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Unlikely Allies? Transhuman Dignity and Catholic Doctrine on Human Flourishing

In this chapter I engage with both the question of whether Creation includes postdigital life and the implications of this potential inclusion for witnessing God’s activity in a transhuman world. To address this twofold inquiry, I investigate whether the Catholic Church can turn out to be, contrary to a received view, a doctrinal ally of transhumanism. To that effect, I dissect various seemingly disparate themes in the transhumanist literature, showing that they can attain coherent articulation once the movement’s theological undercurrent is identified. Subsequently, I show that there is a substantial overlap between this transhumanist theological underpinning and the contemporary epistemology of the Church. This theoretical bridge is possible in virtue of later philosophical developments in Catholic doctrine that are rarely acknowledged.

Inhaling cannabis may greatly increase your risk of getting asthma

If you’re looking to reduce your chances of developing lung disease, say experts at UC San Francisco, then it may be smart to avoid inhaling cannabis.

A new study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that inhaling marijuana every day is associated with a 44% increased chance of developing asthma. It also increased the odds of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by 27%.

The COPD risk may be understated, since the disease takes decades to develop, and the researchers did not have detailed information on how long people in the study had been using cannabis.

Galaxies Reveal Hidden Maps of Dark Matter in the Early Universe

Researchers uncover a key protein and a promising strategy to prevent bone damage from steroids.

The rheumatology and orthopedic researchers discovered that a protein called Basigin, which gets activated in stem cells when people take steroids, is a key reason why bones weaken and blood vessels in bone tissue become abnormal. By blocking Basigin, they were able to protect and even restore bone health in mice, suggesting a promising new treatment path.

Their findings were published in Nature Communications.

Graph neural networks learn emergent tissue properties from spatial molecular profiles

Tissue phenotypes arise from molecular states of individual cells and their spatial organisation, so spatial omics assays can help reveal how they emerge. Here, the authors apply graph neural networks to classify tissue phenotypes from spatial omics patterns, and use this approach to understand patterns in cancers and their microenvironments.

DNA Study of 117-Year-Old Woman Reveals Clues to a Long Life

There’s no escaping the unrelenting passage of time, but supercentenarians who live to see their 110th birthday have a peculiar ability to postpone the inevitable.

A thorough health evaluation of one of the world’s oldest people, Maria Branyas, suggests that one of the reasons she lived to 117 was that she possessed an exceptionally young genome.

Some of her rare genetic variants are linked to longevity, immune function, and a healthy heart and brain.

Cryosphere Chat — Strategies For Convincing Normies, Hibernation vs. Cryosleep, Organ Preservation

In this Cryosphere Chat we discuss the organ preservation to cryonics pipeline, our experiences trying to convince normies to sign up, using terms like hibernation or cryosleep instead of death, and more.

Links:
• Cryosphere Discord server: / discord.
• Cryonics subreddit: / cryonics.

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