The systems in place on Sept. 10 were too rigid, too hierarchical with too few eyes and brains. We argued for a Citizen and Scientific neighborhood watch, in which we as citizens and scientists would be interconnected with our friends. This virtual set of global networks would have 50 million eyes and 25 million brains to be on the outlook for terrorism, and to mitigate panic should attacks take place. The concept is simple, take the civil defense technologies that worked quite well in the 1940s-60s in the United States and many other countries, and ramp them up onto the Internet.
Scientists are in a unique position to prevent terrorism and to reduce fear and panic as we ourselves have developed many of the agents and pathogens. We know what to look for, we are viewed in the community as wise, so we can reduce fear, and we unknowingly train ...
