{"id":59506,"date":"2008-09-17T13:10:57","date_gmt":"2008-09-17T17:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arlingtoninstitute.org\/?p=59506"},"modified":"2020-11-10T13:12:11","modified_gmt":"2020-11-10T18:12:11","slug":"volume-11-number-16-09-17-08","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arlingtoninstitute.org\/volume-11-number-16-09-17-08\/","title":{"rendered":"Volume 11, Number 16 – 09\/17\/08"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Volume 11, Number 16 – 09\/17\/08<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
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 <\/td>PUBLICATION ANNOUNCEMENT<\/strong><\/a>

John Petersen wrote his newest book \u201cto provide a framework for the next administration \u2013 or any organization, for that matter \u2013 for thinking about how to deal with the great change that appears to be on the horizon\u201d.  Priests, shamans, and holy men have been talking about the coming decade for hundreds of years.  Many scholars, examining the recurring patterns of history, also foresee major upheaval on the horizon.
 
In the small, hard cover volume Petersen surveys the big changes that he sees converging in the next few years and presents alternative scenarios that may emerge from the confluence.   He highlights the unbelievable breakthroughs in knowledge, mindsets, and scientific capabilities that demonstrate our extraordinary capacity not just to preserve, but to evolve.
 
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich has said that \u201cA Vision for 2012 will stimulate you to think deeply about the challenges we face, the solutions we need, and the changes that should occur to prevent the bad changes that could occur\u201d.  Former senator and presidential candidate Gary Hart added \u201cEven for those of us who have known John Petersen over the years, his insights into our revolutionary age still are enlightening, and often astonishing. As the Paul Revere of the early 21st century, his message is: The Future is Here!  He is a visionary with an ethical dimension and a too little known national asset. This deceptively short essay is a primer for an explosive future that is already upon us.  It should be required reading for the next President.\u201d


<\/a> FUTURE FACTS – FROM THIS ISSUE<\/strong>Wikileaks is an on-line forum for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis.The frequency at which a red blood cell vibrates reflects the health of the cell.Internet data is increasingly flowing around the United States, which may have intelligence \u2014 and conceivably military \u2014 consequences.   The toughest creature on Earth has survived a trip into space.  <\/a> INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE<\/strong>\u2022 Open Source Ecology
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>The Numerati by Stephen Baker
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>Wikileaks
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>Seabed Archaeology Goes Virtual

Open Source Ecology \u2013 (Open Farm Tech \u2013 no date)<\/a><\/strong>
This website is a wiki dedicated to the open, collaborative development of a basic and robust infrastructure for a Global Village economy, as embodied in a list of 28 products and services. Such a village is by design: one which promotes the highest autonomy and freedom; grounded in self-sufficiency; and dedicated to voluntary pursuits, right livelihood, and quality of life. The open development process involves global contributions of content to a rigorously defined process for developing, deploying, and improving the Global Village Construction Set.

The Numerati<\/em> by Stephen Baker \u2013 (Business Week \u2013 August 28, 2008)<\/strong><\/a>
The Numerati <\/em>introduces us to the mathematical wizards who are digging through our data to decode us as patients, shoppers, voters, potential terrorists \u2013 even lovers. One of the most promising laboratories for the Numerati is the workplace, where every keystroke, click, and e-mail can be studied. In a chapter called “The Worker,” Baker travels to IBM, where mathematicians are building predictive models of their own colleagues. The task there is to translate the complexity of highly intelligent knowledge workers into the same types of equations and algorithms that are used to fine-tune shipping or predict the life span and production of a mainframe computer. With time, the hope is to build detailed models for each worker, each one complete with a person’s quirks, daily commute, allies, and perhaps even enemies. These models might one day include whether the workers eat beef or pork, how seriously they take the Sabbath, or whether a bee sting or a peanut sauce could lay them low.

