TRANSHUMAN TECHNOLOGIES Version 1.1 (6 April 1995) Assembled by Mitch Porter *** CONTENTS *** * Introduction * Nanotechnology * Life extension and cryonics * Intelligence increase including Smart drugs and mind machines * Body modification and augmentation * Post-biological possibilities including Artificial intelligence and robotics * The High Frontier including Space, alien life, cosmic engineering * The Singularity Also see Anders Sandberg's Transhumanism Page for most of the resources listed here. His page is the best source online for this sort of information. http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/trans.html *** INTRODUCTION *** What follows is a list of online resources pertaining, one way or another, to the project of "transhumanism" - becoming more than human. For now my emphasis is on technology rather than philosophy, which is to say, on the means rather than the ends of such a transformation. This document started life as a submission for RU Sirius and St Jude's book project, "How to Mutate and Take Over the World". It never came to fruition in that context, but you can still read about the book at gopher://gopher.well.sf.ca.us:70/00/cyberpunk/mutate/readme.mutant Instead, I turned it into a set of web pages. Now my web is ending, and so I have (somewhat hurriedly) turned this into an ASCII document. There will be future editions, so addenda and errata are welcomed. If you're a transhumanist, you'll probably be interested in Extropianism. Mail exi-info@extropy.org for an automated reply carrying information about the Extropians. Or see these URLs: http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/extrop_page.html http://www.acm.usl.edu/~dca6381/c2_mirror/extropy.html ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/dkrieger/exi.html ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/dkrieger/Extropy/dir.html Back issues of Extropy Magazine http://www.hotwired.com/Lib/Wired/2.10/features/extropians.html "Meet the Extropians" in WIRED 2.10, by Ed Regis (edregis@aol.com). There's also a Swedish transhumanist list, Omega. The list address is omega@hu.se, the administration address omega-admin@hu.se. Finally, a little historical reading won't go astray: * http://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/~shalizi/Daedalus.html Daedalus, or, Science and the Future, by J.B.S.Haldane * http://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/~shalizi/Icarus.html Icarus, or, the Future of Science, by Bertrand Russell * http://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/~shalizi/Bernal The World, The Flesh and the Devil, by J.S.Bernal * http://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/~shalizi/LaMettrie Man a Machine, by de la Mettrie * http://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/~shalizi/Medawar/mans-estimation.html ``Biology and Man's Estimation of Himself'', by Medawar * http://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/~shalizi/Medawar/future-of-man.html ``The Future of Man'', by Sir Peter Medawar ("It is a profound truth --- realized in the nineteenth century by only a handful of astute biologists and by philosophers hardly at all (indeed, most of those who held and views on the matter held a contrary opinion) --- a profound truth that Nature does _not_ know best; that genetical evolution, if we choose to look at it liverishly instead of with fatuous good humor, is a story of waste, makeshift, compromise and blunder.") Those can all be found in Cosma Shalizi's "Codex HTML": http://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/~shalizi/codex-w3.html -mitch, 7 April 1995 *** NANOTECHNOLOGY *** Usenet: sci.nanotech (home page: http://planchet.rutgers.edu) Mailing lists: * nanomech-l (contact Nick Szabo, szabo@techbook.com) * gopher://nisp.ncl.ac.uk/11/lists/molecular-dynamics-news - archives for molecular-dynamics-news * nsg-d@world.std.com, the Nanotechnology Study Group (NSG) (majordomo@world.std.com, "subscribe nsg-d") mailing list Nanotechnology is the anticipated technology of "atom-stacking" (Marvin Minsky's term) that will permit molecular manufacturing: "_Molecular manufacturing_ is the construction of objects to complex, atomic specifications using sequences of chemical reactions directed by nonbiological molecular machinery. _Molecular nanotechnology_ comprises molecular manufacturing together with its techniques, its products, and their design and analysis..." (K. Eric Drexler, _Nanosystems_, p1) The term _molecular nanotechnology_ was coined to distinguish Drexler's concept from the more recent use of the word "nanotechnology" to denote any technology which has nanoscale effects (for example, submicron lithography, ie "etching"). Molecular nanotech uses molecular machines, the "bottom-up" approach to "thorough control of the molecular structure of matter". The concept was introduced in Drexler's _Engines of Creation_ (1986), which can still serve as an introduction. Nanotech was the main focus of _Engines_, but it also addressed many other technologies. Also see _Nanosystems: molecular machinery, manufacturing, and computation_ (Drexler, 1992), for technical information and analyses. Drexler started the Foresight Institute (foresight@cup.portal.com), whose journal, "Foresight Update", is posted regularly to sci.nanotech, and is archived at ftp://planchet.rutgers.edu/nanotech/papers. (On the web, see http://planchet.rutgers.edu/updates.html.) Organizations Foresight Institute Lives near Stanford, at P.O. Box 61058, Palo Alto, CA 94306 USA. e-mail: foresight@cup.portal.com Institute for Molecular Manufacturing e-mail: peterson@netcom.com Molecular Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc. (MMEI) Lives at 9653 Wellington Lane, Saint Paul, MN 55125, USA. "A new seed capital firm devoted to advancing the state of the art of molecular manufacturing". MMEI is owned by software designer Steven Vetter (svetter@maroon.tc.umn.edu) and others; advisors to MMEI include Ralph Merkle (see below) and Roald Hoffman (1981 Nobel laureate in Chemistry). Other Organizations: Nanothinc Nanothinc is a Californian nanotech thinktank. See Charles Ostman interview, under "Projections" below. e-mail: info@nanothinc.com Webserver: http://www.nanothinc.com * http://akebono.stanford.edu/yahoo/Business/Corporations/Nanotechnology/ Yahoo:Business:Corporations:Nanotechnology. Has an entry for Nanothinc. NanoCon Was a regional nanotechnology conference held at Seattle in February 1989. "Copies [of proceedings] are available for $25 from NTG, Inc., Box 40176, Bellevue, WA 98015. Washington residents, please add 7.6% ($1.90) sales tax. For more information, email Jim Lewis: nano@u.washington.edu" This is a rather old offer so it might be wise to e-mail first. The proceedings can also be found in a shareware HyperCard stack available fpr $20 from the Nanotechnology Group, Inc. at the above address. The README file for the PATH Project states: "PATH is an acronym for Prototype Advanced Technology Hypertext. "The PATH collection of HyperCard stacks is the first effort by The Nanotechnology Group Inc., to provide basic information on advanced technology in a form that we hope will be highly accessible to people of diverse technical backgrounds. "PATH is not distributed free. It is copyrighted property of The Nanotechnology Group, and can be obtained on two 800K disks from NTG for $20. It is also distributed as shareware and can be obtained by ftp from Nanothinc... "Version 1.0 of PATH is a series of HyperCard stacks made using HyperCard version 2.1. HyperCard stacks are supplied in self- extracting compressed form, having been compressed using "Compact Pro." The compressed stacks are distributed between two archives. "Two of these stacks are a detailed periodic table entitled "ChemElements(1.4)" and a detailed table of nuclides entitled "Isotopes(1.4)." These stacks are not directly related to nanotechnology but provide a great deal of information about atoms. "The stack "NanoCon1" is a HyperCard version of the Proceedings of our 1989 regional conference on nanotechnology... "The remaining two stacks, "Nanotechnology" and "Glossary," are in preliminary form ...they will be replaced with more thorough stacks, beginning with v1.1 in January of 95." Concepts * assembler, replicator. * http://www.cnam.fr/Jargon/gray_goo - gray goo - http://www.cnam.fr/Jargon/blue_goo - blue goo to fight grey goo - green goo for eco-repair. * http://planchet.rutgers.edu/Ufog.html - Utility Fog. - "Nanite". Cell repair machines. * Enabling technology. A technology which is a step in the development of nanotech capabilities. Candidates: protein engineering, general macromolecular engineering, micromanipulation techniques (from sci.nanotech FAQ). MMSG (see below) nominates genetic engineering - physical chemistry - scanning probe microscopy as enabling