Link dump: 2009.10.17

From the four corners of the web:

• Wolfram Alpha's Second Act
  Following a sharp drop in interest, the "computational knowledge engine" pins hopes on API--and homework.
• The Future of Supercomputers is Optical
  An IBM researcher gives a timeline for developing the next generation of supercomputers.
• Google Profits Up 27% in Q3
  Google's quarterly profits jumped 27 percent, year over year, to $1.65 billion, marking a very strong showing in the third quarter of a tough year and outstripping analyst's predictions of results for the search and advertising giant.
• Three Google Wave Searches Worth Saving - Searches - Lifehacker
  After only a few weeks of Wave usage, my inbox is full of waves from strangers and items I don't particularly care about. Rather than archiving everything in Wave, I'm going with the flow–with the help of saved searches.

Neurodiversity vs. Cognitive Liberty, Round II

Casey Rae-Hunter is guest blogging this month.

I've taken some hits on my recent post about the possible differences (semantic and conceptual) between neurodiversity and cognitive liberty. Some of them have happened outside of the hallowed Sentient Developments grounds, as one particular individual does not cotton to the Blogger/Google comments protocol here at SD.

Mostly, the arguments have centered on a), my lack of specificity in articulating clear differences between the two terms and b), my assumption that those with Aspserger's Syndrome may be using neurodiversity as an excuse to advocate for an aggressive "hands-off" approach to neurological governance.

I'm writing this follow-up post to (hopefully) better explain why I think that neurodiversity and cognitive liberty — while sharing some similarities — are quite different animals.

Perhaps the best way to do this is to not focus on neurodiversity, as it can mean quite a few different things depending on your politics. At this point in history, theories of cognitive liberty will no doubt sound Philip K. Dick-ian, but it's never too early to start pondering the ethical and regulatory frameworks that impact societal attitudes and individual outcomes. In fact, George did a great job of itemizing these issues just the other day.

In case you missed it, below are my initial Principles for Cognitive Liberty, which I have expanded and clarified. Below that is a paragraph that should better illustrate some differences between neurodiversity and cognitive liberty (keep in mind that there are plenty of similarities).

1. Cognitive liberty is the basic right of an individual to pursue potentially beneficial psychological/neurological trajectories. If the individual is unable to make these choices themselves, than it is the right of their closest family members to make them, provided they are not coerced by the medical establishment or prevailing social strata.

2. Cognitive liberty recognizes that information and education are key to making informed choices. In the absence of such information, cognitive libertarians will advocate for the fullest range of data in when considering treatment options or lifestyle planning.

3. Cognitive liberty recognizes the range of psychological profiles in both the neurotypical world and otherwise. Until and unless an individual's psychology can be determined as infringing on another individual's cognitive liberty, they are free to pursue or not pursue strategies for conventional adaptation, possible enhancement or any other cognitive application — actual or postulatory.

4. Cognitive liberty recognizes the right to pharmacological experimentation, within existing legal structures. Where those structures are not beneficial or unnecessarily inhibit potentially useful individual research, cognitive libertarians reserve the right to challenge legal frameworks (and, where appropriate and with full comprehension of the punitive risks, step beyond them).

5. Cognitive liberty recognizes the essential function of the governmental regulatory apparatus, but places others' cognitive liberty ahead of the societal, legal or bureaucratic status quo. Through education, research and advocacy, cognitive libertarians can and should present information to policymakers that will enhance governmental comprehension of current and emerging issues. Where decisions are made, they must be transparent and open to debate.

6. Cognitive liberty is not an outlier of the neurodiversity movement. It is a separate, but complimentary effort to enhance understanding about the range of possibilities in self-directed cognition.

Once again, let's look at why this is different than neurodiversity.

A) Neurodiversity does not necessarily include an ethical framework for enhancement or targeted augmentation.

B) Neurodiversity may not currently recognize the efficacy of ethical "uplift" for the benefit of enhanced (or even equal) powers of cognition. Cognitive liberty leaves room for these discussions, while not advocating specifically for one or another approach.

C) Neurodiversity offers a necessary framework for human rights within the neurological and psychological spectrum, in which neurological pluralism is part of a new social contract. Cognitive liberty is not in opposition to these tenets, but is perhaps more concerned with the essential right of sentient beings to play an active part in shaping their cognitive destiny by available means.

This post may open a whole 'nother can of worms, but I certainly embrace any conversation or debate it inspires!