Wikileaks \u2013 (Wikileaks \u2013 website)<\/strong><\/a>
Wikileaks has developed an uncensorable Wikipedia for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis. Wikileaks opens leaked documents up to stronger scrutiny than any media organization or intelligence agency can offer and provides a forum for the entire global community to relentlessly examine any document for its credibility, plausibility, veracity and validity. Its primary interest is in exposing oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, but it also expects to be of assistance to people of all regions who wish to reveal unethical behavior in their governments and corporations. The interface is identical to Wikipedia and usable by all types of people. To date, it has received over 1.2 million documents so far from dissident communities and anonymous sources.

Seabed Archaeology Goes Virtual \u2013 (BBC News \u2013 September 9, 2008)<\/strong><\/a>
People will soon be able to operate their own virtual submersibles to explore hidden treasures at deep underwater archaeological sites. The Venus project team has generated 3D digital records of underwater European shipwrecks that can act as a permanent record of these sites. The Venus (Virtual Exploration of Underwater Sites) consortium has drawn on expertise from a wide range of disciplines – including computer science. The simulation has already recreated two European shipwrecks, including Pianosa in Italy where amphorae – ancient ceramic vases – were found.

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<\/a> NEW REALITIES<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>Sun Makes History
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>New Study Shows Solar System is Unique

Sun Makes History \u2013 (Daily Tech \u2013 September 1, 2008)<\/a><\/strong>
The sun has reached a milestone not seen for nearly 100 years: an entire month has passed without a single visible sunspot being noted. The event is significant as many climatologists now believe solar magnetic activity \u2013 which determines the number of sunspots — is an influencing factor for climate on earth. In the past 1000 years, three previous such events — the Dalton, Maunder, and Sp\u00f6rer Minimums, have all led to rapid cooling. One was large enough to be called a “mini ice age”.

New Study Shows Solar System is Unique \u2013 (The Future of Things \u2013 September 02, 2008)<\/strong><\/a>
Research conducted by a team of North American scientist shows our solar system is special, contrary to the accepted theory that it is an average planetary system. Using computer simulations to follow the development of planets, it was shown that very specific conditions are needed for a proto-stellar disk to evolve into a solar system-like planetary system. The simulations show that in most cases either no planets are created, or planets are formed and then migrate towards the disk center and acquire highly elliptical orbits.
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<\/a> DISCOVERIES ENABLED BY NEW TECHNOLOGY<\/strong>\u2022 Life in a Bubble
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>Invisibility Undone

Life in a Bubble \u2013 (MIT News \u2013 July 29, 2008)<\/a><\/strong>
Hundreds of insect species spend much of their time underwater, where food may be more plentiful. MIT mathematicians have now figured out exactly how those insects breathe underwater. By virtue of their rough, water-repellent coat, when submerged these insects trap a thin layer of air on their bodies. These bubbles not only serve as a finite oxygen store, but also allow the insects to absorb oxygen from the surrounding water. Thanks to those air bubbles, insects can stay below the surface indefinitely and dive as deep as about 30 meters. One possible avenue for technological application is that a similar bubble devise could supply the oxygen needed by fuel cells to power small autonomous underwater vehicles.

Invisibility Undone \u2013 (Science Daily \u2013 September 4, 2008)<\/strong><\/a>
Chinese scientists demonstrate how to uncloak an invisible object. According to new research, certain materials underneath an invisibility cloak would allow invisible objects be seen again. In recent years, scientists using special types of “meta” materials have shown that these materials are effectively invisible because of the way they interact with light. But invisibility, so far, has been a two-way street. With no light penetrating a perfect invisibility cloak, there would be no way for an invisible person to see outside. And therein lies the challenge which has been partially solved.

