Lifeboat Foundation

In October, a paper titled “Assembly theory explains and quantifies selection and evolution” appeared in the journal Nature. The authors—a team led by Lee Cronin at the University of Glasgow and Sara Walker at Arizona State University—claim their theory is an “interface between physics and biology” which explains how complex biological forms can evolve.

The paper provoked strong responses. On the one hand were headlines like “Bold New ” Theory of Everything’ Could Unite Physics And Evolution”

On the other were reactions from scientists. One evolutionary biologist tweeted after multiple reads I still have absolutely no idea what [this paper] is doing. Another said I read the paper and I feel more confused […] I think reading that paper has made me forget my own name.

DBS delivers electric currents to an electrode implanted in the brain.

Neurotechnology – or – while still an emerging industry, has attracted both major capital investments, and extensive media coverage in recent years. As tech relentlessly searches for the next “big tech platform” in the aftermath of the smartphone era [1], we propose that the answer may lie within our own minds. At NTX Services, we definenology as any technological intervention that interacts with the brain or central nervous system either directly or indirectly, and as attempts to integrate human and machine to enhance both, applications of the technology are broad ranging.

Often described as a new field, is actually based on decades of academic research, previously held back from commercialization at scale due to technological limitations, and slow changes in government policies and regulations. Although humans have been researching the brain and its bioelectrical signals since the 1600s [2], the first major breakthrough in was the invention of the electroencephalogram (EEG) by Hans Berger in 1929 [3]. Since this initial invention, several key developments have influenced the evolution of the industry until 2016, when Neuralink was founded [4].

Bryan Johnson is the world’s most famous biohacker – and perhaps the “most measured man in human history”. He’s on a mission to maximally reverse the quantified biological age of each of his 70 organs, extending his lifespan and healthspan, and then roll out his protocol on a platform to ensure others can benefit from his experience, research and experimentation.

Johnson’s ethos can be summed up pretty neatly as don’t die, and to that end, he has written a book, or novel, to be more accurate, entitled Don’t Die, the uncorrected advanced reading version of which is downloadable as a free ebook from his website. Johnson’s nom de plume for this venture is Zero, described in the book as the “first individual H. sapiens to surpass five hundred years of age,” who dies in 2,478 (in an accident, rather than from old age), just weeks away from “becoming Homo Deus.” Johnson credits Zero with the invention of Zeroism and the resurrection technology undie, as well as the fathering of “millions of biological and digital offspring who now live in the far reaches of the solar system and beyond”

Longevity. Technology: Because Don’t Die is a novel, Johnson can explore his philosophy in a different way, inviting us to observe the narrator, Scribe, on his last day on Earth, as he muses on humanity’s future evolution, the nature of death and free will and the impact of age reversal and programmable biology. Scribe is joined by a Pilgrim’s Progress-like cast of characters, including Cognitive Bias, Dark Humor and Game Play and Self Critical.

Designer chromosomes enable new studies of genome organization and evolution.

The human brain is three times bigger than a chimp’s and more spherical than a Neanderthal’s. Within a maze of bumps and grooves, neurons converse in distinct patterns that give humans unique cognitive abilities.

Scientists haven’t fully deciphered those patterns. But researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center are determined to solve the molecular mystery of what makes us human.

In a study published in the journal Nature, they compared brain cell types and activities among humans, chimpanzees and rhesus monkeys. Human brains had more of a kind of cell that may help them adapt based on new experience and heal from injury. Certain human neurons also had more of a gene that affects language development.

Scientists have characterized the folding of the cerebellar cortex using data from a sample of 56 mammalian species, allowing them to study the diversity and evolution of cerebellar folding.

Things may not have ended well for dinosaurs on Earth, but Cornell University astronomers say the “light fingerprint” of the conditions that enabled them to emerge here provide a crucial missing piece in our search for signs of life on planets orbiting alien stars.

Their analysis of the most recent 540 million years of Earth’s evolution, known as the Phanerozoic Eon, finds that telescopes could better detect potential chemical signatures of life in the atmosphere of an Earth-like exoplanet.

An exoplanet (or extrasolar planet) is a planet that is located outside our Solar System, orbiting around a star other than the Sun. The first suspected scientific detection of an exoplanet occurred in 1988, with the first confirmation of detection coming in 1992.

Researchers seeking to understand how birds got their beaks turned back the evolutionary clock just a tad.

Are you captivated by the enigma of consciousness? Intrigued by the complexities of the human mind? Or perhaps, you’re just a seeker, thirsty for knowledge that lies beyond conventional wisdom? As a futurist, evolutionary cyberneticist, and philosopher of mind, I invite you on a mind-bending, soul-stirring expedition with a just-released remastered version of my documentary film Consciousness: Evolution of the Mind (TV-PG). Watch it now in its entirety on YouTube (Ecstadelic Media channel)!

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Consciousness: Evolution of the Mind (2023 | Remastered)

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