take the invasiveness of the excision of the tumor of deceit, but if you delay too much the toxic lies kill them anyway. The wish for everything to unfold fast, so that one’s own social schism is resolved, is understandable but unwise. There is a divine timing, and be glad you don’t know or control it. One observation is that many people I consider awake end up in quite a depressed state, and become “black pilled”. They forget the paradoxical nature of the art of war, where things look bleak when they are actually rosy, but at a deeper strategic level. They lose their faith in actors and actions unseen by forces for good who will stop at nothing to protect the innocent. The mind engages with the perceived reality, but the spirit lacks faith, and the end result is dispiriting and demoralizing. I can now see why this is called spiritual warfare, and not critical thinking warfare. The spirit is what truly drives the outcome; everything reconciles in the end, and if it isn’t reconciled, it isn’t the end.
Gene editing in humans relies on the Cas9 enzyme which, guided by CRISPR, ‘snips out’ a fragment of DNA. The removed section can be replaced with a similar (homologous) but improved DNA template by a process called homology-directed repair, which initiates the cell’s natural DNA repair mechanisms. Viruses – modified so they can’t cause disease – are commonly used to deliver the template DNA to the cell’s nucleus because of their effectiveness at entering cells. But the viruses used for gene-editing purposes are expensive, hard to scale, and potentially toxic to cells.
Now, researchers from UC Santa Barbara have developed a non-viral delivery system that increases the efficiency of CRISPR/Cas9’s gene-editing abilities and greatly improves homology-directed repair. The separation of DNA’s two helical strands is essential for cellular processes such as replication and transcription. Interstrand crosslinks (ICLs) are toxic DNA lesions that tether these strands together, inhibiting separation and, therefore, transcription and replication. Many cancer chemotherapies create ICLs that block the replication of cancer cells. The researchers found that the damage caused by adding ICLs to the homology-directed repair template actually improved the likelihood of gene-editing success and stimulated cellular repair. They found that using ICLs improved gene editing activity by up to three times compared with non-crosslinked controls. With the increased editing activity, the researchers expected to see more errors; instead, they saw no increase in the mutation frequency. “What we think happens is that the cell detects and tries to repair the damaged DNA that we’ve added this crosslink to,” Chris Richardson, corresponding author of the study, said. “And in doing so, it delays the cell past a checkpoint where it would normally stop this recombination process. And so by prolonging the amount of time that it takes the cell to do this recombination, it makes it more likely that the edits will go to completion.”
To learn more about humans, a large international team of scientists spent years tracking down some of the strangest creatures on Earth. Researchers compared the genomes of these mammals with those of a diverse assortment of others, including an aardvark, a meerkat, a star-nosed mole and a human. In doing so, they were able to identify stretches of DNA that have barely changed over eons of mammalian evolution and are thus likely to be vital to human health and functioning. The genetic database they assembled includes the complete genomes of 240 species, covering more than 80% of the planet’s mammalian families ( including humans). It could help scientists answer a wide variety of questions about other animals, such as when and how they evolved and the biological basis for some of their unusual talents.
The Zoonomia data set has limitations. It contains just one genome per species (with the exception of the domestic dog, which was sequenced twice), and thousands of mammals are missing. But in a new package of papers, published in Science on Thursday, the Zoonomia team showcased the power of this kind of multispecies data. And it’s just the beginning. “Sequencing a lot of genomes is not trivial,” said Michael G. Campana, a computational genomics scientist at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, who was not part of the project. “What’s really important is actually making use of these data.” When the Zoonomia team tallied the number of these genes in each species, the African savanna elephant took the top spot, with 4,199. The nine-banded armadillo and Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth followed, while the Central American agouti came in fourth. This article details some of the things that Zoonomia scientists are already doing with the database. (Paywall waived.)
The landmark deciphering of the human genome more than two decades ago allowed doctors to solve thousands of medicine’s cruelest mysteries. But as powerful and transformative as the sequencing of the human genome has been, the medical revolution it kick-started still falls short, often delivering explanations for illness but no solution. However, hope for millions of people with hereditary diseases rose with the announcement of a second scientific landmark: a new, more detailed version of our genetic code that finally begins to account for human diversity — a factor of critical importance to medicine. The first draft of the human genome, released in 2001, relied on one man in Buffalo for about 70 percent of the code. The pangenome, unveiled in the journal Nature, is based on the full genetic blueprints of 47 people who were sequenced between 2008 and 2015 for another study, including some of African, Asian, Caribbean, American and European ancestries. Scientists hope to expand the new tool over the next two years to incorporate 350 genetic blueprints from around the world.
While the human genome is like a single road, the pangenome resembles a subway map, converging in parts of the sequence that are common to most people and branching out in areas where we differ. This broader version of humankind’s genetic architecture builds on previous drafts of the genome. The most complete version yet, unveiled last year, uncovered the mysterious final 8% of our code, including millions of new genetic variants – 622 of them linked to disease. Among its early results, the project has aided groundbreaking research into the genetic underpinnings of autism, a disorder estimated to affect 5.4 million adults in the United States. Evan Eichler, a professor of genome sciences at the University of Washington, who is one of the researchers on the autism project, said the pangenome helped scientists separate genetic variants that appear in the general population from those that are specific to autism. It also led to the discovery of 150 genes that had not previously been linked to the disorder. (Paywall waived.)
On remote Obira Island in Indonesia sits one of the first refineries built specifically to support the world’s transition away from fossil fuels. Rocks unearthed there contain traces of nickel, a key ingredient in electric vehicle batteries. Extracting it, refining it and readying it for export is a gargantuan task. More than $1 billion has been sunk into the processing facility, the first in Indonesia to use an acid-leaching technology to convert low-grade laterite nickel ore — which the country has in abundance — into a higher-grade material suitable for batteries. Foreign investors and lenders cite the project as evidence of their commitment to fighting climate change. But the sprawling facility, bordered on one side by forest and on the other by blue seas, faces a major challenge: what to do with the roughly 4 million metric tons of toxic waste produced every year — enough, approximately, to fill 1,667 Olympic-size swimming pools.
In 2020, the companies behind the project told the government they had a solution: They would pump the waste into the ocean. They ultimately backtracked in the face of public pressure. But it’s not clear that the on-land storage alternative they’ve offered instead is significantly safer. And as global demand for nickel surges, company executives and Indonesian government leaders are turning to a refining technology long considered too risky to embrace, too perilous for the environment and for local communities. This technology, using acid under conditions of intense heat and pressure to remove nickel from raw ore, has never been tested before in Indonesia, where the frequency of earthquakes, heavy rainfall and landslides can make it especially treacherous to transport and store hazardous waste. The process poses steep environmental costs that have yet to be reckoned with, according to interviews with more than 40 people familiar with the country’s nickel industry, visits to six largely isolated mining villages in eastern Indonesia and visual analyses by mining experts. (Paywall waived.)
According to researchers at Imperial College London, wind turbines provided 32.4% of Britain’s electricity in the first three months of the year. Gas, a fossil fuel, was responsible for 31.7% of the electricity fuel mix. Wind turbines, according to the analysis, produced 24 terawatt hours of electricity. This would be enough to charge over 300 million Tesla Model Ys. The U.K. is home to a mature offshore wind sector that looks set to expand in the coming years, with authorities aiming for as much as 50 gigawatts of capacity by 2030.
After generations of trying to produce the power of a star on Earth, a successful nuclear fusion ignition happened in the middle of a December night and was over in 20-billionths of a second. That’s more than 100 billion times shorter than the Wright Brothers’ first, 12-second flight — but a brief, shining moment that could have even bigger implications for humanity. But while the science teams at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are still buzzing over their Wright-Brothers moment, we only remember that name because their third flight stayed in the sky for 39 minutes. The nuclear fusion reaction must be repeated, extended and scaled before the comparison sticks. And the race is on to make it work.