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<\/a> GENETICS\/HEALTH TECHNOLOGY<\/strong>\u2022 Vibrating Cells Disclose Their Ailments
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>Face Transplant Double Success
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>Eye Implants to Fight Progressive Blindness
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>Scientists Reprogram Adult Cells’ Function
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>Landmark Study Opens Door to New Cancer, Aging Treatments
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>Pollution Hinders Heart Pacing

Vibrating Cells Disclose Their Ailments \u2013 (Technology Review \u2013 September 9, 2008)<\/a><\/strong>
Bridging physics, engineering, and microbiology, researchers at MIT have measured the frequency at which red blood cells vibrate and have shown that those frequencies reflect the health of the cells. The research could lead to better medical diagnostics. A red blood cell has electrical, chemical, and biological activity taking place inside it, which causes nanoscale vibrations at its surface. To measure the cells’ vibrational frequencies, the researchers combined an imaging technique with diffraction phase microscopy, in which a laser beam that passes through a cell rejoins a reference beam that does not, creating a distinctive interference pattern.

Face Transplant Double Success \u2013 (BBC News \u2013 August 14, 2008)<\/strong><\/a>
The Lancet journal reported operations involving a bear attack victim in China, and a French patient with a massive facial tumor had taken place. The Chinese patient was given not just the lip, nose, skin and muscle from a donor, but even some facial bone. Professor Iain Hutchison, a consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon at Barts and the London Hospital said, “This takes a step forward in two ways – firstly the use of bone as well as skin – and next is carrying out this operation on someone with a benign tumor.\u201d

Eye Implants to Fight Progressive Blindness \u2013 (Technology Review \u2013 September 10, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has fast-tracked a novel treatment for two eye diseases: age-related dry macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. The treatment is a capsule that’s surgically implanted in the eye. Inside the capsule are genetically engineered cells that produce a protein that may prevent light-sensitive cells in the retina from dying–thereby protecting vision. The device is currently in phase II clinical trials. According to Weng Tao, chief scientific officer of Neurotech, there’s even evidence that the implant could promote retinal regeneration.

Scientists Reprogram Adult Cells’ Function \u2013 (Washington Post \u2013 August 28, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>Scientists have transformed one type of fully developed adult cell directly into another inside a living animal, a startling advance that could lead to cures for a variety of illnesses and sidestep the political and ethical quagmires associated with embryonic stem cell research. Through a series of painstaking experiments involving mice, the Harvard biologists pinpointed three crucial molecular switches that, when flipped, completely convert a common cell in the pancreas into the more precious insulin-producing ones that diabetics need to survive.

Landmark Study Opens Door to New Cancer, Aging Treatments \u2013 (Life Extension \u2013 September 2, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>Researchers at the Wistar Institute have deciphered the structure of the active region of telomerase, an enzyme that plays a major role in the development of nearly all human cancers. Researchers have attempted for more than a decade to find drugs that shut down telomerase – widely considered the No. 1 target for the development of new cancer treatments – but have been hampered in large part by a lack of knowledge of the enzyme’s structure. The study elucidates the active region of telomerase and provides the first full-length view of the telomerase molecule’s critical protein component. It reveals surprising details, at the atomic level, of the enzyme’s configuration and how it works to replicate the ends of chromosomes – a process critical to both tumor development and the aging process.

Pollution Hinders Heart Pacing \u2013 (BBC News \u2013 September 9, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>Air pollution from traffic hinders the heart’s ability to conduct electrical signals, a study has suggested. Exposure to small particulates – tiny chemicals caused by burning fossil fuels – caused worrying changes on the heart traces of 48 heart patients. Professor David Newby, professor of cardiology at Edinburgh University, said: “There is a whole wealth of data showing if you live in a polluted area you are more likely to get cardiovascular disease. The pollution levels in this study were not even that high yet they are still seeing changes, which is important.\u201d

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<\/a> ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES<\/strong>\u2022 Record Ice Loss in August
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>NASA Study Illustrates How Global Peak Oil Could Impact Climate

Record Ice Loss in August \u2013 (Arctic Sea Ice News and Analysis \u2013 September 4, 2008)
<\/a><\/strong>Following a record rate of ice loss through the month of August, Arctic sea ice extent already stands as the second-lowest on record, further reinforcing conclusions that the Arctic sea ice cover is in a long-term state of decline. With approximately two weeks left in the melt season, the possibility of setting a new record annual minimum in September remains open.

