Advances in Bio-weaponry

kjh1 writes "Technology Review is running an eye-opening article on how biotechnology has advanced to the point where producing bio-weapons that were once only possible with the backing of governments with enormous resources is now possible with equipment purchased off eBay. You can now purchase a mini-lab of equipment for less than $10,000. The writer also interviewed a former Soviet bioweaponeer, Serguei Popov, who worked at the Biopreparat, the Soviet agency that secretly developed biological weapons. Popov has since moved to the US and provided a great deal of information on the types of weapons the Soviets were developing."

Comments

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[Davey McDave]

A WMD that's marketed specifically for evil geniuses that are on a tight budget. The days of cheap minion labour are behind us, guys, gotta look after the pennies.

Ten grand?

[MyLongNickName]

Heck for $2.50, I can go to Taco Bell and be a WMD the rest of the day.

My girlfriend just peeked over my shoulder...

[Dante Shamest]

GF: Why are they writing about the Soviets in the past tense?
Me: Er, because they're in the past?
GF: Huh?
Me: Um, the Soviet Union collapsed more than a decade ago. Didn't you know that?
GF: Get out of here! I thought China was still around.
Me: Honey, the Soviet Union is modern day Russia. Not China.
GF: What? I thought Soviets were commies, and the Chinese are commies.
Me: Yes, but the Soviets were Russians.
GF: The Russians are Chinese?
Me: No! NO! NOO!
GF: Jesus. You don't have to yell! I was just asking!
Me: Alright, alright, I'm sorry.
GF: So how do the Nazis fit into all this?
Me: NAZIS!? Are you pulling my leg?
GF: I'm not!
Me: ...then I'm leaving you.
GF: ...

You can't make this shit up I tell you.

That was the first and only...

[Cyno01]

Yes, sarin is a nerve gas. And think about it, they pumped a bunch of poisin gas into a confined space with thousands of people, and managed to kill a total of 12. And this is the largest scale terrorist chemical attack ever!

From wikipedia:

The first successful use of chemical agents by terrorists against a general civilian population was on March 20, 1995. Aum Shinrikyo, an apocalyptic group based in Japan that believed it necessary to destroy the planet, released sarin into the Tokyo subway system killing 12 and injuring over 5,000. The group had attempted biological and chemical attacks on at least 10 prior occasions, but managed to affect only cult members. The group did manage to successfully release sarin outside an apartment building in Matsumoto in June 1994; this use was directed at a few specific individuals living in the building and was not an attack on the general population.

Sucessful dispersal of chemical and biological agents is tough. Government funded programs have not been very effective, what makes anyone think that terrorists could come up with an effective delivery system.

Me thinks thou doth protest too much...

[Lord Kano]

Hello Dante, let me introduce myself. I'm Lord Kano, and I'm about to expose you.

Your post caught my eye because it was really funny. Then I started to wonder what else you talk about in your posts.

Looking at your recent posting history I have found the following.

Negroponte says Linux too 'Fat'

• I have enough problems without slashdot starting to sound like my girlfriend.

Startup Webaroo to put the 'Web on a Hard Drive'?

• Would the downloadable content include porn?
  
  Er, I'm asking this in order to, er, protect my girlfriend's sensibilities. Can't have her unwittingly downloading such naughty stuff you know. =)

Two Unofficial IE Patches Block Attacks

• Are you related to my girlfriend? Because she asks smart questions like you. =)

So many references to your "girlfriend" in so short a time aroused my suspicions so I decided to google for '"Dante Shamest" girlfriend' and guess what I found.
THIS proof that you are a liar with no girlfriend.

• I fooled somebody into thinking that I had a girlfriend.
  
  But...I don't.

You've been using the same bullshit ruse for over a year now. It's ok if you're celibate, but it's just plain pathetic to lie about having a girlfriend.

LK

Re:Me thinks thou doth protest too much...

[jpardey]

Of course there isn't a big conspiracy. A oonspiracy requires more than one person, and it is quite clear you are singular.

Invasion Target

[Sathias]

Does this mean that America is going to invade E-bay?

Re:Bill Joy and others saw this years ago

[Shihar]

You can't stop science.

This isn't like a video game where you need to go down the 'horrible biological weapons' research tree in order to get horrible biological weapons. The same technology that lets you engineer a crop that can end world hunger or create new organs from scratch is the same path that leads to horrible weapons. You can't simply pick the good over the bad. By advancing forward you WILL uncover the bad and make available the tools to do terrible things. The only option you have left is to either grind to a technological standstill or simply do your best to fend off dangers as they come.

The only way to stop technology is to put in place a world wide totalitarian government that ruthlessly enforces 'sustainable' living and the freeze of technology. By "sustainable", I don't mean the crunchy American tree hugger version that involves eating a lot of soy and riding a bike while still enjoying central heating and electricity. I mean brutal Maoist style raw utilitarianism that merrily sheds lives in favor of the higher goal of a "sustainable" society out our present technology level.

This of course is an utter impossibility. Our system is like a shark. It moves forward or we all die. No little tweaks on society is going to make it so that we can maintain this state of technology forever. We will run out of resources and technology will either have an answer waiting or everything collapses.

The only answer is to cross your fingers and hope to hell that a Kurzweil utopia is right around the corner. The best thing we can do now is try and build defense when it is possible and blindly sprint forward hoping to hell that somewhere along the way an answer jumps out before something terrible happens.