With a legacy of delays and cost overruns, the National Ignition Facility was wryly nicknamed the “National Almost Ignition Facility,” or “NAIF,” by critics in Congress. If not for its work studying nuclear weaponry without the need for test explosions, the program might have lost funding years ago. But now, for the first time since breaking ground in 1997, the National Ignition Facility can finally live up to its name. In December, 192 of the most energetic lasers in the world heated up a tiny pellet of hydrogen atoms with such force, they fused together to create helium and — most importantly — excess energy. A little more than 2 megajoules of energy going into the target chamber became 3.15 megajoules coming out — a modest gain of around 50%, but enough to make history and allow scientists to call the experiment a true success. The five attempts since have all failed to repeat it. “We’ve learned a lot through those experiments,” Lawrence Livermore Director Kimberly Budil said during a celebration of December’s ignition. “And we’re very confident we’ll get back above that threshold. But it’s still very much an R&D project at this point.”
As the aviation sector starts to embrace artificial intelligence, planes flying with just one pilot are a possibility, according to Emirates President Tim Clark. “You might see a one-pilot aircraft,” Clark said, but it will likely take some time to come to fruition — and might not necessarily be what passengers want. “[Passengers] like to think there are two pilots up there,” he added. As the scale and power of artificial intelligence rapidly increase, it is important that the aviation sector takes a step back and assesses the difference it could make, Clark said, adding: “Harness it, use it. Don’t fear it.”
To put this in context, see: US Airlines About to be Hit with ‘Tsunami’ of Pilot Retirements which notes that more than half of pilots working today hit the mandatory retirement age of 65 in the next 15 years and younger pilots are not making up for those aging out. The “severe and ongoing pilot shortage” is nationwide: 42 states have less airline service now than before the pandemic, 136 airports have lost at least a quarter of their service, and airlines have completely cut off flights to 11 airports in smaller cities that connect to larger hubs. More than 500 planes belonging to regional airlines are sitting idle without enough pilots to fly them, and those that do fly are used as much as 40% less than in the past.
By 2030, electric vertical and takeoff landing (eVTOL) and other passenger-carrying advanced air mobility aircraft could offer many more flights per day than the largest airlines, according to a McKinsey & Company analysis. Flights will average just 18 minutes, carrying one to six passengers, but frequent takeoffs and landings will require cities, suburbs and retail districts to accommodate new vertiport infrastructure. The consulting firm estimates that a large, dense, high-income city, such as New York or London, would need 85 to 100 takeoff and landing pads, which could be distributed among 20 to 30 vertiports. Medium-size cities such as Atlanta, Dallas or Denver might require 10 to 18 sites with up to 65 total pads.
American Airlines and United Airlines placed orders for eVTOL aircraft from developers that have yet to fly or certify production aircraft. UAL and Archer Aviation announced planned routes in New York City and Chicago, while Delta Air Lines is an investor in rival Joby Aviation. Other advanced air mobility developers include U.K.-based Vertical Aerospace, Odys Aviation, Lillium and Germany’s Volocopter. Last September, the FAA released vertiport design standards that specify safe dimensions for takeoff and landing areas as well as departure and approach paths; guidelines for markings and lighting to aid pilots; and standards for electric charging infrastructure.
A Colorado start-up called Biofire says it has developed the first biometric smart gun for market. In April, the company began taking pre-orders for the firearm, which uses facial recognition and fingerprint verification. “The basic premise of a smart gun — a firearm that only works for you — is sort of obvious and uncontroversial,” says Biofire’s founder and CEO Kai Kloepfer. “The challenge is nobody’s ever built one that always works for you and never works for anybody else.” Kloepfer says he began thinking about how technology could improve gun safety after a gunman killed 12 people and wounded dozens more at a midnight screening of a Batman movie in the Denver suburb of Aurora in July that year. Kloepfer was 15 and lived about a half-hour drive from Aurora. Kloepfer got to work trying to engineer one — as a science fair project. It was basically a 3D printed model — it’s displayed at Biofire’s headquarters and it looks like a plastic gun with the top half missing. But on the side of the gun grip is his technological leap: a fingerprint sensor. He kept tinkering and, with $50,000 in grant money, he managed to engineer a new prototype. What he did, in essence, was meld a fingerprint sensor onto the grip of a Glock handgun. It was rudimentary and unreliable, he says, but for the most part it worked.
After a short stint at MIT, Kloepfer dropped out to focus on Biofire, now a company with 40 employees and $30 million in venture capital funding. Biofire’s latest model — the one recently made available for pre-order — looks like a regular handgun but one out of a futuristic movie. On the gun grip, there is a small fingerprint sensor right where your middle finger rests when holding the weapon. On the back is a 3D facial recognition sensor. When someone authorized to use the gun picks it up, green lights on the sight and the back of the weapon turns on, indicating that the firearm recognizes the person and is unlocked. Set it down the gun and the lights turn off. Smart guns aren’t going to end gun violence in America, but they could help with preventing unintentional shootings involving children. In 2022, for example, there were more than 320 unintentional shootings by children in the U.S., resulting in 145 deaths and more injuries.
If you’re up for a long, involved – and fascinating – cyber-espionage story, this is it. Among the infected were the Department of Justice and at least eight other federal agencies, including the US Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the Treasury Department, as well as top tech and security firms, including Intel, Cisco, and Palo Alto Networks. Two years on, however, the picture that investigators have assembled—or at least what they’ve shared publicly—is still incomplete. A full accounting of the campaign’s impact on federal systems and what was stolen has never been provided to the public or to lawmakers on Capitol Hill. According to the former government source and others, many of the federal agencies that were affected didn’t maintain adequate network logs, and hence may not even know what all was taken. But a lot is known about this “textbook case” of a supply-chain hack—the nefarious alteration of trusted software at its source, which then goes on to infect all of the company’s software customers. And like most good stories, the unraveling hinges on both mistakes and lucky breaks spread pretty much evenly all around: those made by the software company, the customers, the investigators, and the hackers. If this is your thing, it’s a great read.
In rural Arizona’s La Paz County, the decision by a Saudi-owned dairy company to grow alfalfa in the American Southwest for livestock in the Gulf kingdom first raised eyebrows nearly a decade ago. Now, worsening drought has focused new attention on the company and whether Arizona should be doing more to protect its groundwater resources. Amid a broader investigation by the state attorney general, Arizona recently rescinded a pair of permits that would have allowed Fondomonte Arizona, a subsidiary of Almarai Co., to drill more than 1,000 feet into the water table to pump up to 3,000 gallons of water per minute to irrigate its forage crops. Attorney General Kris Mayes said she thought most Arizonans see it as “outrageous” that the state is allowing foreign-owned companies “to stick a straw in our ground and use our water for free to grow alfalfa and send it home to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, struggling with its own water shortages in the past decade, restricted the growth of some forage crops in the country. That Fondomonte chose Arizona as a place to grow such crops has angered some in the state, which has faced two consecutive years of federal water cuts from the Colorado River, a primary water source for the state. In January, Republican state legislators introduced a bill to prohibit sales of state lands to foreign governments, state enterprises and any company based in China, Russia or Saudi Arabia.
Foreign entities and individuals control roughly 3% of U.S. farmland, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Canada is the largest holder — mainly of forestland. Fourteen U.S. states have restrictions on foreign individuals or entities owning farmland, but limitations vary widely and no state completely prohibits it. Fondomonte also farms in California’s Palo Verde Valley, an area that gets its water from the Colorado River. Those operations have attracted less scrutiny. And it’s not the only foreign company that farms in the Southwest. The United Arab Emirates-owned Al Dahra ACX Global Inc. grows forage crops in Arizona and California, and is a major North American exporter of hay. U.S. farmers themselves export hay and other forage crops to the Middle East — mainly to Saudi Arabia. China is the primary export market for U.S. hay.
