The conversation shifts to nanotechnology and its potential for both creation and destruction. Kosko warns about programmable nano-weapons that could target specific ecosystems or even genetic groups, and introduces the concept of "nano-garbage," the unforeseen environmental consequences of disposing computers laden with exotic nanomaterials. He also raises concerns about stem cell and cloning research restrictions pushing technological advantages to China and other nations without such limitations.
Art opens the first hour with observations about unusual ionospheric conditions affecting shortwave radio propagation, reports of mass whale and dolphin strandings in Australia, and warnings from the WHO about a coming flu pandemic linked to bird flu. Callers contribute stories about electrified fences near broadcast towers and a former defense worker who claims involvement in early HAARP development.
Key Moments
Art: Something is wrong with the ionosphere: Art reports a two-month, unprecedented disruption of short-skip propagation on the low bands and says retired NOAA contacts admit they don't know what's causing it.
Borel-Cantelli and another major attack: Asked the odds of a 9/11-or-greater attack in the next decade, Kosko cites the Borel-Cantelli Lemma and puts the probability at at least 90 percent.
How easy a dirty bomb really is: Kosko explains a dirty bomb is just hospital or food-plant radiation wrapped around plastic explosive, and the panic and Patriot Act-style legislation it would trigger may matter more than the radiation itself.
China and the patent race in stem cells and cloning: Kosko argues U.S. restrictions on cloning and stem-cell research simply transfer the technological advantage to China, where the Chinese already file aggressively and don't enforce the prohibitions they do have.
Engineering an airborne AIDS-like virus: Asked about the 12 Monkeys scenario, Kosko says you could in theory take a virus like AIDS, make it mutate faster and become airborne or mosquito-borne, comparable to what wiped out Native populations after Spanish contact.