technologies. * Nano- should mean "one billionth", but it's come to mean "nanotechnological": nanowar, nanobot, nanocomputer, nanarchy. * BioArchive: storing genetic material of endangered species. Another Foresight project. * Article on fabrication technique for quantum-effect integrated circuits (ICs) Electronic Engineering Times, 31 October 94 (p4, diagram on p1). Also see the _Economist_ for the week of 7 Nov 1994, Science section. The Path: from _Nanosystems_, Chapter 16 (``Paths to Molecular Manufacturing'') * Stage 1a: Brownian assembly of medium scale blocks * Stage 1b: Mechanosynthetic assembly of small building blocks * Stage 2: First-generation solution-based systems * Stage 3: Inert environments, diamondoid materials Projections There was a rather bare timeline in a recent MONDO (mondo2k@well.com), anticipating molecular manufacturing by 2004 and "nano-human interface" (?) shortly thereafter, accompanying an interview with Charles Ostman, http://www.nanothinc.com/Nanothinc/People/CharlesOstman.html (Charles000@aol.com), a consultant to Nanothinc (http://www.nanothinc.com). The article ended with a reference to "nanite aerosol warfare". Drexler has recently (Nov 1994) been described on sci.nanotech as having predicted that assemblers will be here within ten to twenty years. http://www.gpl.net/mmsg/mmsg.html The Molecular Manufacturing Study Group (williams@csugrad.cs.vt.edu) is a chapter of the National Space Society, dedicated to nanotech/space. http://www.gpl.net/mmsg/9405-news.html The May 1994 issue of their newsletter "The Assembler" carries a timeline for nanotech development: within 10 years they're looking to have "something that looks like a microwave, and can build you anything in the Sears Catalog for ~$1 per pound, often in under an hour... [or even] another such molecular manufacturing system." A few months ago the prediction was made on sci.nanotech that the Assembler Breakthrough or the Nanotech Singularity or the achievement of physical limits should be reached circa July 2015 +/- six months. (Amusingly close to McKenna's Dec. 2012 date) Miscellaneous Observations It was anticipated, not just by Richard Feynman, but by Stanislaw Lem in _GOLEM XIV_ (1974; published in English as part of _Imaginary Magnitude_). (Also cf. _Blood Music_: http://ftp.tamu.edu/~ers0925/cheaptruth/cheaptru.12) The main argument for nanotech's viability has often been the "argument from nature" - cells already contain molecular machines. But now people can point to genuine progress in the realm of human-built nanotechnology - for example, scanning tunneling microscopes (STMs): http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Pubs/access/93.2/NanoSTM.html But nanotech is still a technology of the future, not something you can use now; nanotech is the starting point for numerous flights of fancy (second skin, titanium skull-implants, fiber-optic nervous systems), but is still more hype and "exploratory engineering" than actual tech. Garage nanotechnologists will have to make do with today's version of enabling technologies: "You can buy an atomic force microscope or gene sequencer today." (sci.nanotech) Quantum computers - may be relevant to cryptoanarchists if they prove to be capable of cracking codes faster than "classical" computers. See the story in _New Scientist_ for 24 Sept 1994 (the issue with a cover that looks to have been inspired by Clive Barker's _Hellraiser_). http://vesta.physics.ucla.edu:7777/ WWW site for Quantum Computers: "there are a growing number of papers here, mostly in ps form." Maintained by smolin@vesta.physics.ucla.edu (John Smolin). Drexler's books reviewed * http://www.lysator.liu.se/sf_archive/sf-texts/Raymonds_Reviews/018 Engines of Creation (Anchor, 1986) ISBN: 0-385-19972-2 * http://www.engin.umich.edu/~jxm/unbounding.html Unbounding the Future (Morrow, 1991) ISBN: 0-688-09124-5 * ftp://parcftp.xerox.com/pub/nano/nanosystems.html Nanosystems (Wiley, 1992) ISBN: 0-471-57518-6 _Engines_ could once be obtained online from AMIX, the American Information Exchange, for US$10, but AMIX no longer exists. See: http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/Products/AMIX/Introduction.html _Nano! Remaking the World Atom by Atom_, by Ed Regis (edregis@aol.com) will be published early in 1995 by Bantam in UK. The sci.nanotech FAQ has a bibliography. Further information available online: * http://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/nanotech.doc What Next? The Coming Revolution In Manufacturing * http://galaxy.einet.net/galaxy/Engineering-and-Technology /Mechanical-Engineering/Nanotechnology.html EINet Galaxy Nanotech Listings * http://www.ncb.gov.sg/jkj/nt/ntmiracle.html "An Introduction to Nanotechnology" * http://www.wired.com/Etext/1.6/features/nanotech.html WIRED 1.6: Nanotech: Engines of Hyperbole? by Charles Platt * http://fconvx.ncifcrf.gov:2001/~toms/info.html "Information Theory and Molecular Recognition" * ftp://ftp.ncifcrf.gov/pub/delila/nano2.ps Paper on nanotech (PostScript) (I have been unable to view this) * http://www.arc.ab.ca/~morgan/Nano.html A nanotech web page * http://www.hal.com/~landman/Nanotechnology/ Nanotechnology - Index of Sources (H. Landman) * http://drogheda.nuance.com/~fcp/nanotech.html An index of Molecular Nanotechnology resources * ftp://planchet.rutgers.edu/nanotech/ ftpable archives of the newsgroup, Foresight Update, and various papers * http://www.emba.uvm.edu/~ma274twc/fun/trek * ftp://hathi.arc.ab.ca/Public_Sean/ST-Gen.txt Star Trek script which mentions nano-probes * http://opal.vcu.edu/html/biomede/molsys.html Molec Engineering and Nanotechnology and Scanning Probe Microscopy at VCU * http://www.fourmilab.ch/autofile/www/chapter2_84.html#SECTION0084000000000000 NANOTECHNOLOGY AT AUTODESK * http://www.arc.ab.ca/~morgan/N-Lists.html Nanotechnology Related Mailing Lists * http://www.uq.oz.au/nanoworld/nanohome.html Center for Microscopy and Microanalysis, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia * http://199.120.204.1/reiters/61.html Nanotechnology * http://www.automatrix.com/moec/ Molecular OptoElectronics Corporation * http://www.hks.net/~cactus/doc/science/molecule_comp.html MOLECULAR COMPUTATION OF SOLUTIONS TO COMBINATORIAL PROBLEMS - an article on one application of molecular computing * http://cancer.med.upenn.edu/0h/buhle/pia1/piahp2 Pharmaceutical Information Associates * http://www.dl.ac.uk/CBMT/HOME.html Collaborative BioMolecular Tools Ralph Merkle , head of the Computational Nanotechnology Project at Xerox PARC, has a valuable set of links: * ftp://parcftp.xerox.com/pub/merkle/merklesHomePage.html Ralph Merkle's home page * ftp://parcftp.xerox.com/pub/nano/nano.html Ralph Merkle's nanotech page * ftp://parcftp.xerox.com/pub/nano/mass/mass.html Molecular Assembly Sequence Software (MASS) * ftp://parcftp.xerox.com/pub/nano/IOP.html The journal _Nanotechnology_ * ftp://parcftp.xerox.com/pub/nano/reversible.html Reversible logic * ftp://ftp.parc.xerox.com/pub/nano/nanotechAndMedicine.html Page on nanotechnology and medicine Other web sites (from sci.nanotech FAQ) ftp://parcftp.xerox.com/pub/nano/feynmanPrize.html ftp://parcftp.xerox.com/pub/nano/nano4.html http://www.portal.com/~carols/mass.html ftp://ftp.cs.rmit.oz.au/pub/rmit/nano http://www.watson.ibm.com/journal/rd.html http://www.ioppublishing.com http://www.clinet.fi/~noko/ http://www.ibf.unige.it/ http://www-im.lcs.mit.edu/ The Global Network Academy's course on protein structure: * http://seqnet.dl.ac.uk:8000/vsns-pps/ -Course Index * http://seqnet.dl.ac.uk:8000/vsns-pps/modules/principles/alan_backbone.html -Course Backbone (outline) ftp://oak.oakland.edu/SimTel/win3/chem/rev_demo.zip Rev_demo molecular viewer, animator and MOPAC converter "I have uploaded [Rev_demo] to SimTel, the Coast to Coast Software Repository (tm), (available by anonymous ftp from the primary mirror site OAK.Oakland.Edu and its mirrors) ... "Rev_demo is a demonstration version of RE_VIEW and is essentially a molecular viewer, animator, analyzer, and MOPAC reaction path converter which runs under Windows 3. "The major functions of RE_VIEW include the ability to: *Display and manipulate molecules in 3D; *Animate reaction pathways; *Align the steps/frames within an animation, along a vectors or onto a plane; *Animate normal modes of vibration; *Monitor geometries (lengths, angles and dihedrals); *Provide tabulated geometrical data (which can be readily incorporated into spreadsheets); and *Automatically produce high quality 'ray-traced' images and animation sequences. "Changes: The rev_demo.zip file I unloaded recently contained an error. This file corrects the problem... Public Domain. Uploaded by the author." Dr Jeffrey J. Gosper (Jeffrey.Gosper@brunel.ac.uk), comp.archives.msdos.announce, Jan 1995 Things to do 1. List the various anticipated boons deriving from nanotech, and link to pertinent net-resources which are relevant (and perhaps quote _Engines_). For example: *lifespan extension (cellrepair machines) *ecorepair (BioArchive) *everything cheap (end of work economy...) 