IP: Re: The Bioweaponeers

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 13:35:44 -0500
From: "Jonathan S. Shapiro" <jsshapiro () earthlink net>
To: farber () cis upenn edu
Subject: Re: IP: The Bioweaponeers


[For IP, if you deem it appropriate]


Dave:


I am told by a number of people close to this work that the New Yorker
bioweapons article is surprisingly accurate.  


It has also been suggested that the article's publication was condoned
by the intelligence community.  For nearly two decades, the American
government has largely ignored the warnings of various agencies, who
had strong indicators that the Soviet Union was continuing its
bioweapons research program.


Those of you in the networking world might remember Paul Baran's early
calculations about the necessary degree of connectivity (3 or 4, if
memory serves) to ensure network survival.  The calculations closely
parallel those for contagious disease propagation.


Now consider that airplanes now use 100% recycled air (efficient
propagation conditions), most intranational flights are below 6 hours,
and many international flights less than 12 hours.  Onset of visible
symptoms in some cases exceeds 18 hours.  At a major airport, a new
flight arrives every 3 minutes.  Contagious infection requires a
single breath.


Effective interconnectivity for international hub cities therefore
exceeds 100 in most cases for purposes of calculations.


The Kalihari bushmen may survive if this stuff is released.  The rest
of us I'm not so sure about.


There is, I suppose, a positive note: we will have left them arable
land.






Jonathan Shapiro