February 20, 2017
(The Atlantic) – The billionaire technologists’ obsession with living forever can approach a sort of parody. Oracle’s Ellison once said, “Death makes me very angry”—suggesting this pillar of nature is just another consumer pain-point to be relieved with an app. … Read More
February 16, 2017
(Wired) – We must all become cyborgs if we are to survive the inevitable robot uprising. That’s the message from Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, the entrepreneur who wants to send the human race to Mars. At the World … Read More
February 15, 2017
(The Washington Post) – The report did not recommend an absolute prohibition of gene editing on the human “germline” if such interventions can be proved safe. This would involve genetic changes to eggs, sperm or embryos that would persist in … Read More
February 14, 2017
(Scientific American) – Scientists should be permitted to modify human embryos destined for implantation in the womb to eliminate devastating genetic diseases such as sickle-cell anaemia or cystic fibrosis — once gene-editing techniques advance sufficiently for use in people and … Read More
February 14, 2017
(STAT News) – For more than a year, 22 of the world’s leading geneticists, bioethicists, physicians, and legal scholars have been wrestling with thorny questions posed by the revolutionary advances in scientists’ ability to edit the human genome. On Tuesday … Read More
February 14, 2017
Journal of Law and the Biosciences (vol. 3, no. 3, 2016) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “Public Attitudes Toward Legally Coerced Biological Treatments of Criminals” by Colleen M. Berryessa, Jennifer A. Chandler, and Peter Reiner “Sperm Donor Anonymity … Read More
February 13, 2017
(Quartz) – Anyone who speaks in this manner has crossed an invisible but critically important line. They are treating human beings as if they are commodities that can be assessed, measured and exchanged. In this view, humanity becomes a kind … Read More
February 9, 2017
(New York Times) – In the autumn of 2015, a man of my acquaintance purchased a 38-foot recreational vehicle — a 1978 Blue Bird Wanderlodge — and, having made to this vehicle such modifications as would lend it the appearance … Read More
January 9, 2017
(The Guardian) – Liviu Babitz opens his collar to reveal a small silicone gadget, the size of a matchbox, attached to his chest with two titanium bars that sit just under the skin. Most resembling a compact bike light, the … Read More
January 9, 2017
(The Guardian) – There are 200 of these embryos to choose from, all made by in vitro fertilisation (IVF) from you and your partner’s eggs and sperm. So, over to you. Which will you choose? If there’s any kind of … Read More
January 2, 2017
Neuroethics (vol. 9, no. 3, 2016) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “My Brain Made Me Moral: Moral Performance Enhancement for Realists” by John R. Shook “Mind Perception and Willingness to Withdraw Life Support” by Jeffrey M. Rudski, Benjamin Herbsman, Eric D. Quitter, and Nicole Bilgram “Ethical … Read More
December 23, 2016
Minds and Machines (vol. 26, no. 4, 2016) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “On the Risks of Relying on Analogies to Understand Cyber Conflicts” by Mariarosaria Taddeo “The Internet, Cognitive Enhancement, and the Values of Cognition” by Richard Heersmink … Read More
December 9, 2016
(NPR) – An anti-doping report has found that more than 1,000 Russian athletes were involved in state-sponsored doping, and that the “institutional conspiracy” extended far beyond previous evidence of cheating at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. The findings, published Friday, … Read More
November 29, 2016
(BBC) – Since 2014 there has been a yearly increase of 13% across all cosmetic procedures, according to the annual report of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (Baaps). Yet it remains one of the least regulated areas of … Read More
November 21, 2016
(Quartz) – So are we on the brink of a brave new world of genetically enhanced humanity? Perhaps. And there’s an interesting wrinkle: It’s reasonable to believe that any seismic shift toward genetic enhancement will not be centered in Western … Read More
November 17, 2016
(Market Watch) – Interest has been spreading, with Watson quickly working through his latest supply of magnets. One woman recently traveled to Ice 9 Studio from Australia for a radio-frequency identification chip she uses to store personal information. Watson’s business … Read More
November 7, 2016
Bioethics (vol. 30, no. 9, 2016) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “Pro-Life Arguments Against Infanticide and Why they are Not Convincing” by Joona Räsänen “Active and Passive Physician-Assisted Dying and the Terminal Disease Requirement” by Jukka Varelius … Read More
October 12, 2016
(Scientific American) – The event involved more than 60 teams formed by research institutions and companies competing in six assistive technology categories: brain-computer interface (a device that connects the brain to a computer), functional electrical stimulation bike (a bicycle powered … Read More
October 12, 2016
Bioethics (vol. 30, no. 8, 2016) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “Integrated But Not Whole? Applying an Ontological Account of Human Organismal Unity to the Brain Death Debate” by Melissa Moschella “Adversaries at the Bedside: Advance Care … Read More
October 11, 2016
(Wired) – She went home empty-handed, called a pharmacist friend, and found out the truth: there were no refills. Not for her, not for anyone, because of a nationwide shortage of injectable estrogen. As of a few days ago, the … Read More
October 6, 2016
The Journal of Medicine & Philosophy (vol. 41, no. 5, 2016) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “Bioethics and Moral Agency: On Autonomy and Moral Responsibility” by John Skalko and Mark J. Cherry “Autonomy and the Moral Authority … Read More
October 5, 2016
(Nature) – An analysis of global demographic data published in Nature suggests that humans have a fixed shelf life, and that the odds of someone beating Calment’s record are low — although some scientists question this interpretation. They say that … Read More
October 5, 2016
(Wired) – More than a decade ago, Magnus was diagnosed with a tumour and had his right arm amputated. Following a novel prosthetics surgery in 2013 that integrated electrodes to his own nerves and muscle, and anchored the new arm … Read More
September 27, 2016
(Pew Research Center) – Thanks to scientific advancements, brain chip implants are already being tested in individuals to help them cope with an injury or ailment. But when it comes to the potential use of such implants to give an … Read More
September 21, 2016
(Scientific American) – The cosmos has never been particularly loquacious with its intentions, often requiring Brobdingnagian-sized ventures—from particle accelerators and space telescopes to genome and connectome projects—to tease out its deepest secrets. Can the same be done for death? A … Read More