2. Link to old issues of Update. *** LIFE EXTENSION *** Important links * ftp://ftp.parc.xerox.com/pub/merkle/antiAgingConference.html AntiAgeing Conference * http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/telomerase Telomerase * http://world-health.net/ World Health Net * http://aeiveos.wa.com/lef/index.html Life Extension Foundation. Huge home page full of data. Agitprop * http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/exttoast.txt "Extropianism 101", a speech by John McPherson, offers a four-step program for living a long time: life extension, cryonics, nanotechnology, uploading. * http://www.acm.usl.edu/~dca6381/ExtropyMisc/whitaker/romana/ Contains two essays by Romana Machado (romana@apple.com, http://www-bprc.mps.ohio-state.edu/cgi-bin/hpp?romanaHQ.html): fivethings.html - Five Things You Can Do To Fight Entropy Right Now self-transformation.html - Self Transcendence and Extreme Longevity * http://www.powertech.no/~trygveb/ "IN DEFENSE OF LIFE" by Trygve Bauge * ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/dc/dcosenza/LifeExt/iv_1.txt and iv_2.txt,...,iv_5.txt. dcosenza@netcom.com writes: "In case you've never heard of the Venturists before, they're a predominantly Libertarian group that advocates for cryonic suspension, and the eventual resuscitation of frozen patients. Their booklet "Introducing Venturism" is about the possibilities of physical immortality, it includes questions and answers, technical material, a manifesto and poetry. Makes good reading!" Usenet newsgroups: sci.life-extension and bionet.molbio.ageing sci.cryonics, sci.med(.*), sci.med.nutrition, alt.med.* Web pages: * http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/cryonic_page.html Life Extension and Cryonics Lawrence London archives sci.life-extension and its FAQs, alongside a lot of alternative healthcare material, at sunsite.unc.edu. * file://sunSITE.unc.edu/pub/academic/medicine/alternative-healthcare/faqs/ life-extension/Sci.life-extension-FAQ-%231%3A-Welcome Sci.life-extension-FAQ-#1:-Welcome * file://sunSITE.unc.edu/pub/academic/medicine/alternative-healthcare/faqs/ life-extension/Sci.life-extension-FAQ-%232%3A-Resources Sci.life-extension-FAQ-#2:-Resources * file://sunSITE.unc.edu/pub/academic/medicine/alternative-healthcare/faqs/ life-extension/Sci.life-extension-FAQ-%233%3A-The-FAQs Sci.life-extension-FAQ-#3:-The-FAQs * file://sunSITE.unc.edu/pub/academic/medicine/alternative-healthcare/faqs/ life-extension/Sci.life-extension-FAQ-%234%3A-Calorie-Restriction Sci.life-extension-FAQ-#4:-Calorie-Restriction * file://sunSITE.unc.edu/pub/academic/medicine/alternative-healthcare/ discussion-groups/newsgroups/sci.life-extension the newsgroup Web address: http://sunsite.unc.edu/ Gopher address: gopher://sunsite.unc.edu In the pub/academic directory there are also archives on many other health-related topics, including many newsgroup FAQs and mailing lists. General resources * gopher://gopher.enews.com:2100/00/magazines/category/business/international/ economist/Archive/01/010795.1 Forward to Methuselah * http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/genes.html Genetic Modification * http://www.ccsf.caltech.edu/ismap/image.html Morphogenesis * http://www.uth.tmc.edu/lifetime/life.html "Lifetime Health Newsletter" * http://fscn1.fsci.umn.edu/SITES.HTM FSCN (Food Science and Nutrition) "sites of interest"; try http://fscn1.fsci.umn.edu/fscn.htm here also * http://slacvx.slac.stanford.edu/misc/internet-services.html#BIOLOGY and http://slacvx.slac.stanford.edu/misc/internet-services.html#MEDICAL (MEDICAL/HEALTH) sections in the Yanoff Internet Services list * http://augustus.csscr.washington.edu/personal/nielsen-mosaic/nnhp/nnhp.html "A NO National Health Care Page." * http://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/~shalizi/hyper-weird/health.html Health, Medicine and Life Extension * http://www.nih.gov/ NIH Home Page http://www.slac.stanford.edu/~clancey/NIH.html NIH http://www.slac.stanford.edu/~clancey/610.html Medical Science Mailing lists and journals LONGEVITY@vm3090.ege.edu.tr -or- LONGEVITY@TREARN.BITNET This list discusses ways to extend human life. Medical and Health-Related issues will be discussed. Among the proposed topics are: Importance of diet, vitamin supplements, new discoveries in science and more. To subscribe, mail listserv@vm3090.ege.edu.tr with message body "SUB LONGEVITY firstname lastname" "Life Enhancement News" - mailing list / newsletter, covering "the latest in smart drug and life extension information". To subscribe, email Smart@andronix.org with "subscribe your@email.address". "We'll be posting regular articles and bits of news relating to "smart" drugs, life extension information, health, nutritional supplements, alternative medicine, the FDA, sex enhancement, athletic enhancement, cognitive enhancement, vitamins, aging, antioxidants, and other related areas." Smart-p: moderated information posting list - one post per day. Smart-d: unmoderated discussion list. (Due to begin in November, they say.) The major contributors include: * John Morgenthaler (smart@crl.com) http://www.c2.org/~smart/SmartDrugsAndNutrients/ Smart Drugs & Nutrients; Smart Drugs II, The Next Generation; Stop The FDA, Save Your Health Freedom) * Ward Dean, MD (Smart Drugs & Nutrients; Smart Drugs II, The Next Generation; A Neuroendocrine Theory of Aging and Degenerative Disease; Biological Aging Measurement) * Steven Fowkes (71702.760@compuserve.com) (Smart Drugs II, The Next Generation; Stop The FDA, Save Your Health Freedom; Wipe Out Herpes with BHT; Smart Drug News) [and executive director, CERI; can also be reached at fowkes@ceri.win.com. Or should that be @ceri.win.net?] Cognitive Enhancement Research Institute Post Office Box 4029 Menlo Park, California, 94026 (415) 321-CERI (415) 323-3864 FAX "In addition, many files related to these issues may be found in the "life" directory of ANDRONIX Foundation's "InfoBot" file server. For details on this and other services of ANDRONIX Foundation, send email to Info@andronix.org." _Longevity Report_. I believe this is a hardcopy zine, not actually available online, although articles have been posted on the LONGEVITY listserv (see above). "For a full contents list of all back numbers (which are available), please e-mail John de Rivaz, 100431.3127@CompuServe.com." "Apoptosis Activity: Cell Death Establishes Itself As A Lively Research Field "An article of length 400 lines on the above topic has been published recently in 'The Scientist' Feb.6,1995 issue. It contains many useful sections, including the most cited papers etc." Available via ftp://ds.internic.net or gopher://DS.INTERNIC.NET/11/PUB/THE-SCIENTIST Life extension: some comments (This section leans heavily upon the sci.life-extension FAQ list in places) Life extension lies on a continuum with ordinary health concerns such as disease prevention. Avoiding lifestyle diseases is not only an easy way to live a little longer, it can be good for your bank balance; preventive care is generally cheaper. Medical attitudes are normally based upon the notion of returning a person to a state of health, defined by reference to human beings as they are. But transhumanism opens the possibility of making the "norm" or the standard of health / vitality something other than the existing human norm. The life extension movement is distinct from the immortalist movement; not all life-extensionists want to live forever. But immortalists certainly have reason to take interest in today's life extension measures. Use today's lifex tech and you may last long enough to use tomorrow's as well. [FM-2030: "If you are around in 2010 you will have an excellent chance to live to the year 2030. If you are around in 2030 - regardless of your age - you will be able to live indefinitely into the future." From FM-2030, _Are You a Transhuman?