Casey Rae-Hunter is a writer, editor, musician, producer and self-proclaimed "lover of fine food and drink." He is the Communications Director of the Future of Music Coalition — a Washington, DC think tank that identifies, examines, interprets and translates issues at the intersection of music, law, technology and policy. He is also the founder and CEO of the Contrarian Media Group, which publishes The Contrarian and Autistic in the District — the latter a blog about Asperger's Syndrome.

Link dump: 2009.10.15

From the four corners of the web:

• Google Wave's Little Secret: It Already Works On The iPhone
• Ultimate List of Google Wave Tips and Tricks
• People who work after retiring enjoy better health
• Terry Grossman: Feeling Great Forever [ h+ Magazine]
  I just got back from a short trip to Mexico where I went for the express purpose of having a few grams of placental tissue transplanted beneath the skin of my lower abdomen. I am evaluating this procedure, which has been available in Mexico for nearly 20 years, as a possible rejuvenation treatment for patients who come to my wellness center.
• Testosterone drives men to buy fast cars
• Smart drugs for cognitive enhancement: ethical and pragmatic considerations in the era of cosmetic neurology -- JME
  Reports in the popular press suggest that smart drugs or "nootropics" such as methylphenidate, modafinil and piracetam are increasingly being used by the healthy to augment cognitive ability. Although current nootropics offer only modest improvements in cognitive performance, it appears likely that more effective compounds will be developed in the future and that their off-label use will increase.
• Op-Ed Columnist - The Young and the Neuro - NYTimes.com
  When you go to an academic conference you expect to see some geeks, gravitas and graying professors giving lectures. But the people who showed up at the Social and Affective Neuroscience Society's conference in Lower Manhattan last weekend were so damned young, hip and attractive. The leading figures at this conference were in their 30s, and most of the work was done by people in their 20s. When you spoke with them, you felt yourself near the beginning of something long and important.

Limits to the biolibertarian impulse

I've often said that transhumanism is supported and strengthened by three basic impulses, namely the upholding of our reproductive, morphological and cognitive liberties. Should any one of these be absent, the tripod cannot stand.

We transhumanists stand divided on any number of issues; put us in a room together and you're guaranteed to get an argument. But one aspect that unites virtually all of us is our steadfast commitment to biolibertarianism -- the suggestion that people, for the most part, deserve considerable autonomy over their minds, bodies and reproductive processes.

Granted, conceptions of what is meant by biolibertarianism varies considerably. I'm sure there are many transhumanists who feel that any state involvement in the development, regulation and implementation of transhumantech is completely unwarranted. But a number of transhumanists, including those of us who are affiliated with the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET), believe there's more to it than that.

Safety checks

Indeed, these technologies are far too powerful to be left to unchecked market forces and the whims of individuals. Most companies and people can be trusted with such things, but there's considerable potential for abuse and misuse...things like the availability of dangerous and unproven pharmaceuticals, irresponsible fertility clinics, or parents who want to give their children horns and a devil's tail. Not cool. This is why the state will have to get involved.

Without safety and efficacy the biolibertarian agenda is facile. I strongly agree that we should allow market forces to drive the development of transhumantech, but state involvement will be necessary to ensure that these technologies are safe, effective and accessible. And in addition, governments will also need to ensure that individuals aren't harming themselves or others with these technologies.

All this said, I'll restate an earlier point: transhumanists tend to hold the biolibertarian conviction that informed and responsible adults have the right to modify their minds and bodies as they see fit and to reproduce in a way that best meets their needs. The state has no business telling people what they should look like, how they should reproduce or how their minds should work. Governments should only intervene in extreme cases, particularly when the application of these biotechnologies lead to abuse and severely diminished lives.

The need for tolerance

But even this is tricky. What do we mean by a 'dimished' life or self-inflicted harm? Who are we to decide which choices are permissable and which are not?

The key, in my opinion, will be to remain informed and open-minded. It will be important to understand why individuals choose to modify themselves in certain ways -- and accept it. We may not always agree, but we'll often need to tolerate.

And in so doing we'll be in a better position to uphold the rights of individuals to shape their lives and experiences as they best see fit.

