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Jun 30, 2017

Alexandra Elbakyan: Why Science should not be behind paywalls

Posted by in category: science

Our exclusive interview with Sci-Hub is now available on Facebook for your viewing pleasure. We discuss with Alexandra how scientific progress is being held back by publishers keeping research behind paywalls.


In this interview Alexandra Elbakyan, creator of the controversial academic paper database Sci-Hub, discusses the importance of making scientific information freely available to all.

She goes on to explain why having open access to scientific knowledge, even if it means circumventing paywalls, is a fundamental right that benefits both individuals and society as whole.

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Jun 30, 2017

Lifespan Heroes

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Keith Comito introduces the Lifespan Heroes campaign and how we as a community can support the development of new therapies to treat age-related diseases for a healthier and longer life.

Link to the Lifespan Heroes campaign: https://www.lifespan.io/campaigns/join-us-become-a-lifespan-hero/

Link to all our campagins: https://www.lifespan.io

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Jun 30, 2017

The meaning of death?

Posted by in category: life extension

The perceived inevitability of death often pushes us to try to find meaning in it. In this article, I discussed why I think this has at least partly contributed to the cliché that death gives meaning to life.


The point of this blog is to advocate for rejuvenation therapies. In principle, it could be written without ever typing the word ‘death’, because rejuvenation is about keeping people healthy, and the indefinite postponement of death is merely a possible consequence of constant good health. In this sense, this and many other posts and articles on Rejuvenaction could be considered off-topic. However, it is not uncommon for people to accept, rather uncritically, the stale cliché according to which life gets its meaning from death, and without the latter, it would not have meaning. If rejuvenation can stave off death and extend lives indefinitely, will these extended lives be utterly meaningless?

No. Time and time again have I said this before, but I still fear that this misconception may be one of the worst enemies of rejuvenation; consequently, I spend much time thinking about its roots and how to debunk it.

Whether life gets its meaning from death or not, people who think it does implicitly admit that life has no meaning per se. In a general sense, this is correct. Life is meaningless, and there’s nothing wrong with it. It is no reason to be depressed, and I have explained why many times: Meaning is not an intrinsic property of anything. To paraphrase a common adage, meaning lies in the head of the beholder, and that’s where you should expect to find the meaning—if any—of anything, life included. In other words, it is up to you to find meaning in your life, and you should neither expect it to have meaning by default, nor let others decide for you what the meaning of your life is. This applies to everything else too. Whenever the meaning of X is being discussed, one should always ask to whom X means what, or who meant what when they did or said X. It goes without saying that, just like life, death has no intrinsic meaning either.

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Jun 30, 2017

Russian military lab unveils prototype of Star Wars-like combat suit (VIDEO)

Posted by in categories: cyborgs, military

A major hi-tech Russian military research center has unveiled what appears to be a prototype of a next-generation combat suit. The stunning gear, resembling Star Wars outfits, will be worn by Russian soldiers on future battlefields.

The prototype features a helmet covering the soldier’s face and cutting-edge body armor.

Continue reading “Russian military lab unveils prototype of Star Wars-like combat suit (VIDEO)” »

Jun 30, 2017

NASA to Test Fission Power for Future Mars Colony

Posted by in categories: nuclear energy, space

NASA engineers are working on a nuclear fission system to power a human colony on Mars.

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Jun 30, 2017

We Will Rock You

Posted by in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, existential risks

Today is World Asteroid Day… https://bcgallie.wixsite.com/asteroidday


Asteroid Day is a global awareness movement to protect Earth against asteroid impacts. The original inspiration for this campaign came from Grigorij Richters’ asteroid impact disaster film 51 Degrees North — all profits from which he has now dedicated to the cause of Asteroid Day world-wide. Dr. Brian May is a key supporter and delivered a slight update of the original mix, specifically for the Asteroid Day launch. Learn more about Asteroid Day, here: http://www.asteroidday.org

Continue reading “We Will Rock You” »

Jun 29, 2017

For Moogfest, Michael Stipe, Lonnie Holley, and Transhuman Futurists Commune Down South

Posted by in categories: food, life extension, media & arts, transhumanism

This is the oldest and largest art magazine by circulation in the world. For the first time, it has #transhumanism in its search engines. A main task of mine all these years has been spreading that word and concept. My talk at #Moogfest on the Immortality Bus is covered a bit in this story.