Recent developments in Washington relating to Ukraine and the Middle East remind me that there is a big difference between maintaining secrecy when a situation warrants it and lying over issues where there is no compelling reason to do so beyond political expediency. When it comes to lying, I (author of this article) am referring to the bizarre behavior by the United States government, most particularly ever since 9/11, to commit war crimes and then come up with reasons for its foreign and national security policies to have taken a singularly aggressive and coercive turn not justified by reality or by any real threat. That shift in behavior has had a profoundly negative consequence, with much of the world now inclined to identify the United States as the most dangerous country globally speaking in terms of being the greatest threat to peace among nations. One might reasonably award the gold medal for creative destruction in that light to the Administration of George W. Bush, which elevated lying to a level hitherto hardly imagined in Washington.
But what played out under George Bush was child’s play compared to the contemporary political environment where the media has joined the Joe Biden Administration in lying about nearly everything. This has included an act of war committed against both a nuclear armed adversary and an ally in the form of the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline, which was clearly carried out by the United States against Russia and Germany after Biden even incoherently warned publicly that he would do it. In the latest edition of lies and more lies, the US is hanging out to dry a twenty-one year old Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira whom it is charging with stealing and making public on an internet chat room highly classified national security related information. The airman might indeed be guilty of having done just that though his motive continues to be elusive and his actual ability to access some of the material he obtained is questionable. More to the point, however, is the back story, which is that the documents reveal that the Ukrainians are clearly losing the war against Russia, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to seek both NATO membership and newer longer-range weapons so he can hit Russia directly and hard enough to bring the US and NATO directly and fully into the conflict.
For decades, people have been accusing the government of hiding advanced technology. Here we have a serious clue. Something in the record and on the record. It is only a very small piece of the puzzle, but it’s a potent piece, if you’ll stop and think about it. The world is waking up to censorship of information by the press, by corporations, and by government. For “reasons of national security”, the US government has a policy of censoring certain inventions, groundbreaking inventions. How many of these patents, if open to public use, would be game changers for planet Earth? Who knows?
“Under the Invention Secrecy Act of 1951, patent applications on new inventions can be subject to secrecy orders restricting their publication if government agencies believe that disclosure would be ‘detrimental to the national security’. The current list of technology areas that is used to screen patent applications for possible restriction under the Invention Secrecy Act is not publicly available and has been denied under the Freedom of Information Act. (An appeal is pending.)… “Most of the listed technology areas are closely related to military applications. But some of them range more widely. Thus, the 1971 list indicates that patents for solar photovoltaic generators were subject to review and possible restriction IF THE PHOTOVOLTAICS WERE MORE THAN 20% EFFICIENT. Energy conversion systems were likewise subject to review and possible restriction IF THEY OFFERED CONVERSION EFFICIENCIES ‘IN EXCESS OF 70-80%’.” (Emphasis is the author’s.) One may fairly ask if disclosure of such technologies could really have been ‘detrimental to the national security.’ One may further ask what comparable advances in technology may be subject to restriction and non-disclosure today. But no answers are forthcoming, and the invention secrecy system persists with no discernible external review. (This article is an update of a piece published in 2018; in terms of patent “freezing”, nothing has changed.)
Israel is increasingly relying on facial recognition in the occupied West Bank to track Palestinians and restrict their passage through key checkpoints, according to a new report, a sign of how artificial-intelligence-powered surveillance can be used against an ethnic group. At high-fenced checkpoints in Hebron, Palestinians stand in front of facial recognition cameras before being allowed to cross. As their faces are scanned, the software — known as Red Wolf — uses a color-coded system of green, yellow and red to guide soldiers on whether to let the person go, stop them for questioning or arrest them, according to the report by Amnesty International. When the technology fails to identify someone, soldiers train the system by adding their personal information to the database.
Israel has long restricted the freedom of movement of Palestinians, but technological advances are giving the authorities powerful new tools. It is the latest example of the global spread of mass surveillance systems, which rely on A.I. to learn to identify the faces of people based on large stores of images. In Hebron and East Jerusalem, the technology focuses almost entirely on Palestinians, according to Amnesty’s report, marking a new way to automate the control of interior boundaries that separate the lives of Palestinians and Israelis. Amnesty called the process “automated apartheid.” Israel has strongly denied that it operates an apartheid regime. (Paywall waived.)
Since China began to open up and reform its economy in 1978, its GDP has grown by a dizzying 9% a year, on average. That has allowed a staggering 800m Chinese citizens to escape from poverty. Today China accounts for almost a fifth of global output. However, China’s rapid rise is slowing down. Mr Xi promises a “great rejuvenation” of his country in the coming decades, but the economy is now undergoing something more prosaic: a great maturation. The most plausible economic forecasts seem to agree that China and America will approach economic parity in the next decade or so—and remain locked in this position for decades to come.
Pessimists fear that China will become more combative as its economic trajectory falters. There are plenty of reasons to think this plausible. Mr Xi stokes a dangerous nationalism, to persuade ordinary Chinese that critics of his rule are slighting China itself. China’s military budget is forecast to rise by over 7% this year, in line with nominal GDP. Its military spending is lower than America’s, but still catching up. Its navy could be 50% bigger than America’s by 2030, and its nuclear arsenal will almost quadruple by 2035. “Beijing’s economic power may be peaking, but no other country is so capable of challenging America globally,” write Messrs Brands and Beckley.
The explosion – AT2021lwx – is a fireball 100 times the size of our Solar System and 10 times brighter than a supernova. The explosion has currently lasted more than three years, compared with most supernovae which are only visibly bright for a few months, according to a study published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Led by the University of Southampton, the astronomers believe the explosion is a result of a vast cloud of gas, possibly thousands of times larger than our sun, that has been violently disrupted by a supermassive black hole. According to the study, the explosion took place nearly 8 billion light years away, when the universe was about 6 billion years old and is still being detected by a network of telescopes.
Last year, astronomers witnessed the brightest explosion on record – a gamma-ray burst known as GRB 221009A, which was nicknamed BOAT – for Brightest Of All Time. Although BOAT was brighter than AT2021lwx, it lasted for just a fraction of the time, meaning the overall energy released by the AT2021lwx explosion was far greater. AT2021lwx has earned the nickname “Scary Barbie” from researchers. According to Danny Milisavljevic, assistant professor of Physics and Astronomy at Purdue University, AT2021lwx was first assigned a random alphanumeric name when discovered: ZTF20abrbeie. The “Scary Barbie” nickname came from its alphanumeric designation “abrbeie” and “scary” because of its power.
A new study led by physicist Sascha Kempf at the University of Colorado Boulder has delivered the strongest evidence yet that Saturn’s rings are remarkably young—potentially answering a question that has boggled scientists for well over a century. The research pegs the age of Saturn’s rings at no more than 400 million years old. That makes the rings much younger than Saturn itself, which is about 4.5 billion years old. The researchers arrived at that closure by studying what might seem like an unusual subject: dust.
Kempf explained that tiny grains of rocky material wash through Earth’s solar system on an almost constant basis. In some cases, this flux can leave behind a thin layer of dust on planetary bodies, including on the ice that makes up Saturn’s rings. “Think about the rings like the carpet in your house,” Kempf said. “If you have a clean carpet laid out, you just have to wait. Dust will settle on your carpet. The same is true for the rings.” It was an arduous process: From 2004 to 2017, the team used an instrument called the Cosmic Dust Analyzer aboard NASA’s late Cassini spacecraft to analyze specks of dust flying around Saturn. Over those 13 years, the researchers collected just 163 grains that had originated from beyond the planet’s close neighborhood. But it was enough. Based on their calculations, Saturn’s rings have likely been gathering dust for only a few hundred million years. See also: Saturn Reclaims ‘Moon King’ Title with 62 Newfound Satellites, Bringing Total to 145.
