Well, according to most scientists, at least – and the ones that disagree say time travel is ‘impractical’, which when you look at their calculations may be somewhat of an understatement. But hey, we can still do time travel in fiction, which has got to be the most comfortable method. [Tobias Buckell]

There’s no aspect of life that electronics manufacturers think isn’t worth selling us enhancements for – witness a patent for using wireless devices to set personal goals for exercise, or to add some wager spice to one-on-one competition. Whatever happened to ‘last one to the bar buys the beers’?

Life gets more and more like a cyberpunk novel every week. The latest evidence for this trend comes in the form of a court decision that an expert system that gives advice on bankruptcy procedures is too complex to be considered a clerical tool, and must instead be assumed to be an artificial intelligence practicing law without a licence.

There are few better-known names in artificial intelligence research than Marvin Minsky. There’s a three-part podcast interview with Minsky over at Information Week, where you can hear the man himself discussing AI’s past failures and future developments. [SlashDot]

Who says technology isn’t making the world a better place? Cheap digital camera technology will now allow the savvy general to keep a close eye on collateral damage, by making it less likely that a Claymore mine will kill or maim the wrong sort of person. If that’s not progress, what is?