The Effects of the Internet on the Brain

From my own personal experience, I find it more difficult to concentrate on something which requires sustained attention – when reading a book, for example – than I used to in the past. I believe that this diminishing ability to concentrate is a result of the internet; more specifically, the way in which I (and…

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Conflict Minerals: The Sad Truth About Technology

Conflict minerals are minerals which are mined in areas of armed conflict, most notably the Democratic Republic of Congo. The control of the mines which contain these very valuable minerals is the source of a great deal of conflict. The conflict exists between the Congolese National Army and rebel groups, such as the Democratic Forces…

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Democracy 2.0: Internet-Based Voting

Recently, Ontario’s Chief Electoral Officer, Greg Essensa, has said that the province should test online voting in the form of a pilot project during the upcoming by-election. Essensa issued a massive 271-page report (called the Alternative Voting Technologies Report) on the issue, in which he claimed that we should embrace technological changes in order to…

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Cryonics and the Definition of ‘Death’

Cryonics, which is usually confused with cryogenics, is the preservation of humans and animals using low temperatures. It is used on humans and animals which cannot be kept alive using modern medicine and the aim is that resuscitation would be possible at some future time. Preserving people and animals with cryonics – also called cryopreservation…

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Evolving Machines: What is the Future of Technology?

Moore’s Law, named after the Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore, says that the number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles every two years. Put more simply, computer processing power doubles every two years. Moore noted the trend in 1965 and it has held true ever since then. A super-computer which decades ago took up the…

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