The presentation on the laptop screen of Max Hodak, the CEO of Science Corp., shows a small device, about the size of a penny, attached to a thin tail of wiring. It’s a device he hopes can restore a critical sense and help the blind see again. It’s a miniature city of electronics attached to a microLED display just 2mm square. The prosthesis he’s showing off is known as the Science Eye, and once it’s been proved safe and effective, it’ll be implanted on top of, and inside, the eyeballs of human patients suffering from diseases where the eye’s light-sensing cells have died. The idea is to coax other cells within the eye to receive and translate light signals. As Hodak runs through images on his laptop, he points out the form factor of the Science Eye and how many pixels the team has been able to jam into the device’s wafer-thin microLED. The number stands at an impressive 16,000, allowing for a resolution he says is about “eight times better than an iPhone 13.” This technology is still very much in the development stage, however the article gives a detailed explanation of what is entailed, how it works, and where the research stands at this point. What is just over the horizon here, if it works out, will be life-changing for a lot of people.
A team of researchers from the University of Waterloo has created a new smart material that can change its shape and color after being activated by heat and electricity. The achievement marks the first time that a stimuli-responsive material has been able to respond to two different stimuli. The innovative fabric has the potential to be used in a wide range of applications, from clothing that warms up as you move to vehicle bumpers that return to their original shape after an accident. The smart material combines highly engineered composites and stainless steel to form what researchers call a “happy union of soft and hard materials.” Researchers say they developed a process to weave the smart fabric that is “extremely versatile” and allows for design freedom and macro-scale control of its properties by creating a device similar to a traditional loom.
But it’s not just the fabric’s physical properties that make it so unique. The breakthrough smart material can change its color and shape by applying a combination of heat and electricity. Changes can be activated by low-voltage electricity which makes the new smart material more energy-efficient and cost-effective than previous systems. Because this new smart material can sense and react to multiple environmental stimuli, it has the potential to pave the way for genuinely effective smart systems such as camouflage, biomedical devices, and environmental sensors.
The twin crashes in US commercial real estate and the US bond market have collided with $9 trillion uninsured deposits in the American banking system. Such deposits can vanish in an afternoon in the cyber age. Almost half of America’s 4,800 banks are already burning through their capital buffers. They may not have to mark all losses to market under US accounting rules but that does not make them solvent. Somebody will take those losses. “It’s spooky. Thousands of banks are underwater,” said Professor Amit Seru, a banking expert at Stanford University. “Let’s not pretend that this is just about Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic. A lot of the US banking system is potentially insolvent.”
The full shock of monetary tightening by the Fed has yet to hit. A great edifice of debt faces a refinancing cliff-edge over the next six quarters. Only then will we learn whether the US financial system can safely deflate the excess leverage induced by extreme monetary stimulus during the pandemic. A Hoover Institution report by Seru and a group of banking experts calculates that more than 2,315 US banks are currently sitting on assets worth less than their liabilities. The market value of their loan portfolios is $2 trillion lower than the stated book value. These lenders include big beasts. One of the 10 most vulnerable banks is a globally systemic entity with assets of over $1 trillion. Three others are large banks. “It is not just a problem for banks under $250bn that didn’t have to pass stress tests,” he said. The Treasury and the FDIC are still in the denial phase. They blame the failures on reckless lending, bad management, and over-reliance on foot-loose uninsured depositors by a handful of banks. This has a familiar ring. “They said the same thing when Bear Stearns went down in 2008. Everything was going to be alright,” said Prof Seru. First Republic lends to technology start-ups, but it chiefly came unstuck on commercial real estate. It will not be the last on that score. Office blocks and industrial property are in the early stage of a deep slump. “Where we stand today is a nearly perfect storm,” said Jeff Fine, real estate guru at Goldman Sachs.
Burgeoning renewable energy industries will soon generate tons of waste as millions of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, wind turbines and lithium-ion EV batteries reach the end of their respective lifecycles. As the saying goes, though, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Anticipating the pileup of exhausted clean-energy components — and wanting to proactively avoid past sins committed by not responsibly cleaning up after decommissioned coal mines, oil wells and power plants — a number of innovative startups are striving to create a sustainable, and lucrative, circular economy to recover, recycle and reuse the core components of climate tech innovation. Wind and solar energy combined to generate 13.6% of utility-scale electricity last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), and those numbers will undoubtedly rise as renewable energy continues to scale up. Some leading utilities across the nation are far ahead of that pace already.
Solarcycle is a prime example of the companies looking to solve this climate tech waste problem of the future. Launched last year in Oakland, California, it has since constructed a recycling facility in Odessa, Texas, where it extracts 95% of the materials from end-of-life solar panels and reintroduces them into the supply chain. It sells recovered silver and copper on commodity markets and glass, silicon and aluminum to panel manufacturers and solar farm operators. “Solar is becoming the dominant form of power generation,” Solarcycle CEO Suvi Sharma said, citing an EIA report stating that 54% of new utility-scale electric-generating capacity in the U.S. this year will come from solar. “But with that comes a new set of challenges and opportunities. We have done a phenomenal job making solar efficient and cost-effective, but really have not done anything yet on making it circular and dealing with the end-of-life [panels].” The average lifespan of a solar panel is about 25 to 30 years, and there are more than 500 million already installed across the country, Sharma said. With solar capacity now rising an average of 21% annually, tens of millions more panels will be going up — and coming down. Between 2030 and 2060, roughly 9.8 million metric tons of solar panel waste are expected to accumulate, according to a 2019 study published in Renewable Energy. Currently, about 90% of end-of-life or defective solar panels end up in landfills, largely because it costs far less to dump them than to recycle them. “We see that gap closing over the next five to 10 years significantly,” Sharma said, “through a combination of recycling becoming more cost-effective and landfilling costs only increasing.”
When neuropsychologist Bernhard Sabel put his new fake-paper detector to work, he was “shocked” by what it found. After screening some 5000 papers, he estimates up to 34% of neuroscience papers published in 2020 were likely made up or plagiarized; in medicine, the figure was 24%. Both numbers, which he and colleagues report in a medRxiv preprint posted on 8 May, are well above levels they calculated for 2010—and far larger than the 2% baseline estimated in a 2022 publishers’ group report. Sabel’s findings underscore what was widely suspected: Journals are awash in a rising tide of scientific manuscripts from paper mills—secretive businesses that allow researchers to pad their publication records by paying for fake papers or undeserved authorship. “Paper mills have made a fortune by basically attacking a system that has had no idea how to cope with this stuff,” says Dorothy Bishop, a University of Oxford psychologist who studies fraudulent publishing practices.
Sabel’s tool relies on just two indicators—authors who use private, noninstitutional email addresses, and those who list an affiliation with a hospital. It isn’t a perfect solution, because of a high false-positive rate {meaning that Sabel’s percentage of fake scientific papers is somewhat overstated, but still significant). Other developers of fake-paper detectors, who often reveal little about how their tools work, contend with similar issues. Still, the detectors raise hopes for gaining the advantage over paper mills, which churn out bogus manuscripts containing text, data, and images partly or wholly plagiarized or fabricated, often massaged by ghost writers. The recent advent of artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT has amplified the concern.
Journalist and activist Jennifer Bilek contends that transgenderism is being promoted to pave the way for transhumanism, the merging of humans with technology, by normalizing body dissociation leading to complete disembodiment, “where everyone lives in cyberspace.” Transhumanists claim that hybrid species will overcome biological limits. Puberty blockers, surgery and steroids are used to try to change gender, but sterilization is a side effect. Bilek said that there is a profiteering motive for drugs and surgery behind trangenderism. If an entire generation of children are sterilized, they will later need reproductive services.
Billionaire banker Jon Stryker, a gay man who is the heir to the Stryker medical technology fortune, created the Arcus Foundation that began sponsoring LGBT causes, and his company is in turn profiting from medical procedures. Bilek said that women are being erased in language and in law so that reproduction can be transferred to the tech sector for profit. Governments, all the major banks, politicians, schools, the media, medical institutions, law firms and corporations have all jumped on board to drive transgenderism into the culture in the past 10 years for profit. Big Pharma, Big Tech and Big Finance (BlackRock and Vanguard) are the drivers behind the movement. Transhumanism plans include AI, robots, nano-technology, biotechnology, virtual reality, and more. She said that transhumanism is a technological religious cult. When they can manipulate your DNA, they can manipulate you any way you want. Article includes a link to an interview with Bilek on “Big Picture Watch – Crowd-funded Journalism” on YouTube.