Link dump: 2009.10.13

From the four corners of the web:

• The Calorie-Restriction Experiment - NYTimes.com
  A curious aspect of the Calerie project, though, is that it is not meant to study weight loss or if one type of diet is better than another. Instead, Calerie is investigating how (and if) a spartan diet affects the aging process and its associated diseases.
• Italian Scientists Put Robot Spiders In Your Colon [Grinding]
• Tons of Twitter Stats
• Is a Virus the Cause of Fatigue Syndrome?
  In a new study, many patients with the debilitating disorder were infected with a recently discovered virus.
• Shared folders and more in Google Docs
• Practical Ethics: The ethics of mind-reading
  Recent developments in neuroimaging have created concerns about the ethics of 'mind-reading'. A technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has led to significant advances in the ability to determine what someone is thinking by monitoring their brain activity.
• Can Health-Care Workers Be Forced to Get Flu Shots? - TIME
  Workers in many hospitals have to get the 2009 H1N1 vaccine.
• The Transhumanists Arrive - Forbes.com
  Technology futurists love to talk about the Singularity as the point in time when technology progresses so rapidly that machine intelligence melds with and surpasses human intelligence. In early October, more than 800 technology- and future-focused attendees gathered at the historic 92nd Street YMCA in New York City for the fourth annual Singularity Summit.

Neurodiversity vs. Cognitive Liberty

Casey Rae-Hunter is guest blogging this month.

Part of the great debate that has come to characterize current assignments within the autism spectrum has centered on the concept of neurodiverity, which is, to my understanding, an umbrella term that connotes a desire to respect the neurological integrity of individuals. However, it has come to mean more to some with Asperger's Syndrome — particularly those adult "aspies" whose self-definition and place in the world may be hard won, to say the least.

It is somewhat difficult to have a cogent argument about neurodiversity at this stage in history, due to the relative newness of the Asperger's diagnosis. The sociological impact of having an entire generation of adults coming to grips with the existence of an autistic spectrum (and their place within it) can not be overstated. These are early days for aspie advocacy, so it's to be expected that some within this community, having suffered a broad array of indignities, would want to assert themselves through what they see as favorable self-categorization. To others, however, it may be interpreted as elitism.

Many adults with Asperger's (such as myself) did not have the benefit of social or scholastic acceptance of their differences. My own burdens were lightened considerably by my eventual AS diagnosis, but I'm sure for some this is not the case. Keep in mind that Asperger's is an autistic spectrum disorder — if you've met one aspie. . . you've met one aspie. I've heard some real horror stories of tragic childhoods, miserable school experiences and failed relationships, so I understand why some folks with AS may feel a certain degree of embitterment towards the neurotypical world. And it's definitely easy to retreat into a fantasy where you're the "superior" and everyone else just doesn't "get it."

Perhaps an analogy can be drawn to the feminist movement of the early 1960s. Having endured years of societal repression — if not outright abuse — at the hands of a patriarchal status quo, was it any wonder that some self-identifying feminists pushed the envelope of diplomatic conversation with larger society? My opinion is that some in the AS community are having their "I am Aspie, hear me roar" moment.

Well intentioned as such advocacy may be, it seems unfair to champion "neurodiversity" when there are people with, ahem, "lower functioning" autism who struggle greatly with their neurological lot. Families of autistic individuals may actually prefer a "cure" to this condition, as it's preferable to a lifetime of social stigma, behavioral outbursts and isolation. From that perspective, "fixing autism" looks pretty compassionate.

For those on the Asperger's side of the spectrum, the idea that aspies should be "cured" — likely through medical, societal or familial coercion — is as offensive as it gets. As we piece together the historic record of autism, it's clear that a shocking number of the most influential minds of the last several centuries may indeed have had Asperger's Syndrome: Nikola Tesla, Albert Einsten, Andy Warhol, Mozart. . . the speculative list goes on and on. If you'd suffered a lifetime of mistreatment by peers and ostracizing in romance or the workplace, wouldn't you want to self-identify with such titans of mentation? And who's to say that the increase in diagnosed Asperger's isn't just due to better clinical testing? Perhaps it's an evolutionary advantage — wouldn't our digital era favor adaptive traits that reward certain kinds of functioning? Ever wonder why there's so many aspie kids in Silicon Valley? Born to code, indeed.

On the other hand, this could all be a scientific canard.

It's probably better and more helpful to examine the meaning of cognitive liberty — which is to say, the right to psychological self-determination, based on robust informational resources and stratified by some level of societal tolerance. Before you say, "hey, that sounds like neurodiversity," consider my handy Principles of Cognitive Liberty:

1. Cognitive liberty is the basic right of an individual to pursue beneficial psychological trajectories. If the individual is unable to make these choices themselves, than it is the right of their closest family members to make them, provided they are not coerced by the medical establishment or prevailing social strata.

