If sci-fi films have warned us once, they've done it a thousand times: machines will be the death of us all. But in an unexpected ray of hope from across the ocean, some scientists may be working to prevent our impending demise from coming to pass.... OR ARE THEY?
The fear that our doom will come at the pincers, claws, hydraulic rams or holographic actuators of our own mechanical helpers dates back long before the era of science fiction - probably back to shortly after the discovery of sticks.
Somehow we've always felt, deep down, what was on the way... the golems of Jewish lore, Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' (and his 1956 Hollywood version 'Forbidden Planet'), most of James Cameron's career, all paint the same picture.
But now, the "Center for the Study of Existential Risk" - aka, and I kid you not, 'the Centre for Terminator Studies', is set to open at Cambridge U. in England.
It's announced purpose will be to evaluate the 'greatest threats to the human species' and will be staffed by some of the major names in respectable scientific harrumphology, including the UK's Astronomer Royal Lord Rees and another estimable personage who is actually named - I'm still not kidding - "Huw Price".
If this starts to seem like a hopeful sign of prudence, foresight and caution, go get your heavy-duty eye protectors and take a glance at this other news item: the Europeans are also working to develop the world's most powerful laser.
It is expected focus nearly 200 million, billion watts of power onto a single dot, and someday will be capable of - again, I'm being all too serious here - "ripping apart the fabric of space-time" itself. (yikes!)
If anyone has not already figured out, this doomsday ray - which is being likened to the 'Death Star' weapon from Star Wars - will also be sited in the UK. They expect to have the first stages of the machine operational by 2017.
And by 2018, I suspect all the longstanding debates about gun control is going to seem pretty... quaint. The end is near!
The fear that our doom will come at the pincers, claws, hydraulic rams or holographic actuators of our own mechanical helpers dates back long before the era of science fiction - probably back to shortly after the discovery of sticks.
Somehow we've always felt, deep down, what was on the way... the golems of Jewish lore, Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' (and his 1956 Hollywood version 'Forbidden Planet'), most of James Cameron's career, all paint the same picture.
But now, the "Center for the Study of Existential Risk" - aka, and I kid you not, 'the Centre for Terminator Studies', is set to open at Cambridge U. in England.
It's announced purpose will be to evaluate the 'greatest threats to the human species' and will be staffed by some of the major names in respectable scientific harrumphology, including the UK's Astronomer Royal Lord Rees and another estimable personage who is actually named - I'm still not kidding - "Huw Price".
If this starts to seem like a hopeful sign of prudence, foresight and caution, go get your heavy-duty eye protectors and take a glance at this other news item: the Europeans are also working to develop the world's most powerful laser.
It is expected focus nearly 200 million, billion watts of power onto a single dot, and someday will be capable of - again, I'm being all too serious here - "ripping apart the fabric of space-time" itself. (yikes!)
If anyone has not already figured out, this doomsday ray - which is being likened to the 'Death Star' weapon from Star Wars - will also be sited in the UK. They expect to have the first stages of the machine operational by 2017.
And by 2018, I suspect all the longstanding debates about gun control is going to seem pretty... quaint. The end is near!
About the Author:
Ben Scott is a blogger whose muse is shadenfreude (a German word meaning "laughing at another's misfortune") - you can read more of his whimsy at Why We're Doomed and if you enjoyed this essay, you'll probably love this post!
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