What do a Chilean Flamingo and a Cessna 172 have in common? They both fly at 4,330 meters, where air temps are a balmy 6 degrees F. A Ruppell’s Griffon Vulture, the highest-flying bird, hangs out at 11,600 meters where the air temperature is a balmy -70F. You’ll meet them as you travel ever upward on Neal Agarwal’s Space Elevator. On the way, cue the elevator music, (nice elevator music – there’s a prompt), don a space suit (you’ll need it), and watch out for Felix Baumgartner at 36,345m; he’s plummeting to Earth in freefall. Scroll through the mesosphere, where sound travels slowly and meteors burn up, into the thermosphere, crossing the Kármán line into outer space. On this website, you start at ground level and scroll up. “Up” goes a very, very long ways. Enjoy the ride. (Hat Tip to RG and Daybreak.)
What we do now echoes into eternity – Marcus Aurelius
A special thanks to: Chas Freeman, Ursula Freer, Sergio Lub, Abby Porter, Bobbie Rohn, Steve Ujvarosy, Heidi Waltos and all of you who have sent us interesting links in the past. If you see something we should know about, do send it along – thanks. johnp@arlingtoninstitute.org
Joni Patry is one of the most recognized teachers and Vedic astrologers in the world. She was a faculty member for ACVA, CVA and Instructor for online certification programs, published many books, journals and appeared on national and international television shows. As the keynote speaker for international conferences, she has a Japanese website, and teaches in Austria, Turkey and India. She has been awarded the 2015 Jyotish Star of the year and Dr B. V. Raman’s Janma Shatamanothsava Award Jyotisha Choodamani. She publishes an online astrological magazine, Astrologic Magazine http://astrologicmagazine.com/ and has an online University for certification, the University of Vedic Astrology. http://universityofvedicastrology.com
William Henry
William Henry is a Nashville-based author, investigative mythologist, art historian, and TV presenter. He is an internationally recognized authority on human spiritual potential, transformation and ascension. He has a unique ability to incorporate historical, religious, spiritual, scientific, archaeological and other forms of such knowledge into factually-based theories and conclusions that provide the layperson with a more in-depth understanding of the profound shift we are actually experiencing in our lifetime.
The spiritual voice and Consulting Producer of the global hit History Channel program, Ancient Aliens, and host of the Gaia TV series The Awakened Soul: The Lost Science of Ascension, and Arcanum, along with his wife, Clare, William Henry is your guide into the transformative sacred science of human ascension. By bringing to life the ancient stories of ascension through art and gnostic texts, he teaches the secrets of soul transfiguration or metamorphosis and connects people to one another across cultures, time and space. With over 30 years of research distilled into 18 books and numerous video presentations, William’s work will guide you to next level of human consciousness and our expanding reality.
William’s present work has taken him into the area of transhumanism, which he first began writing about in his 2002 bestseller, Cloak of the Illuminati. His latest book, The Singularity Is Near: The Next Human, the Perfect Rainbow Light Body and the Technology of Human Transcendence is a primer and a warning for the looming potential transformation of humanity as we speed closer to meshing computer technology with human flesh. William discusses transhumanism as the fulfillment of an ancient impulse to transcend our human bodies. His work has propelled him into the role of human rights activist and advisor on the biopolitics of human enhancement as he informs audiences of the unparalleled perils and potentials of Artificial Intelligence and Transhumanism.
Pierre Dubois
Pierre Richard Dubois is Registered Architect and holds two advanced degrees from Columbia University. He has been on a life quest to satisfy his inner and intuitive knowing about consciousness-expanding technologies and wisdom. He is an author, life coach, healer, ascension teacher, and a minister. Pierre has travelled the world and studied many religions and belief systems and found that we are all seeking the same thing: merger back with the uncreated Source of all. An insightful listener and counselor, Pierre deeply aspires to share with others his wisdom and has helped countless people on their journey of healing, expansion, and ascension over the past 20 years.
Frank DeMarco
FRANK DeMARCO has been reporting on his conversations with non-physical beings for more than two decades, in magazine articles, talks, and in a dozen non-fiction books and two novels.
FRANK DeMARCO is the author of 14 books rooted in more than 25 years of psychic exploration, including It’s All One World, Awakening from the 3D World, Rita’s World (two volumes), The Cosmic Internet, The Sphere and the Hologram, and Imagine Yourself Well. Since 2005, he has been actively engaged in an on-going series of conversations with various non-physical beings, including historical individuals, “past lives,” aspects of personal guidance, and a generalized group he calls “the guys upstairs.”
He is also the author of three novels, Messenger, That Phenomenal Background (originally published as Babe in the Woods) and Dark Fire.
William Buhlman
William Buhlman is a recognized expert on the subject of out-of-body experiences. The author’s forty years of extensive personal out-of-body explorations give him a unique and thought provoking insight into this subject. His first book, Adventures beyond the Body chronicles his personal journey of self-discovery through out-of-body travel, and provides the reader with the preparation and techniques that can be used for their own adventure. He has conducted an international out-of-body experience survey that includes over 16,000 participants from forty-two countries. The provocative results of this survey are presented in his book, The Secret of the Soul. This cutting edge book explores the unique opportunities for personal growth and profound spiritual awakenings that are reported during out-of-body experiences.
Over the past two decades William has developed an effective system to experience safe, self initiated out-of-body adventures. He conducts an in-depth six-day workshop titled, Out-of-Body Exploration Intensive at the renowned Monroe Institute in Virginia. As a certified hypnotherapist, William incorporates various methods, including hypnosis, visualization and meditation techniques in his workshops to explore the profound nature of out-of-body experiences and the benefits of accelerated personal development. Through lectures, workshops and his books the author teaches the preparation and techniques of astral projection and spiritual exploration.
The author brings a refreshing look to how we can use out-of-body experiences to explore our spiritual identity and enhance our intellectual and physical lives. William is best known for his ability to teach people how to have profound spiritual adventures through the use of out-of-body experiences. In addition, he has developed an extensive series of audio programs that are designed to expand awareness and assist in the exploration of consciousness. William has appeared on numerous television and radio shows worldwide. William’s books are currently available in twelve languages. The author lives in Delaware, USA. For more information visit his web site, www.astralinfo.org.
Joe McMoneagle
Joe was the longest operational psychic spy in the US government’s very highly classified Stargate program where they used psychics and intuitives to look into installations and people around the world that were of interest to government intelligence agencies. They called the process remote viewing.
As it turned out, the remote viewers discovered that they were – not limited by either time or space and produced drawings and assessments that could not have been obtained in any other way. The Soviets had an active remote viewing program at the same time and it is rumored that Russia, China and the U.S. still have initiatives of this kind that are operational.
Joe’s stories are fascinating, like the time he mentally got inside a Chinese nuclear weapon and saw how the triggering mechanism worked . . . and then went out and bought the parts at Radio Shack to show the scientists in the intelligence agency exactly how it was done. The remote viewers could find submarines at the bottom of the ocean and crashed aircraft in the middle of African jungles.
Dr. Joe Dispenza
Dr Joe Dispenza is an international lecturer, researcher, corporate consultant, author, and educator who has been invited to speak in more than 33 countries on six continents. As a lecturer and educator, he is driven by the conviction that each of us has the potential for greatness and unlimited abilities. In his easy-to-understand, encouraging, and compassionate style, he has educated thousands of people, detailing how they can rewire their brains and recondition their bodies to make lasting changes.
Dr. Joe is also a faculty member at Quantum University in Honolulu, Hawaii; the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in Rhinebeck, New York; and Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He’s also an invited chair of the research committee at Life University in Atlanta, Georgia.
