An important discovery is set to provide new possibilities in dealing with the Mediterranean fruit fly and the olive fruit fly, two insects that are particularly harmful to crops. After …
the racist origins of the American high-tech industry
How the tools built for the U.S. census fueled the Nazi genocide, concentration camps, and state racism—and helped launch the digital age. On a frozen December day in 1896, an …
the ideological management of climate change
“In the event that intense climate change phenomena occur, that is, an average global temperature increase of 2.6 degrees Celsius by 2040, then large-scale non-linear environmental events will cause large-scale …
neurobehavioral signals: “health” instead of “defense”
The proposal is fitting for its time: by collecting personal data from various sources, suitable algorithms can make a “psychiatric diagnosis” – enough to identify potential mass killers… In the …
big data: monitoring and shaping behaviors in the 4th industrial revolution
Surveillance has been transformed from an element of governance into governance itself. It is simultaneously government (system) and governability (self-awareness and cooperation, where the prisoner becomes the guardian of himself). …
Foucault in cyberspace: surveillance, sovereignty and embedded censorship
[ Original title: Foucault in Cyberspace, Surveillance, Sovereighty, and Hard-Wired Censors.James Boyle is a professor at Duke Law School, where he teaches courses on intellectual property and the constitution in …
surveillance and discipline in the 4th industrial revolution
The claim of “natural freedom” in the cyberverse may also seem old in our parts; Although his golden fifteen years (in ‘90s and ‘00s) are not so ancient. The fact …
blockchain: towards a legislative technology
In the previous issue (Cyborg #14) we made a brief reference to blockchain. Using the example of the first and basic application of blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and specifically bitcoin, we …
DARPA wants to create weapons controlled directly by the mind
Last year, the American DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) announced that it seeks to find non-invasive ways “to achieve high levels of communication between brain and mechanical systems without …
the “philosophical” concerns of the mechanization of everything
At the beginning of the 21st century, the problematization of consciousness, in other words the formulation of questions such as “what is consciousness?”, could not belong to what has historically …
How is consciousness explained?
Right now you have a movie playing in your head. It’s an incredible movie with multiple pieces. It’s three-dimensional, with multi-channel sound for whatever you see and hear at this …
neuroengineering: the gears of mechanical consciousness
4 years ago (June 2015, cyborg #3) we asked whether consciousness and memory are techno-scientific objects. The answer is “yes” – not strange at all. Meanwhile, the social (and political) …