Lifeboat Foundation

Biological life extension may hit limits. “Clearly, there are biological reasons for each species’ average lifespan, so why would anyone think that people could live for much longer than we do now?” Perhaps new breakthroughs will nudge lifespans upwards, but maybe these scientists are correct. This is why I still work on artificial death (non biological uploading to MVT awareness engines). Even if average ages go up many folks will still become terminally ill, and apart from MVT artificial death (second best to life) they will only have expensive cryogenics or doubtful religious faith as alternatives.

The average age of people over 110 has not increased for nearly 50 years.

Graeme Ross: “Once again the over-riding need to measure the immeasurable raises it‘s ugly head. Statistics are proof of ignorance. Numbers are not knowledge. It has been mooted that we are a mental construct that incorporates multiple persona in our subconscious and semi-conscious mind. Find the theory for yourself. I wont quote what you can find yourselves. If we are a construct, ever-changing, ever-evolving in complexity and moment-to-moment inner focus, and if, as it has been mooted, we have constant and endless conversation with these ever-changing inner mental persona, then it follows that without capturing that process in mid-flight (as it were) we can‘t deduce the reasoning that results from these conversations. Therefore we are not able to quantify these processes in any way at all. It is ephemeral. Thought takes place in the interval between knowing and asking. Trying to build a machine that will think would take far more resources than mankind will ever possess.”

Abstract: This paper outlines the Independent Core Observer Model (ICOM) Theory of Consciousness defined as a computational model of consciousness that is objectively measurable and an abstraction produced by a mathematical model where the subjective experience of the system is only subjective from the point of view of the abstracted logical core or conscious part of the system where it is modeled in the core of the system objectively. Given the lack of agreed-upon definitions around consciousness theory, this paper sets precise definitions designed to act as a foundation or baseline for additional theoretical and real-world research in ICOM based AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) systems that can have qualia measured objectively.

Published via Conference/Review Board: ICIST 2018 – International Conference on Information Science and Technology – China – April 20-22nd. (IEEE conference) [release pending] and https://www.itm-conferences.org/

Continue reading “The Independent Core Observer Model Computational Theory of Consciousness and the Mathematical model for Subjective Experience” »

Are we poised to witness the evolution of evolution itself? In the following interview, expert Peter Diamandis predicts not only will humanity soon transcend its current biological limits, our world will become automated and magical, responding to our deepest desires and inner thoughts.

The bacteria in your gut may offer an accurate way to measure your biological age, according to a new study.

The microbiome

In recent years, it has become increasingly apparent that the communities of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes living in our gut, known as the microbiome, are likely involved in aging, particularly the chronic age-related inflammation that accompanies it.

Life finds a way. 🌱🌕.

2019 will be the year in which we discover molecules and properties that are as yet unknown to humans. The breadth of biology and the enormous flexibility of genetic material will provide us with an ideal platform to explore an effectively unlimited number of molecules for novel materials and solutions. We will ultimately leave behind hydrocarbons and truly enter the biological age.

Joshua Hoffman is cofounder and CEO of Zymergen

– Meet the companies fixing depression by stimulating neurons.

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

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

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

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

Living in extreme conditions requires creative adaptations. For certain species of bacteria that exist in oxygen-deprived environments, this means finding a way to breathe that doesn’t involve oxygen. These hardy microbes, which can be found deep within mines, at the bottom of lakes, and even in the human gut, have evolved a unique form of breathing that involves excreting and pumping out electrons. In other words, these microbes can actually produce electricity.

Scientists and engineers are exploring ways to harness these microbial power plants to run fuel cells and purify sewage water, among other uses. But pinning down a microbe’s electrical properties has been a challenge: The cells are much smaller than mammalian cells and extremely difficult to grow in laboratory conditions.

Now MIT engineers have developed a microfluidic technique that can quickly process small samples of bacteria and gauge a specific property that’s highly correlated with bacteria’s ability to produce electricity. They say that this property, known as polarizability, can be used to assess a bacteria’s electrochemical activity in a safer, more efficient manner compared to current techniques.

Continue reading “Technique identifies electricity-producing bacteria” »

This new study, led by the MRC’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, used microscopic imaging to observe the detailed internal molecular clock timing of the astrocytes and neurons of the SCN. Surprisingly, this showed that although both types of cell have their own circadian clocks, they are differently regulated and were seen to be active at different times of the day. This delicate interplay was found to be critical in keeping the entire SCN clockwork ticking.

A new study has found that astrocytes, previously thought of as just supporting neurons in regulating circadian rhythms, can actually lead the tempo of the body’s internal clock and have been shown for the first time to be able to control patterns of daily behavior in mammals.