_)] (http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/transhuman.txt) (Look for FM's new book _Countdown to Immortality_) St Jude writes in the Longevity section of the "MONDO User's Guide to the New Edge": The Physician's Health Study, now in its sixth year, has announced a serendipitous discovery: 40000 IU daily of the antioxidant pro-vitamin beta-carotene combined with an aspirin tablet reduced by half the number of 'major events' [such as heart attack, in a certain population...] Dietary and nutritional measures that have been proposed * calorie restriction * vitamin supplementation * taking antioxidants * chromium supplementation * melatonin supplementation Calorie restriction. [cf http://fscn1.fsci.umn.edu/sites.html] See _The 120-Year Diet_, Roy Walford. * file://sunSITE.unc.edu/pub/academic/medicine/alternative-healthcare/faqs/ life-extension/Sci.life-extension-FAQ-%234%3A-Calorie-Restriction Sci.life-extension-FAQ-#4:-Calorie-Restriction Sci.life-extension FAQ: calorie restriction does not mean "eating less", it means a "change from a normal nutritional diet to a diet which has the same levels of nutrients, with _only_ caloric content reduced." The descent in caloric intake must be gradual, "over at least four to six years. Abrupt change to a CR diet in adulthood _shortens_ the life span of animals. Non-adult humans need not apply." Wait until you're 45 before starting, and stop if you ever want to get pregnant. Vitamin supplementation. _Life Extension: A Practical Scientific Approach_, Pearson and Shaw. FAQ: "interpreting research on vitamin-supplementation is very tricky". Pearson: a quarter of an aspirin per day. [User's Guide] Anti-oxidants FAQ rates them as "promising", as there are "studies that show that certain anti-oxidants will increase maximum life span" (but "none of these studies controlled for caloric-intake, so the effect may just be CR"). "There is growing evidence, however, that many anti-oxidants protect against cancer and heart-disease, whether or not they also affect aging." Newsgroup: sci.life-extension From: bmdelane@ellis.uchicago.edu (Brian Manning Delaney) Subject: Good Article: "Antioxidant Therapy" The article appeared in _Free Radical Biology and Medicine_, July, '93. It's highly technical, but worth reading, esp. if you're dosing yourself w/antioxidants, or considering so treating yourself. Increased levels of (most) antioxidants in the body almost certainly can help prevent or ameliorate the deleterious effects of many diseases (anti-ox. treatment in reperfusion injury is the issue most discussed in this article), but there are risks, and it's NOT AT ALL clear that healthy people will benefit from increased levels of many anti-oxidants (vitamin E is one case where supplementation is recommended [by me :)] for almost everyone). The pro-oxidant potential of vitamin C and the carotenoids, for ex., has been discussed here [In SLE] in the past. The Feb., '94 issue of _Free Rad...._ has an article, "Toxicity of High-Dose [SOD]...," which reported on the _damaging_ effects of an excessive SOD level (artificially induced) in recovery from reperfusion injury. The authors speculate that O2'- (free rad.) may be part of the signaling process for the _termination_ of lipid peroxidation. Quite interesting. FAQ also mentions Chromium and Melatonin Supplementation. "There are many other substances that are purported to have an effect on aging, including the hormone DHEA, thymic extracts, and more. Walford reviews many of these in _120-Year Diet_." from sci.life-extension - "Remember that mel. _decreased_ LS in female rodents when given at the age of 1yr due to cancer increases. Specul. is that this is an age thing -- full sexual mat'ty is necessary before supp. mel is wise. ** So any teens out there should def'ly not take melatonin." Author of the FAQ recently questioned the taking of Deprenyl Other steps you might take "Walford recommends moderate exercise: a little aerobic exercise a few times a week, and a little resistance training (weight lifting, for example) to strengthen bones." (FAQ) Things to do: List theories of ageing. What is ageing? Why does it happen? DNA damage - enzymes cannot be made - thus the "cell repair machine" concept. The telomere is a Y-shaped structure at the end of the chromosome, which holds the double helix together. (The telomere is the tail of the Y; the fork of the Y joins to the double strand of DNA.) There is an enzyme, _telomerase_, which chops a segment off the tail of the Y at every cellular division. After enough cellular generations, the telomere is gone entirely and the double helix unravels. In cancer cells telomerase is not expressed, and thus they escape the "Hayflick limit". Control of telomerase might lead to anti-ageing agents and/or a cancer cure. (This is a paraphrase, needs to be checked and corrected) Recent popular articles on telomerase * Scientific American (Jun/July/Aug? 1994) * U.S. News and World Report, April 25, 1994 (p79-82) Technical articles on telomerase See http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/telomerase for the first two >Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing >Sender: lpddist@mserv1.dl.ac.uk >Once again there h ve been enquiries about some basic information about >telomeres. For those of you who want to have a very general introduction >to telomere research and progress, a well-written simple article by a >science-journalist Jean Marx is available in the journal SCIENCE, vol. 265, >pp 1656, issue dated 16 September 1994, titled CHROMOSOME ENDS CATCH FIRE. .. >1, by T.R. Cech in SCIENCE, vol. 266, pp 387, 21st October 1994 issue: giving >enough background and discussing the publication of a paper in the same >issue of SCIENCE, pp 404 reporting the discovery of the gene for >telomerase RNA in the yeast. > >These two papers should bring any one up-to-date in telomere research. >Suresh Rattan/Aarhus/Denmark >From: cummins@possum.murdoch.edu.au (Jim Cummins) Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing Subject: Re: Hayflick number and Telemorase Date: 17 Oct 1994 08:21:28 GMT See the following: Shay JW, Wright WE, Werbin H (1993): Loss of telomeric DNA during aging may predispose cells to cancer (review). International Journal Of Oncology 3:559-563. Shay JW, Wright WE, Werbin H (1993): Toward a molecular understanding of human breast cancer - a hypothesis. Breast Cancer Research And Treatment 25:83-94. Martin GR, Danner DB, Holbrook NJ (1993): Aging - causes and defenses. Annual Review Of Medicine 44:419-429. Recent studies have shown that chromosomes shorten as cells divide and become senescent. Also, deletions in mitochondrial DNA increase markedly with advancing age, presumably secondary to damage from oxygen radicals. Since host defenses against environmental factors also become attenuated, the molecular damage associated with aging may increasingly perturb normal homeostasis and increase the susceptibility to disease and disability. Such age-associated dysfunctions can be targeted and interrupted. Observations Life extension movement stretches back at least as far as Taoist immortalists of ancient China. References FAQ recommended these two books: The Neuroendocrine Theory of Aging and Degenerative Disease, Dilman, Vladimir M. and Dean, W. 1992. Biological Aging Measurement: Clinical Applications Ward Dean, M.D., 1988 A new publication, highly recommended on sci.l-e: _Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences_ (vol. 719, May, '94) Conference on Melatonin and Endocrinological Basis of Aging. ~400pp. - "more theoretical than practical" "The July-Aug. ('94) issue of _Neurob. of Aging_ (vol. 15 #4) has a conference report, "Neuroendocr. and Aging: Perspectives and Prospectives," that I'd recommend [eg article on molecular hysteresis]. But I don't recommend it nearly as highly as I'd recommend the _Annals .. NY Acad. of Sci_ issues recently discussed here." -- Brian M. Delaney (b-delaney@uchicago.edu) Life Magazine, October 1992 issue. "An Emerging Hypothesis: Synergistic Induction of Aging by Free Radicals and Maillard Reactions," Bruce S. Kristal and Byung P. Yu, Journal of Gerontology, 1992, Vol. 47, No. 4, B107-B114. Try the Medline electronic indexing service. Chris Driver of Deakin University, Australia : "I would add to that a paper that I have in press with the Ann. NY Acad Sci in which I have obtained lifespan prolongation by inhibitors of reverse transcriptase. The paper will be out shortly." LIFE SPAN PROLONGATION by Frolkis and Muradian, CRC Press 1991 From LONGEVITY listserv "I am involved with a company called Life Extension International, This company is involved with both The Life Extension Foundation and Pearson and Shaw. Pearson and Shaw often appear at company events and on the companies voice mail system. We also carry products from both LEF and Pearson and Shaw. If you would like more info, Email me privately at RCollingbo@AOL.com.." "In response to the technology of vibrational healing and Dr. Rife, I have studied the principles and have an excellent reference book on this subject. Back in the 1930's Rife invented a microscope that could see into the individual cell that was infected by cancer and consequently used precisely tuned frequencies to "zap" only the cancer component without affecting the surrounding tissue (unlike chemotherapy or radiation). If you would like more information give me a call a SHealth.aol" (I suppose that should read SHealth@aol.com.) *** CRYONICS *** * ftp://ftp.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/tsf/Public-Mail/cryonics/ html/overview.html Cryonics FAQ Overview * http://info.latech.edu/~mike/cryonics.html What is Cryonics? * file://ftp.