2019
Year of the Rat
Islamic calendar 1439-40

10% of world population now residents of virtual nations
Discovery of clean energy transfer
EU and North America form Transatlantic Federation
In a countermeasure, China and India announce plans to merge as Sino-Indian Federation

Children of Aqua underwater research project
World's first totally synthetic nerve implanted in 3-year-old patient
Forget Jules Verne - Around the World in a MINUTE with DHL's android personal courier service
Big Brother is watching your genes, be on your guard!
Ingrid in the raw in Miss Universe pre-competition telecast
COMMENT:Medical and military breakthrough becomes contentious fashion statement

Transcript of address to UN Security Council by Chairman of UN TechCom, 13.6.2019

Children of Aqua underwater research project

keywords: TechCom, COA, Children of Aqua, underwater research, Aquanaut Programme, additional SC budget funding

The field research team under the auspices of the UN Children of Aqua project yesterday marked up six months underwater, without once having surfaced during this time. The team members are all equipped with a specially-designed water-suit, which absorbs oxygen from the surrounding water and allows the wearer to breathe normally at diving depths.

As you will all be aware, the COA project was launched some eighteen months ago, after the UN cancelled its Aquanaut Programme. The reason was the tragic loss of all the aquanaut children in a tank accident. Following this disaster, the United Nations put together a committee of marine experts who presented a report recommending that the continuation of genetic adaptation for life underwater carried too high a risk and was likely to cause unnecessary suffering to the children involved in the experiment. Instead the experts contacted a number of research establishments in the marine biology sector and together with these established a broad-based project team which took the name Children of Aqua, as a permanent memorial to the aquanaut babies.

Last year COA presented its prototype water-suit, which has a number of quite astonishing properties. You will I hope forgive me if I use some technical terms to describe these, but I do this in order that you may be aware of the importance and possibly the revolutionary impact of this research.

The most important feature of the suit is that it is capable of absorbing oxygen from seawater through its surface. In order that the surface-area should be as large as possible to maximize oxygen intake, the outside of the suit is deeply lined and folded, as you can see from this illustration. The oxygen is absorbed into a chemical solution which binds it very efficiently. The chemical solution is circulated through a kind of branchial artificial gill-system, after which oxygen is released for the diver to breathe. From the gills, the solution is passed back to the surface layers of the suit and oxidised once again - thereby guaranteeing the diver's continued supply. The exhaled carbon dioxide and the other major gas present in air - nitrogen - are circulated via a different route to a chemical filtering unit which removes the carbon from the CO2, leaving the greater part of the oxygen - and also nitrogen - available for re-introduction into breathing system. In other words, there is little oxygen loss in the course of the cycle, and the intake through the folds of the water-suit is adequate to make up for any shortfall, allowing divers to work and live at depth without needing to surface.

At present, it is necessary for divers to remain at traditional aqualung depths, since the nitrogen contained in the air being breathed may cause decompression sickness ("the bends" - resulting from dissolved nitrogen in the bloodstream) and nitrogen narcosis, the intoxicated state sometimes known as "raptures of the deep". In uninterrupted dives lasting perhaps several months or longer, nitrogen cannot be replaced by helium as in the case with short deep-sea forays. Helium is a poor insulator, and if a diver breathes and uses the gas for long periods, he will risk hypothermia. Naturally it is possible if necessary to heat the water-suits electrically, but no conventional store of energy can be expected to last for several months. Hence the diver's own body has to maintain a stable temperature, and nitrogen remains an integral component in the gas being breathed.

On the positive side, oxygen toxicity is not a problem for the COA divers, since the processor in the water-suit adjusts the pressure of the oxygen in accordance with the current depth at which the diver is working. If this were not so, then the pressurized oxygen would condense at greater depths - in fact already at depths of less than 100 metres - to the point where it becomes toxic; in other words the oxygen is so strong that it begins to burn the diver's lung tissue.

According to an interim report issued by COA, whilst results to date have been very encouraging, the technology of the water-suit is nevertheless far from being perfected. The problems referred to above will have to be addressed and solved if man wishes to dive without danger to greater and more useful depths. One possible solution currently under investigation is that of producing in the water-suit a continuous chemical reaction which would generate small quantities of heat. The search is on for some kind of catalytic component that might allow the fusion of small quantities of magnesium and oxygen dissolved in sea water. This would generate enough heat to allow for the replacement of nitrogen with helium, freeing divers to work for long periods at depths down to 500 metres. If this were possible, then nearly all of the world's continental shelf areas would be open to detailed exploration.

There is one small but familiar obstacle to the further development of the COA project, and that is funding. The latest round of cost-cutting measures called for within the UN, along with the increasing expense of peace-enforcement troops in several countries, has led to serious reductions in the annual allocations made to COA operations under the TechCom budget. With budgets at their present level, COA cannot continue this valuable work - in fact, I may as well tell you that the financial position is so dire, they have funds enough to last them only until the day after tomorrow.

