[LINK] Electromagnetic pulse artillery shell

[David]

I think it's sad and a little depressing that people can spend their days working on projects like this, but I suppose it's marginally better than nuclear weapon development.  I see one of the four SBIR "Mission and Program Goals" is to "Foster and encourage participation in innovation and entrepreneurship by socially and economically disadvantaged persons."  Right...

However it does remind us how vulnerable is the "infrastructure" of a big city and its ongoing operation when everything is online & interconnected.  Complexity tends to be justified on the basis of efficiency, but there's a reciprocal relationship between complexity & vulnerability.

For example, if all the traffic lights in a CBD are networked back to a central control system the traffic throughput might be amazing, but nothing would move if the system failed.  Or it was hacked.

The stability of a complex system is also an issue, as we see occasionally in power networks.

These issues will only become bigger as populations increase at an accelerating rate.

"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan...

David L.