NASA Study Illustrates How Global Peak Oil Could Impact Climate \u2013 (Phys Org \u2013 September 10, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>The burning of fossil fuels has accounted for about 80% of the rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide since the pre-industrial era. Now, NASA researchers have identified feasible emission scenarios that could keep carbon dioxide below levels that some scientists have called dangerous for climate. To better understand the possible trajectory of future carbon dioxide, NASA researchers devised five carbon dioxide emissions scenarios that span the years 1850-2100. Each scenario reflects a different estimate for the global production peak of fossil fuels, the timing of which depends on reserve size, recoverability and technology.

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<\/a> ENERGY DEVELOPMENTS<\/strong>\u2022 PG&E Signs Historic 800 MW Photovoltaic Solar Power Agreements
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>World\u2019s Tiniest Fuel Cell Vehicle
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>New Geothermal Technology Could Tap 120,000MW of Energy
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>4 Creative Solutions to Energy Problems

PG&E Signs Historic 800 MW Photovoltaic Solar Power Agreements \u2013 (Opti Solar \u2013 August 14, 2008)
<\/a><\/strong>Pacific Gas and Electric Company has entered into two utility-scale, photovoltaic (PV) solar power contracts for a total of 800 megawatts of renewable energy. This will produce 1.65 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable energy annually, equivalent to the amount of energy needed to serve approximately 239,000 residential homes each year. These landmark agreements signal the arrival of utility-scale PV solar power that may be cost-competitive with solar thermal and wind energy.

World\u2019s Tiniest Fuel Cell Vehicle \u2013 (Inhabitat \u2013 August 19, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>Scheduled for release in early 2009, the Hydrocar by Horizon Technologies is powered by a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell. To make it work, just pour water into the fuel cell which is hooked up to a solar panel. The energy from the solar panel transforms the water into hydrogen and oxygen which in turn power the tiny vehicle\u2019s fuel cell. The manufacturer says this toy car is educational for children; actually it looks like great fun. 

New Geothermal Technology Could Tap 120,000MW of Energy \u2013 (Inhabitat \u2013 August 28, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>Ground has been broken on New Mexico\u2019s first geothermal power plant. Situated at Lightning Dock near Animas, the new plant will incorporate an innovative binary liquid technology that allows it to make use of the site\u2019s low levels of geothermal energy. Over 120,000 MW of untapped low-temp geothermal energy exist across the US. The project will be one of the first geothermal plants in the nation to incorporate the new breed of low-temperature technology featured in the developer\u2019s proprietary modular power plants. Each individual generation unit is manufactured off-site, delivered to the location, and rapidly installed to create, in essence, a geothermal farm with multiple 450 kW units.

4 Creative Solutions to Energy Problems \u2013 (USA Today \u2013 September 8, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>The U.S. is turning to alternative energy as never before amid concerns about global warming and runaway fossil-fuel prices. Wind and solar power, for example, each grew 45% last year. Through June, venture capital investments in alternative energy companies this year totaled $980 million, up 92% from a year earlier, according to Dow Jones VentureSource. Here are four technologies that show promise

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<\/a> INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY<\/strong>\u2022 Computer Viruses Make It to Orbit
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>Internet Traffic Begins to Bypass the U.S.
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>Wireless Sensors Learn from Life

Computer Viruses Make It to Orbit \u2013 (BBC News \u2013 August 27, 2008)
<\/a><\/strong>NASA has confirmed that laptops carried to the ISS in July were infected with a virus known as Gammima.AG. The worm was first detected on Earth in August 2007 and lurks on infected machines waiting to steal login names for popular online games. NASA said it was not the first time computer viruses had travelled into space and it was investigating how the machines were infected.