As a researcher, Dr. Joe’s passion can be found at the intersection of the latest findings from the fields of neuroscience, epigenetics, and quantum physics to explore the science behind spontaneous remissions. He uses that knowledge to help people heal themselves of illnesses, chronic conditions, and even terminal diseases so they can enjoy a more fulfilled and happy life, as well as evolve their consciousness. At his advanced workshops around the world, he has partnered with other scientists to perform extensive research on the effects of meditation, including epigenetic testing, brain mapping with electroencephalograms (EEGs), and individual energy field testing with a gas discharge visualization (GDV) machine. His research also includes measuring both heart coherence with HeartMath monitors and the energy present in the workshop environment before, during, and after events with a GDV Sputnik sensor.
As a NY Times best-selling author, Dr. Joe has written Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon(Hay House, 2017), which draws on research conducted at his advanced workshops since 2012 to explore how common people are doing the uncommon to transform themselves and their lives; You Are the Placebo: Making Your Mind Matter (Hay House, 2014), which explores our ability to heal without drugs or surgery, but rather by thought alone; Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One (Hay House, 2012) and Evolve Your Brain: The Science of Changing Your Mind (2007), both of which detail the neuroscience of change and epigenetics. His film appearances include Transcendence: Live Life Beyond the Ordinary (2018); HEAL (2017); E-Motion (2014); Sacred Journey of the Heart (2012); People v. the State of Illusion (2011); What IF – The Movie (2010); Unleashing Creativity (2009); and What the #$*! Do We Know? & Down the Rabbit Hole, extended DVD version (2005).
Dr. Todd Ovokaitys
After two years at Northwestern, he was accepted into an accelerated combined graduate/undergraduate program at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, which conferred both B.A. and M.D. degrees. Advanced training was at Georgetown University Hospital, with a Residency and Chief Residency in Internal Medicine followed by a Fellowship in Pulmonary and Intensive Care Medicine.
During his Pulmonary Fellowship, the specialty that concerns the lungs, Dr. Todd began his research with cells of the immune system. Many procedures were done on AIDS patients to diagnose their lung problems. Observing this dire disease firsthand and the toxic results of early medical treatments, Dr. Todd developed a passion for finding better solutions. Towards the end of his Fellowship, he became aware of the benefits of Holistic Medicine for improving the function of the immune system while building rather than impairing the function of other systems.
Inspired to learn more, he moved to Southern California to study with practitioners of Complementary Medicine. In the context of these studies, he had an experience so radical that the course of his life and work were forever transformed.
During a meditation class in the summer of 1989, Dr. Todd paired with another student for an exercise. The process was profound and they took turns, one in the process while the other scribed to record any breakthroughs of awareness. Much as in the Jodie Foster movie “Contact,” the usual anchor points dissolved with the feeling of instant transport to a different dimension of being. There was a doorway or portal to traverse, with a message of the responsibility taken on through the choice to go further.
Instantly upon walking through this doorway, a living form was seen that filled a room – and had the shape of a DNA strand enlarged millions of times. This form communicated that science only partly understood how DNA worked. The linear understanding of DNA as an enormous data string was correct but incomplete. In addition, DNA was a structure of coils within coils in an environment of moving charges that permitted DNA to send electromagnetic signals much as a radio transmitter. Further, DNA could receive and be conditioned by electromagnetic signals. Most significantly, if it were possible to determine and transmit the correct resonant signals, that it was possible to switch the activity of a sick cell to that of a healthy cell, an old cell to that of a young cell.
This experience brought with it a certainty that solutions were possible. After intensive review of the previous work showing the effects of electromagnetic energy patterns on cellular health and function, Dr. Todd located a colleague with the technical expertise to build the desired invention.
Mary Rodwell is a professional counsellor, hypnotherapist, researcher, metaphysician, and founder and principal of ACERN (Australian Close Encounter Resource Network). She is internationally known for her work with ET experiencers and star children. She offers regressions and support for contactees and has organized a buddy system to help those who have had close encounters. Mary has spoken at conferences in Australia, USA, UK, Scandinavia, Hawaii and New Zealand. She is a regular guest on international radio and online shows and writes article for international publications like the UFO Truth Magazine. Mary is co-founder of FREE, a non-profit organization aimed at researching close encounters.
She is the author of, Awakening – How extra-terrestrial contact can transform your life. Mary is working on her second book, The New Human, due for release this year.
Freddy Silva
Freddy Silva is a best-selling author, and leading researcher of ancient civilizations, restricted history, sacred sites and their interaction with consciousness. He has published six books in six languages, and produced eleven documentaries. Described by one CEO as “perhaps the best metaphysical speaker in the world right now,” for two decades he has been an international keynote speaker, with notable appearances at the International Science and Consciousness Conference, the International Society For The Study Of Subtle Energies & Energy Medicine, and the Association for Research and Enlightenment, in addition to appearances on Gaia TV, History Channel, BBC, and radio shows such as Coast To Coast. He also leads private sell-out tours to ancient temples worldwide. www.invisibletemple.com
Dr. Larry Dossey
Dr. Larry Dossey is a physician of internal medicine and former Chief of Staff of Medical City Dallas Hospital. He received his M. D. degree from Southwestern Medical School (Dallas), and trained in internal medicine at Parkland and the VA hospitals in Dallas. Dossey has lectured at medical schools and hospitals throughout the United States and abroad. In 1988 he delivered the annual Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Lecture in New Delhi, India, the only physician ever invited to do so. He is the author of twelve books dealing with consciousness, spirituality, and healing, including the New York Times bestseller HEALING WORDS: THE POWER OF PRAYER AND THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE, and most recently One Mind: How Our Individual Mind Is Part of a Greater Consciousness and Why It Matters. His books have been translated into languages around the world. Dr. Dossey is the former co-chairman of the Panel on Mind/Body Interventions, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health. He is the executive editor of the peer-reviewed journal EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing. Dr. Dossey lectures around the world. He lives in Santa Fe with his wife Barbara, a nurse-consultant and the author of several award-winning books.
Sharry Edwards
Sharry Edwards has been accused of being too scientific by some, too esoteric by others. In actuality, she is a bridge between both fields of inquiry. Sharry is the acknowledged pioneer in the emerging field of Vocal Profiling using BioAcoustic Biology. For many years she has provided the leading-edge research to show the voice as a holographic representation of the body that can be used to change the face of medicine.
Sharry asks that we imagine a future in which we can be individually identified and maintained through the use of frequency based biomarkers that keep us healthy and emotionally balanced. Her work at the Institute of BioAcoustic Biology has shown that we can each have dominion over those frequencies by individual mind management or a simple remote control that is completely programmable. Using the unique techniques of Vocal Profiling and evaluation, emotional as well as physiological issues can be revealed and addressed.
Her work with the human voice reveals that people who share similar traumas, stresses, diseases, toxicities…share similar, if not identical, vocal anomalies. She brings together ancient knowledge with modern ideas of harmonics and frequency relationship theories to show that math can be used as a form of predictive, diagnostic and curative foundation for wellness. Through entrainment of the frequency grids of the brain, the body can be programmed to support its own optimal form and function.
Integrative Physician Dr. Carrie Hempel and Holistic Pharmacist Brian Sanderoffare both experts in the medicinal use of cannabis in Maryland.
Dr. Hempel is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2002. As an Osteopathic Physician, she has embraced a holistic approach to patient care, providing loving attention to the relationship between mind, body, and spirit. For the past 11 years she has received specialist training, Board Certification and expertise in several fields including Internal Medicine, Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, and Hospice & Palliative Medicine, along with many Integrative modalities. She is a member of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians, the Association of Cannabis Specialists, and is registered with the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission.
Over the course of her career she has seen the consistent struggle of patients dealing with chronic, progressive, debilitating illness, and witnessed the challenges and limitations of the current pharmaceutical options for pain and symptom managment. Her passion for this population has grown, along with her desire to advocate for patients to have access to non-opioid, holistic options to enhance quality of life and optimize function.
