else 9.9: We Got Yer Star Trek Right Here

This week in our round up we look at near-future advances in body scanners, self-driving sensors, and robots. We also read about what happens next as the internet’s fundamental trust architecture is on shaky grounds with the latest NSA revelations.

As always, if you want to keep up with what we’re reading/thinking about on a weekly basis, the best way is to subscribe to the “else” feed, either as an email newsletter or through RSS.

Holy Spock! The Star Trek Medical Tricorder Is Real, And It’s Only $150 – Gizmodo
The stuff of science fiction eventually inspires real technology. The SCOUT body scanner reads “your pulse transit time, heart rate, electrical heart activity, temperature, heart rate variability and blood oxygenation” in less than ten seconds.

Self-driving cars will bristle with sensors – CNET
There are a lot of layers of data that allow the driverless cars to “see” and navigate the world around them. Part of an ongoing series on the topic.

Robots: Is the uncanny valley real? – BBC
Is the threshold for “creepiness” shifting as we become more familiar with our new robot friends?

The US government has betrayed the internet. We need to take it back – The Guardian
Now that the trust infrastructure of the internet has been called into question, Bruce Schneier rallies technologists and engineers to blow more whistles and expose details about the how the NSA is getting around encryption. Bruce is an important voice to follow in this story, and he’s a Fellow at the Berkman Center along with Sara.

Verizon-F.C.C. Court Fight Takes On Regulating Net – New York Times
Meanwhile, net neutrality, that is whether or not content providers could pay infrastructure providers like Verizon for special delivery privileges, is (always) up for debate. Another important axis around which our story spins.

Consumer Subject Review Boards: A Thought Experiment – Stanford Law Review Online
What’s the worst that could happen with advertisers using your data? Ryan Calo suggests asymmetric manipulation of data is the real concern and proposes a Consumer Subject Review Board to review ethics of data use.

Facebook Delays Controversial Privacy Policy Change – The Huffington Post
Facebook is holding off on policy changes that would allow them to use your likeness in an advertisement. Remember the last time they tried to do that? In short, this is going to happen.