For this reason I have approached you in this unusual fashion, honourable members of the Security Council, to urge you to make available funding with which to continue this project. I can assure you that the potential results, both in terms of our exploitation of the riches of the continental shelves and in terms of our understanding of life in the deeps, are nothing short of colossal, and I am sure I do not need to remind you that it is in all our interests that this be a truly global venture, and not fall into the hands of unscrupulous private speculators. Thank you for your attention.

Compumedia 4.7.2019

World's first totally synthetic nerve implanted in 3-year-old patient

In Chicago yesterday, a medical team led by Prof. Adlay Maharina succesfully implanted in a 3-year-old child with a congenital hearing defect the world's first completely synthetic nerve.

The synthetic nerve replaced a damaged auditory nerve. This morning, the child woke up to hear for the first time his mother's voice. According to the nurses and doctors present at the occasion, the look on the boy's face was best described as one of stunned astonishment.

The synthetic auditory nerve was manufactured by installing in a glass tube of 8 µm in diameter roughly 100 small computer processor units and a chemical-electric conductor. The synthetic nerve has already been tested on animals, but there have been disputes as to the interpretation of the results. The transplant carried out in Chicago indicates beyond doubt that it is possible to manufacture a working artificial nerve. Thus far science has been able to replace nearly all the organs in the human body with man-made substitutes - the sole exceptions have been the brain, the nerves, and neurally-driven systems.

Professor Maharina forecasts that in the course of the next decade we shall see progress that allows even the brain and parts of the brain to be replaced by artificial means. It is already possible to emulate the greater part of the brain's activity in memory holograms, and research towards 100% emulation is going on at a furious pace. Several research centres are also competing in the race to model the brain and the nervous system with artificial nerves.

According to information received this morning, the news of the neural transplant breakthrough has sparked a heated discussion within the United Nations. A number of delegates would like to see a worldwide ban on neuroscientific modelling. Their spokesman, the Asian Union's Ambassador to the UN, commented to Compumedia: "The path these people are embarking on may result in a human that has been completely refitted with artificial limbs and organs and which is thus essentially a robot or humanid. Such a creature may be more efficient and wiser than we mere mortals, and may in time render us unnecessary and obsolete."

Further details on this story: sat.web. 990-4-RT-COMPUME

DHL, 20.9.2019

Forget Jules Verne - Around the World in a MINUTE with DHL's android personal courier service

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When you enter the virtual cockpit, you will see the surroundings at your destination - let's say Sydney, Australia - through the eyes of the Remotivator™ android, and you can move the limbs of your Remotivator™ perfectly naturally, just as if they were your own. It will feel exactly as though you have travelled to the spot yourself - but without the effects of jetlag, travel-weariness, and surly immigration officials! The Remotivator™ is so lifelike that people on the spot will believe that it is YOU who is taking those pictures of the Opera House ruins, or soaking up the safe-sun on Bondi's indoor beach.

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Hardy Ghostens
EVP, REMOTIVATOR™ SALES
DHL (A MEMBER OF THE SATWEB GROUP OF COMPANIES)

Cyberpunk Pirate Worldwide 9.11.2019

Big Brother is watching your genes, be on your guard!

Warning! This message is important!
Your privacy is under threat and is being invaded constantly without your knowledge.
Cell samples can be taken from you when you least expect it.

It could be your regular partner, your insurance company, your bank manager, a virtual bordello, or for example the personnel staff at a job interview. Cell specimens can be taken from pieces of loose or flaking skin, from saliva left on the rim of a drinking glass, from sperm after intercourse, from vaginal discharges, from hair left on a comb or brush, and even from sweat exuded during virtual adventures. Your cell specimen will reveal to the user if you have a tendency towards happiness, aggression, poor health, your energy and diligence in the workplace, or even your capacity for scheming and two-timing. On the basis of what the cell culture reveals, THEY can determine how your future looks!

As you probably know, we at Cyberpunk Pirate Worldwide are directly opposed to all forms of surveillance and invasions of privacy. We still have much to do in this area.

However, we do now have at our fingertips a powerful pharmacological antidote to some of the most typical forms of intrusive genetic inspection. Unfortunately it does not provide cover for samples taken from hair or nail clippings, but in the case of many other parts of the body or bodily secretions it has been shown to work very well. The medication is based on a process of broad gene manipulation that acts on all new skin cells. It alters large unused areas of your genomic structure to provide a gene fingerprint that resembles the typical patterns used in such inspections. After treatment with the drug, you will still be your old self, but your cell samples will be "de-individualized" and will reveal no specific results when run through conventional gene testing devices.

