Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers have developed a next-generation bionic hand that allows amputees to regain their proprioception. The results of the study, which have been published in Science Robotics, are the culmination of ten years of robotics research.

The next-generation bionic hand, developed by researchers from EPFL, the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa and the A. Gemelli University Polyclinic in Rome, enables amputees to regain a very subtle, close-to-natural sense of touch. The scientists managed to reproduce the feeling of proprioception, which is our brain’s capacity to instantly and accurately sense the position of our limbs during and after movement – even in the dark or with our eyes closed.

The new device allows patients to reach out for an object on a table and to ascertain an item’s consistency, shape, position and size without having to look at it. The prosthesis has been successfully tested on several patients and works by stimulating the nerves in the amputee’s stump. The nerves can then provide sensory feedback to the patients in real time – almost like they do in a natural hand.

This is Part 1 of a 5-part series by USTP’s Foreign Ambassador in Nigeria, Chogwu Abdul, as he explores the thought-provoking intricacies of James Hughes’ “Problems of Transhumanism.”

Become a member of the U.S. Transhumanist Party / Transhuman Party for free, no matter where you reside: https://transhumanist-party.org/membership/

Ojochogwu Abdul

Introduction

Continue reading “James Hughes’ Problems of Transhumanism: A Review (Intro + Part 1)” »

Patients and doctors have been waiting for this device for decades.

Talking about fairytales, this article embodies a fairytale of its own — the fairytale that we have to accept human nature as a given. That kind of fatalism will lead society to disaster in the decades ahead. Instead, we can, and must, do better, to secure a “Humanity+ future” ~ David Wood.

The idea that new technologies can liberate us from the human condition is a fantasy. In reality, the 21st-century will be all too human.

Project fear? Should we pay attention to American Jesuits?

But the fundamental ambition of transhumanism is more problematic. Its architects champion a use of technology to accelerate the evolution of humanity so radically that at the end of the process humanity as such would disappear. A superior posthuman being would emerge. According to Wikipedia, “Transhumanism is the intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally improving the human condition through applied reason, especially by developing and making widely available knowledge to eliminate aging and to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.” From its inception, the abolition of human death and aging has been one of the goals of transhumanism as it engineers a new being freed from the biological constraints of the current human condition.

From its inception, the abolition of human death and aging has been one of the goals of transhumanism.

Continue reading “Who’s afraid of transhumanism? (We all should be)” »

Very excited to have interviewed Dr. Michael Lustgarten in my role as longevity / aging ambassador for the ideaXme Show — Mike has been at the forefront of studying the 100 trillion organisms present in the human microbiome, their effect on human health and wellness, as well as a major proponent of metabolomics and biologic age tracking — A true future thinker in the area of extending human lifespan and healthspan

There is a noble frontier in the making that is growing internationally at speeds yet to be comprehended. And this frontier goes by the name “Transhumanism,” which is the pursuit to overcome aging and all biological limitations via advanced science and technology. What started as nothing more than a fringe concept among futurist circles has now become a global movement consisting of philosophers, political activists, scientists, and technologists.

But when it comes to Transhumanism here in the United States, there was one particular event in mind that helped introduce this movement into the national dialogue. That event is now famously known as the “Immortality Bus tour,” for which was led by then-presidential candidate Zoltan Istvan, representing the U.S. Transhumanist Party.

Continue reading “‘Immortality or Bust’ (Documentary): A Review” »

It’s been almost 10 years since I wrote the first versions of Hamlet’s Transhumanist Dilemma and A Transhumanist Manifesto. And a lot has changed. Including my point of view.

I started with Hamlet. With asking a question: Will technology replace biology?

At the time I felt that this was the contemporary version of Shakespeare’s original human dilemma: to be or not to be.

I’m excited to share my new article from Quartz on how science will make it safer and easier for a 50-year-old woman to have a child in 2028 than a 25-year-old woman today. #IVG and #DelayedFertilityAdvantage are game changers.

Women’s biological clocks drive human conception—and, in turn, human history.

Biology’s inflexible window of female fertility is generally agreed to be between the ages 18 and 35. Any older, and the risk of miscarrying, not getting pregnant at all, or bearing unhealthy children skyrockets. When the average lifespan for a woman in the Western world now hovers at around 80 years old, this means that less than 25% of her life can be spent easily (and safely) procreating.

Continue reading “Transhumanist science will free women from their biological clocks” »