Random Scariest Current Technologies (20 items)

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  (#1) Your Smart House Is Probably Spying On You

  Some people dream of a high tech home that is perfectly catered to them in every way, and finally that is becoming a possibility. There is a danger to this dream however, as smart homes are not always as benevolent as you would hope. All of those digital appliances that are hooked up to the internet have the capability to collect very personal data concerning your daily habits, and your ISP has the right to sell whatever data it slurps up from those devices. Everyone has pretty much accepted things like browsing history and other records from personal computers and phones are often sold to third parties, but smart homes are even more invasive. If you have a security camera installed in your home, videos are fair game for sharing with third parties. Some smart TVs are equipped with a microphone that's always on, meaning it has the potential to record random conversations that happen even when you're not watching television. 

  It's invasive enough to think random advertisers are peaking into your personal life to such a degree. However, it's even scarier to wonder what happens if parts of a smart home are hacked. In the wrong hands, someone could figure out when you're not home, listen in on private conversations, or even catch you naked on your security camera.
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  (#2) Killer Drones Might Actually Be A Serious Problem

  Drones have been used in countless roles since their surge in popularity, capable of everything from package delivery to advanced military combat. As drone technology gets cheaper and more available to the general population, concerns are rising about the potential for an individual to use autonomous drones to carry out a terror attack on a civilian population. One viral video produced by an organization hoping to ban the use of killer drones shows just how easily a large scale attack can be perpetrated by drones. All it would take is a small amount of explosive to turn a harmless recreational drone into a flying slaughterbot.

  There have already been some instances of drones being used as weapons. Drones are already used on the battlefield in the Middle East and American hackers have found a way to mount guns on drones. In other words, we may live in a time when a civilian can buy a drone and design to target and kill a specific individual or group of individuals. 
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  (#3) People Are Learning How To Hack Cars

  As any driver's ed teacher will tell you in a heartbeat, cars can be deadly weapons. Car collisions are already the fourth most common cause of death for Americans today, but those numbers could rise as extremist hackers learn how to take control of computerized vehicles. Given more and more cars come equipped with things like Internet and Bluetooth, this could potentially make cars as susceptible to hackers as the average computer. A hacker could carry out an assassination from a distance by taking control of a car and deliberately crashing it. Even worse? The murder would be essentially undetectable. 

  While there have not been any confirmed instances where a terrorist used a hacked car in an attack, the threat is looming over the entire automobile industry. Researchers have already proven that you can hack a car and remotely control steering and acceleration, so it may be only a matter of time before criminals take advantage of this. 
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  (#4) Russia May Be Designing A New Type Of Nuke That Could Wipe Out Entire Coastal Cities

  While the Cold War may be a thing of the past, the geopolitical repercussions are still being felt to this day. Russia is still very much a nuclear power, and decades of relative peace haven't stopped them from developing new and more advanced nuclear weapons systems. The US has announced their discovery that Russia has created a nuclear missile that is more powerful than any other ever built, and it was designed to be used on coastal targets.

  The missile is purportedly fired from a submarine that is virtually undetected by radar. The submarine, according to the Pentagon, could detonate nukes onto coastal cities from the ocean via a torpedo. If you're wondering if there's an good news, not everyone is convinced that this doomsday missile is even real. Some officials believe that the missile is little more than a disinformation campaign aimed to confuse US military forces. For the sake of the future of humanity, let's hope the nuke torpedo is no more than false reporting and propaganda.  
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  (#5) Ransomeware Can Be Used To Shut Down Critical Services

  Cyber attacks are increasingly appearing in the headlines, and their sophistication and potential for damage is growing every day. One common tool used in cyber attacks is something called ransomware, a type of computer virus that holds data hostage until the victim pays a ransom to get it back. Posing as an e-mail from a familiar company - like FedEx, a cable or internet provider, or the gas company - hackers get victims to open a link. The link then downloads a computer's hard drive and locks the user out, presenting a message saying they can only get back into the computer after paying ransom. 