L ast month, as bidding was underway at Sotheby’s for what would prove to be a stratospheric Jean-Michel Basquiat sale, Lonnie Holley, a 67-year-old artist who was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and has worked for decades in various folksy and homegrown modes, was preparing to take the stage at a sports bar in Durham, North Carolina. He was sitting at a table in the back, in a place that stank of burgers and beer. An audience of a few dozen had convened for the occasion, though it was hard to distinguish between Holley fans and regular denizens of the Bullpen, a joint next door to the stadium for the beloved local minor-league baseball team, the Durham Bulls. Night-game lights were bright outside. Televisions above the bar showed the Bulls making easy work of the Gwinnett Braves, in town for a weekend series from Georgia. The air was thick and languid in the way it tends to be on a deep, hot Southern summer night.

Holley is a hero to some: as an artist, he has made formidable paintings and sculptures that have been collected by the Souls Grow Deep Foundation and exhibited by museums and institutions all over, and as a musician, he has forged an unforgettable sound with a stirring voice and stewing electronics. For all his accomplishments, though, Holley remains underappreciated—certainly not as known in the worlds of either art or music as he should be.

Continue reading “For Moogfest, Michael Stipe, Lonnie Holley, and Transhuman Futurists Commune Down South” »

Jun 29, 2017

Bioquark Inc. and Lakmus LLC Announce Research Collaboration to Study Novel Biopharmaceuticals for Healthy Longevity Enhancement

Posted by in categories: aging, bioengineering, biotech/medical, disruptive technology, DNA, genetics, health, life extension, posthumanism, science

Philadelphia, PA, USA / Moscow, Russia — Bioquark, Inc., (www.bioquark.com) a life sciences company focused on the development of novel bio-products for regeneration, disease reversion, and healthy aging, and Moscow based, Lakmus LLC, a diversified investment company with business interests in pharmacies, restaurants, and real estate, announced a multi-disciplinary research collaboration with the FSBI Zakusov Institute of Pharmacology, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (http://www.academpharm.ru/), and the Pavlov Institute of Physiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (http://www.infran.ru/), to jointly study the pharmacotherapeutic longevity enhancement properties of its combinatorial regenerative biologic candidates.

“We are very excited about this continued collaboration with Lakmus,” said Ira S. Pastor, CEO, Bioquark Inc. “The disciplined development of our combinatorial biologic candidates (Bioquantines) for healthy longevity enhancement, represents another important step in our continued evolution as a company focused on a broad range of therapeutic products and services in the regenerative healthcare space.”

Throughout the 20th century, natural products formed the basis for a majority of all pharmaceuticals, biologics, and consumer healthcare products used by patients around the globe, generating trillions of dollars of wealth. However, many scientists believe we have only touched the surface with what the natural world, and its range of organisms, which from a health and wellness perspective are much further advanced than human beings, has to teach us.

Continue reading “Bioquark Inc. and Lakmus LLC Announce Research Collaboration to Study Novel Biopharmaceuticals for Healthy Longevity Enhancement” »

Jun 29, 2017

Elon Musk’s Boring Company finishes first tunnel segment in LA

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, transportation

It may have a boring name, but it is getting exciting boring done. The aptly yet ironically named company has just reached an important milestone in fulfilling Elon Musk’s newest moonshot. The visionary and entrepreneur extraordinaire took to Twitter to almost nonchalantly revealed that boring machine Godot has just completed the first segment underneath LA, while still leaving plenty of room for mystery and suspense.

Musk is anything but boring, of course, as can be seen by his ambitions turned into successful companies. His latest endeavor, however, is probably one of the most debated. It came out of the blue and, given the tongue-in-cheek name, not everyone might have taken it seriously at first. And some of those that did though Musk had finally lost it. Of course, it had its fair share of fans who shared a dream of escaping traffic congestion.

Musk’s plan to solve the traffic problem wasn’t simply to bore tunnels that cars and all sorts of vehicles would simply fill up again. Instead, the tunnels would ferry these vehicles on sleds traveling at 200 km/h. Back in April, that was nothing more than a pretty rendered animation, but last month Musk showed off a demo of just how fast that sled really is.

Continue reading “Elon Musk’s Boring Company finishes first tunnel segment in LA” »

Jun 29, 2017

MIT space hotel wins NASA graduate design competition

Posted by in categories: habitats, space, transportation

The Managed, Reconfigurable, In-space Nodal Assembly (MARINA), developed by MIT graduate students, recently took first place at NASA’s Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts-Academic Linkage Design Competition Forum. MARINA is designed as a habitable commercially owned module for use in low Earth orbit that would be extensible for future use as a Mars transit vehicle.

Image courtesy of the MARINA team.

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