Internet Traffic Begins to Bypass the U.S. \u2013 (New York Times \u2013 August 29, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>Engineers who help run the Internet said that it was impossible for the United States to maintain its hegemony over the long run because of the very nature of the Internet; it has no central point of control. Data is increasingly flowing around the United States, which may have intelligence \u2014 and conceivably military \u2014 consequences. In December 2005, The New York Times reported that the National Security Agency had established a program with the cooperation of American telecommunications firms that included the interception of foreign Internet communications. Some Internet technologists and privacy advocates say those actions and other government policies may be hastening the shift in Canadian and European traffic away from the United States.

Wireless Sensors Learn from Life \u2013 (Phys Org \u2013 August 25, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>Researchers are applying principles learned from living organisms to design self-organising networks of wireless sensors suitable for a wide range of environmental monitoring purposes. Wireless sensors are becoming popular because the sensor nodes are small, simple and cheap and require no cabling to connect them together and to the control center. In a prototype sensor node now being developed the sensor nodes communicate with their neighbors to arrive at a consensus on what has been sensed. The network then finds the best path through the available nodes to relay this information to the control center.

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<\/a> TERRORISM, SECURITY AND THE FUTURE OF WARFARE<\/strong>A Way to Find Hidden Fingerprints \u2013 (Technology Review \u2013 September 4, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>Forensic scientist John Bond of the Northamptonshire Police, in the UK, has developed a new technique for finding fingerprints left on metals, like the cartridge from a spent bullet or fragments of an improvised explosive device, even if the perpetrator tries to wash the evidence clean. The technique is based on the discovery that certain metals, including copper and brass, corrode very slightly when touched, leaving behind a faint but indelible fingerprint which can be made visible by applying a voltage to the metal and coating it in a metallic powder.

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<\/a> AUGMENTED\/ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE<\/strong>Stanford Scientists Teach Robot to Learn \u2013 (Oakland Tribune \u2013 September 15, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>A team of Stanford University computer scientists has imbued a model helicopter with the ability to learn from experience. The learning method well-suited to helicopters, researchers said, because their flight dynamics are too complex for programmers to simply write out a list of instructions. It’s affected by everything, from the slightest cross breeze to the amount of gas in the tank, which changes the craft’s weight. That means every flight is different \u2014 so the robot can’t simply replicate someone’s controls and expect the same result. Instead, it must watch repeatedly to gain an ideal concept of each maneuver. In essence, it tries to figure out what the goal or what the intent of the human is, then it hones its own technique in a series of practice flights.

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<\/a> GLOBAL EPIDEMIC<\/strong>\u2022 Scientists Warn of Fatal Superbug ‘Epidemic’
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>Possibility of a Single Vaccine for All Forms of Bird Flu and Other Influenza
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>Indonesian Health Minister Accuses Rich Nations
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>Avian Flu: Historical Hysteria Giving Wing to Well-Designed Fear

Scientists Warn of Fatal Superbug ‘Epidemic’ \u2013 (The Age \u2013 September 8, 2008)
<\/a><\/strong>Australia is facing an epidemic of a drug-resistant superbug that attacks healthy teenagers and can be fatal, leading scientists have warned. Of particular concern is a new virulent form of the flesh-eating bug that can lead to a severe form of pneumonia that causes death in up to 50% of cases. Unlike hospital-acquired MRSA, which affects mostly elderly patients, the community strain of the bug carries far more toxic genes and can be picked up in communal settings. Similar bugs in the US have led to the deaths of several teenagers and schools being shut and disinfected. Associate Professor Keryn Christiansen, director of microbiology at Royal Perth Hospital said an outbreak of the new community-acquired version combined with the hospital variety could be catastrophic.

Possibility of a Single Vaccine for All Forms of Bird Flu and Other Influenza \u2013 (Smart Economy \u2013 September 7, 2008)<\/strong><\/a>
Researchers at Rutgers University and The University of Texas at Austin have reported a discovery that could help scientists develop drugs to fight the much-feared bird flu and other virulent strains of influenza. The researchers have determined the three-dimensional structure of a site on an influenza A virus protein that binds to one of its human protein targets, thereby suppressing a person’s natural defenses to the infection and paving the way for the virus to replicate efficiently.  This so-called NS1 virus protein is shared by all influenza A viruses isolated from humans \u2013 including avian influenza, or bird flu, and the 1918 pandemic influenza virus.