  A ransomware virus known as WannaCry was behind a 2017 cyber attack that targeted the UK's National Health Service. The attack locked down computers in hospitals throughout the country, causing a national emergency that would last for several days before the virus could be deactivated. Without serious upgrades in computer security, attacks like these could happen with devastating regularity. So, next time you get a seemingly innocent email from a familiar company, use extreme precaution before opening any attachments. 
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  (#6) Your DNA Code Can Be Sold By Sites Like Ancestry.com

  Genetic analysis has made its way into the commercial market, and now anyone can have their genome sequenced at a relatively low cost. While finding out your genetic roots might sound appealing, you might want to read the fine print before you give over your DNA. When you ship off your genetic sample to be analyzed, you are giving away the right to use your DNA in any number of ways. While you don't lose your personal ownership to your genetic code, you are giving permission for companies to sell data taken from your genes to third parties. From there, there's no telling what kind of experiments will be run on your personal DNA. 
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  (#7) Bots Are Changing The Way Opinions Are Formed Online

  Social media has become a daily ritual for most Americans, but the time we spend online may be severely affecting our social and political discourse. Online propaganda is at an all time high, and it's being used by various entities to shape political discussions on social media. One of the most common tools used to alter public perceptions online are bots, simple programs that are designed to do rudimentary tasks. This can include things like sharing links, hashtags, and comments on various platforms.

  Bots often repost certain information and share it target audiences, with the goal of swaying public opinion. It's not uncommon for bots - especially in areas like Russia, where propaganda is common - to share conspiracy theories, false stories, and other nefarious information to manipulate citizens. This is just another reminder to never take an article as gospel and take the initiative to fact check everything you read. 
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  (#8) Trail Cams Are Being Hacked And Used To Hunt Endangered Animals

  Technology is at the heart of many conservation efforts meant to help endangered species around the world, but those same advancements are being used against conservationists. Trail cams set up to monitor endangered wildlife are being hacked by poachers looking to track rare animals for sale on the black market. It's not just trail cams though, as hackers are also breaking into wildlife tracking devices and monitoring social media for clues regarding the location of specific animals. Tourists posting photos of rare animals to social media should think twice before hitting that upload button, as poachers can use location tags to locate vulnerable species. 
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  (#9) Fracking Is Causing Massive Earthquakes

  Renewable energy sources are the way of the future, but natural gas remains a necessary resource for many industries. Hydraulic fracking is a relatively new method of extracting natural gas from underground pockets, which uses high pressure fluids to penetrate deep into the earth. The process is highly controversial, particularly because one of the major side effects is spontaneous earthquakes. States like Oklahoma who have seen a fracking boon are also experiencing a drastic increase in the number of earthquakes they are experiencing, a phenomenon that could have deadly repercussions. 
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  (#10) Amazon's Facial Recognition Could Be Used For Mass Surveillance

  Amazon's facial recognition system, Rekognition, was introduced in late 2016. The service is meant to identify faces and various items in images. Shortly after its inception, Amazon began pitching the service to law enforcement organizations as a means to help criminal investigations. A few original adapters of this program included the Orlando Police Department in Florida and the Washington County Sheriff's Office in Oregon. In Oregon, the program is used to check photos of unknown suspects against mug shots already in their system. 

  While fans of this technology believe it is a strong tool for catching criminals, others, like the American Civil Liberties Union, see it as a potential weapon that can be used to convey mass surveillance on an unsuspecting public. On May 22, 2018, the ACLU, along with other privacy supporters, asked Amazon to stop providing the software to law enforcement, believing it could "easily build a system to automate the identification and tracking of anyone." The ACLU suspects Rekognition could be abused, identifying "people of interest" – such as undocumented immigrants or Black activists – for the government.
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  (#11) 3D Printers Could Have People Printing Guns In Their Own Home

  While 3D printers may sound like a fun and largely harmless new tech trend, leave it to human beings to find a way to make them violent. The gun debate in America is as heated as it's ever been, and people across the nation are looking for a solution to the violence. Many Americans believe that stronger regulations are necessary to combat gun crime, but 3D printing might make any new regulations obsolete. 3D printed guns are already a thing, and assault style rifles like the AR-15 can be printed with relative ease. You don't even need to print the whole gun, as you can just print the most important parts and then order the remaining ones online. Various websites sell design files and software to help users print and assemble their own guns. 

