Lifeboat Foundation

http://www.homomimeticus.eu/
Part of the ERC-funded project Homo Mimeticus, the Posthuman Mimesis conference (KU Leuven, May 2021) promoted a mimetic turn in posthuman studies. In the first keynote Lecture, Prof. Kevin Warwick (U of Coventry) argued that our future will be as cyborgs – part human, part technology. Kevin’s own experiments will be used to explain how implant and electrode technology can be employed to create cyborgs: biological brains for robots, to enable human enhancement and to diminish the effects of neural illnesses. In all cases the end result is to increase the abilities of the recipients. An indication is given of a number of areas in which such technology has already had a profound effect, a key element being the need for an interface linking a biological brain directly with computer technology. A look will be taken at future concepts of being, for posthumans this possibly involving a click and play body philosophy. New, much more powerful, forms of communication will also be considered.

HOM Videos is part of an ERC-funded project titled Homo Mimeticus: Theory and Criticism, which has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement n°716181)
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Continue reading “Posthuman Mimesis, Keynote I: Cyborg Experiments (Kevin Warwick)” »

Is neuromorphic computing the only way we can actually achieve general artificial intelligence?

Very likely yes, according to Gordon Wilson, CEO of Rain Neuromorphics, who is trying to recreate the human brain in hardware and “give machines all of the capabilities that we recognize in ourselves.”

Continue reading “Building an artificial brain: 86B neurons, 500T synapses, and a neuromorphic chip” »

Anthony J. Ferrante, Global Head of Cybersecurity and Senior Managing Director, FTI Consulting, Inc.

Artificial intelligence (AI) models are built with a type of machine learning called deep neural networks (DNNs), which are similar to neurons in the human brain. DNNs make the machine capable of mimicking human behaviors like decision making, reasoning and problem solving. This presentation will discuss the security, ethical and privacy concerns surrounding this technology. Learning Objectives:1: Understand that the solution to adversarial AI will come from a combination of technology and policy.2: Learn that coordinated efforts among key stakeholders will help to build a more secure future.3: Learn how to share intelligence information in the cybersecurity community to build strong defenses.

Can we turn up—or dial down—their fervor by tweaking their genes?

Enter a new kind of CRISPR. Known mostly as a multi-tool to cut, snip, edit, or otherwise kneecap an existing gene, this version—dubbed CRISPRa—forcibly turns genes on. Optimized by scientists at Gladstone Institutes and UC San Francisco, the tool is counterbalanced by CRISPRi—“i” for “interference,” which, you guessed it, interferes with the gene’s expression.

Though previously used in immortal cells grown in labs, this is the first time these CRISPR tools are rejiggered for cells extracted from our bodies. Together, the tools simultaneously screened nearly 20,000 genes in T cells isolated from humans, building a massive genetic translator—from genes to function—that maps how individual genes influence T cells.

A group of researchers were able to alter the genes of unfertilized mice embryos so that it could create offspring without male sperm.

Thankfully, the cells have nothing to do with cognition.

Supplement companies often market nootropics like they’re some kind of new scientific discovery. However, human beings have been using nootropics to boost mental performance for millennia. What’s different now is that scientists actually understand how nootropics work, and which ones have synergistic interactions with each other.

This new understanding is what helped TruBrain create Brain Food.

Brain Food is a nutritional supplement that has been methodically engineered by TruBrain’s team of scientists to create the biological conditions necessary for peak cognitive performance. Like a lot of other nootropic supplements, Brain Food contains the so-called “everyman stack” of caffeine and l-theanine, a combo humans have been taking for thousands of years in the form of green tea.

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine say that they were able to treat depression in patients by stimulating their brains with magnets.

In a study published on Friday 0, the researchers found that nearly 80 percent of patients had experienced remission of their depression after the procedure, which is called Stanford neuromodulation therapy (SNT). The technique is a modified form of transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and works by delivering high doses of magnetic pulses into a patient’s brain with a device containing magnetic coils placed outside of their skull.

The treatment takes just five days and is customized to each patient based on an MRI scan which shortens the typical timeline of rTMS treatment from a span of weeks into days.

From the brilliant, horny minds at Futurism and MEL Magazine come stories from the future of hedonism: This is The Science of Pleasure.