While we continue to search for terrorists overseas, many Americans are overlooking the fact that future terrorists may not be jihadists, but young adults growing up in our own country. Many high schools have integrated a true working knowledge of biology into their curriculum. The technology that talented amateurs have access to could become a threat that our nation needs to take seriously. Bio-hackers with the means to invent or re-create pathogenic viruses and bacteria and manufacture other biohazards could leave our nation vulnerable from the inside. For the past two decades, Greg Bear has served on political and scientific action committees, both private and government-organized, designed to pick the brains of our nations top minds. Since 9-11, a number of so-called “threat conferences” have included fiction writers, who have worked with scientists and strategists to inform the government on how to best prevent future terrorist threats. Through his work with these groups, Bear has been privy to inside information on our countrys future and was inspired to write Quantico (Vanguard Press; April 2007), a near-future examination of law enforcement, politics, and terror both domestic and religious.
Greg Bear speaks on important topics such as:
* How our nations defense is handicapped by ignorance of other cultures, causing us to operate with a one-track mind and lose sight of potential problems.
* How think tanks should think about protecting our country and the world- and not be divided down partisan lines or devoted to perpetuating single-party rule.
* How new biotechnology in private hands and in our own university and high school labs, could become a major threat.
* Why biology is not only the most promising thing we have to protect ourselves against disease and terrorist threats, but also a major challenge to security in itself.
Greg Bear is the author of more than thirty books of science fiction and fantasy, including Blood Music, The Forge of God, Darwins Radio, and Quantico. Awarded two Hugos and five Nebulas for his fiction, he is one of only two authors to win a Nebula in every category, Bear has been called the “Best working writer of hard science fiction” by The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. His stories have been collected into an omnibus volume by Tor Books. Bear has served on political and scientific action committees and has advised Microsoft Corporation, the U.S. Army, the CIA, Sandia National Laboratories, Callison Architecture, Inc., and other groups and agencies. He is married to Astrid Anderson Bear and is the father of Erik and Alexandra.
https://videos.whiteblox.com/gnb/secure/player.aspx?sid=32289