  Guns created via 3D printers are completely unregistered and readily available to anyone with the correct supplies, even people who could not legally purchase a gun otherwise. In fact, in 2013, a man used a home-assembled AR-15 to murder five people in Santa Monica, California. He had previously been denied the right to purchase a gun commercially due to mental health reasons. As 3D printers become more common, it's possible that millions of people will have access to tiny gun factories right in their homes.
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  (#12) Boston Dynamics Is Engineering Our Robot Overlords

  When it comes to terrifying robots, Boston Dynamics leaves its competition in the dust. They have been responsible for some of the most remarkably mobile robots ever developed, and all of those robots look like they want to enslave humanity. Their massive quadruped BigDog is a lumbering pack mule that sounds like it's powered by angry hornets, and PetMan is an almost human automaton that looks like it was plucked straight from a Terminator movie. Give any one of Boston Dynamics' creations a weapon and we'll probably be dead in a matter of weeks.  

  In 2018, Boston Dynamics released a video of SpotMini, a dog like robot that opened a door to let a second SpotMini pass through. This was a notion some found even more terrifying than the robot that pushed its way through a door in a previous video. In addition to being able to recognize, turn, and open a doorknob, SpotMini was programed to ignore and overcome a hockey stick wielding man trying to stop it. Not only can Boston Dynamics robots now surpass barriers, they'll also ignore anyone or anything that gets in their way. Needless to say, this is nightmare fuel for those who fear the singularity and subsequent robot takeover. 
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  (#13) FakeApp Is A Program That Can Swap Faces In Videos At A Hollywood Level

  Thanks to powerful computers and user-friendly programs, Hollywood level special effects can be pulled off by people in their pajamas. That sounds like a good thing, but people have already found ways to use the new tech for morally questioanble purposes. FakeApp, a new program that allows you to face swap with hyper-realistic accuracy, has recently caused controversy after users began putting the faces of famous actresses onto adult film stars. High profile celebrities like Michelle Obama have been victims of this practice, and it's becoming clear that nobody is safe from this sort of technology.

  Anyone can be inserted into one of these programs and the implications of this are terrified. Could angry exes create their own revenge porn via FakeApp, for example? New laws may have to be drafted to protect people from having their likeness used in explicit video content. 
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  (#14) An Australian Physician Made A 3D-Printed Suicide Machine

  Called the "Elon Musk of assisted suicide," Dr. Philip Nitschke announced he was at work on a 3D-printed suicide machine known was "The Sarco" (sort for sarcophagus.) Users climb into the device and the Sarco will then slowly decrease oxygen, allowing the person to lose consciousness and pass peacefully. As euthanasia is legal in Australia, the device is legal. To gain access, which comes in form of an access code that's valid for 24 hours, users have to prove they're mentally fit and have legitimate reasons to want to end their lives. While there are certainly arguments to be made for the right to a peaceful death, there's something a little chilling about a coffin-like device that seals users in and then suffocates them. 
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  (#15) Virtual Reality Is Being Used To Show Dying People What Death Will Feel Like

  One of the most existentially horrifying applications of virtual reality is being tested by Frank Kolkman, a visionary designer with some very macabre ideas. He has created a virtual simulation that shows people what death might feel like, and he's doing it to help dying patients come to terms with their fate. Kolkman believes that "the fear and experience of death is a neglected topic," and that "if we began treating our anxieties surrounding death, it might mean the process of dying could become more comfortable." While this is form of technology at least has more benevolent intentions, it's understandable to find the idea of seeing a preview of your own death a little terrifying. 
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  (#16) Researchers Know How To Hack Robots

