I think therefore….I may be a machine? Or not?

(By Jason Reagan)

Writer Alison E. Berman makes a solid debut with her post at Singularity Hub today.  In her analysis of Ray Kurzweil’s recent musings, Alison poses the question “Are You a Thinking Thing? Why Debating Machine Consciousness Matters.”

Specifically, Berman posits:

Friday Roundup: Solyent, Simulations and Sculpting Robots

A quick peek at what’s happening in the universe of Futurism, Transhumanism and Human Progress this week:

 @Fighting Aging: Researchers talk openly about the prospects for treating aging, reversing dysfunction, and extending life. 

@SeriousWonder: Transhumanist communities help feed indigenous community in Philippines.

@H+ Magazine: Are we living in a simulation? A look at AXI Theory for Universal Intelligence

@KurzweilAI: Paralyzed man walks, thanks to pioneering cell transplanation

@ SingularityHub: Machine Sculpts designs from a solid block of material like “some kind of robotic Leonardo Da Vinci.”

@WorldTransformed: Author Keith Wiley discuss his book: A Taxonomy and Metaphysics of Mind Uploading on the World Transformed podcast

If you have a favorite longevity, Singularitarian or Transhumanist website you want to see featured in TransHumaniac’s Friday Roundup, contact me via Twitter @JasonPReagan. Cheers!

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Jason Reagan (@JasonPReagan) is the creator of TransHumaniac, a newbie futurist, tech writer, communications specialist and optimist. He also blogs for DroneLife.com (@DroneLife).

The Internet of Thneeds

Internet of Things: “a world where physical objects are seamlessly integrated into the information network, and where the physical objects can become active participants.” — Stephan Haller, SAP Research, 2009

“This thing is a Thneed. A Thneed’s a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need” —The Once-ler, 1971

With the proliferation of wearable technology, RFIDs, self-driving cars and the Quantified Self movement, it’s clear that The Internet of Things has moved beyond trendy, PowerPoint slide fodder and into the Real World of Things.

Another win for longevity science

Here’s your morning dose of Happy (if you live around my time zone):

The CDC reports:

• Life expectancy at birth for the U.S. population reached a record high of 78.8 years in 2012.
• The age-adjusted death rate for the United States decreased 1.1% from 2011 to 2012 to a record low of 732.8 per 100,000 standard population.
• The infant mortality rate decreased 1.5% from 2011 to 2012 to a historic low of 597.8 infant deaths per 100,000 live births.

This calls for a celebration:

 

 

Still, it’s not as cool as a dragon tattoo

From the NY Times (Wearable Technology That Feels Like Skin)

A slew of tech companies believe clothing will simply become electronic. Yet there’s a whole new segment of start-ups that believe all of the above are destined for failure and that we humans will become the actual computers, or at least the place where the technology will reside.

 

 

Quantified Self: Life by the Numbers

(By Jason Reagan)

Socrates famously wrote “the life which is unexamined is not worth living” — a sentiment shared by the Quantified Self movement.  The idea is grounded in the belief that by using the latest technology, we can enhance the quality of life by quantifying and analyzing our steady stream of biological data from our mood, to our bio-stats (blood sugar, insulin, cortisol) to our sleep cycles.

And while the concept may be sound, the idea of corralling the stampede of biometrics we exude every day — not to mention every hour — once too complicated before the advent of “wearable” tech.

Nano pixels may lead to synthetic retinas

Human Robotic Eye by Ace-BGI

Oxford researchers may have discovered a way to make flexible video displays thin enough to replace errant human retinas.

A team led by Harish Bhaskaran of Oxford University’s Department of Materials unearthed a method to “sandwich” a 7-nanometer layer alloy containing germanium, antimony and tellurium (GST) between “two layers of a transparent electrode.” By switching electric current on and off, the team could “draw” images on to the GST stack.

Transhumanism and The Singularity: What’s the Diff?

Hang around the Transhumanist movement long enough and the term “The Singularity” will surely pop up in conversation. Not to be confused with the astrophysical singularity (for example, the Penrose-Hawking Singularity Theorems), the Singularity within the TH movement is bandied about at conferences, on podcasts and in numerous forums — in some cases becoming synonymous with Transhumanism itself.

Since the TH movement and other science-based philosophies continue to grow and can reasonably be expected to replace more traditional ways of thinking in the days ahead, it would be a helpful exercise in precision of language to explain how Transhumanism intersects and meshes with the notion of The Singularity.

Friday Roundup: Cancer, Brains & Bots

A quick peek at what’s happening in the universe of Futurism, Transhumanism and Human Progress:

@Kurzweil AI: Hijacking the bacterial ‘communication system’ to tell cancer cells to stop spreading — or even die…

@H+ Magazine: Relational Transhumanism — Interdependence is The Rule Not the Exception

@SingularityHub: Promising Method for Detecting Pancreatic Cancer Years Before Traditional Diagnosis

@Singularity Weblog: Will You Preserve Your Brain?

@FT: Robots are our saviours, not the enemy

@HBR: What We’ll Be Doing in 2022

@Dan Abelow: Where are We in the Digital Revolution?

Breakthrough visual system bypasses blinding disease

An amazing breakthrough in visual implants has restored some aspect of sight to a woman struck blind 10 years ago by a degenerative eye disease.

As reported in the BBC, the Argus II system (developed by Second Sight) combines a pair of glasses, an electrode array attached directly to the retina — the most delicate part of the process — and a converter  that transmits whatever the camera “sees” to the retina (in this case the retinas of 66-year-old Fran Fulton).