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Nov 26, 2018
Dissolution & Decay: Traits of the Posthuman Gothic
Posted by Steve Nichols in categories: life extension, robotics/AI
The posthuman search for ‘actual’ eternal life seems the opposite of the argument of this unhelpful book, imo https://thewastedworld.wordpress.com/2018/11/24/dissolution-decay/ https://paper.li/e-1437691924
In closing, I wish to make some final remarks on the purpose of theorising a Posthuman Gothic. Far from being the joyous celebration of vitality, agency, and connection most touted by its proponents, under the Gothic sign the Posthuman takes on a far more ambivalent character. The Gothic looks to a world beyond us—even without us, or at least not for us—and so without knowing it, the Posthuman and the Gothic are already intertwined. Both look outside the human to the weird amalgamations of body and machine, spirit and dirt, and the eerie influences of systems far greater than we may know. The Posthuman project is twisted up not only in Gothic categories and aesthetics, but Gothic commitments: it displays a mixed fascination with the spectres of the past while looking to a future wrenched free from the decayed laws of the dead.
The Posthuman Gothic stands at a crossroads. On the one hand it sees the deep past emerging into the near future, as circuits of matter, whether technological or earthly, put to rest the myth of the autonomous human subject. On the other, it balances the experience of utter privation and dehumanisation with the escape from human finitude. Two angles arch away from the human, into that liminal space occupied by the Gothic, which keeps one foot grounded in the human, while the other hangs over the precipice. In short, the Posthuman Gothic makes known its haunting by a human past to better cast itself into futures more or less joyous, and more or less terrifying. Here the mixed feelings of the Gothic seep through the framework of the Posthuman. The Posthuman Gothic recognises that “there is an enjoyment in seeing the familiar and the conventional become outmoded,” and that it is only in the death of the present that other futures may be imagined (Fisher 2016, 13).
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Nov 26, 2018
Super-smart designer babies could be on offer soon. But is that ethical?
Posted by Carse Peel in category: genetics
Nov 26, 2018
NASA Live: Official Stream of NASA TV
Posted by Alberto Lao in categories: education, space travel
LANDING NOW!!! SUCCESS! MARSINSIGHT HAS LANDED. WAITING FOR THE FIRST IMAGES LATER ON TODAY! CONGRATS NASA.
Direct from America’s space program to YouTube, watch NASA TV live streaming here to get the latest from our exploration of the universe and learn how we discover our home planet.
Nov 26, 2018
Elon Musk plans to link brains with machines within the next decade
Posted by Carse Peel in categories: Elon Musk, robotics/AI
Elon Musk promises ‘matrix’ system to link human brains with AI computers ‘probably’ within the next decade…
Elon Musk believes humans must link up with machines in order to fight the inevitable onslaught of artificial intelligence.
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Success!!!
HAPPENING NOW: NASA — National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s InSight lander is set to make a perilous maneuver to touch down on Mars, capping off a trip that started seven months and more than 300 million miles ago. https://abcn.ws/2RagLb8
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Nov 26, 2018
Chicago slaps PlayStation users with expansion of 9 percent amusement tax
Posted by Mary Jain in categories: entertainment, finance
PlayStation users will now see an extra 9 percent tax applied to some purchases on the platform.
Sony has agreed to comply with Chicago’s amusement tax, leaving PlayStation users to face an extra 9 percent tax on streaming and rental services, effective Nov. 14. This latest expansion of the city’s amusement tax will apply to purchases such as rentals, but not full sales of games.
The city’s amusement tax used to mostly apply to purchases of concert and sporting event tickets. However, the Chicago Department of Finance ruled in 2015 that the tax covered streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu and Spotify. This expansion of the amusement tax is commonly dubbed the “Netflix tax” or the “cloud tax.” In addition to being regressive, it is also likely illegal.
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Nov 26, 2018
Scientists discover a new route to antibiotics using gene editing
Posted by Paul Gonçalves in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical
Scientists have discovered a new chemical process—also known as a biosynthetic pathway—in bacteria which could lead to a new generation of antibiotics being produced and manufactured.
Researchers at The University of Manchester’s School of Chemistry say their new pathway includes an enzyme, called a carboxylase, which adds CO2 to a precursor molecule producing a highly unusual antibiotic called malonomycin.
The team says the biosynthetic process used to produce this antibiotic could now possibly lead to the discovery and development of other drugs, helping in the fight against drug-resistant bugs and illnesses in the future.
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