A recent Unknown Country news article outlined the results of a poll in which representatives from the global population were canvassed for their opinions. The poll asked participants which from a list of dangers they considered to be the most likely to threaten continued human existence.

The options given in the poll ranged from nuclear weapons, religious and ethnic hatred, pollution and environmental disasters, economic crisis and disease. Yet, according to an Oxford philosophy professor who has performed extensive research in the field of all such existential threats, the biggest threat to mankind’s future may be "super-intelligence."
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Scientists have found a way to send brain-to-brain messages using brainwaves connected to computer technology.

A team of researchers from the University of Barcelona in Spain, Axilum Robotics in France, Harvard Medical School and Starlab Barcelona in Spain used EEG headsets to record the electrical activity in the brain related to the formulation of the words ‘hola’ and ‘ciao.’ A computer then converted these messages into binary and used electrical stimulation to implant the information into the receiver’s mind, which then appeared as specific flashes of light in the corner of their vision. The "telephathic" greeting was sent from subject in Thiruvananthapuram, India to another in Strasbourg using only brain-power.
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Science-fiction is littered with tales of cybernetic revolt, such as the legendary "Colossus and Guardian" team from the books of Dennis Feltham Jones, or SKYNET from the Terminator series of films, where super-computers, originally built to augment Man’s own power, seize that power for themselves and attempt to wipe out their creators.

The super-computers are typically given global access to all information, including nuclear warhead control systems, which they then use to systematically obliterate the world.

Of course, we would be far too sensible to do anything similar in reality, wouldn’t we?
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In this age of performance augmentation, rumors of cognitive enhancement therapies abound. Loosely defined, certain types of cognitive enhancers are available to us all without needing to visit the doctor or a drug-dealer; the vast majority of the world’s inhabitants kick-start their day (and their brain!) with a cup of tea or coffee, utilising the caffeine content of favorite beverages to chemically augment their neurological systems and give them a temporary high that propels them through the initial shock of a brand new day.
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