Indonesian Health Minister Accuses Rich Nations\u2013 (Smart Economy \u2013 September 8, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>Indonesian Health Minister accuses rich nations of creating ‘new viruses’ and sending them to developing nations in order create markets for drug companies to sell vaccines. With nearly half the world’s human bird flu deaths, concern is building over Indonesia’s refusal to share virus samples and its health minister’s increasingly strident denunciations of global \u2018conspiracies\u2019.
Indonesia stopped sharing the samples with the World Health Organization (WHO) in December 2006 on fears pharmaceutical companies would use them to make vaccines that are too expensive for poor countries.

Avian Flu: Historical Hysteria Giving Wing to Well-Designed Fear \u2013 (Natural Solutions Foundation \u2013 July 26, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>The Natural Solutions Foundation is concerned about the weaponization of the Avian Flu vaccine by the weaving of its genome with the otherwise non pathogenic (non disease causing) H5N1 Virus, now almost universally paired with the undeserved adjective \u201cdeadly\u201d. This virus is deadly only when weaponized in their opinion, and then it is very deadly indeed. The link above includes a compendium of news items, most recent first, about the Avian flu from a site called \u201cFlu Oddities\u201d (http:\/\/www.legitgov.org\/flu_oddities.html<\/a>). In different ways, both sites suggest that a bird flu epidemic may be an intentional government tool \u2013 for far more serious purposes than selling vaccines. 

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<\/a> NANOTECHNOLOGY<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>Stretchy, High-Quality Conductors
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>Physicists Invent \u201cQuIET\u201d- Single Molecule Transistors<\/strong>

Stretchy, High-Quality Conductors \u2013 (Technology Review \u2013 August 14, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>By adding carbon nanotubes to a stretchy polymer, researchers at the University of Tokyo made a conductive material that they used to connect organic transistors in a stretchable electronic circuit. The new material could be used to make displays, actuators, and simple computers that wrap around furniture, says Takao Someya, a professor of engineering at the University of Tokyo. The material could also lead to electronic skin for robots, he says, which could use pressure sensors to detect touch while accommodating the strain at the robots’ joints. Importantly, the process could work on an industrial scale.

Physicists Invent \u201cQuIET\u201d- Single Molecule Transistors \u2013 (Nanotech Briefs \u2013 August 25, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>University of Arizona physicists have discovered how to turn single molecules into working transistors. It’s a breakthrough needed to make the next-generation of remarkably tiny, powerful computers that nanotechnologists dream of. The device, called Quantum Interference Effect Transistor, has been nicknamed “QuIET.” Industry now uses transistors as small as 65 nanometers. This project proposes making transistors as small as a single nanometer, or one billionth of a meter.

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<\/a> TRENDS OF GOVERNMENT<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>Nouriel Roubini’s Global EconoMonitor
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>The World Fact Book<\/strong>

Nouriel Roubini’s Global EconoMonitor \u2013 (RGE \u2013 September 09, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>The US has performed the greatest nationalization in the history of humanity. By nationalizing Fannie and Freddie the US has increased its public assets by almost $6 trillion and has increased its public debt\/liabilities by another $6 trillion. The US has also turned itself into the largest government-owned hedge fund in the world. By injecting a likely $200 billion of capital into Fannie and Freddie and taking on almost $6 trillion of liabilities from them, the US has also undertaken the biggest and most levered leveraged buy-out in human history, having a debt to equity ratio of 30 ($6,000 billion of debt against $200 billion of equity).