2. Cognitive liberty recognizes that information and education are key to making informed choices. In the absence of such information, cognitive libertarians will advocate for the fullest range of data in when considering treatment options or lifestyle planning.

3. Cognitive liberty recognizes the range of psychological profiles in both the neurotypical world and otherwise. Until and unless an individual's psychology can be determined as infringing on another individual's cognitive liberty, they are free to pursue or not pursue strategies for conventional adaptation or any other panacea — actual or postulatory.

What do you think about neurodiversity vs. cognitive liberty? How practical is either?

Casey Rae-Hunter is a writer, editor, musician, producer and self-proclaimed "lover of fine food and drink." He is the Communications Director of the Future of Music Coalition — a Washington, DC think tank that identifies, examines, interprets and translates issues at the intersection of music, law, technology and policy. He is also the founder and CEO of the Contrarian Media Group, which publishes The Contrarian and Autistic in the District — the latter a blog about Asperger's Syndrome.

Neuroplasticity and Coordinated Cognition: the Means of Self-Mastery?

Casey Rae-Hunter is guest blogging this month.

Back in July 2009, I read a fantastic article in the New Yorker about VM Ramachandran — a man referred to by many as a "rockstar of neuroscience." As a youth growing up in India, Ramachandran — henceforth referred to by his nickname, "Rama" — was obsessed with magic tricks and illusions. A self-described solitary child, Rama's prodigious intellect led to his becoming a scientific polymath. Yet he ultimately settled on neuroscience.

Why do I bring him up? Well, as John Colapinto's article reveals, Rama is a very interesting individual, whose nonconformist bent and penchant for black clothing gives him the air of a scientific renegade. The doctor's work has of late focused on apotemnophilia — the compulsion to have a healthy limb amputated. This mental affliction was previously thought incurable, but Rama's unorthodox method of treatment has yielded impressive results in patients who had more or less given up on a fix. The solution is devilishly simple, and one familiar to stage magicians throughout history: it's done with mirrors.

Rama is at the forefront of so-called "mind-mapping," in which the brain auto-repairs damaged connections through certain inputs, in this case a mirror reflection of a healthy appendage, processed optically and reinforced synaptically. Rama also treats amputees who struggle with "phantom limb syndrome" — his theories of brain plasticity have already paid dividends for many chronic sufferers.

The article also suggests a link between autism and defects in the mirror neuron system. This is where things get very complicated, and, as a non-scientist, I should probably refrain from making any sweeping generalizations.

Yet the so-called "plastic brain" and the ability to effectively re-map cognitive protocols is a subject I find endlessly fascinating. Growing up, I had major anger management issues, likely as a result of frustrations in dealing with undiagnosed Asperger's Syndrome. ( You can read in more detail about my tortured relationship with academia here.) In my early twenties, I did a lot of self medicating, to dubious effect. Around the age of 25, I discovered Buddhism. Learning to meditate was one of the most difficult undertakings of my life, but I threw myself into the practice with great determination and gusto.

I'm not sure how or when it happened, but the anger I'd been carrying around largely dissipated. At that point, I began collecting anecdotal and occasionally even scientific evidence about meditation's relationship to cognitive enhancement. There is an ever-increasing amount of science backing up my own anecdotal experiences with meditation, including actual evidence of physiological changes in the brain. (Check out this Buddhist Geeks podcast with academic neurologist and Zen practitioner James Austin for some more examples.)

So, having experienced some of the positive effects of mind-mapping through the discipline of meditation (and attendant Buddhist practices like tonglen and mindfulness), I became more curious about what I've come to call call "coordinated cognition." However, as a skeptic, I have a natural aversion to self-help gobbledegook that masquerades as "enlightenment." After all, Buddhism is about spontaneous undifferentiated awareness, not having the healthiest brain on the block (though there's nothing wrong with that).

So what's the limit, if any, to the mind's plasticity?

As an individual with Asperger's Syndrome, I deal daily with the fact that my mind is literally wired differently than the majority of humans. Yet I'm convinced that environment and patterning has a huge impact on outcomes for individuals on the autistic spectrum. For example, I've been publicly performing for nearly as long as I can remember, which may have aided my ability to "blend" — mimicry is a prized skill in both acting and music. So my mind has, to some degree, already been optimized for certain conditions. But is there other stuff I can do to dampen the "negative" Aspergian traits and amplify the more favorable ones?

