* Illustration: Oliver Munday * Ethical governor n. Software that controls the moral behavior of a military robot. Drones would be programmed to follow international law, enabling them to make life-and-death decisions autonomously.
Earthquake cloak n. A mechanism for guiding seismic waves around buildings, rendering them impervious to temblors. Based on concentric plastic rings, the system may be the first practical application of the invisibility cloak concept developed by physicists a few years back.
Trigger cards n. pl. Magnetic cards used by hackers to access malware embedded in the operating systems of corrupted ATMs. When a trigger card is inserted, the machine spits out a receipt detailing customer account numbers and PINs.
Bankslaughter n. The crime of driving a bank out of business by making excessively risky investments. As proposed by Oxford University economist Paul Collier, prosecutors would become the new bank regulators.
— *Jonathon Keats *(jargon@wired.com)
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