Here is a concrete example of positive fallout from 9-11 and the anthrax scare.
Working on dealing with anthrax, scientists have developed a new biochemical
approach to detect and kill these bacteria. This method might be effective
against many other bacteria as well. Such a finding would be a blessing,
coming at a time when many bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics,
and when we are aware of many negative reactions - some of them fatal
- to antibiotics.
Nature August 22, 2002;418(6900):884-9
Here is another potential of medical benefits that may come from military research.
"If you look at the underlying capabilities of signal and image processing, they are pretty much the same, no matter what's in the image. So the idea that you could have (a system) that's equally capable of detecting breast cancer and camouflaged tanks is plausible" . . .
As part of a nearly $5 million, 2-year project, the
Office of Naval Research and other military science agencies are teaming
up with 11 hospitals and universities to create a database of thousands
of breast images created with automated target recognition (ATR) technologies.
In one experiment, supervised by George Washington University's Dr. Harold
Szu, a pair of infrared cameras, operating at different wavelengths,
will
capture pictures of breasts to look for cancer.
Current digital imaging technology assigns a single camera's perspective to a single pixel.
But Szu has developed an algorithm that blends each camera's view into every pixel. It's like having a pair of eyes trained on the same spot, and it should increase image resolution. The algorithm is currently being tested in LANDSAT satellites and F-18 fighter jets.
It ought to be helpful in finding breast cancer cells as well, because such cells demand a bigger supply of blood in order to feed themselves. That means they get hotter than the surrounding tissue, and so they should show up in Szu's heat-sensitive cameras. So far, however, he's only examined one patient with the system.
(From Wired News )
The most profound changes brought about by 9-11 have been in our consciousness of our place in the world. Many are saying that the world is not the same since 9-11. The world hasn't changed. It is our perceptions of the world and our responses to it that have changed.
9-11 is inviting us to come out of our indifference to the root causes behind the terrorism and to take action to make our world a better place.
Hopefully, there will be increasing attention to the issues that fueled 9-11 and continue to create conditions that breed terrorism.
Indirectly, 9-11 has brought many people closer to each other. This has not been only in New York and Washington, DC, but all around our nation.
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