At the moment, I have no hard and fast answers, but color me curious.

In my next post, I plan to look at the issue of cognitive liberty — that is, the right to psychological self-determination. As the neurodiversity debate continues to rage in the autistic community, I think it's important for people to feel empowered to choose what works best for them. All we can do is be clear-headed and compassionate advocates for a range of possibilities. The rest is up to the individual.

On the road to a truly diverse cognitive landscape, we may need to look at ourselves from a several different perspectives. Remember, it's done with mirrors.

Casey Rae-Hunter is a writer, editor, musician, producer and self-proclaimed "lover of fine food and drink." He is the Communications Director of the Future of Music Coalition — a Washington, DC think tank that identifies, examines, interprets and translates issues at the intersection of music, law, technology and policy. He is also the founder and CEO of the Contrarian Media Group, which publishes The Contrarian andAutistic in the District — the latter a blog about Asperger's Syndrome.

An Introduction

Casey Rae-Hunter is guest blogging this month.

Greetings, all.

It's my pleasure to be contributing to Sentient Developments through the month of October. Being asked to come aboard was not quite as much of a shock as, say, US President Barack Obama getting a wake-up call about winning the Nobel, but as an avid reader of SD, I'm nevertheless honored to chip in at one of the finest future-forward sites on the planet (and maybe beyond).

Now that the flattery's out of the way, allow me to introduce myself and some topics I'll be covering during my tenure.

I'm a 35-year old political communications professional from Washington, DC. The core of my work is in media policy, which puts me at the spear's tip of fascinating debates concerning Internet and broadcast issues, copyright, technology and law. I probably won't be blogging about many of those topics, but I figured a little context is appropriate in this getting-to-know you phase.

Here's an important caveat: while I have an abiding interest in science and technology, I have but a layman's background in each. So as I'm waxing philosophic about H+ or possible futures in cognitive development, remember that I do so as a observer, not an expert. One of the reasons that I gladly accepted George's invite to contribute is because I knew it would be an incredible learning experience. I encourage readers to correct me where I'm wrong and not to be shy about expanding my horizons on any given topic.

Speaking of "given topics," one that I plan to examine in some detail is that of neurodiversity. In August 2009, I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, confirming what my wife and I had long suspected. Part of my coming to terms with this new information was to begin publishing an adult-AS blog, Autistic in the District, which functions as an adjunct to my main site, The Contrarian Media — a daily publication featuring 11 active contributors who write on everything from paranormal investigation to politics. To be sure, I could have tossed in the occasional rumination on living with "high functioning autism," and no one would've been outraged. Yet I wanted to personalize my experiences in the form of a true web journal, which The Contrarian most assuredly is not. My wife also wanted to offer "aspie"-oriented book reviews and talk about the positive aspects of being a "neurotypical" spouse married to someone with AS. Because a lot of what's online is pretty negative in that regard.

I'm not gong to go into the litany of reasons I decided to "disclose to the world," but the predominant motive was to serve as a positive example for other adult aspies. It's important to remember that the condition is relatively new in terms of clinical understanding and observation, having only been part of standard Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) diagnoses since 1992. That means that most of the current strategies vis-a-vis Asperger's focus on children and young adults. There's nothing wrong with this, but having grown up in an era when there was no "autistic spectrum" — just tragically non-communicative individuals whose condition was thought to be brought on by "refrigerator mothers" — I know there are a great many other adults with AS who might feel sympatico with my own aspie experiences. I'm also interested in contributing to the robust public debate about whether Asperger's and other PDDs are actually gifts, rather than afflictions.

So what does any of this have to do with cognitive destiny and/or design? That's what I hope to ponder during my October hitch. Of course, I may also do the occasional theoretical tap-dance around the Fermi Paradox and the intersection of Buddhism and neuroscience. Because this is Sentient Developments, after all!

But I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll leave it at that. Thanks again to my gracious digital host — I'll talk to you soon. . .

Casey Rae-Hunter is a writer, editor, musician, producer and self-proclaimed "lover of fine food and drink." He is the Communications Director of the Future of Music Coalition — a Washington, DC think tank that identifies, examines, interprets and translates issues at the intersection of music, law, technology and policy. He is also the founder and CEO of the Contrarian Media Group, which publishes The Contrarian and Autistic in the District — the latter a blog about Asperger's Syndrome.

