A simulator being proposed by scientists will be a projector of the future that will not only be able to simulate everything from weather to the stock market, scientists are confident that with time the device will be able to make large predictions about the future as well through accurate simulations. The project, being developed by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, is one of the closest things the human race has come so far to having a “Matrix” of its own.
The Living Earth Simulator, as it is being called, will allow scientists to have all manner of influence in a number of global events. And it is hoped that by predicting weather patterns mankind will be able to prepare for natural disasters such as Tsunamis, Hurricanes, and tornadoes. With time the weather prediction will happen far more accurately than it ever has before. And the simulator isn’t just an advanced weather machine. The device is designed to collect data and create simulations of all manner of life including global economies. By charting and predicting the rise and fall of the world’s economies, the Living Earth program could quickly become a valued oracle to stock market investors.
But this achievement would also be a milestone for technology and all of humanity. In addition to developing a system designed for scientists to simulate all aspects of Earth in a simulator, the machine would be the first of its kind able to predict human economic behavior on this kind of scale. It has been called the Large Knowledge Collider by some advocates who suggest it is of importance similar to the CERN project. Let’s hope it doesn’t also carry with it the same suspicion of mass destruction once it comes online.
And its limitations have been pushed back even farther with the announcement that the LE will be able to pick up trends and help scientists understand how and when diseases are spread as well. The simulator, if fed information on health concerns, is expected to have a good idea of how to help combat the spread of diseases and avoid future pandemics. one such program would predict the presence of H1N1 in different areas and chart its spread across the world. By predicting these movements, scientists could in effect discuss the possible outcome with health officials as a possibility.
Of course right now the official policy is not to act on data gathered at he machine, and simply use it as a research tool. It does, however, have other applications. How long is it now before we have a global virtual reality simulator? How long before we can step inside our own digitally generated world and interact with other people with no indicator that we are in the real world. The answer may come in the next ten years in the form of an announcement much like this one and from a project closely related to the Living Earth Simulator.