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Open question: How do you stop an assassin when the assassin is a poisonous robotic bumblebee? What about one hundred poisonous robotic bumblebees? You might

Open question: How do you stop an assassin when the assassin is a poisonous robotic bumblebee? What about one hundred poisonous robotic bumblebees? You might think these unfeasible near term, but a drone that simply flies high and drops 300 dumb, poison-tipped flechettes (think capillary-powered syringe tips) is feasible today, isn't it? (Sorry for the derail, I think the product looks great, I'm just commenting on the rapid development pace of drones so far, wondering what implications might be in another ten years)

djb_hackernews 12y ago
s/drone|robotic/zeppelin/g This sort of Technophobia has been around since the beginning of civilization. Instead of focusing on the FUD, we should try to focus on the good.
- calibraxis 12y ago
  Do people here not predict and counter downsides of their actions? Is this how they work all day, with an attitude of, "Hey, it'll be fine"?
  - ZenoArrow 12y ago
    It seems to be rare, especially when it comes to new science and technology. Sadly, with the military being such a large customer in these fields, we do end up with a lot of undesirable tech. The most effective way to reduce it is cut it off at the source (i.e. reduce military spending).
  - recursive 12y ago
    Close. I say "There's no problem. Everything is fine.".
- aeturnum 12y ago
  I mean, let's talk about the fear around zeppelins. Zeppelins were used to bomb Paris in WW1[0], which wasn't that effective overall. By the time WW2 rolled around, we have the bombing Zeppelin 2.0 - the long range strategic bomber. So I suppose what I'm saying is that, when people said "what will we do when they start using these huge flying things to attack us?" The answer was, "Nothing, your city is going to be destroyed." So maybe use another example of, "old FUD," because it seems like the people worried about Zeppelins were absolutely right. :) [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_strategic_bombing_during_World_War_I http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_strategic_bombing_during...
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Lambdanaut 12y ago
How do you stop a terrorist group from dropping loads of anthrax from a low-flying plane? Hopefully the tech is too hard to come by for any nutjob to build it, but I wouldn't be surprised if miltitaries start weaponizing them.
- deleted 12y ago
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ghostdiver 12y ago
Flying drones without permissions(registred aircraft, pilot license etc.) is illegal in some countries already.
- proexploit 12y ago
  People carrying out assassinations don't exactly care about flight regulations.

djb_hackernews 12y ago

s/drone|robotic/zeppelin/g This sort of Technophobia has been around since the beginning of civilization. Instead of focusing on the FUD, we should try to focus on the good.

calibraxis 12y ago
Do people here not predict and counter downsides of their actions? Is this how they work all day, with an attitude of, "Hey, it'll be fine"?
- ZenoArrow 12y ago
  It seems to be rare, especially when it comes to new science and technology. Sadly, with the military being such a large customer in these fields, we do end up with a lot of undesirable tech. The most effective way to reduce it is cut it off at the source (i.e. reduce military spending).
- recursive 12y ago
  Close. I say "There's no problem. Everything is fine.".
aeturnum 12y ago
I mean, let's talk about the fear around zeppelins. Zeppelins were used to bomb Paris in WW1[0], which wasn't that effective overall. By the time WW2 rolled around, we have the bombing Zeppelin 2.0 - the long range strategic bomber. So I suppose what I'm saying is that, when people said "what will we do when they start using these huge flying things to attack us?" The answer was, "Nothing, your city is going to be destroyed." So maybe use another example of, "old FUD," because it seems like the people worried about Zeppelins were absolutely right. :) [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_strategic_bombing_during_World_War_I http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_strategic_bombing_during...

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Lambdanaut 12y ago

How do you stop a terrorist group from dropping loads of anthrax from a low-flying plane? Hopefully the tech is too hard to come by for any nutjob to build it, but I wouldn't be surprised if miltitaries start weaponizing them.

deleted 12y ago
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ghostdiver 12y ago

Flying drones without permissions(registred aircraft, pilot license etc.) is illegal in some countries already.

proexploit 12y ago
People carrying out assassinations don't exactly care about flight regulations.