Casey Rae-Hunter guest blogging this month

I'm pleased to announce that Casey Rae-Hunter will be guest blogging on Sentient Developments this month.

Casey Rae-Hunter is a writer, editor, musician, producer and self-proclaimed "lover of fine food and drink." He is the Communications Director of the Future of Music Coalition — a Washington, DC think tank that identifies, examines, interprets and translates issues at the intersection of music, law, technology and policy. He is also the founder and CEO of the Contrarian Media Group, which publishes The Contrarian and Autistic in the District — the latter a blog about Asperger's Syndrome.

Casey's interest in 'music, media and metaphysics' align closely with my own -- including his perspectives on Buddhism, autism, neurodiversity/neurotypicality and psychological well-being -- so look for his posts to focus on those issues.

Link dump: 2009.10.10

From the four corners of the web:

• Beau Lotto: Optical illusions show how we see | Video on TED.com
  Beau Lotto's color games puzzle your vision, but they also spotlight what you can't normally see: how your brain works. This fun, first-hand look at your own versatile sense of sight reveals how evolution tints your perception of what's really out there.
• Google Health Adds Two More Insurers, Only Has 267 To Go
  Google announced today the addition of two new health insurance companies to its Google Health platform at the Health 2.0 – original naming FTW – event in San Francisco. The fact that the company is touting this addition on its main blog is telling because it cuts to the heart of the product's main challenge.
• The Uneducated American - NYTimes.com
  If you had to explain America's economic success with one word, that word would be "education." In the 19th century, America led the way in universal basic education. Then, as other nations followed suit, the "high school revolution" of the early 20th century took us to a whole new level. And in the years after World War II, America established a commanding position in higher education.
• Singularity Summit 2009: Ten Unanswered Questions For Our Future Robot Overlords | Popular Science
  If you could ask the product of the robot-human merge ten questions, what would they be?
• Two Pounds of Beef Produce the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of a Three-Hour Drive

Link dump: 2009.10.08

From the four corners of the Web:

• Grinding: The man with the transplanted hands
  "Now in therapy, he is learning how to pick up small items, like cotton balls, and catch a ball, but he still has no feeling in his fingers. The nerves grow about an inch a month from where the hands were attached, at the forearm."
• A New Cloud Type Is Recognized
  The clouds are most closely related to undulatus clouds. Although they appear dark and storm-like, they tend to dissipate without a storm forming. The ominous-looking clouds have been particularly common in the Plains states of the United States, often during the morning or midday hours following convective thunderstorm activity. As of June, 2009 the Royal Meteorological Society is gathering evidence of the type of weather patterns in which undulus asperatus clouds appear, so as to study how they form and decide whether they are distinct from other undulatus clouds.
• Evil Singing Robot Of Death Should Be Smashed With A Hammer [Singing Robot]
• "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and the Bomb [MoJo]
  US administrations, including the current one, have adhered to a "don't ask, don't tell" policy when it comes to Israel's sizeable arsenal of nuclear weapons.
• Carl Sagan, spaced out on pot
  In 1969, Sagan contributed a piece about his marijuana use for the book "Marihuana Reconsidered." Sagan wrote under the pseudonym of Mr. X, but he was later confirmed as the author.
• Genome-wide study of autism published in Nature
  In one of the first studies of its kind, an international team of researchers has uncovered a single-letter change in the genetic code that is associated with autism. The finding, published in the Oct. 8 issue of the journal Nature, implicates a neuronal gene not previously tied to the disorder and more broadly, underscores a role for common DNA variation.
• Unnatural selection: Birth control pills may alter choice of partners
  Is it possible that the use of oral contraceptives is interfering with a woman's ability to choose, compete for and retain her preferred mate? A new paper published by Cell Press in the October issue of the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution reviews emerging evidence suggesting that contraceptive methods which alter a woman's natural hormonal cycles may have an underappreciated impact on choice of partners for both women and men and, possibly, reproductive success.
• Practical Ethics: Cheating Darwin? The Ethics of Sexual Selection
  In a recent article titled "Cheating Darwin: The Genetic and Ethical Implications of Vanity and Cosmetic Plastic Surgery" in the July issue of the Journal of Evolution and Technology, Kristi Scott considers the potential evolutionary harms of cosmetic plastic surgery and other beauty-related enhancements.
• Study examines ethical dilemmas of medical tourism
  Medical tourism in Latin America needs to be regulated to protect consumers, according to University of Montreal researchers. A new study published in the journal Developing World Bioethics argues that Argentinean fertility clinics are increasingly marketing themselves to international health care consumers: these clinics offer all-inclusive packages with fixed prices that feature airfare, accommodations, transfers, language interpreters and, of course, fertility treatments.
• Universe Has More Entropy Than Thought / Science News
  A new calculation of entropy upholds that general result but suggests that the universe is messier than scientists had thought — and slightly further along on its gradual journey to death, two Australian cosmologists conclude.