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/user/tsf/Public-Mail/cryonics/html/archive.html Partial cryonics archive * http://www.c2.org/~kqb/cryonet.html CryoNet Home Page * gopher://locust.cic.net/00/Politics/Extropy.Institute/brown.021293.gz MADison Avenue Meets Cryonics? * http://www.primenet.com/~lippard/01.2.harris-dead.html The Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Dead For those who can't find a cure for their present condition - AIDS, overall physical deterioration - there is always the option of "biostasis" (cryonic preservation). Forms of biopreservation: whole body suspension vs neurosuspension (just the brain) - the latter tends to be cheaper. Whole body suspension with Alcor costs $120K; neurosuspension is $50K. Robert Ettinger , author of the original cryonicist text (_The Prospect of Immortality_), recently [mid1994] wrote on sci.cryonics that the arguments of nanotechnologist Ralph Merkle are winning over skeptics who doubted the possibility of reanimation. See his paper "The Molecular Repair of the Brain": ftp://parcftp.xerox.com/pub/merkle/techFeas.html (A shorter version appears in _Medical Hypotheses_ Vol. 39, 1992; 6-16.) Merkle argues for the feasibility of restoration of frozen neural tissue to functionality through nanotech such as cell repair machines.. Jargon: "Information-theoretic death" is "death with no hope of recovery of the structures of information that correspond to identity, such as what would happen if your head exploded, or you were buried or cremated" (Romana Machado). ischemia: cessation of blood flow. ischemic injury in the brain. Cryonics mailing list (from the sci.cryonics FAQ) Mail kqb@whscad1.att.com or kevin.q.brown@att.com with subject line of the form "CRYOMSG n". This will fetch messages from the cryonics mailing list archive, apparently. Kevin Brown also administrates the list proper; subscription requests should go to the same addresses. Limited archives can be found at ftp://pop.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/tsf/Public-Mail/cryonics/archive. Note that "you will need to give the entire directory path at once to FTP." Recommended: 0004, 0005, 100, 200,... 900. EXISTING CRYONICS OUTFITS Alcor Life Extension Foundation * 7895 E. Acoma Dr. #110, Scottsdale, AZ 85260-6916, USA * Phone: 1-800-367-2228 * Email: info@alcor.org One can receive Alcor's standard brochure from this address - "a 20kb introduction to cryonics" - and information on how to subscribe to *Cryonics* magazine and to obtain the book *Cryonics: Reaching For Tomorrow.* American Cryonics Society (ACS) * Phone: 1-408-734-4111 * Email: cryonics@netcom.com CryoCare Foundation * 10627 Youngworth Road, Culver City, CA 90230, USA * Phone: 1-800-TOP-CARE * Email: 72727.560@compuserve.com (Brenda Peters, President), cryonews@phantom.com "CryoCare will send you our bi-monthly newsletter and CryoCare items and publications which are not available by email. This includes a CryoCare letter opener, four booklets, "CryoSpan", "CryoCare", "BioPreservation", and "A Short History of Cryonics", also color photographs of the BioPreservation facility, and much more. This package is free of charge." Life Extension Foundation * P.O.Box 229120, Hollywood, Florida 33022-9120, USA * Phone: 1-800-841-LIFE * Email: 71043.1120@CompuServe.com (Saul Kent) * Web page: [...] Publish "The Directory of Life Extension Nutrients and Drugs" (1994 ed., $75) "but, you may be able to obtain the directory by just indicating your interest in, say, Melatonin, or, "Brain-Boosting" Nutrients, such as, DMAE-Ginkgo, Hydergine, etc. etc." Miscellaneous THE IMMORTALIST newsletter. Does not appear to be online, but available from THE IMMORTALIST SOCIETY, 24443 Roanoke, Oak Park, MI 48237, US Suda I, Kito A.C.: Viability of long-term frozen cat brain in vitro, *Nature*, 212, 270 (1966) Isamu Suda, Kyoko Kito and Chizuko Adachi: "Bioelectric discharges of isolated cat brain after revival from years of frozen storage" *Brain Research* 70, 527-531 (1974). Smith A.U.: Studies on golden hamsters during cooling to and rewarming from body temperatures below 0*C, *Proc. Royal Soc., Biology, (London) Series B*, 147, 517 (1957) Cryonics addresses? cryonics.PARC@xerox.com, alcor-north@dandelion.com Wihuri Research Laboratory of Low Temperatures University of Turku Turun Yliopisto 20500 TURKU Finland "If the human race took death seriously, there would be no more of it" Celia Green *** INTELLIGENCE INCREASE *** including Smart drugs and Mind machines Three ways to increase your intelligence * Continually expand the scope, source, intensity of the information you receive * Continually revise your reality maps, and seek new metaphors about the future to understand what's happening now * Develop external networks for increasing intelligence; in particular, spend all your time with people as smart or smarter than you The Einstein-Esfandiary Intelligence Test * 1. HOW DO YOU DEFINE INTELLIGENCE? * 2. CAN INTELLIGENCE BE INCREASED? (both from Tim Leary's _The Intelligence Agents_, late 1970s) Methods: find better memes * http://www.uio.no/~mwatz/memetics/index.html Marius Watz's memetics home page * http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/memetic_page.html Anders Memetics Page * http://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/~shalizi/hyper-weird/memetics.html Memetics page from Hyper-Weirdness by WWW * alt.memetics * ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/rw/rwhe/memetics.html Memetics: A Systems Metabiology * http://www.hotwired.com/Lib/Wired/2.10/departments/idees.fortes/godwin.if.html Meme, Counter-Meme * http://www.uio.no/~mwatz/futurec/rez/autologue.dir/autologue.html Autologue * http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/meme_lex.html Memetic Lexicon * http://www.xs4all.nl/~hingh/alt.memetics/what.is.html What is a meme? * http://www.c2.org/~arkuat/meme.html Memetics, Evolutionary Epistemology, PCR/CCR * http://drogheda.nuance.com/~fcp/gs.html General semantics One way to get smarter is just to collect memes - but the right sort of memes, namely those that bear some relation to reality. Rhetoric of "metaprogramming" and "memes as brain software". Method: improve one's information processing AI (Artificial Intelligence) or IA (Intelligence Amplification). See links under "Post-Biological Possibilities". http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/sing.txt Vernor Vinge writes in "Technological Singularity": "Even now, the team of a Ph.D. human and good computer workstation... could probably max any written intelligence test in existence." Software for superior organization of one's thoughts is probably also relevant. Cf Leary's Mind Mirror, Tony Buzan's Mind Maps. In _Engines_ we are warned, AIs will design themselves more quickly than humans can keep up; there will be a "coup". Human beings might be able to engage in a similar bootstrapping process through the use of smart drugs, neural growth factors, software tools for the design of the same, and the still nonexistent world of software implants / biochips (Gibson's softs on language, etc). ftp://think.com/users/karl/Welcome.html "Virtual Creatures" by Karl Sims of Thinking Machines: MPEG movie and papers on "creatures made of simple blocks [which] evolve ... to walk, swim, and fight for resources" - Alexander Chislenko (sasha1@netcom.com) Smart drugs For the moment, alt.psychoactives is the closest thing to a nootropics newsgroup, although they come up surprisingly frequently on sci.life-extension. A smart drug is supposed to enhance cognition - improve memory, increase IQ, etc. Some are alleged to increase lifespan as well. "Nootropic" - which etymologically should mean "moving in response to or towards consciousness" - refers only to a subclass of "smart drugs", those without untoward side-effects. http://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/~shalizi/NewScientistArticles/smart-drugs/ It is a fair question whether there are in fact any such drugs. Judging by Steven Rose's review article in the April 17, 1993 _New Scientist_ (see above) the orthodox contention is that there is evidence that some drugs help the elderly, people with clinical conditions, and lab animals, but there is no evidence that any drug augments the intelligence of Normals. Quote: we have "no reason to assume that for most of us at most times, our enzyme and neurotransmitter systems are not working at more or less optimal levels". (I gather that there is even less evidence that mind machines do anything to increase intelligence.) Nonetheless, one can find lists of chemicals purported to be nootropics: Hydergine, Deprenyl, Cognex, Ampakine... vasopressin, amino acids.. Some links * http://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/~shalizi/NewScientistArticles/smart-drugs/ nootropics.html Smart drugs: a brief guide * http://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/~shalizi/NewScientistArticles/smart-drugs/ Steven Rose's article in _New Scientist_ (see above) * ftp://asylum.sf.ca.us/pub/mind-l/nootropics.texts/megabrain.report The article by John Morgenthaler which appeared in MONDO's User's Guide. * ftp://asylum.sf.ca.us/pub/mind-l/nootropics.texts/smart.drugs.txt Guide to amino acids and other alleged nootropics. * ftp://asylum.sf.ca.us/pub/mind-l/ The Mind-L directory is voluminous but was last touched December 1993. The Mind-L FAQ is very old (1991). * http://taz.hyperreal.com:80/drugs/nootropics nootropics - many overview files * http://www.damicon.fi/sd/nootropics.html Collection of articles from Internet about nootropics * http://www.c2.org/~smart/SmartDrugsAndNutrients/ SMART DRUGS & NUTRIENTS The book by Ward Dean, M.D., and John Morgenthaler Supply Interlab and the other companies. Mexican pharmacies supply nootropics over the counter without a prescription and are usually less expensive than ordering by mail order. Smart drugs are also discussed on the mind-l mailing list: ftp://asylum.sf.ca.us/mind-l/ "The Mind-l list rises from the ashes. Alive in '95!" "I have the great pleasure to announce the restart of the mind-l mailing list. Topics include (but are not limited to) L/S (light&sound) machines, Cranial Electrical Stimulation, Biofeedback, smart nutrients, sensory deprivation, float tanks, pulsed magnetic field generators, etc... "If you wish to participate, please send a message to: listproc@gate.net with "subscribe mind-l (your name)" in the body of the message. "The address for posting messages to the list is: mind-l@gate.net." - Phil Safier , 6 Jan 1995 Retailers (the following is quoted from the mind-l archive) Date: Mon, 6 Dec 93 13:24:49 +1000 From: Raymond Mathiesen Subject: nootropics-misc InHome Health Services box 3112 CH-2800 Delemont Switzerland INTERLAB BCM Box 5890 London, WC1N 3XX England PS - new book, "Smart drugs & nutrients" Ward Dean, M.D. & john Morgenthaler Addr - B&J Publication, P.O. Box 483, Santa Cruz, CA 95061-0483 IF YOU SEND A SASE, THEY WILL SEND YOU A LIST OF PHYSICIANS KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT SMART DRUGS & NUTRIENTS !! PLUS THEY HAVE A NEWLETTER FOR FREE!!! Purchase without prescription Request a price sheet by writing to INTERLAB, BCM Box 5890, London, WC1N 3XX, England The following signed statement must accompany any order: I hearby declare that the products I am purchasing are not for commercial resale. They are for my own personal use only. The supply ordered does not exceed 3 months usage and they are used with the consent of my physician. [signed] Cognitive Enhancement Research Institute newsletter. Send $1.00 to CERI, PO Box 483, Santa Cruz, CA 96061 Mind machines ..arguably lie on a continuum with electronic implants. http://www.elf.com/pub/u/x/mind.html Xochi's DIY Mind Machine Archive; looks like the best guide online. * ftp://io.com/pub/fwi/MSGS/940302.msg EEG as "neurointerface of the future" (do a keyword search for "BioMuse") * http://www.cs.cmu.edu:8001/afs/andrew/usr/jbde/www/matrix/cyber/ sensory.deprivation.html Mind Gear , who appear to be a mind machine retailing outfit, will send you a blurb which contains a cetain amount of general information about mind machines, as well as about their business, and a postscript on 1994 attacks on "neurotechnology" by the FDA. =]My name is Juan Acosta. I am a neurophysiologist with 12 years of research =]experience studying nervous systems and more recently studying human brain =]electrical activity and how it is affected by L/S stimulation. =]email addresses: Compuserve 72430,2510 JGERAK@delphi.com "Mindware: Human Self-Improvement Software" "Free Mindviewer for DOS or Mindprober II for Windows" http://www.systemv.com/mindware/index.html "Mindviewer, the best selling personality software (over a quarter million sold at $49.95) is available free at the Mindware World Wide Web Site", which "features free personality software plus 37 other brain boosting and self-improvment titles....or join our online e-mail catalog list at MINDWARE-CAT@CUE.COM with any message in the body and header. Try this amazing software ....from the human side of computing, Mindware!" *** BODY MODIFICATION AND AUGMENTATION *** * http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/genes.html Anders Sandberg's Genetic Modifications Page * http://sunsite.unc.edu/jstrout/uploading/enhancements.html Brain Enhancements * ftp://parcftp.xerox.com/pub/merkle/techFeas.html#DESCRIBING Describing the Brain at the Molecular Level * http://www.cs.cmu.edu:8001/afs/andrew/usr/jbde/www/matrix/cyber/ ArtificialOrgos.html Reading List for Artificial Organs (neural prostheses, medical cybernetics, etc) * bit.listserv.mednews General medical news * http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/mig/index.html Medical Informatics Group * http://www.ai.univie.ac.at/ OFAI and Department of Medical Cybernetics and AI ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/bit.listserv.transplant The bit.listserv.transplant FAQ states: Transplantation works. As of 1993, over 160 thousand people have been transplanted, and the majority are living full productive lives more than five years after surgery. The TRNSPLNT mailing list lives at LISTSERV@WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU, aka LISTSERV@WUVMD.BITNET. Ring 1-(800)24-DONOR for organ donation information, pamphlets, organ donor cards, bumper stickers, etc. Transplant information * gopher://info.med.yale.edu:70/1 Yale biomedical gopher * gopher://info.med.yale.edu/11/Disciplines/Discipline/Transplant Organ and tissue transplant information Imaging the body * alt.image.medical * gopher://gopher.well.sf.ca.us:70/00/Publications/authors/Sterling/fsf/ Magnetic_Vision Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) with Bruce Sterling (bruces@well.com) * http://www.artcom.de/projects/vidimed/ VIDIMED Disabilities * ftp://ftp.apple.com/apple/disability-solutions disability-solutions directory Cancer information * Cancer info is supposedly somewhere to be found at gopher://gopher.upenn.edu * mail with subject line HELP Biomedicine * http://opal.vcu.edu/html/biomede/vbrp.html Homepage on Virginia Biotechnology Research Park * http://opal.vcu.edu/html/biomede/fsu-biotech.html Homepage on Biotech activities in the Former Soviet Union * http://opal.vcu.edu/html/biomede/departments/deptofbme.html Homepage on the Biomedical Engineering Program (MS, PhD) at VCU Prostheses range from the molecular (the artificial molecule mentioned in _Engines_) to organ-sized. As we master the design principles of the body, we can replace the bits and pieces which conform to those we have already understood. Thus the replacement parts of longest standing are those based on mechanical principles: joints and valves... Body hacking will be dangerous, full of dead-ends and false leads, progressing by trial and error; but the popularity of tattoos and piercings suggests how far people will go. And of course, medical science is already constantly engaged in experimentation. All grist for the mill of a new sort of natural selection. Apart from the desire to remain alive (and "young and sexy and beautiful... for as long as posthumanly possible" [Sterling]), the main motivation for this sort of experimentation, I imagine, would be augmentation. People used to look for superhuman abilities through yoga and other disciplines, but we now have the technological avenue as well. Then there is body modification performed with the objective of _exploration_ - new organs, new senses, modalities, pleasures.. Gender bending (sex change), body morphing. * ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/rwhe/modnrock.etx "Functional Mods and Antique Rockers" - setext-format essay on body-modification Usenet bod-mod info alt.cyberpunk.