By Heather Edwards, Jennifer L. Moore  & Jack Mangan

Legendary Science Fiction visionary Arthur C. Clarke is among the members sending a message and genetic signature. Clarke envisioned the use of sails to catch solar radiation in his 1972 short story “The Wind From The Sun”. 

UFO insurance... don’t leave earth without it. That’s the message behind The UFO Abduction Insurance Company, who for a nominal fee will offer $10,000,000 worth of insurance in the event you’re beamed up by an Unidentified Flying Object. A policyholder can’t be turned down for age or frequent flyer status, according to the UFO insurance Web site at www.ufo2001.com; however, you do need to possess a sense of humor. Each personalized policy includes a frequent flyer endorsement and a claim form, which requires the signature of an authorized alien. For a limited time, the company will throw in a free UFO flying disc with each new policy. The Web site offers secure online ordering for the UFO enthusiast. 

A new satellite may be zooming in on the remains of Noah’s Ark. For over 50 years, people have been keeping a close eye on an anomaly on Mount Ararat in Turkey, believing it may be the lost ark. According to space.com, experts feel this anomaly-which is 600-feet long- may be man-made and may have characteristics of an ancient marine structure. Although the mountain has been closed since the early 1990s because of Turkish military efforts against Kurds, pictures have been taken via satellites such as Space Imaging’s IKONOS. A new satellite, QuickBird 2, will be launching next month and, if all goes as planned, will be snapping pictures of the anomaly during its mission. The QuickBird 2, operated by EarthWatch Incorporated, can focus on objects that are only about 20 inches across.

At Ai’s website (www.a-i.com), they refer to Hal as the “child machine”. Their goal is to raise a self-aware computer-program generated being from a very basic starting point. 

“The Ai child-machine began with no words, no knowledge, and very few guidelines - just a simulated desire to learn. It was programmed with some basic, useful rules of information theory, so that it can recognize patterns - and patterns of patterns.” 

Their child machine learns through communication with human trainers, who foster Hal’s development through the use of a system of punishments and rewards. The human trainer edits Hal’s output in such a way as to foster normal human language development. 

“In 2000, we began with a babbling infant, emitting consonants, and were able to bring him to the developmental equivalent of 15 months in 10 months time; a few months later, the child was speaking with the ability of an 18-month old.” 

Hal is now 18-months old, and the results so far have been very encouraging. The company’s site even claims to have fooled a few child development specialists who viewed transcripts of conversations with Hal without being told that it was the output of a computer program. They stated that the child is a healthy, developmentally normal little boy. 

“The answers that the child-machine has begun to give us are uncanny and display intelligence, moving from simple babbling to reasonable, realistic responses within months. Steadily and carefully, and with great devotion, we are "raising a baby" who will have a unique, creative mind of its own.” 

 
Excerpts from website: Artificial Intelligence. 2001. The Child Machine. [Internet] Available from http://www.a-i.com/ [Retrieved August 23-25, 2001.]  

 

Jennifer L. Moore is a writer based in the Washington, D.C. area.  Ms. Moore writes often on New Age and metaphysical topics.