On FastForward Radio tonight

I'll be on FastForward Radio tonight at 10:30pm EST to talk about where technology is leading us and to continue the discussion about whether we are alone in the universe. Link.

Link dump: 2009.10.05

From the four corners of the web:

• For those who missed my appearance on FastForward Radio 2 week (MP3): http://bit.ly/x2W7L
  
• As the climate warms, conservationists might consider looking to the past to protect the future http://bit.ly/LVr7P
  
• Is Sociology Dead?
  
• Could a 1.8 Gigayear Technology Gap Exist? http://bit.ly/gqVNm
• Miscalibrated Minds: Why Don’t We Apply What We Know About Twins to Everybody Else? http://bit.ly/3dhpDc
• Stefano Vaj and the Complicated Politics of Italian Transhumanism http://bit.ly/12Qbfg
• Conference Brings Together Leaders in Body Computing http://bit.ly/GKmv8
• Canada 4th place in UN ranking: http://bit.ly/19xK9p
• U.S. scientists share Nobel Prize [implications to life extension] http://bit.ly/TcPKj
• Excluding Africa; Canada and the USA lead the world in premature births. It's unclear as to why. http://bit.ly/XYP7
• BBC: Half of babies born today 'will live to 100' http://bit.ly/CKUdS
• Carl Sagan - 'A Glorious Dawn' ft Stephen Hawking (Cosmos Remixed) http://bit.ly/cka6U
• Artificial Heart Recipient Has No Pulse http://bit.ly/4cSkaZ
• Google Wave crashes on beach of overhype http://bit.ly/5JN45
• Report Says Iran Has Data to Make a Nuclear Bomb http://bit.ly/3DrVBv
• Microsoft Bing loses share in September - http://bit.ly/3FkGEL looks like Bing has peaked.
• Irish vote 'yes' for EU reform - http://bit.ly/AuVbe
• Economics of happiness http://bit.ly/XJ6Xv
• Bailey: Medical innovation boosts life expectancy, but doesn't cost more http://bit.ly/2t05QX
• Vigorous exercise is associated with reduced breast cancer risk http://bit.ly/7s4tC [note the word 'vigorous', people]
• Carrier: A New Concept for Wheelchair Design http://bit.ly/1O5LW
• Saying no to aging will require a bold gesture from each of us http://bit.ly/EnO2e
• 19th Century "color" motion picture http://bit.ly/3gq0iL
• NYT: Quest for a Long Life Gains Scientific Respect http://bit.ly/1EwTD5
• LRAD ’sonic cannon’ debuts in U.S. at G20 protests http://bit.ly/ygrll
• Perfect to a Fault: John Elder looks at the pursuit of perfection and the narrowing of what it means to be normal. http://bit.ly/vHdke
• Why Is Big Pharma Trying to Tell You How to Have Sex?: The medicalization of female desire: http://bit.ly/237E16
• Evolution... http://bit.ly/nt5s2
• Woman implanted with wrong embryo gives birth - http://bit.ly/7q1y5

SS09: Ed Boyden

Benjamin Peterson is covering the Singularity Summit for Sentient Developments.

Ed Boyden talking about improving cognitive performance through brain augmentation. He looks like the older Azrienoch.

http://www.syntheticneurobiology.org

Using light (photons) to activate specific neurons in the brain.

SS09: Goertzel, Hameroff

Benjamin Peterson is covering the Singularity Summit for Sentient Developments.

Ben talks about neural symbolic architecture for cognitive robotics. Ben shows demonstrations of physicalized AGI systems using neural symbolic architecture using the Nao robot platform. Doc Goertzel shows video of an AGI which recognizes the emotions of a human, and proceeds to show video of a Second Life implementation of AGI. Watch Ben's dress rehearsal here, the videos are included.