(tech) and rec.arts.bodyart for tech and esthetics respectively. The latter can also be the source of flights of fancy, such as pierced eyeballs. Jaguar, aka Michael Olson , had a list of existing or near-future augmentations. *** POST-BIOLOGICAL POSSIBILITIES *** including Artificial intelligence and robotics General links * http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/minsky/minsky.html Marvin Minsky * http://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/~shalizi/hyper-weird/ai.html AI Page * http://akebono.stanford.edu/yahoo/Science/Computer_Science/ Artificial_Intelligence Yahoo AI Page * http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/upload_page.html Uploading, Self Transformation and AI * http://coyote.csusm.edu/loebner_contest.html Loebner Prize in Artificial Intelligence * http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/trans_meme.html The Memetics of Transhumanism * ftp://ftp.netcom.com:/pub/sasha1/mindage.txt * http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/morav1 The Age of Robots and * http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/morav2 The Age of Mind, excerpts from Hans Moravec's new book _The Age of Mind_ * see Rudy Rucker's _Software_, _Wetware_, and _Freeware_ * ftp://ftp.netcom.com:/pub/sasha1/InfiniteComputer.txt Design for an infinitely fast computer by Alexander Chislenko * http://www.c2.org/~arkuat/faq/transpost.txt On the terms "transhuman" and "posthuman" * http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/transhuman.txt "Are You a Transhuman?" by FM-2030 ``Post-human'' logically should indicate any descendant of H. sapiens which is not itself H. sapiens. This includes not only demi-gods (``Persons of unprecedented physical, intellectual, and psychological capacity, self-programming, self-constituting, potentially immortal, unlimited individuals'') but, e.g., a hairless primate without consciousness or language, specialized for diving for shell-fish in Puget Sound. --Cosma Shalizi What will happen? Go to ftp://io.com/pub/fwi/MSGS/940801.msg and search for "Hawking" to see what I call the "Hawking scenario", recently expressed by Stephen Hawking in one of his American lectures: a genetically-engineered superrace mounts a planetary coup, and also expands into the cosmos. This was anticipated by Olaf Stapledon: it happens several times in his cosmic history _Star Maker_. (And in his novel _Odd John_ this process fails.) Electronic implants * http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/barin.txt "On Designing a Brain-Computer Interface" * http://www.gold.net/online/archive/940609_Bionic_t1.html "Bionic Limbs" article * http://www.msstate.edu/Fineart_Online/Stelarc/stelarc.html Stelarc * http://www.cs.cmu.edu:8001/afs/andrew/usr/jbde/www/matrix/cyber/Stelarc.html Short review of a performance by Stelarc Robotics * http://www.c2.org/~arkuat/cogsci.html A robotics page * http://cwis/usc/dept/raiders Another ROBOTICS page * http://www.usc.edu/dept/raiders/story/index.html robot arm * http://www.usc.edu/dept/raiders/story/mercury-story.html Teleoperated robot on the Web * http://enuxsa.eas.asu.edu/~rutledge/robotics.html Robotics * http://ieee.eas.asu.edu/micrmous.html Information about the annual IEEE Micromouse Robotics Brain-implanted visual prosthesis _Visual Prosthesis_, Academic Press, 1971, pp. 315-319. Uploading and Upgrading * http://sunsite.unc.edu/jstrout/uploading/MUHomePage.html Web pages on Uploading * http://neuron.arc.nasa.gov/3dreconstruction/ 3D Reconstruction Home Page * http://biad38.uthscsa.edu/brainmap/brainmap94.html Brain Map '94 Would it work? How? (Moravec described an uploading procedure in _Mind Children_, 1988, which is summarized on the web pages mentioned above). Does it just create copies? Might the creation of a copy require your dismantlement and death? * http://www.dataspace.com/WWW/documents/consciousness.html Thesis on consciousness in other media * de Callatay brain model: _Artificial and Natural Intelligence_, 1986 * http://bb.com/~cactus/doc/moravec_penrose.1.html Moravec writes a letter to Penrose * http://sunsite.unc.edu/jstrout/uploading/brouwer_essay.html Albert-Jan Brouwer on Personal Identity If one holds to a materialistic philosophy of mind, according to which all mental states are actually states of something physical (eg the brain), then for there to be continuity of identity, there must be continuity of physical identity. Making a copy, as has been pointed out repeatedly, simply brings into being a new mind - albeit one presumably very similar to the original. Exoself Anders Sandberg (nv91-asa@hemul.nada.kth.se, http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/main.html) writes: "Exoself" is a term borrowed from Greg Egan's excellent "Permutation City", originally denoting the systems surrounding an uploaded personality, providing information, virtual reality and modifications. I use the term rather loosely to denote systems connected to the self in a cooperative way, working as an extended mind/body. (Cf. the civilization of homorphs, neomorphs, and uploads in Greg Bear's _Eon_.) Miscellaneous Buckminster Fuller's concept of the "continuous human". ftp://planchet.rutgers.edu/nanotech/papers/megascale H Keith Henson's (e-mail: ?) essay in which he speculates about the activities of a civilization of cosmic immortals ("plenty to keep us busy"). Hans Moravec of course wrote "Mind Children", in which the notion of the robot bush is put forward: "scanning tunneling microscopes in one's fingers". ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/dasher/lex.816 The Lextropicon, a list of futique neologisms. Browsing it, one finds _biological fundamentalism_ ("A new conservatism that resists ... the evolution from the human to the posthuman"), _deanimalize_ ("Replace our animal organs and body parts with durable, pain-free non-flesh prostheses"), _morphological freedom_ ("The ability to alter bodily form at will through technologies such as surgery, genetic engineering, nanotechnology, uploading"), _partial_ ("A computer simulation of part of a person's personality, creted in order to carry out a task not requiring the entire person"), _posthuman_ ("Persons of unprecedented physical, intellectual, and psychological capacity, self-programming, self-constituting, potentially immortal, unlimited individuals")... See also the Godling's Glossary: ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/dkrieger/glossary.html Or Anders Sandberg's Transhumanistic Terminology, based on the Lextropicon: http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/words_page.html References * See Kevin Kelly's _Out of Control_: http://www.wired.com/Staff/kevin/fortune.html "Fortune Cookies" http://www.wired.com/Staff/kevin/oocontrol.html "The Electronic Hive" http://www.wired.com/Staff/kevin/oocontrolpress.html "The Nine Laws of God" - this last extract comes at the end of a press release about the book * http://www.santafe.edu/~mm/paper-abstracts.html#kelly A review of _Out of Control_, by a researcher from the Santa Fe Institute *** THE HIGH FRONTIER *** i.e., space, aliens, "sidereal engineering". http://www.csn.net/~mtsavage/index.html The First Millennial Foundation Based on the book. The eight steps proposed: * Establish 1st Millenial Foundation * Ocean cities * Bridge to space -- cheap access to orbit * Establish ecospheres in space * Dome over craters on moon * Terraform Mars * Transmute substance of our solar system * Colonize the stars (This list was prepared by Phil Goetz for the Extropians list, as part of a book review.) * http://www.csn.net/~mtsavage/fmfcha.html The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in 8 Easy Steps * http://www.csn.net/~mtsavage/mission.html Mission Statement Cosmic Security By analogy with "national security", "economic security", "environmental security". * http://newproducts.jpl.nasa.gov/sl9/news19.html Near-Earth Object Committee Their mission: to locate objects that might intersect earth's orbit. Even if you overcome ageing, you'll still be an inhabitant of a cosmos in which catastrophes can happen on a planetary scale. http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/sl9/sl9.html In 1994 astronomers saw Shoemaker Levy-9 fragment and collide with Jupiter; and that's just a small example of the sort of event which the human race or its successors may be called upon to face at any moment. See the bio-historical narratives of Olaf Stapledon for accounts of such events. Hyper Club "Topics: beyond SETI and CETI (ZETI), wild cards (Pearl Harbor Syndrome), handling worst case scenarios (classified), astronomic crises, travel beyond the Red Limit (Project Enigma), megafunding, and intersuperclustral travel (Project Ultra). For those able to think about deep space, to appreciate the wider ramifications of contact, to imagine humans achieving technological superiority over cultures presently aeons ahead, and to act on consensus because this is not an organization for idle theory nor debate (nor tabloid flying saucer humor) but for urgent practical acton. For serious sophisticated people only--no kooks need apply. To join: snail mail: Hyper Club, c/o Intergalactic Network, Box 326. Rock Hill, SC 29731 USA." "The Cosmogony of the Future" Is the title of Chapter 9 of Donald Wollheim's _The Universe Makers_ (Harper & Row, NY, 1971). Wollheim describes a schema to which, he claims, most science-fictional histories of the far future conform in some measure: * the initial voyages to the moon and to the planets of our solar system * the first flights to the stars * the Rise of the Galactic Empire * the Galactic Empire in full bloom * the Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire * the Interregnum * the Rise of a Permanent Galactic Civilization * the Challenge to God http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/tech_page.html Technology and Megascale Engineering Is one of Anders Sandberg's pages on Transhumanism, and includes essays on these topics: http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/cometmining Comet Mining http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/terra.txt Terraforming Mars using replicators http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/megastruct.txt Megastructures in SF ftp://planchet.rutgers.edu/nanotech/papers/megascale MegaScale Engineering and Nanotechnology http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/wormholes.html Traversable Wormholes http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/stellify.txt Stellifying Jupiter Space * http://medlib.jsc.nasa.gov/intro/humans.html Humans in Space * http://muon.qrc.com/space/start.html Space Activism Home Page * http://www.access.digex.net/~dcarson/Lrc.html Lunar Resources Company * http://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/~shalizi/hyper-weird/aerospace.html Links on aerospace and astronomical topics * http://www.astro.nwu.edu/lentz/space/ssi/ The Space Studies Institute * http://www.nas.nasa.gov/RNR/Visualization/AlGlobus/SpaceColonies/ spaceColonies.html Space Colonization * http://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/aRocketAday.doc A Rocket a Day Keeps the High Costs Away The development of space was termed the "third industrial revolution" by G Harry Stine , who wrote a book of that name. See also Jerry Pournelle's (jerry@bix.com) _A Step Further Out_, particularly the section on Freeman Dyson's proposed "highway to space". Golem XIV Much of Stanislaw Lem's short book of this name is now online. See also gopher://gopher.well.sf.ca.us/00/Publications/authors/Sterling/Catscan_Stuff/ catscan_two.txt The Spearhead of Cognition: Sterling on Lem. See also Lem's _Summa Technologiae_ (1961): German translation by Friedrich Griese, Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Verlag, ISBN 3-518-37178-9. Alien life * http://www.metrolink.com/seti/SETI.html SETI Institute Home Page * ftp://ftp.ai.mit.edu:/pub/minsky/AlienIntelligence Minsky on the nature of Alien intelligence * http://www.ibr.cs.tu-bs.de/~rhiemeir/sfsci/fermi.html A Possible Answer to the Fermi Paradox (viz., "Where is everybody?") One possible explanation is that structures already visible in the cosmos may be artificial. (In its Lecture 43, GOLEM comments, "Only a star can survive among stars.") Lem discusses one rather specific scenario in the final chapter of _A Perfect Vacuum_. Yet another is that life for a technological civilization in the cosmos is much harder than many transhumanists would like to think. I think of this as the "Stapledonian" perspective, since in his books he described so many times calamities that destroyed or set back civilizations of all Kardaschev types. References See Ed Regis's _Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition_, for more speculations from today's technological fringe. http://www.hotwired.com/Lib/Wired/2.10/features/extropians.html Regis also wrote "Meet the Extropians", featured in WIRED 2.10, and has a new book on nanotechnology, _Nano!_, out shortly.) Other References http://www.csn.net/~mtsavage/index.html _The Millennial project_. Adrian Berry's _The Next Ten Thousand Years_. The Omega Point Theory Frank Tipler's ideas about a cosmic Omega Point (in _The Physics of Immortality_) are arguably the most far-reaching speculation. There is a mailing list, omega-point-theory@world.std.com. To subscribe, mail majordomo@world.std.com with message body "subscribe omega-point-theory". To see who's on the list, ask "who omega-point-theory". Human list-owner is eweinmann@delphi.com, eweinman@world.std.com. From: sarfatti@ix.netcom.com (Jack Sarfatti) Newsgroups: sci.physics Subject: Re: Tipler Book - Opinions Wanted Date: 22 Dec 1994 19:45:06 GMT [...] Yes, of course, it's speculative. But it's brilliant and interesting even if it is fundamentally wrong. It stimulates discussion on important issues. It makes definite predictions. The two major ways it might be wrong is 1) that the universe is closed and 2) that consciousness is equivalent to algorithmic computability which appears to contradict Penrose's thesis in The Emperor's New Mind and in Shadows of the Mind. [The term "Omega Point" originated with Teilhard de Chardin's _The Phenomenon of Man_; for a very critical review by biologist Sir Peter Medawar, see: http://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/~shalizi/Medwar/phenomenon-of-man.html http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/baby Baby universes, designer universes http://beep.roadrunner.com/~mkzdk/texts/bignews.html Andrei Linde's "self-reproducing universe" http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/gr-qc/9404011 Lee Smolin on The fate of black hole singularities Moravec-Tipler scenario From the Omega-Point-Theory mailing list: From: Anders Sandberg Subject: Achieving Immortality This is roughly what I meant. I propose something like this (I call it the Moravec-Tipler scenario): 1. Use medical technology to extend my biological lifespan as much as possible, in order to survive long enough for the technologies in the next step to develop (this may include cryonic suspension). Its a gamble, I know. 2. Transfer to/become a non-biological body (like a computer program through uploading or some cyborg system through gradual replacement). This of course raises the question if the new being is me or something else, which I personally doesn't think matters (if my pattern continues, I continue). 3. Non-biological systems are much more durable and hopefully more flexible (since they can be redesigned if needed, or my pattern moved to another body). Backup copies can be distributed to minimize the chance of destruction, not to mention multiple copies (Why settle for being one being?). These entities can spread across the universe, evolving and developing in new directions. These are the "robots" that will build the Omega Point. 4. If the Omega Point will exist, or other similar phenomena will exist, my future selves might be able to participate in them and thus have a chance of becoming truly immortal (note that you might be resurrected by Omega and still die, if It or someone else erases you and decides to never resurrect you again ("I know what you said about Me! Now I will quantum erase you!")). Each of these steps is a testable and hopefully falsifiable scientific or engineering problem. *** THE SINGULARITY *** * http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/sing_page.html Anders Sandberg's Singularity page * http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/sing.txt Vernor Vinge's Technological Singularity * gopher://gopher.well.sf.ca.us/00/Publications/authors/Calvin/wer81.asc William Calvin's response (both from Whole Earth Review, Winter 1993) * http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Trans/singul.txt More on the Singularity * ftp://planchet.rutgers.edu/nanotech/archives/singularity Singularity discussion from sci.nanotech What is the Singularity? "SINGULARITY: The postulated point or short period in our future when our self-guided evolutionary development accelerates enormously (powered by nanotech, neuroscience, AI, and perhaps uploading) so that nothing beyond that time can reliably be conceived. [Vernor Vinge, 1986]" (Lextropicon) Is immortality (and not just extreme longevity) possible? Frank Tipler (in _The Physics of Immortality_) and Freeman Dyson (in _Infinite in all Directions_) have advanced preliminary arguments for the possibility of immortality in closed and open universes respectively. Also see Dyson's paper "Time without end: physics and biology in an open universe" (Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 51, No. 3, July 1979). http://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/~shalizi/aleph-anti-FAQ.html Cosma Shalizi writes, in the Aleph anti-FAQ, that "in a universe going on forever, there is infinite time for error, coincidence and malice." By the same token there is infinite time for forethought and error avoidance. Universal Immortalism "The view that the problem of death can be solved in its entirety (including bringing back those "dead" who were not placed into biostasis) through a rational, scientific approach. [R. Michael Perry, 1990]" (Lextropicon). Tipler predicts that his Omega Point will do this; but I personally would rather achieve immortality now, rather than leave it to the hypothetical far future to "resurrect" me _in simulo_. FM2030: "I may have emerged from nothing, but I need not be resigned to returning to Nothingness." SINGULARITY NOW -- -mitch http://desire.apana.org.au/~qix