CRISPR Gene Editing to Be Tested on People by 2017, Says Editas
The biotechnology startup Editas Medicine intends to begin tests of a powerful new form of gene repair in humans within two years.
MoreThe biotechnology startup Editas Medicine intends to begin tests of a powerful new form of gene repair in humans within two years.
MoreA strategy designed to improve memory by delivering brain stimulation through implanted electrodes is undergoing trials in humans. The US military, which is funding the research, hopes that the approach might help many of the thousands of soldiers who have developed deficits to their long-term memory as a result of head trauma.
MoreA new type of "nanotweezer" capable of positioning tiny objects quickly and accurately and freezing them in place could enable improved nanoscale sensing methods and aid research to manufacture advanced technologies such as quantum computers and ultra-high-resolution displays.
MoreUniversity of Texas at AustinThe walker is made from a single piece of DNA with two legs connected by a torso. Like a human, it moves by putting one leg forward, then lifting the other leg and putting it forward. The walker autonomously and randomly decides where to put its leg on each step. The study demonstrated that as the nanoscale machine walked, it did not go over the same area twice.
MoreWelcome to Avatar Technology Digest! The latest news on Medical Cybernetics, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics… Here are the top stories we of the last week we carefully picked for you. This time primarily on robotics. Robotic vehicles aren’t really new. We count on machines for our anto-lock brakes, cruise control and much more. What if the machines turn into fully functional humanoids? Stay with us.
MoreResearchers at the Interactions and Communication Design (ICD) Lab at Toyohashi University of Technology have devised the novel robotic communication approach that takes into account the listener's attention. The robot follows a person's gaze and determines if that person is distracted by, for instance, a sports event in the background or something in their surroundings.
MoreYamaha’s new humanoid robot, Motobot, just learned to ride a motorbike and already it’s talking trash. At the recent Tokyo Motor Show where Motobot was unveiled, it announced that the reason it was created was to simply “surpass you.” Presumably, that means piloting a 1000cc Yamaha R1M around a racetrack at over 200kmph, and beating MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi.
MoreUsing stem cells taken from the small intestines of human babies and mice, scientists have grown intestinal linings on gut-shaped scaffolds. The breakthrough adds to other research projects where artificial organs have been created.
MoreLast year, researchers at Columbia University Medical Center were looking at potential treatments for alopecia areata (aka spot baldness), an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss. The team was exploring the potential of drugs that inhibit a family of enzymes known as Janus Kinase (JAK) in hair follicles, finding that the drugs served to turn off the signal that triggers an autoimmune attack, and that when administered orally it could restore hair growth in some subjects. But the research produced one other interesting result.
MoreThe tractor beam, a staple of science fiction including "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" that is employed to grab spaceships and other things remotely, is entering the realm of reality.
MoreFounded 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”.