This message comes to you with a built-in worm virus that has already passed it on automatically to all addresses found in your mailing lists. The virus contains an encoded return address, such that your orders and payments may reach us without exposing either you or Cyberpunk Pirate Worldwide to online mail monitors. For the development and postage of the drug, we are obliged to bill you the EUR 1,000 specified in the virus. The drug will be sent to you by conventional mail, courier service, or amongst your regular grocery deliveries within approximately seven days of receipt of your order. Act without delay to free yourself of the chains of Big Brother and his control-freaks! Carpe diem!

Cyberpunk HQ Marketing
Willi Freenet, Director


Brothers and Sisters, Keep the Faith!
We can outsmart THEM - We SHALL Overcome!
Long live Cyberpunk - We still have our own free will!

Finnish News Media Relay - Havanna, 27.11.2019

Scandal in front of 62 million viewers

Ingrid in the raw in Miss Universe pre-competition telecast

A fault in the control unit driving Ingrid Mikkola's digiderm sheath resulted in the disappearance of her carnival skin during dress rehearsals for tomorrow's Miss Universe finals in Havanna. The rehearsals were beamed via several pay-per-view news channels, and at least 62 million viewers worldwide saw more of Finland's #1 beauty than she or the competition organizers had bargained for.

It was fortunate that the accident occurred during rehearsals, as the actual competition will be telecast via free channels also to numerous nations where public nudity is illegal. Now the naked truth about the Finnish Miss was revealed only in those countries for whom nudity is familiar.

Ingrid Mikkola, who has been extremely popular with retro-flowerpower enthusiasts in the run-up to the competition, and who is currently quoted at 8 to 1 to win by Hill-Ladbrokes of New York, had as expected chosen digital skin as her competition outfit. This was accepted into the Miss Universe rules for the first time last year. The skin grown on Ingrid is similar to other synthchameleon versions now available and can change tone and colour through a broad palette, and is made up of some 300 independently driven areas. It is possible for contestants in the pageant to use digital skin in the swimsuit, carnival, and bodypainting sections of the competition.

The weak link in the Biomed-Benetton digital sheath on this occasion proved to be the control system designed by Swatch and equipped with Microsoft software. For reasons that are as yet unclear it allowed all 300 areas of the sheath to become transparent, and at the same time shut down the heating system throughout, thus rendering the wearer completely naked as God made her.

Miss Mikkola herself was quick to level the blame at "spoilers", suggesting this was a crude stunt by cyberpunk radicals. A group of activists has in recent weeks organized a number of spectacular attacks on the data nets and has been responsible for manipulating outcomes in numerous entertainment, sports, and news events. There has been no confirmation of the group's involvement in Ingrid's case. Previously they have not extended their operations to personal digital organs such as the body sheaths used in beauty pageants.

The competition organizers have stressed that Ingrid herself has contravened the rules of the Miss Universe pageant since the control system used in her digiderm costume is prone to virus attack, and she has downloaded her virtual outfits from the supplier across a public net without adequately secure encryption keys. A spokesman for the Data Security Council lamented the incident, but repeated earlier warnings on the data security of digital organs and on the importance of vigilance in protection.

Finnish News Media Relay - 27.11.2019

COMMENT

Ingrid in the raw in Miss Universe pre-competition telecast

The unfortunate disrobing of Miss Ingrid Mikkola has once again prompted discussion of that old favourite of the editorial columnists - digital skin. The very first graftskin constructs were developed at the end of the 1990s, and the colour shadings developed for cosmetic purposes came onto the market in 2002. In those days, artificial skin was heralded as a triumph of biomedicine.

As so often, the next phase was that the military got hold of the idea and developed its own applications, which were kept as classified information for many years. During that time artificial skin became equipped with such things as heating elements and fluid and energy collection and storage systems, for instance allowing wearers to operate under hostile battlefield conditions without support. Then a few years ago, the fashion houses and couturiers began to sit up and take notice, and artificial skin appeared on catwalks and in catalogues. At this point, we heard the first doomsday warnings of the sad decline of biomedicine. And yet, over the months and years public opinion slowly came around to the view that artificial skin was cool - especially when prices dropped to the level of household data- & multimedia systems or private cars.

One group has stood out against artificial skin from the outset, and has been equally outspoken in its criticism of the latest digital skin version of "the Emperor's new clothes" - the Roman Catholic Church. In his Vatican Encyclical of September 2011, Pope William expressly stated that the manipulation of genes and the artificial alteration of the human form is contrary to the beliefs of the Church of Rome - whether the changes are made through wholesale genomic adjustment or only on those genes controlling the surface cell tissue.

Hannula I. & Linturi R. 1998: 100 Phenomena.
Yritysmikrot Oy, Helsinki 1998. Copyright notices ISBN 952-9508-18-2