CyberShop (Ch. 40) – Bionic Bug Podcast Episode 040

Bionic Bug Podcast

Hey everyone, welcome back to Bionic Bug podcast! You’re listening to episode 40. This is your host Natasha Bajema, fiction author, futurist, and national security expert. I’m recording this episode on January 20, 2019. Let’s talk tech: Outerspace is heating up. My headline for this week is “Pentagon to Study Putting Anti-Missile Laser Weapons in Space,” published on Defense One by Patrick Tucker on January 16. The Pentagon released its long-awaited Missile Defense Review, the first one since 2010. It includes a controversial proposal by the Pentagon “to study the possibility of space weapons — perhaps particle beams, ray guns, space lasers, or orbiting missiles — that could intercept enemy missiles coming off the launch pad.” This is a response to a dramatically altered security environment since 2010 in which we face “not just ballistic missile threats but also cruise missile threats and novel types of weapons like hypersonics.” The proposal is reminiscent of President Reagan’s Star Wars effort in the 1980s; it’s controversial because it involves the weaponization of space, will cost billions of dollars and may not be any more effective than the ballistic missile defense system we currently have. If it is effective, it could lead to a decline in strategic stability and increase incentives for first-strike nuclear attacks. For decades, since the dawn of the exploration of space, countries have agreed not to weaponize space. Today, we rely upon space for satellite communications and GPS tracking. If shots are fired in space at missile launches, they will also be shot across space at the missile defense laser systems. What could possibly go wrong? We might get into satellite wars, and our country could go dark. To offset this troubling news, I have another headline that’s going around. Netflix announced that Steve Carell will star in a comedy based on Trump's space force. According to Twitter’s website, this show will be a story about how the U.S. government stands up the new branch of the military. .@SteveCarell will star in a new workplace comedy series he co-created with #TheOffice’s Greg Daniels about the people tasked with creating a sixth branch of the armed services: the Space Force! pic.twitter.com/6GEFNgP18w — See What's Next (@seewhatsnext) January 16, 2019 Let’s turn to Bionic Bug. Last week, Lara and her team worked to stop Fiddler from carrying out his plot to kill thousands of innocent people with his beetles. Let’s find out what happens next. The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the National Defense University, the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.