Information OverloadCan too much information can kill you? Researchers are staring to believe that information anxiety may become the disease of the 1990s. By Wilson da Silva CELL PHONES ringing in cafes. Faxes whirring in the home. Catalogues cramming the letterbox.… Dec 03 96December 03, 1996Article at 21C Magazine
Brave New WombThere is a new baby boom. Embryo research has developed well beyond in-vitro-fertilization programs. Medical scientists are now developing cloning techniques, offering genetic screening and using foetal tissue for disease prevention.by Wilson da… Jun 01 96June 01, 1996Article at 21C Magazine
Net ProphetIn his immaculate Italian suit, Nicholas Negroponte looks more like an international financier than one of the leading thinkers of the information age. His new book, being digital, may have propelled the head of MIT’s Media Lab into the spotlight but… Dec 01 95December 01, 1995Article at 21C Magazine
The Plague Fearsby Wilson da SilvaANXIOUS SCIENTISTS in space helmets and bubble suits. Troops blockading cities, while panicked citizens try to break through quarantine lines. A doomsday virus spreading rapidly, its victims bleeding through the eyes while their… Oct 01 95October 01, 1995Article at 21C Magazine
Outbreak OutbackNew viruses aren't always found in exotic locations: for the first time since the measles arose almost 1,000 years ago, a new deadly morbillivirus has emerged. Are scientists facing the grandfather of yet another deadly viral strain, this time from… Oct 01 95October 01, 1995Article at 21C Magazine
Life off EarthReligions could crumble, science could grind to a halt, and human culture stultify – that’s the scenario some predict if we discover intelligent life beyond Earth. What are the chances of life existing elsewhere? And would be impact really be so… Mar 01 95March 01, 1995Article at 21C Magazine
The Complaint of CultureFrom genocide in Rwanda to ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, a new cultural tribalism is leading to the decline of the West.By Wilson da SilvaHUTUS and Tutsis massacred in Rwanda. Turkish hostels aflame in Germany. Fleeing Kurds gunned down by Iraqi… Sep 01 94September 01, 1994Article at 21C Magazine
From the Outback to the New FrontierThe outback. Dusty red roads, shimmering salt flats and the dry, searing heat ... It’s only fitting that Australia’s latest efforts to buy into the space business are to begin here, in the old Woomera rocket range where Australia become the third… Mar 01 93March 01, 1993Article at 21C Magazine
A Goanna in TigerlandIs Australia an economic backwater about to sink into the chasm of Third World despair? By Wilson da SilvaHERE'S A GUESSING GAME you can try at a party: What country am I? I have an economy about as big as that of all the ASEAN nations combined. I… Mar 01 93March 01, 1993Article at 21C Magazine
Artificial Life in the Fuzzy LaneThe fuzzy logic that makes the artificial intelligent is already in washing machines and production lines. But how close are we to simulating neurons for a virtual cortex? By Wilson da SilvaTHREE STOREYS below the teeming cacophony of Kowloon in… Dec 01 92December 01, 1992Article at 21C Magazine
Murder is NaturalBy Wilson da Silva THERE IS NOTHING new about the cruelty of humanity. Chimpanzees massacre chimpanzees. They commit genocide, conduct war, murder, adultery. Orangutans rape their females and gorillas kill their young. Humans are primates… Dec 01 92December 01, 1992Article at 21C Magazine
Lasers on My MindBy Wilson da SilvaSIX YEARS ago, neurosurgeon Andrew Kaye would have given his patient 36 weeks to live. Today, after brain surgery, radiation therapy and firing lasers into the man’s head, the same patient is still visiting the Melbourne… Sep 01 92September 01, 1992Article at 21C Magazine
The Never Ending StorageBy Wilson da Silva THEY’RE fast-charging, deliver more power for half the cost and don’t look anything like your average lead-acid battery – they are vanadium redox cells. Developed at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), they have the potential… Sep 01 92September 01, 1992Article at 21C Magazine
The Wait of the WorldBy Wilson da SilvaSOME YEARS AGO, an Amazon Indian named Paiakan stayed with David Suzuki, the Canadian geneticist and science broadcaster. One of the first things the proud chief did on arriving at Suzuki’s Vancouver home was insist on new bedsheets… Jun 01 92June 01, 1992Article at 21C Magazine
Robots Stay Bottom of the Class By Wilson da SilvaPROFESSOR Marvin Minsky is quick to the point. The bespectacled and slight man, one of the founders of artificial intelligence, says today’s computers already “think”, but they have a serious problem – they lack common… Dec 01 91December 01, 1991Article at 21C Magazine
