01.21.09
Posted in Anti-Aging, Technology, Transhumanism at 12:22 pm by rheil
Science-based Longevity Medicine (Harriet Hall, Science-Based Medicine, 01/20/09)
„Much nonsense has been written in the guise of longevity medicine. In Fantastic Voyage, Ray Kurzweil explains why he takes 250 pills every day and spends one day a week at a clinic getting IV vitamins, chelation, and acupuncture. He is convinced this regimen will keep him alive long enough for science to figure out how to keep him alive forever. In Healthy Aging, Andrew Weil chips in with his own mixture of science and magic. I pointed out the flaws in their reasoning in a review for Skeptic magazine – available online. There are many other popular books that promise to tell you how to live longer. Most of them amount to little more than speculation based on extrapolations from animal studies, in vitro studies, and odd non-clinical facts.“ [read original article]
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Posted in Deutschsprachige Seiten, Ethics, Evolution / Genetics, Human Enhancement, Technology, Transhumanism at 12:12 pm by rheil
Wie Maschinen uns eines Tages versklaven könnten (Susan Blackmore, spiegelonline, 21.01.2009)
„Früher streuten wir nur Gene – dann begannen menschliche Gehirne, Meme zu verbreiten: Ideen, Gedanken, Wörter. Die Evolutionstheoretikerin Susan Blackmore glaubt, dass wir mit Computern und Internet eine neue Evolution in Gang gesetzt haben, die wir eines Tages bereuen könnten.“ [zum Artikel]
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01.20.09
Posted in biotech, Ethics, Future, Technology, Transhumanism at 7:20 am by rheil
Stem cell stroke therapy assessed (Pallab Ghosh, BBC News, 18.01.09)
A Glasgow team is to launch a major trial to assess whether stem cells can be used to treat stroke patients, the BBC has learned.
They hope it will put the UK at the forefront of developing stem cell therapy for incurable disease. Cells made from a human foetus will be injected into patients’ brains.It is hoped the cells will regenerate areas damaged by stroke, and increase patients’ movements and mental abilities.
However, the idea has in the past been described by anti-abortion groups as a “sick proposal”.[read original article]
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Posted in biotech, Deutschsprachige Seiten, Evolution / Genetics, Future, Technology, Transhumanism at 7:16 am by rheil
Injektion von embryonalen Stammzellen in das Gehirn von Schlaganfallpatienten - In Großbritannen wurde der erste klinische Versuch genehmigt. (Florian Rötzer, Telepolis, 20.01.09)
„In Großbritannien könnte die Stammzellforschung einen Schritt weiter kommen. Genehmigt wurde von der Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency erstmals ein klinischer Versuch, bei dem vier Gruppen von jeweils drei Schlaganfallpatienten mit Hirnschädigungen über zwei Jahre embryonale Stammzellen injiziert werden.“ [zum Originalartikel]
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01.15.09
Posted in biotech, Ethics, Human Enhancement, Nootropics, Transhumanism at 7:48 am by rheil
My Genome, My Self (Steven Pinker, New York Times, Published: January 7, 2009)
„ONE OF THE PERKS of being a psychologist is access to tools that allow you to carry out the injunction to know thyself. I have been tested for vocational interest (closest match: psychologist), intelligence (above average), personality (open, conscientious, agreeable, average in extraversion, not too neurotic) and political orientation (neither leftist nor rightist, more libertarian than authoritarian). I have M.R.I. pictures of my brain (no obvious holes or bulges) and soon will undergo the ultimate test of marital love: my brain will be scanned while my wife’s name is subliminally flashed before my eyes. [...]“ [read original article]
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01.10.09
Posted in Deutschsprachige Seiten, Ethics, Human Enhancement at 8:22 am by rheil
Pillen fürs Stipendium
Von Heiko Oldörp, Boston | © ZEIT ONLINE 9.1.2009 – 20:33 Uhr
„Viele amerikanische Schüler manipulieren ihre sportliche Leistung mit verbotenen Mitteln. Es geht ihnen vor allem um die Chance auf ein bezahltes Studium.” [zum Artikel]
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01.08.09
Posted in Neuro at 7:56 am by rheil
How the city hurts your brain …And what you can do about it (bostom.com)
„Now scientists have begun to examine how the city affects the brain, and the results are chastening. Just being in an urban environment, they have found, impairs our basic mental processes. After spending a few minutes on a crowded city street, the brain is less able to hold things in memory, and suffers from reduced self-control. While it’s long been recognized that city life is exhausting — that’s why Picasso left Paris — this new research suggests that cities actually dull our thinking, sometimes dramatically so.“ [read original article]
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Posted in Anti-Aging, Cryonic, Transhumanism at 7:51 am by rheil
Interview: Jason Silva on How Science Will Make You Live Forever (Brave New Traveler)
„Will science finally be able to fix the “problem” of death? In a provocative interview, Jason Silva explains how very soon you may live forever.“ [read original article]
