[ExI] The top secret military research programs we don't get to hear about (was: working memory implant! wow!)

[Samantha Atkins]

On 06/22/2011 01:57 AM, BillK wrote:
> 2011/6/22 John Grigg wrote:
>> I often wonder to just what extent top secret military "skunkworks" type R&
>> D programs are going on, with budgets in the hundreds of millions or even
>> billions, that we are not privy to know about, but would be thrilled to know
>> exist.  I have heard  that up to 40% of the U.S. military budget is swathed
>> in secrecy, with many many billions going into research programs that border
>> on science fiction.
>>
>> I suspect there are top secret AGI programs going on right now, with
>> machines that far surpass what we learn about from the mass media.  I only
>> wish anti-aging medicine would be a military priority, but at
>> least regeneration biotech is now getting a lion's share of research
>> dollars.  I bet the first true transhuman elites may be military special
>> forces troops who have been enhanced cybernetically and biologically.
>>
>>
> By definition, if it is a secret program, then we don't know about it.   :)
>

Yeah.  This is so not the military way.  All blue sky projects are 
announced and hyped to the heavens to justify large[r] budgets.  The 
less likely it is to pay off the more it is hyped.

> DARPA projects, like AI and regeneration medical research are not
> 'secret'. DARPA funds research projects all over the US. Reading their
> project list is like reading SF.
> <https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/DARPA>
>

Yep.  DARPA = hype heaven.

> 40% 'secret' seems a bit high. 10% to 15% might be a reasonable
> estimate, depending on what you include. (e.g. CIA projects).
>
> Black military projects are projects with a more immediate military
> objective than DARPA long-term research. I doubt if AGI is included
> here as it is too long-term. They do have a secret space budget that
> is about double the NASA budget, mostly surveillance satellites and a
> secret space plane that has been seen in orbit.
>
> Another large project is aiming at the total surveillance of everybody
> in the world. Every communication to be monitored and analysed for
> evidence of 'enemies of the state'.

The means to monitor all communication in the US has been in place for 
some time now.

- samantha