The World Fact Book \u2013 (Central Intelligence Agency \u2013 no date)
<\/strong><\/a>This chart compiled by the CIA shows the current account balance of every country for which information was available or could reasonably be estimated as of 2007.  Of 188 countries, China had the largest current account balance, standing at $360.7 billion.  At the extreme opposite end of the table, the United States had the lowest current account balance: -$738.6 billion.  The U.S. may be the only country on earth with the economic resources to be that far in debt \u2013 and most of that debt is held by the countries with the positive current account balances.

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<\/a> CONTACT AND THE EXPLORATION OF SPACE<\/strong>Invertebrate Astronauts Make Space History \u2013 (Wired \u2013 September 8, 2008)<\/strong><\/a>
The toughest creature on Earth has survived a trip into space. Except for a few hardy strains of bacteria, any other creature would have been destroyed — but tardigrades handled the voyage as though it were a dry spell on their local moss patch. “They have claws and eyes. They are real animals. And this is the first time such an animal was tested in space,” said Petra Rettberg, an Institute of Aerospace Medicine microbiologist. The tardigrades had already been coaxed into an anhydrobiotic state, during which their metabolisms slow by a factor of 10,000. This allows them to survive vacuums, starvation, dessication and temperatures above 300 degrees Fahrenheit and below minus 240 degrees Fahrenheit.

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<\/a> ECONOMIC INDICATORS<\/strong>\u2022 Experts Predict Deal on Alabama County’s Debt
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>No Cash? No Problem, If You Barter

Experts Predict Deal on Alabama County’s Debt \u2013 (Business Week \u2013 September 10, 2008)
<\/a><\/strong>Wall Street creditors will probably “take a hit” and reach a settlement with Jefferson County in Alabama to avoid a prolonged bankruptcy proceeding. Jefferson County, which has a $3.2 billion debt crisis over a massive sewer project gone awry, got into the mess in the mid-1990s because local officials who didn’t understand Wall Street were lured into exotic financial instruments that were riskier than most people knew. Richard Ciccarone, managing director of McDonnell Investment Management, said the county’s experience may not be isolated. “The crisis we’re facing in municipal bonds is large and could be systemic,” Ciccarone said, noting that the problem could be compounded by dramatic drops in property values that account for most local governments’ tax bases.

No Cash? No Problem, If You Barter \u2013 (CNN \u2013 September 02, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>The ranks of Americans who are bartering — trading goods and services without exchanging money \u2013 are growing as a way to cope with tough economic times. There were some 142,000 listings in the barter section of Craigslist in July, or almost double the number posted during the same month last year, according to Craigslist spokeswoman, Susan MacTavish Best. Other Web sites that put Americans in touch with like-minded people who are willing to trade everything under the sun have also seen a boost in traffic. SwapThing, which lists almost 3.5 million “things” available for trade, reports its customers are bartering for different reasons than before. Businesses have long recognized the benefits of bartering, and there are hundreds of barter networks set up across the country to fill their needs. They use barter credits as currency, so a plumber in need of a filling doesn’t need to search for a dentist’s office with plumbing problems to make a deal. He can fix a leaky pipe for one member of a network and use the credits he earned for that job at any other.

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<\/a> DEMOGRAPHICS<\/strong>\u2022 Desalination Made Simpler
<\/strong>\u2022 <\/strong>The Geography of Personality

<\/strong>Desalination Made Simpler \u2013 (Technology Review \u2013 July 30, 2008)<\/strong>
<\/a>Getting access to drinking water is a daily challenge for more than one billion people in the world. Desalination may help relieve such water-stressed populations by filtering salt from abundant seawater, and there are more than 7,000 desalination plants worldwide, 250 operating in the United States alone. However, the membranes used in nano-filtration tend to break down when exposed to an essential ingredient in the process: chlorine. A new membrane has been designed using polysulfone, a thermoplastic that is highly resistant to chlorine. Previous researchers have attempted to design chlorine-tolerant membranes using polysulfone but have been hampered because the material is extremely hydrophobic, and doesn’t easily let water through.

