A British scientist claims to be the first person infected with a computer virus. Dr. Mark Gasson of the University of Reading in the UK implanted himself with an RFID tag similar to the type used to identify animals, and then infected the tag with a computer virus.
"This technology has really developed over the last five or ten years. And now we should consider these devices to be like little computers that can store information, manipulate information and perform computations. So when we are implanting this type of device we are implanting a miniature computer... But with these advances in technology come new risks.
What I can do is [add to the existing information on the chip] a computer virus. So what this allows the chip to do is, when the chip is sensed by another computer, the chip infects the computer with the virus."
Science fiction readers recall that in Snow Crash, the 1992 novel by Neal Stephenson, a virus called Snow Crash is created that is both a mind-altering virus in the real world and a computer virus in the virtual world (the Metaverse).
"I don't see the connection between David's computer having a crash and you calling an ambulance..."
"...It was flashing up a large amount of digital information, in binary form. That digital information was going straight into Da5id's optic nerve..."
"Da5id's not a computer. He can't read binary code."
"He's a hacker... That ability is firm-wired into the deep structures of his brain. So he's susceptible to that form of information... A metavirus.
Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness?
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.' - Isaac Asimov, 1975.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
Prairie Madness - And Space Sickness
'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...'
'Old People Began to Cross The Continent In Their Own Cars'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
Starfall Manufacturing Drugs In Space
'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.'
The Solar Oberth Slingshot
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?'
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'