Ben goes on to list a proven record of AGI (Biomind) assisting in medical research. For example Biomind was used aging networks from gene expression data from Genescient's Methuselah flies.

He closes by referring people to his talk from AGI-09 "Stages of Ethical Development in AGI Systems" and invites everyone to AGI-10.

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Hameroff takes the stage and remarks on the historical failures of artificial intelligence research, citing Newell and Simon (dating back to the 40s.) Not because it's impossible but because the researchers are not modeling the correct structures. He goes on to describe microtubules, quantum effects in the brain, gamma-states indicative of consciousness (*BING*) states in the brain. He glosses over the Quantum Consciousness theory he has developed with Roger Penrose and encourages AI researchers to model cilia.

SS09: Itamar Arel "Technological Convergence Leading to AGI"

Benjamin Peterson is covering the Singularity Summit for Sentient Developments.

Deep Machine Learning

• biologically-inspired computational intelligence approach

-massively parallel

-basic cortical circuit

-discovers structure based on regularities

-spatiotemporal dependencies

-Brain operates at 200hz ...

• goal: learning to represent the world

• hypothesis: brain represent info using repetitive hierarchical architecture

VLSI tech

• adequate tech is here

• billions of transistors on a single chip

• power requirements are low

• insensitive to yield issues

• we can build large systems today!

Ben Goertzel asks Arel what his funding requirements are ... Arel says he can build you an AGI system for 2-14 million dollars. Act now!

SS09: Randal Koene "The Time is Now We Need Whole Brain Emulation"

Benjamin Peterson is covering the Singularity Summit for Sentient Developments.

"Is the brain enough? Is the mind enough?"

Don't bother wasting time on the engineering biospheres for humans to live in space! Just figure out how to move what's in our skulls into a different substrate.

Physicality of the mind ... information must be preserved. move the mind off the meat substrate. Randal is impressing upon his audience the importance of shedding the fleshbag.

Theodore Berger building hippocampus replacement.

"In-vivo techniques, neural recording, neural interfacing:

• Scary/risky procedures

• chronic implantation

• power supply

• scale and bandwidth .."

Different technologies could provide less-invasive (?) modalities: qdots.

Multiscale scanning requirements, need to record neuronal activity at different levels of activity (voxel, group, spike, analog, spatial, molecular)

The human connectome. Automated tape-collecting lathe ultramicrotome ... o.O

Question from the audience regarding continuity. "If you make a copy the original dies ... what about the problem of continuity?"

SS09: Anders Sandberg "Whole Brain Emulation"

Benjamin Peterson is covering the Singularity Summit for Sentient Developments.

George covered neuroscientist Anders Sandberg's WBE (Whole Brain emulation) presentation during Convergence08. Anders is talking about the feasibility and paths to WBE.

"Whole Brain Emulation: feasibility, timescales and key challenges. Humans as existence proof for intelligent systems (so it can be done.) Why whole brain emulation? Exercise in forecasting, well defined problem, little understanding of intelligence needed, if it occurs it will likely be big (philo, scientific, economic, existential implications)

In order to emulate a brain we're going to need greater scanning capability:

• need enough resolution - rough consensus 5x5x50 nm resolution scanning

• need enough information

• need enough volume

• likely destructive" :[

Anders distinguishes WBE from mind-uploading ... maybe the wiki is misinformed?

"The step from mouse to man is 20 years in terms of brain emulation. First scan or simulate then computer power gradual emergence of emulation."

Lights up, Anders fields questions from the audience.

Ben Peterson live blogging the Singularity Summit for Sentient Developments

Our man in the field Benjamin Peterson is in New York covering the Singularity Summit for Sentient Developments. Look for his posts throughout the weekend.

SS09: Anna Salamon "Shaping the Intelligence Explosion"

Benjamin Peterson is covering the Singularity Summit for Sentient Developments.

Anna Salamon discussing controlled intelligence explosion. The dangers inherent in an uncontrolled intelligence explosion. The necessity to tread lightly. "Past a certain point, an intelligence best option is to build more intelligence."

"From chip tools and deer skins; tools which were slightly changed from their natural state to plastic laptops and starbucks lattes."

"The smarter the agent is the better it will be able to determine goals."

Consider the scale of possible intelligences.

"Shaping the intelligence explosion...

Human culture and tech has brought bout a shift in timescales. Culture happens faster than evolution."

'Instant Intelligence: just add hardware' -Steve Rayhawk