Posts tagged mind

Photo: Scientists are researching how to link your brain to your devices, such as a computer or a smartphone

Century-old technology colossus IBM has depicted a near future in which machines read minds and recognise who they are dealing with.

The “IBM 5 in 5” predictions were based on societal trends and research which the New York State-based company expected to begin bearing fruit by the year 2017.

“From Houdini to Skywalker to X-Men, mind reading has merely been wishful thinking for science fiction fans for decades, but their wish may soon come true,” IBM said in its annual assessment of innovations on the horizon.

“IBM scientists are among those researching how to link your brain to your devices, such as a computer or a smartphone,” it continued.

IBM gave the examples of ringing someone up just by thinking it, or willing a cursor to move on a computer screen.

Biological makeup will become the key to personal identity, with retina scans of recognition of faces or voices used to confirm who people are rather than typing in passwords, the company forecast.

“Imagine you will be able to walk up to an ATM machine to securely withdraw money by simply speaking your name or looking into a tiny sensor that can recognise the unique patterns in the retina of your eye,” IBM said.

“Or by doing the same, you can check your account balance on your mobile phone or tablet,” it continued.

Technology will also be able to produce electric power from any type of movement, from walking or bicycle riding to water flowing through pipes of homes, IBM predicted.

Mobile phones will narrow the digital divide between “haves and have-nots” by making information easily accessible and junk email will be eliminated by smarter filtering and masterful targeting of ads people like, according to IBM.

AFP

(Source: abc.net.au)

Belgian police have found the body of a woman at the home of a gunman who opened fire on Christmas shoppers, as the city of Liege held a vigil for the victims.

A search of the home of Nordine Amrani found the body of a 45-year-old woman, who prosecutors believe was killed before he went on his murderous shooting spree in a town square packed with families.

The woman’s body was found in a shed which 33-year-old Amrani had used to grow cannabis and store illegal weapons, the prosecutor general in Liege, Cedric Visart de Bocarme, said on public radio RTBF.

It is believed she worked as a cleaner for a neighbour of the gunman.

Amrani, who was previously jailed for possession of arms and drugs offences, hurled grenades and sprayed bullets into crowds of Christmas shoppers and children in a central square in the eastern city of Liege on Tuesday.

Two youngsters aged 15 and 17 and a 17-month-old baby died in the lunch-hour grenade and gun attack.

The baby became the latest victim after succumbing to injuries overnight, with a 75-year-old woman who had previously been reported dead in critical condition along with several others.

More than 120 people were injured and taken to local hospitals.

It is still unclear what drove Amrani to carry out the attack. Released on parole just over a year ago for drug offences, he had been summoned by police in the morning but never showed up.

Instead he headed to the central Saint Lambert square, where prosecutor Daniele Reynders said he clambered onto the bakery roof “and fired and then threw three grenades”.

Ms Reynders said Amrani shot himself after the attack.

“He left no message to explain his act,” she said.

The statement cleared up speculation he may have died accidentally when a fourth grenade he was carrying exploded.

A spokesman for Belgium’s crisis response centre said there was no indication it was a terrorist attack.

“The enormous concern we have is how it was possible for someone seemingly sensible and normal to do this,” Mr Visart de Bocarme said.

“It was a delinquent; someone who had difficulties throughout their life.”

‘It’s traumatic’

Belgian prime minister Elio Di Rupo expressed horror at the attack and travelled to the city, 90 kilometres east of Brussels, as did the country’s king and queen.

Belgian institutions held minutes of silence before starting business while messages of condolence came in from abroad.

Place Saint Lambert appears largely back to normal and the Christmas market, the largest in Belgium, is set to reopen.

A number of bus shelters lack glass, shattered by the bullets and grenades that also put a hole into a nearby wall.

Flowers lay beside one shelter. “To the families destroyed by an imbecile without moral values or hurt by an armed madman or shocked by the drama, I give them all my support,” read one card.

Local people expressed shock, sadness and fear.

“It’s traumatic,” said high school student Robin Hames, whose sister was in the same class as a 17-year-old boy who died.

“You meet him in school and he will never come back. He didn’t do anything. It was an exam day and he never came home.”

ABC/AFP/Reuters

(Source: abc.net.au)

A man has opened fire on a crowded market square in Liege, in eastern Belgium, killing five people and injuring dozens more with bullets and grenades.

Christmas shoppers using their lunch break to peruse the market stalls in the city’s Place Saint Lambert were sent screaming and running for their lives when the man opened fire in the square.

Three people were killed at the scene and two others, including a two-year-old girl, have died since.

Seventy-five people were injured and ferried to local hospitals.

Witnesses say the attacker started firing a gun into the crowd and throwing hand grenades.

“Coming out of the high court, I saw a man on a cafe terrace … with a bag at his feet,” witness Nicolas Gimenne said.

“He reached in to pull something out, which I thought was a stone or something like that.

“He threw something maybe 20 yards, onto a bus shelter that exploded.”

“I saw in the markets all the people lying down bleeding - between the glass,” another witness said.

Gaspard Grosjean, a journalist for a local Liege newspaper, was in the square moments after the attack.

“We saw people with bullet wounds in their shoulders, their hands,” he said, adding that he had seen one dead body.

“I see people completely scared, people are crying, everyone is on their phones.”

Police have named the gunman, who also died during the attack, as 33-year-old Nordine Amrani.

They do not know what his motive was, but say he had a meeting with police earlier about a case he was involved in.

He had previously served jail time for drug and weapons offences.

“He has no history of terrorist acts,” prosecutor Daniele Reynders told a news conference.

A spokesman for Belgium’s crisis response centre also said there was no indication that it was a terrorist attack.

Belgian prime minister Elio Di Rupo expressed horror at the attack and travelled to the city, 90 kilometres east of Brussels.

The police closed down the centre of Liege for a number of hours, with helicopters circling overhead and ambulances arrived from as far away as neighbouring the Netherlands.

Police and other officials had no immediate information on a possible motive for the attack.

ABC/wires

(Source: abc.net.au)

The US University of Virginia Tech is in lockdown amid reports of a gunman on the loose.

The university’s website is reporting that a police officer has been shot, and warning everyone on the campus to stay inside and secure their doors.

“Suspect remains at large. A police officer has been shot. A potential second victim is reported at the Cage lot. Stay indoors. Secure in place,” a statement on the site said.

The website also reported there was a potential second victim on the campus.

Virginia Tech is the site of the worst ever university shooting, when student Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people during a gun rampage before taking his own life.

More to come.

(Source: abc.net.au)