  In addition to being used on computers, Ransomware can also be used to hack into robots. In March, 2018, researchers hacked into a SoftBank Robotics NAO humanoid robot as part of a security test. They successfully infiltrated the robot and were able to demand bitcoins as payment to end the hacking. They could also make the robot access data, say curse words, and display controversial material like adult videos. These brands of robots are typically used in stores and classrooms to assist staff, and are becoming increasingly common. In addition to humanoid robots, AI like Amazon Echo are also becoming more widely used nationwide. 

  What are the implications of this? AI manufacturers need to up their security measures to protect the public. Hacking into robots that assist with stores, hospitals, and more can shut down services and compromise customer data. The effects could potentially even be deadly given WannaCry ransomware shut down UK hospitals in 2017. Workers were forced to turn sick and injured patients away. Had any patients been in need of immediate medical care, causalities were a possibility.  
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  (#17) Medical Robots Slice People Up On A Regular Basis

  Going to the doctor can be a scary experience under normal circumstances, but throw in some robots with scalpels and it becomes a full on nightmare. People with hospital phobias are going to have a tough time in the future as medical centers begin introducing more and more robot surgeons. Luckily only used for minimally invasive surgery, robotic surgery means doctor use robots - usually equipped with mechanical arms - to carry out surgery from a distance. While this can reduce complications like infection and allow for more precision and flexibility, some doctors have criticized the practice as unnecessary and needlessly pricey. 

  You can already find surgical robots cutting people open in hospitals across the country, and they are only going to become more popular over time. While most of these robots are still being operated by a human being, could they one day be cutting us open completely on their own? 
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  (#18) Scientists In China Created A Camera That Can Take Clear Photographs 28 Miles Away Through Smog

  Zheng-Ping Li is a researcher at the University of Science and Technology of China and in 2019, he and his team created a compact camera that can take photographs with "unparalleled clarity" from 28 miles away, through smog, and can even create 3D models of the subjects. 

  By focusing a 1550nm low-power infrared laser on a subject and telling the computer to only receive photons from whatever distance the subject stands, the clarity of the image is upgraded and any excess noise is reduced. 

  The MIT Technology Review says this camera can be used for "remote sensing, airborne surveillance, and target recognition and identification."
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  (#19) Tech Companies May Soon Release Flying Taxis

  Improvement to car batteries and the widespread use of drones means flying cars may be a reality sooner than we think. However, what about flying taxis? Multiple tech companies, aircraft manufacturers, and automakers are looking into creating taxis that can fly. Uber's chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, even said he would ideally like to start using flying cars as part of Uber's service in as early as five to 10 years. Anyone fearful of flying is bound to be spooked by the prospect of cars flying through the air, especially as any new technology is bound to have its fare share of mishaps. It also leads to the question of how to route air travel. While airplanes that fly miles above earth's surface are carefully regulated, would the same be true for flying taxis shooting through the air to pick up passengers?

  While the prospect of flying taxis is - in and of itself - spooky for many, some companies are adding an extra layer of fear. There's been talk of self-flying cars being produced. Given terrestrial bound self-driving cars are already causing their fare share of on-the-road accidents, the prospect of self-flying cars is more than a little alarming. 
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  (#20) Your Fitbit Might Know You're Dying Before You Do

  Technology is getting more and more personal, and now we have devices that can look inside your body to give you updates on your health. Wearable electronics like Fitbit are surging in popularity, which is allowing companies to gather intimate information about their customers anatomy. On top of that, many of these devices have the capability to alert their users of incoming medical emergencies. People's lives have been saved thanks to products like Fitbit, but it's still pretty weird that one of your devices could possibly predict your untimely death.

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