The Geography of Personality \u2013 (Newsweek \u2013 August 23, 2008)
<\/strong><\/a>About 20 years ago scientists established that combinations of five basic dimensions\u2014extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to new ideas and experiences\u2014account for all personalities. The five dimensions can be reliably measured with questionnaires. Armed with the resulting data, scientists are showing that personality predicts such important outcomes as health, job performance and academic success\u2014 things that we pretend are matters of conscious control or public policy. Since personality is so important to both social and individual outcomes, the hunt is on for which traits vary geographically and why.

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<\/a> JUST FOR FUN<\/strong>The Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites \u2013 (PC Mag \u2013 no date)<\/a>
<\/strong>Well, obviously they are not really undiscovered, but here are 100 relatively obscure websites highlighted by PC Magazine.  From Animoto which can auto-generate cool slideshow videos using your own uploaded photos and music to Catalog Choice which is a free service that lets you refuse catalogs you no longer wish to receive, there is probably something for everyone. 
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<\/a> A FINAL QUOTE…<\/strong>An object is not first imagined or thought about and then expected or willed, but in being actively expected it is imagined as future and in being willed it is thought. \u2013
Samuel Alexander


A special thanks to:, Erik Beaumont, Bernard Calil, Ken Dabkowski, Walter Derzko, Neil Freer, Ursula Freer, Humera Khan, Deanna Korda, KurzweilAI, Steve McDonald, Planet 2025, Sebastian McCallister, Diane C. Petersen, John C..Petersen, Planet 2025, the Schwartzreport, Joel Snell, Gary Sycalik, and Steve Ujvarosy, our contributors to this issue.

If you see something we should know about, do send it along – thanks.
johnp@arlingtoninstitute.org<\/a>
<\/a><\/td>		<\/td>In This Issue:<\/strong>PUBLICATION ANNOUNCEMENT<\/a><\/strong>FUTURE FACTS – FROM THIS ISSUE<\/a><\/strong>INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE<\/a><\/strong>NEW REALITIES<\/a><\/strong>DISCOVERIES ENABLED BY NEW TECHNOLOGY<\/a><\/strong>GENETICS\/HEALTH TECHNOLOGY<\/a><\/strong>ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES<\/a><\/strong>ENERGY DEVELOPMENTS<\/a><\/strong>INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY<\/a><\/strong>TERRORISM, SECURITY AND THE FUTURE OF WARFARE<\/a><\/strong>AUGMENTED\/ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE<\/a><\/strong>GLOBAL EPIDEMIC<\/a><\/strong>NANOTECHNOLOGY<\/a><\/strong>TRENDS OF GOVERNMENT<\/a><\/strong>CONTACT AND THE EXPLORATION OF SPACE<\/a><\/strong>ECONOMIC INDICATORS<\/a><\/strong>DEMOGRAPHICS<\/a><\/strong>JUST FOR FUN<\/a><\/strong>A FINAL QUOTE…<\/a><\/strong>Contact Info<\/a><\/strong>Links<\/a><\/strong> Links<\/strong>The Arlington Institute<\/a>World’s Biggest Problems<\/a>A Vision for 2012<\/a>TAI Presents<\/a>FUTUREdition Archive<\/a> Contact<\/strong>Edited by John L. Petersen
johnp@arlingtoninstitute.org<\/a>

www.arlingtoninstitute.org

The Arlington Institute
192 E. Fairfax Street
Berkeley Springs, WV 25411
Office: 304.258.7901
Fax: 304.258.7902<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Volume 11, Number 16 – 09\/17\/08     PUBLICATION ANNOUNCEMENT John Petersen wrote his newest book \u201cto provide a framework for the next administration \u2013 or any organization, for that matter \u2013 for thinking about how to deal with the great change that appears to be on the horizon\u201d.  Priests, shamans, and holy men have […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[46],"class_list":{"0":"post-59506","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-futuredition","7":"tag-newsletter"},"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arlingtoninstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arlingtoninstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arlingtoninstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arlingtoninstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arlingtoninstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arlingtoninstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59506\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arlingtoninstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arlingtoninstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arlingtoninstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}