YOUR toaster burns and the freezer spoils your food, all at the whim of a malevolent foreign power. A new kind of domestic warfare could become a reality when everyday gizmos acquire their own internet addresses so they can in theory be turned against us by cyber-attacks, aided perhaps by sabotaged microchips (see “Fighting wars in cyber space”). It is reassuring that the US plans to study these and other bizarre possibilities in the world’s first cyberwar “shooting gallery”. Alas, domestic gadgets will never again seem quite so friendly and helpful.
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from 51¶¯Âþ
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Health
The mysterious reason why women get hotter from age 18 to 42
51¶¯Âþ
Comment
This is the most underrated sci-fi film franchise of the 21st century
Culture
Comment
Shiver me timbers: Do we have to worry about space pirates now?
Regulars
Life
PMOS shows us why many scientific terms need to be renamed
Leader
Popular articles
Trending 51¶¯Âþ articles
1
The Selfish Gene at 50: Why Dawkins’s evolution classic still holds up
2
Mystery of the ancient giant stone jars of Laos may have been solved
3
We may finally know why dinosaurs like T. rex evolved tiny arms
4
The ‘doomsday’ glacier’s giant ice shelf is about to break away
5
The distant world that is our best hope of finding alien life
6
Solar farm on the ocean outperforms land-based solar in Taiwan
7
Rebooting stem cells builds aged muscles and assists injury recovery
8
Why autism pioneer Uta Frith wants to dismantle the spectrum
9
Why the keto diet could be a revolutionary way to treat mental illness
10
The hidden pockets of the universe where the future can cause the past