Trained as a pharmacist, Brian Sanderoff has integrated 25 years of experience with his traditional medical training and herbalism, nutrition and numerous other holistic modalities to help clients devise practical, common-sense, safe solutions to most any health issue.
His clients appreciate how he embraces a complementary approach to health and how his holistic “compass” brings them new solutions to their unique health concerns – especially chronic diseases.
Mary Rodwell is a professional counsellor, hypnotherapist, researcher, metaphysician, and founder and principal of ACERN (Australian Close Encounter Resource Network). She is internationally known for her work with ET experiencers and star children. She offers regressions and support for contactees and has organised a buddy system to help those who have had close encounters. Mary has spoken at conferences in Australia, USA, UK, Scandinavia, Hawaii and New Zealand. She is a regular guest on international radio and online shows and writes article for international publications like the UFO Truth Magazine. Mary is co-founder of FREE, a non-profit organisation aimed at researching close encounters.
Steve McDonald is an extraordinary Australian thinker and researcher who arguably knows as much about the structure of the global planetary transition that we are experiencing as anyone on the planet. He draws coherent pictures from the deep insights of Clair W. Graves and paints clear, explanatory images of not only how humanity has evolved to this point, but what is inevitably on our horizon . . . and how this epic transition will continue to play out.
He is currently writing a book about the global paradigm shift that’s taking us beyond the scientific-industrial era. Steve served with the Australian Army for 15 years, including war service as an infantry company commander in Somalia, 1993. He is also a qualified military helicopter pilot and on leaving the army he flew a rescue helicopter in the tropical Mackay-Whitsunday region of Queensland. Building upon his extensive experience in unpredictable environments, after retiring from flying Steve specialized as a change management consultant. He consequently studied the developmental psychology research of Dr Clare W Graves and became one of the first Australians qualified to teach Dr Graves’ theory under the banner of Spiral Dynamics Integral. A long-term struggle with posttraumatic stress has driven Steve’s deep interest in human nature and consciousness. He is a founder of Psychedelic Research in Science & Medicine, an Australian non-profit association. He is also a founder of AADII, a non-profit company created to support worldwide transformational change.
Although Robert Coxon had been studying and composing music for many years, it was after taking the Silva Mind Control course that he realized how powerful sound could be in relaxing the body and opening the consciousness. He then decided to write his first album.
Cristal Silence quickly became a major hit throughout Canada, staying on top of the charts for many years. This was the beginning of his continuing phenomenal success as composer and solo artist. For the last 29 years he has performed only his original compositions in concert. Robert has been nominated four times for the prestigious “Felix” award (French Canada equivalent to the Grammy), and became Canada’s best-selling New Age artist. His international breakthrough came after composing The Silent Path in 1995. This album was an instant hit in Canada, the USA and France. After hearing The Silent Path, Lee Carroll, internationally renowned author of 15 bestselling Kryon and Indigo books, contacted Robert and asked him to join his team on tour. Through the years this has given Robert the opportunity to experience different cultures and inspires him to write music honoring these many countries he performs in.
Robert offers us nine albums, the latest three being The Infinite, essence of life, Goddess -The Power of Woman and Passion Compassion Alegeria.
Gary Sycalik has been described as an entrepreneur, businessman, project developer/manager, consultant/advisor, organizational troubleshooter, strategic planner, facilitator, futurist, business and social architect, complex problematic game designer (policy, strategic, tactic levels) and writer. Gary brings a robust horizontal and vertical functional capability to any project from the conceptual to operational stage.
Kingsley L. Dennis, PhD, is a sociologist, researcher, and writer. He previously worked in the Sociology Department at Lancaster University, UK. Kingsley is the author of numerous articles on social futures; technology and new media communications; global affairs; and conscious evolution. He is the author of several critically acclaimed books including Healing the Wounded Mind, The Sacred Revival, The Phoenix Generation, New Consciousness for a New World, Struggle for Your Mind, After the Car, and the celebrated Dawn of the Akashic Age (with Ervin Laszlo). He has traveled extensively and lived in various countries. He currently lives in Andalusia, Spain.
John McMichael, PhD, is the founder and CEO of Beach Tree Labs, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and early development of new therapeutic agents targeting unmet medical needs. These disorders range from herpes infections to chronic fatigue syndrome to urinary incontinence. His PhD is in virology and immunology from Oregon State University. He headed up the labs at one of the largest private veterinary research practices in the country, was a college professor for more than a decade, and now works out of a small lab on his form in New York state and a larger, more sophisticated lab in Providence, Rhode Island. He holds over 200 patents, has published in books and peer-reviewed journals, and is currently working with his team to begin formal FDA trials for product candidates for chronic traumatic brain injury and Ehlers-Danlos syndromes.
Good health is dependent on the appropriate transfer of information within and between cells. The informational and molecular disharmonies associated with disease can be reversed using appropriate therapeutic signals that stimulate the return to the normal state without adverse effects. One such signal molecule, SLO, has demonstrated clinical utility in a broad spectrum of indications that would at first glance appear to be unrelated. The underlying common thread that links these disorders is representative of the targets to which resonant molecular signals are directed.
Chris Robinson
Chris Robinson’s amazing ability to dream about the future in terms that can be reliably translated into people, times, places, and activities has been the subject of books, major university scientific studies, films, articles, TV shows, and just about all forms of media. He has taught many people how to dream about the future and, through his advanced intuitive capabilities, helped thousands to understand how to deal with seemingly impossible personal situations. He is also a healer, having on numerous occasions led people with supposedly terminal conditions to eliminate those issues and return to a healthy life. There is no one else in the world that has Chris’s fascinating background (undercover police work, etc.), coupled with these amazing personal gifts.
Thomas Drake is a former senior executive at the National Security Agency where he blew the whistle on massive multi-billion dollar fraud, waste and abuse; the widespread violations of the rights of citizens through secret mass surveillance programs after 9/11; and critical 9/11 intelligence failures. He is the recipient of the 2011 Ridenhour Truth Telling Prize, a joint recipient with Jesselyn Radack of the 2011 Sam Adams Associates Integrity in Intelligence Award and the 2012 Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award. He is now dedicated to the defense of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Robert David Steele, former spy, former Marine Corps officer, a proponent of Open Source Everything, Presidential candidate in 2012 and perhaps again in 2024, recommended for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 will integrate his life’s experience with his lessons from the works of others to explore love versus fear as a foundation for politics; liberty under natural law versus predatory fascism as we now have in the USA; and the possibilities for cosmic awakening very soon, in a full-on defeat of the Deep State and its Archon masters.
Lee Carrol a.k.a. Kryon
Lee Carroll, Ph.D. has channeled Kryon for 25 years worldwide and is the author of the Kryon Series of 16 books in 24 languages. Well known in metaphysics, Kryon books have made the top seller’s list within months of their release. Having presented seven times at the United Nations in New York, as well as in 33 different countries overseas, Lee attracts audiences in the thousands.
Good health is dependent on the appropriate transfer of information within and between cells. The informational and molecular disharmonies associated with disease can be reversed using appropriate therapeutic signals that stimulate the return to the normal state without adverse effects. One such signal molecule, SLO, has demonstrated clinical utility in a broad spectrum of indications that would at first glance appear to be unrelated. The underlying common thread that links these disorders is representative of the targets to which resonant molecular signals are directed.
Dennis McKenna’s research has focused on the interdisciplinary study of Amazonian ethnopharmacology and plant hallucinogens. His doctoral research (University of British Columbia, 1984) focused on the ethnopharmacology of ayahuasca and oo-koo-he, two tryptamine-based hallucinogens used by indigenous peoples in the Northwest Amazon. Dr. McKenna is author or co-author of 4 books and over 50 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals.
Paul H. Smith is the longest-serving controlled remote viewing (CRV) teacher active today, having begun his career as an instructor in 1984. He served for seven years in the government’s Star Gate remote viewing program at Ft. Meade, MD (from September 1983 to August 1990). Starting 1984, he became one of only five Star Gate personnel to be personally trained as remote viewers by the legendary founders of remote viewing, Ingo Swann and Dr. Harold E. Puthoff at SRI-International.
