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How Virtual Reality Will Help Shape Our Psychedelic Future

The famous psychologist Timothy Leary once referred to himself as a “surfer,” envisioning a future where, “[t]o study biology, you can press a button and make yourself part of the human body. You can become a white blood cell and learn about the circulatory system by traveling through an artery. You can call up the Prado Museum in Madrid and study Goya’s paintings.”


When I think about the future, I envision mass technological disruptions across the entire landscape. Artificial intelligence (AI) being embedded into the very fabric of our architecture and institutions, 3D printing transforming our socio-economic system from scarcity to abundance, and virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR) unleashing infinite potential in shaping our perceptions of reality.

One could argue that we’ve already been experimenting with VR/AR via the use of psychedelic drugs, like psilopsybin, DMT, etc. But for many, the perception of these drugs tend to carry an unfortnate negative connotation. When people think of someone doing shrooms, a lot of them think of a person going mad in the middle of the woods. When people think of someone doing LSD, a lot of them think of a person believing they’re Peter Pan as they hoist themselves off the top of a skyscraper.

The devil may be in the details, but for those who actually experiment with psychedelics, the devil isn’t this terrible thing which results in their immediate death or psychological disruption; the devil is the infinite potential of their mind overcoming the many obstacles of reality.

Dr. Vadim Gladyshev – Harvard University

An interview with Dr. Vadim Gladyshev, Harvard University.


We have recently had occasion to have a chat with Dr. Vadim Gladyshev, Professor of Medicine and Director of Redox Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, in Boston, Massachusetts. He is an expert in aging and redox biology and is known for his characterization of the human selenoproteome. His research laboratory focuses on comparative genomics, selenoproteins, redox biology, and, naturally, aging and lifespan control.

Dr. Gladyshev graduated from Moscow State University, in Moscow, Russia; his postdoctoral studies in the 1990s took place at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the National Cancer Institute, in Bethesda, Maryland. Even when he was young, he was very much interested in chemistry and experimental science: he twice won the regional Olympiad in chemistry and graduated from high school with a gold medal. He also graduated with the highest honors from Moscow State University. This enviable track record is even more impressive considering that Dr. Gladyshev completed music school and high school at the same time and became a chess player equivalent to national master during his college years.

You’ll have a chance to meet Dr. Gladyshev at our upcoming New York City conference, Ending Age-Related Diseases, on July 12; if you can’t attend, you can at least enjoy our interview with Dr. Gladyshev below.

RIPPA The Farm Robot Exterminates Pests And Weeds

RIPPA, a fully autonomous robot, can cover five acres a day on a solar charge — finding and exterminating pests and weeds on every single plant over the equivalent of four football fields. Are robots like RIPPA the future of farming?

RIPPA stands for “Robot for Intelligent Perception and Precision Application”.

Catalyst joins engineers from the Australian Centre for Field Robotics as they explore the world of agriculture to develop robots and smarter ways of farming.

Watch Catalyst on ABC iview now: https://iview.abc.net.au/programs/catalyst

SUBSCRIBE: http://ab.co/CatalystYouTube

About Catalyst:

Scientists invented a real-life flux capacitor, but not for time travel

If you watched Back to the Future over the holiday weekend and wished the flux capacitor was a real thing so you could travel through time, we have sorta good news. Scientists from Australia and Switzerland have proposed a real-life flux capacitor — but you won’t be able to travel back to a high school dance in the ’50s with it.

The device is a new type of electronic circulator, which can control the directional movement of microwave signals. The scientists, who published their research in Physical Review Letters, have proposed two different potential circuits — one of them borrows the design of the three-pointed flux capacitor Doc Brown and Marty McFly used to travel to 1955 and 2015 in their DeLorean.

A little-known feature in Google Maps lets you explore our local solar system — here’s how to visit Mercury, Venus, and other planets and moons in Google Maps

Most people just use Google Maps to get directions from A to B, but it’s also an incredible educational tool in its own right.

Using Google Maps is a great way to learn more about the various cities and countries around the world. But many people might not know that Google Maps can also be used to explore other worlds besides Earth.

That’s right: If you visit Google Maps and zoom out far enough, you’ll have the option to explore several planets and moons in our own solar system.

Florida man tests world’s first fully mind-controlled artificial arm

He now officially owns them! #CyborgsRule


— Johnny Metheny sits at an electric piano in his Port Richey home self-teaching himself the song Amazing Grace. Johnny’s never played before, but he’s determined to master the song. He plays through fairly well with his right hand.

“That side I got down pretty good,” said Metheny.

Then he raises his left hand to the keyboard, the hand he’s only known for a few short months, and that he never thought he’d be raising. The world’s first fully mind controlled artificial arm.

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