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Australian scientists should set minds to developing bionic brain
Australian scientists should set a goal of developing the world’s first bionic brain, a report into the future of brain research recommends.
The report, Inspiring smarter brain research in Australia, calls for an investment of $250m over 10 years into interdisciplinary projects to understand the human brain.
It urges that developing a bionic brain become a kind of Apollo mission for Australian science, complete with its own space race: the report cites massive investment in brain research in the United States and Europe, with “China waiting in the wings”.
Australian scientists pioneered the bionic ear and the bionic eye, says geneticist Professor Bob Williams, who chaired the think-tank. “So we have a great deal of experience in what one might think of as outsourcing brain functions to computer chips.”
“It’s obvious that the next development will be to work out ways for the brain to control the movement of an arm or leg,” he said, predicting it would be possible with five to 10 years.
The bionic brain would be more difficult. But research results along the way could revolutionise the prevention and treatment of illnesses such as alzheimer’s, post-traumatic stress disorder, autism and schizophrenia, Williamson said.
“We know that mental illness has a strong genetic component, and a strong environmental component, but the imaging studies that are taking place are already giving clues as to the metabolic things that are happening in the brain in the case of say schizophrenia or bipolar illness.
“Therefore there’s every reason to think that as we understand the architecture of the brain better at the cell by cell level, we’re going to get a greater understanding of what’s going on at the metabolic level, that’s causing a mental illness,” he said.
Looking forward fifty years, and beyond, neuroscience could begin to understand and replicate what he called “the holy grail”, consciousness itself.
“We do not know at this point what the seat of higher consciousness is. We know that humankind is the only animal species that appears to have higher-level consciousness, executive functions, intelligence as we understand it. At least, the only species so far studied and developed.
“We won’t work it out in my lifetime. But it will come. We are looking down the track probably 50 or 100 years,” he said.
“But ultimately, we know that in study of the incredible connections of those hundreds of billions of neurons in the brain, the secret of consciousness exists. That’s something that our grandchildren will have enormous fun figuring out.”
The recommendations emerged from a conference held last July involving 60 Australian researchers, including neuroscientists, anatomists, developmental biologists, ethicists and computer scientists.
Also among the recommendations in the report, available at the Australian Academy of Science website, is the creation of a new Australian brain initiative, dubbed AusBrain, to co-ordinate brain research efforts.
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/24/australian-scientists-should-set-minds-to-developing-bionic-brain-report
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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