Taiwantology; Spider Bot; Not So Excited About Upgrades; Printing Mars' Maybe Habitat; and Syria Falls off Wall

False Religion

The Curious Rise of Scientology in Taiwan theatlantic

Scientology around the world is in broad retreat, but to be in Taiwan you would never know that. In an area slightly smaller than the combined size of Delaware and Maryland, with a total population of 23.4 million—roughly the same as that of the New York metropolitan area—Taiwan has 15 Scientology missions and churches. Per capita, it’s one of the most Scientology-friendly countries on earth. The island serves as a major source of donations and new members for the church, which has capitalized on L. Ron Hubbard’s early suggestions that he was a new Buddha. In a sign of Taiwan’s importance to the church, Scientology chief David Miscavige also attended the 2013 Kaohsiung reopening of the hotel as a Scientology megachurch.

Robotics

Lockheed designs spider robot that repairs holes in airships siliconangle v

Developed by Lockheed Martin’s famous Skunk Works lockheedmartin research division, the same department that created the U-2 spy plane and the SR-71 Blackbird jet, SPIDER is roughly the size of a loaf of bread and is capable of crawling along the surface of the airship and tracking down even the smallest leaks.

Transhumanism

Survey finds Americans are more worried than excited about high-tech body enhancements digitaltrends

The survey was conducted as part of an ongoing study of the public’s sentiment toward emerging technologies, including their ethical, social, and political implications. Researchers polled 4,726 American adults, asking whether they were very or somewhat enthusiastic, or worried, about the emergence of three biomedical technologies: gene editing to reduce the risk of disease in infants, brain chip implants for enhanced cognitive abilities, and synthetic blood for improved physical abilities.

Also see Many Americans Fear New Digital Divide With Biomedical Technology usnews and the Pew article, itself: U.S. Public Wary of Biomedical Technologies to ‘Enhance’ Human Abilities pewinternet.org

Mars

The future of Mars will be 3D-printed in the Mojave Desert quartz

Earlier this month, Mars City Design marscitydesign raised $30,382 on Kickstarter to realize the next phase of its mission: Within the next three years, the group wants to 3D-print three to-scale habitat prototypes of Martian cities at Reaction Research Society’s test area in the Mojave Desert.

Syria

CIA director: 'I don't know if Syria can be put back together' itv v

He suggested that a future Syria may be a "confederal structure" with the different factions governing their regions.