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01.04.09
Posted in biotech, Neuro, Technology, Transhumanism at 7:32 am by rheil
Voodoo Correlations in Social Neuroscience (Edward Vul, Christine Harris, Piotr Winkielman, Harold Pashler)
„The newly emerging field of Social Neuroscience has drawn much attention in recent years, with high-profile studies frequently reporting extremely high (e.g., >.8) correlations between behavioral and self-report measures of personality or emotion and measures of brain activation obtained using fMRI. We show that these correlations often exceed what is statistically possible assuming the (evidently rather limited) reliability of both fMRI and personality/emotion measures. The implausibly high correlations are all the more puzzling because social-neuroscience method sections rarely contain sufficient detail to ascertain how these correlations were obtained. We surveyed authors of 54 articles that reported findings of this kind to determine the details of their analyses. More than half acknowledged using a strategy that computes separate correlations for individual voxels, and reports means of just the subset of voxels exceeding chosen thresholds. We show how this non-independent analysis grossly inflates correlations, while yielding reassuring-looking scattergrams. This analysis technique was used to obtain the vast majority of the implausibly high correlations in our survey sample. In addition, we argue that other analysis problems likely created entirely spurious correlations in some cases. We outline how the data from these studies could be reanalyzed with unbiased methods to provide the field with accurate estimates of the correlations in question. We urge authors to perform such reanalyses and to correct the scientific record. [...]“
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Posted in biotech, Deutschsprachige Seiten, Human Enhancement, Neuro, Technology, Transhumanism at 7:24 am by rheil
Voodoo-Korrelationen in den Neurowissenschaften? (Jörg Auf dem Hövel, Telepolis, 03.01.09)
Eine Forschergruppe zweifelt die diversen Studien an, die starke Zusammenhänge zwischen menschlichen Verhalten und Aktivitätsmustern im Gehirn nachgewiesen haben wollen
„Seit einigen Jahren ist es möglich, dem Menschen mittels bildgebender Verfahren quasi beim Denken zuzusehen. Es entstand das Feld der sozialen Neurowissenschaften: Wissenschaftler bringen sichtbare Vorgänge im Gehirn in Zusammenhang mit Verhalten, Entscheidungen und Emotionen. Eine Forschergruppe um Edward Vul vom MIT und Harold Pashler von der Universität von Kalifornien in San Diego hat nun 54 der wichtigsten solcher Studien aus den vergangenen Jahren untersucht und behauptet in einem Aufsatz für die Perspectives on Psychological Science, der vorab online veröffentlicht wurde: Eine Vielzahl dieser Leitstudien beinhaltet statistisch unmögliche oder falsche Korrelationen, die Autoren sollten nachbessern. [...]“
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Posted in biotech, Deutschsprachige Seiten, Human Enhancement, Neuro, Nootropics, Technology, Transhumanism at 7:19 am by rheil
Freigabe von “smart drugs” für Schüler und Studenten? (Florain Rötzer, Telepolis, 03.01.09)
„Es gebe genügend Beweise, dass Medikamente wie Ritalin oder Provigil Konzentration und Leistung verbessern können, sagt der Bioethiker Harris. [...]“
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Posted in biotech, Human Enhancement, Neuro, Nootropics, Technology, Transhumanism at 7:14 am by rheil
Alexandra Frean, Education Editor, from Times Online, January 1, 2009
Let students take drugs to boost brainpower, says leading academic
„Students should be allowed to take “smart drugs”, such as Ritalin, to help boost their academic performance, a leading academic has suggested.
John Harris, professor of bioethics and director of the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation at the University of Manchester, said the government and medical profession should “seriously consider” making cognition-enhancing drugs available to students without prescription, or allowing them to be prescribed for non-therapeutic purposes, such as studying. [...]“
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01.01.09
Posted in biotech, Future, Human Enhancement, Neuro, Technology, Transhumanism at 6:59 am by rheil
Researchers’ vision: restoring sight through artificial retinas
December 30th, 2008 By Robert S. Boyd in Technology / Engineering (PhysOrg.com)
„Scientists are testing artificial retinas that they hope can restore partial sight to people who’ve lost their vision to the most common causes of blindness. [...]“
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Posted in biotech, Critics, Human Enhancement, Neuro, Nootropics, Technology, Transhumanism at 6:55 am by rheil
Cognitive enhancement
By Judith Warner (Herald Tribune), Published: December 30, 2008
„What if you could just take a pill and all of a sudden remember to pay your bills on time? What if, thanks to modern neuroscience, you could, simultaneously, make New Year’s Eve plans, pay the mortgage, call the pediatrician, consolidate credit card debt and do your job – well – without forgetting dentist appointments or neglecting to pick up your children at school?
