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Archive for the ‘transhumanism’ category: Page 104

Dec 16, 2016

Prepare for the real political game changer: robots with votes

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transhumanism

My new story for New Scientist on robot voting rights. This story came about because of my discussion with Professor Lawrence Lessig on the BBC World Service. To read my article, you may have to sign up for a free New Scientist account (it takes 1 minute). Please do it! It’s an important article. Gerrymandering in the AI and & robot age: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23231043-300-prep…ith-votes/ #transhumanism


If human-like AI comes to fruition then we may have grant voting rights to our silicon equals. Democracy will change forever, says Zoltan Istvan.

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Dec 16, 2016

The United Kingdom Has Approved a ‘3-Parent’ Fertility Procedure

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, transhumanism

In September, a doctor named John Zhang announced that a baby, created via a complicated fertility treatment involving DNA contributions from three people, was successfully delivered the previous April. Now the U.K. has opened the way for more attempts at creating babies with three parents.

The fertility treatment involves sperm, an egg from the prospective mother, and an egg from a donor and has been used to help women who have mitochondrial issues with their eggs, replacing the nucleus DNA of those eggs with that of donor, either before or after fertilization. The embryo then carries the donor’s mitochondrial DNA, which amounts to less than 1% of the resulting child’s genes. CBS News reports that on Thursday, Britain’s fertility regulator, Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, approved the technique.

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Dec 15, 2016

Will Gene-Editing Technologies Spark the Next Cold War? They Already Have

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics, transhumanism

Excellent article by Nick Gillespie, Editor-in Chief of Reason. Genetic editing is so far the 21st Century’s most important science—and it’s already being challenged by many as too radical: http://reason.com/blog/2016/12/15/will-gene-editing-technologies-spark-the #transhumanism #CRISPR #Future


The folks behind CRISPR gene editing were runners-up for Time’s Person of the Year. Their creation may win the future for secular China.

Continue reading “Will Gene-Editing Technologies Spark the Next Cold War? They Already Have” »

Dec 13, 2016

Genetic Editing Could Cause the Next Cold War

Posted by in categories: genetics, government, transhumanism

My new article on the future geopolitical challenges of genetic editing: http://motherboard.vice.com/read/genetic-editing-could-cause-the-next-cold-war #transhumanism


If China pursues human genetic enhancement and the US retreats under a conservative government, it could create a divide between the modified and the not, sewing the seeds of global conflict.

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Dec 10, 2016

First Brain-to-Brain Interface Demonstrated

Posted by in categories: cyborgs, singularity, transhumanism

Another breakthrough on our path to Singularity.


Researchers at Duke University have demonstrated for the first time an electronic link between the brains of pairs of rats. The link allowed the rats to communicate directly and solve simple tasks. A follow up research demonstrated a similar link created between animals thousands of miles apart—one in North Carolina and one in Brazil. The research might allow scientists in the future to connect multiple brains to form a combined multi-brain which could allow sharing of both motor and sensory information between several animals. How easily can you connect one brain directly to another? The surprising answer is that it might be significantly easier than previously thought, at least when it comes to rats. Professor Miguel Nicolelis from Duke University School of Medicine and his team, discovered in previous studies that rat brain are much more “plastic” than we expected, and that they can adapt quickly to accept input from devices outside the body and even learn how to process invisible infrared light generated by an artificial sensor (somewhat similar experiments are currently being done in humans, where blind people are fitted with bionic eyes connected to the optical nerve which is given time to adjust to the new stimuli with the hope of eventually allowing them to process the information and regain partial sight).

Continue reading “First Brain-to-Brain Interface Demonstrated” »

Dec 10, 2016

Mind Controlled Bionic Limbs

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs, robotics/AI, transhumanism, weapons

In the George Lucas classic Star Wars, hero Luke Skywalker’s arm is severed and amputated during a lightsaber fight and consequently fitted with a bionic arm that he can use as if it were his own limb. At the time the script was written, such a remedy was pure science fiction; however, the ability to manufacture bionic arms that have the functionality and even feel of a natural limb is becoming very real, with goals of launching a prototype as soon as 2009. Already, primates have been trained to feed themselves using a robotic arm merely by thinking about it, while brain sensors have been picking up their brain-signal patterns since 2003. The time has come for implementing this technology on paralyzed human patients and amputees. This article will provide a brief explanation of the technology, its current status, and the potential future it holds.

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Nov 27, 2016

Transhumanism: Imagine what could happen when your entire brain is online…

Posted by in categories: neuroscience, transhumanism

WATCH MORE: http://ow.ly/Ymtb306qMzB

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Nov 20, 2016

In Opinion: ‘Dead is gone forever:’ The need for cryonics policy

Posted by in categories: cryonics, life extension, policy, transhumanism

Check out my latest story for Newsweek: http://www.newsweek.com/dead-gone-forever-need-cryonics-policy-523030 #transhumanism #cryonics


The case of a 14-year-old UK girl whose body was preserved after death highlights the need for governments to take cryonics seriously.

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Nov 13, 2016

Bionic Eyes Are Coming, and They’ll Make Us Superhuman

Posted by in categories: cyborgs, transhumanism

In Brief:

  • Bionic eyes are already in development and could alleviate sight issues for hundreds of millions suffering from visual impairments or blindness.
  • The mechanical eyes could also provide enhanced sight so cybernetic humans could see more of the electromagnetic spectrum.

With an estimated 285 million people worldwide with visual impairment, many treatments and technological innovations have long been in development. The panacea of restoring sight to the blind is the stuff of sci-fi: the bionic eye.

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Nov 8, 2016

Forget Trump and Clinton, Zoltan Istvan is running for president as the ‘anti-death’ candidate

Posted by in categories: geopolitics, transhumanism

My new OpEd story on my campaign and transhumanist activism:


Author of The Transhumanist Wager, Zoltan Istvan explains how the social movement wants to change the future of humanity.

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