Raymon Grace, one of the world’s most extraordinary dowsers, travels the world teaching and demonstrating how dowsing can be used by most anyone to change themselves and the world around them. His down-home, direct approach is sought out by many thousands of searchers who are looking for bettering their lives and dealing with the extraordinary change that the world is experiencing.
Charles Eisenstein is a teacher, speaker, and writer focusing on themes of civilization, consciousness, money, and human cultural evolution. His on-line writings have generated a vast following; he speaks frequently at conferences and other events and gives numerous interviews on radio and podcasts.
In 1980, Jim McCarty joined L/L Research where Don Elkins and Carla L. Rueckert were researching the field of the paranormal in general, and contact with extraterrestrial intelligence in particular. Soon later the Ra Contact began, producing 106 sessions with the social memory complex of Ra. Five books of The Law of One series were published documenting this contact.
Joey Korn is one of the most accomplished dowsers in the world. Known internationally for an extraordinary ability to change and manipulate energy at all levels, he brings a deep, practical understanding of how to balance these energies . . . and change the way that they influence humans and their lives.
Michael Waters is an advanced technology consultant, researcher, inventor, and sustainable recovery strategist. His automated disaster recovery and library preservation systems are used worldwide. Michael has researched cutting edge science and technologies that redefine current understandings in mainstream physics. He is currently on the board of a number of organizations involved in advanced energy, mining, agriculture, and finance.
Las Vegas headliner, Alain Nu – “The Man Who Knows”, brings us his mind-bending mental and metaphysical abilities. His highly entertaining and most provocative show intermingles feats of mind-reading and spoon bending with other baffling demonstrations that defy explanation.
Joni Patry
Joni Patry is one of the most recognized teachers and Vedic astrologers in the world. She was a faculty member for ACVA, CVA and Instructor for online certification programs, published many books, journals and appeared on national and international television shows. As the keynote speaker for international conferences, she has a Japanese website, and teaches in Austria, Turkey and India. She has been awarded the 2015 Jyotish Star of the year and Dr B. V. Raman’s Janma Shatamanothsava Award Jyotisha Choodamani. She publishes an online astrological magazine, Astrologic Magazine http://astrologicmagazine.com/ and has an online University for certification, the University of Vedic Astrology. http://universityofvedicastrology.com
As Regina’s career progressed, so did her decades long exploration into the world of esoteric and hidden sciences – the reality beyond the 5 sense world. Guidance from these realms suggested it was time to bring her skill set to the world of video/televised media, so in late 2004, along with her husband Scott, she co-created ‘Conscious Media Network’, the first online network to feature full length original video interviews with authors and experts in the realms of the meta-physical, healing arts and alternative theories, opening up a world that many had experienced but never had access to on this scale.
Gaia: In 2012, Conscious Media Network merged with Gaiam TV in 2012, with Regina serving as anchor in their new media division on Open Minds and Healing Matrix. The demand for Regina’s unique perspective on a variety of subjects has drawn attention from conference organizers, moving her into the public as a presenter at conferences. In addition, Regina offers retreats and workshops for those who wish to ‘Dive Deep’ into a new understanding of the nature of reality and life itself. In this venue she shares her exclusive approach to meditation and regression work for a greater understanding of life’s challenges and identifying the innate joys.
Although nominated for a Nobel Prize in physics for his breakthrough theoretical work on zero-point energy, Dr. Harold Puthoff, is most recognized for having been a co-founder of the secret US government “remote viewing” program that successfully used psychics to spy on the Soviet Union and China.
Now a principal and science advisor in a leading-edge effort by former senior military and intelligence managers to disclose the many decades of interest that the US has had in UFOs, he comes to Berkeley Springs on the 8th of February to give a TransitionTalk about his work in making sense out of the UFO phenomena.
Dr. Puthoff’s presentation will include a summary of his current activities with To The Stars Academy, which is on the forefront of bringing into the open formerly highly classified efforts by the government to track, record and understand the meaning of hundreds of encounters that the military has had with UFOs over the past years.
This is an extraordinary opportunity to learn from and question one of the foremost thinkers and leaders of the rapidly accelerating global effort to both make the public aware of what was previously unacknowledged about UFO and alien interaction with humans and also to address the deep questions about what is happening and what it might mean for the future of humanity.
Gregg Braden is a five-time New York Times best-selling author, and is internationally renowned as a pioneer in bridging science, spirituality and human potential! His discoveries have led to 12 award-winning books now published in over 40 languages. The UK’s Watkins Journal lists Gregg among the top 100 of “the world’s most spiritually influential living people” for the 5th consecutive year, and he is a 2017 nominee for the prestigious Templeton Award.
Rosemary Ellen Guiley is a leading expert on the paranormal and supernatural. With more than 50 books – including 10 encyclopedias – and hundreds of articles in print on a wide range of paranormal, spiritual and mystical topics, she possesses exceptional knowledge of the field. Her present work focuses on inter-dimensional entity contact experiences and communication.
John L. Petersen is considered by many to be one of the most informed futurists in the world. He is best-known for writing and thinking about high impact surprises (wild cards) and the process of surprise anticipation. His current professional involvements include the development of sophisticated tools for anticipatory analysis and surprise anticipation, long-range strategic planning and helping leadership design new approaches for dealing with the future.
He has led national non-profit organizations, worked in sales, manufacturing, real estate development, and marketing and advertising, mostly for companies he founded. A graduate electrical engineer, he has also promoted rock concerts; produced conventions; and worked as a disc jockey, among other things.
Mr. Petersens government and political experience include stints at the National War College, the Institute for National Security Studies, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council staff at the White House. He was a naval flight officer in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve and is a decorated veteran of both the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars. He has served in senior positions for a number of presidential political campaigns and was an elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1984. He was twice the runner-up to be Secretary of the Navy.
In 1989, Petersen founded The Arlington Institute (TAI), a non-profit, future-oriented research institute. TAI operates on the premise that effective thinking about the future is impossible without casting a very wide net. The “think tank” serves as a global agent for change by developing new concepts, processes and tools for anticipating the future and translating that knowledge into better present-day decisions. Using advanced information technology, a core group of bright thinkers and an international network of exceptionally curious people along with simulations, modeling, scenario building, polling and analysis, Arlington helps equip leaders and organizations from many disciplines with tools and actionable perspectives for dealing with uncertain times.
An award-winning writer, Petersens first book, The Road to 2015: Profiles of the Future was awarded Outstanding Academic Book of 1995 by CHOICE Academic Review, and remained on The World Future Societys best-seller list for more than a year. His Out of the Blue: How to Anticipate Wild Cards and Big Future Surprises book was also a WFS best-seller. His latest book is a Vision of 2012: Planning for Extraordinary Change. His coauthored article, (The Year 2000: Social Chaos or Social Transformation?) was one of the most highly acclaimed writings on Y2K. His 1988 book-length report (The Diffusion of Power: An Era of Realignment) was used at the highest levels of American government as a basis for strategic planning. He has also written papers on the future of national security and the military, the future of energy and the future of the media.
Petersen is a past board member of the World Future Society, writes on the future of aviation for Professional Pilot magazine and is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation. He is a former network member of the Global Business Network and a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science. A provocative public speaker, he addresses a wide array of audiences around the world on a variety of future subjects. When he is not writing or speaking, Petersen invests in and develops resources for large, international projects and advanced technology start-up companies. He lives in the Washington, D.C. area in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. Speaking Inquiries: Email johnp@arlingtoninstitute.org
Penny Kelly is an author, teacher, speaker, publisher, personal and spiritual consultant, and Naturopathic physician. She travels, lectures, and teaches a variety of classes and workshops, and maintains a large consulting practice. She has been involved in scientific research and investigations into consciousness at Pinelandia Laboratory near Ann Arbor, MI.