Would you do it? Tune out the distractions of our online, on-call, too-fast ADD-ogenic world with focus and memory-enhancing medications like Ritalin or Adderall? Stay sharp as a knife – no matter how overworked and sleep-deprived – with a mental-alertness-boosting drug like the anti-narcolepsy medication Provigil?
I’ve always said no. Fantasy aside, I’ve always rejected the idea of using drugs meant for people with real neurological disorders to treat the pathologies of everyday life. [...]“
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12.25.08
Posted in Ethics, Evolution / Genetics, Future, Human Enhancement, Nootropics, Technology, Transhumanism at 10:55 am by rheil
Enhancing the species (Anjana Ahuja, Times online, May, 17.)
Our correspondent meets the controversial philosopher John Harris, who argues that we have a moral and ethical duty to improve the human race by biologically enhancing our children
The whiteboard in John Harris’s office declares: “John is cool.” Many hold a different opinion of one of the most controversial philosophers in Britain. Here are some of his views: abortion and euthanasia are both fine, desirable even; parents should be allowed to create designer or cloned babies; there’s nothing wrong with a drug-fuelled Olympics; scientists and medics should strive to make us immortal, even on a crowded planet; our bodies should be routinely plundered after death for organs, even if the dead and bereaved do not wish it; it is morally justified to compel people to participate in scientific trials, just as we compel them to do jury service. […]
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12.21.08
Posted in biotech, Evolution / Genetics, Future, Human Enhancement, Nanotechnology, Neuro, Technology, Transhumanism at 7:45 am by rheil
Call for papers: Transhumanism? (Re-Public)
We invite contributions for our upcoming special issue entitled “Transhumanism?”. Is there a new challenge about to dominate our world? A challenge that appears more pressing than the fight against climate change, as demanding as the one against poverty, more complex than our current questions around bioethics.
Are we in a position to redefine, to drastically transform our very human nature?
This is a question formed in the last 20 years by an international movement, deriving from a scientific current, advocating that if the human is a result of an evolution process of millions of years time, nothing rationally preempts its conclusion. On the contrary, transhumanism proposes that the convergence of nanotechnologies, biotechnologies, information and cognitive sciences provide us with a new opportunity, as well as, the responsibility to collectively participate and assume this evolution: it is, more than ever, possible to “form a better humanity” meaning better health for individuals, longer life expectancy, a more effective control of themselves, through enhanced skills, capacities and capabilities.
The special issue will attempt to investigate the influence of transhumanism and the new questions that its poses. […]
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Posted in AI / Singularity, Deutschsprachige Seiten, Technology at 7:39 am by rheil
Man kann eine Maschine nicht bestrafen – Interview mit Noel Sharkey
Matthias Gräbner 21.12.2008 (Telepolis)
Warum wir eine Roboter-Ethik brauchen
“Die Roboterentwicklung trägt nach langen Jahren endlich Früchte, in denen wir nur über die Zukunft gesprochen haben“: Dies behauptet Noel Sharkey, Professor für künstliche Intelligenz und Robotik an der Universität Sheffield. Die rasante Entwicklung, so Sharkey, verlangt neue Gesetze und eine gesellschaftliche Diskussion über die Ethik des Einsatzes von Robotern. Telepolis sprach mit ihm. […]
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12.19.08
Posted in biotech, Evolution / Genetics, Future, Human Enhancement, Technology, Transhumanism at 7:16 am by rheil
The Future of Man – How Will Evolution Change Humans? By Peter Ward (Scientific American)
Contrary to popular belief, humans continue to evolve. Our bodies and brains are not the same as our ancestors’ were—or as our descendants’ will be
People commonly assume that our species has evolved very little since prehistoric times. Yet new studies using genetic information from populations around the globe suggest that the pace of human evolution increased with the advent of agriculture and cities.
If we are still evolving, what might our species look like in a millennium should we survive whatever environmental and social surprises are in store for us? Speculation ranges from the hopeful to the dystopian. [...]
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12.18.08
Posted in biotech, Critics, Human Enhancement, Neuro, Nootropics, Technology, Transhumanism at 9:38 am by rheil
Better than human – Why is the world’s most prestigious science journal peddling the snake oil of cognition-enhancing drugs? (Michael Cook, Mercator Net)
Publication in the British journal Nature is the acme of academic achievement, a byword for quality and the touchstone of scientific opinion. So when its editor co-authors an article putting the case for a technology which has been called the world’s most dangerous idea, you’ve got to ask: what have these dudes been smoking? […]
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12.17.08
Posted in Critics, Deutschsprachige Seiten, Human Enhancement, Technology, Texts about Transhumanism, Transhumanism at 9:09 am by rheil
Oliver Krüger
Die Vervollkommnung des Menschen
Tod und Unsterblichkeit im Posthumanismus und Transhumanismus
Der Mensch ist unvollkommen. Neben den vielen kleinen körperlichen und geistigen Grenzen und den krankheitsbedingten Leiden haftet ihm vor allem ein Makel an: der Mensch ist sterblich. Seine Tage sind gezählt – herausragenden Exemplaren der Gattung Mensch gelingt es heutzutage immerhin, bis zu 38.000 mal das Werden und Vergehen eines Tages zu erleben, aber dann ist Schluss. Das wusste schon der mythische König Gilgamesh, der sich auf die Suche nach einem zauberhaften Unsterblichkeitskraut machte, und auch aus der Sicht des Soziologen Max Weber offenbarte sich im Faktum des Todes “die Sinnlosigkeit der rein innerweltlichen Selbstvervollkommnung zum Kulturmenschen”, die prägend sein sollte für eine sich säkular verstehende Moderne – denn trotz aller Sublimierungsversuche blieb der Tod. […]
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12.12.08
Posted in Deutschsprachige Seiten, Human Enhancement, Nootropics, Transhumanism at 10:19 am by rheil
Experten fordern Regeln für den Smart-Drugs Menschenpark (Telepolis)
Wie soll verantwortungsvoller Umgang mit den sogenannten “Cognitive Enhancern” aussehen?
Es überrascht, dass ausgerechnet das angesehene Wissenschaftsmagazin Nature der Diskussion um die sogenannten “cognitive Enhancer” so viel Raum gibt. Schon vor einem Jahr stellte man dort in die Frage Would you boost your brainpower?, eine nicht repräsentative Umfrage unter den Lesern wies auf eine gewisse Affinität der akademischen Elite zu Medikamenten hin, die das geistige Leistungspotential auf die eine oder andere Seite steigern sollen (siehe: Ritalin für Alle!). [...]
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Posted in Human Enhancement, Neuro, Nootropics, Transhumanism at 10:15 am by rheil
New Ways to Boost Memory – Enhancing neuron gene expression may improve memory.
By Emily Singer (Technology Review)
Scientists are developing new ways to selectively boost gene expression in the brain, in the hope of treating psychiatric and neurological disease. A growing pool of evidence shows that compounds that target this mechanism can improve learning and memory in rodents. But existing drugs, which were not developed for this purpose, are relatively weak and unselective, and their long-term safety is not yet clear. […]
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12.09.08
Posted in Deutschsprachige Seiten, Ethics, Human Enhancement, Neuro, Nootropics, Politic, Technology, Transhumanism at 8:21 am by rheil
Ritalin für alle!
Laurin Rötzer 08.12.2008 (TP)
Medikamente können unsere geistige Leistungsfähigkeit steigern. Ist das Einnehmen dieser „kognitiven Enhancer“ ethisch korrekt, sollte es jeder tun können?
Diese Fragen stellen sich die Autoren eines in Nature vorab online veröffentlichten Essays: [extern] Towards responsible use of cognitive-enhancing drugs by the healthy Es gibt einige Medikamente, die die geistige Leistungsfähigkeit steigern können. Das bekannteste dürfte Methylphenidat (Ritalin) sein, welches vor allem für Kinder mit dem Aufmerksamkeitsdefizitsyndrom (ADHS) verschrieben wird. Andere sind Amphetamine und Modafinil. Sie haben gemeinsam, dass sie die Konzentration von bestimmten Neurotransmittern im Gehirn variieren und so längere und intensivere Aufmerksamkeitsspannen ermöglichen. […]
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Posted in Ethics, Human Enhancement, Neuro, Nootropics, Politic, Technology, Transhumanism at 8:17 am by rheil
Towards responsible use of cognitive-enhancing drugs by the healthy
Henry Greely, Barbara Sahakian, John Harris, Ronald C. Kessler, Michael Gazzaniga, Philip Campbell & Martha J. Farah
Society must respond to the growing demand for cognitive enhancement. That response must start by rejecting the idea that ‘enhancement’ is a dirty word, argue Henry Greely and colleagues.
Today, on university campuses around the world, students are striking deals to buy and sell prescription drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin — not to get high, but to get higher grades, to provide an edge over their fellow students or to increase in some measurable way their capacity for learning. These transactions are crimes in the United States, punishable by prison. […]
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