July 14, 2016
(TIME) – About 750,000 Americans travel abroad to receive medical care and plastic surgery every year, usually in hopes of cheaper rates. But a new report from U.S. health officials reveals that some Americans have contracted severe infections from getting … Read More
July 8, 2016
(Vice) – The hand of modafinil, the drug designed to treat narcolepsy and used by fighter pilots to stay sharp, is all over university coursework these days. But it’s not just the students taking the “king of smart drugs” to … Read More
July 6, 2016
(The Conversation) – But transhumanism’s mixing of essentially religious ideas with scientific language matters because it distorts the way we think about technology. Transhumanism tends to see technology as a way to grant all our wishes. And this is often … Read More
July 5, 2016
(The Guardian) – According to the foundation a wave of new cyborgs will be breaking at the end of the summer – and now you can be one, too. The foundation’s sister organization, Cyborg Nest, is currently taking orders for … Read More
June 30, 2016
(Scientific American) – Patients seeking stem cell therapies for achy joints or shoulder injuries no longer need to hop a plane to Mexico or China. More than 550 clinics around the U.S. offer unproved interventions for sports injuries and conditions … Read More
June 28, 2016
(Tech Insider) – While students and overworked employees frequently experiment with substances like Adderall or Ritalin in an attempt to do just that, it hasn’t been shown that most of these “cognitive enhancers” actually make anyone’s brain work “better.” But … Read More
June 27, 2016
(Quartz) – Harbisson’s transformation was extensively covered by the media, and elicited correspondence from people all over the world interested in new senses. In response, he and a team of collaborators have launched Cyborg Nest, a company that aims to … Read More
June 8, 2016
(Public Discourse) – Indeed, Savulescu thinks cognitive enhancement might make us humans even more dangerous to each other, given our technological prowess at building weapons of mass destruction and our propensity to pollute our environment. He regularly invokes the fear … Read More
May 31, 2016
(The Telegraph) – For most of us, anti-ageing means wearing sunscreen, investing in a good moisturiser, maybe a spot of Botox and hoping for the best. But research in this lucrative area is moving at an extraordinary pace – and … Read More
May 31, 2016
(The Telegraph) – Advances in artificial intelligence could lead to computers and smartphones developing consciousness and they may need to be given ‘human’ rights, an expert has claimed. Marcus du Sautoy, who took over from Richard Dawkins as Professor for … Read More
May 31, 2016
(News-Medical) – Our excitement with and rapid uptake of technology – and the growing opportunities for artificial brain enhancement – are putting humans more firmly on the path to becoming cyborgs, according to evolution experts from the University of Adelaide. … Read More
May 18, 2016
(New York Times) – While the diseases that now kill most people in developed nations — heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cancer — have different immediate causes, age is the major risk factor for all of them. That means that … Read More
May 13, 2016
Neuroethics (vol. 9, no. 1, 2016) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “Is Deontology a Moral Confabulation?” by Emilian Mihailov “Head Transplants, Personal Identity and Neuroethics” by Assya Pascalev, Mario Pascalev, and James Giordano “Biocertification and Neurodiversity: The Role … Read More
May 11, 2016
(The Guardian) – n a country where height is considered attractive, Komal is one of a growing number of young Indians using their increasing prosperity to improve their marriage and career prospects, and fuelling a cosmetic surgery boom. However, limb … Read More
May 5, 2016
(Wired UK) – Eight years ago, Venter’s genome couldn’t even be used to tell you his eye colour. Yet modelling appearance is merely a visual demonstration, not the end goal, of HLi’s big-data genomics. The aim is to predict your … Read More
May 4, 2016
Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics (vol. 37, no. 1, 2016) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “Human Vulnerability in Medical Contexts” by Steve Matthews and Bernadette Tobin “The New Enhancement Technologies and the Place of Vulnerability in Our Lives” by … Read More
May 3, 2016
Journal of Medical Ethics (vol. 42, no. 4, 2016) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “The Ebola Outbreak in Western Africa: Ethical Obligations for Care” by Aminu Yakubu, et al. “The Practices of Do-It-Yourself Brain Stimulation: Implications for Ethical … Read More
May 2, 2016
(Discover Magazine) – Google has a vision for cyborg eyes that goes well beyond the idea of smart contact lenses. The Alphabet-owned company filed a patent on the idea of replacing the human eye’s natural lens with an electronic lens … Read More
April 29, 2016
AI & Society (vol. 31, no. 2, 2016) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “Artificial Super Intelligence: Beyond Rhetoric” by Karamjit S. Gill “Presence: Is It Just Pretending?” by Phil Turner “Simulation, Self-Extinction, and Philosophy in the Service of … Read More
April 25, 2016
(Eurekalert) – The treatment was originally intended to demonstrate the safety of the latest generation of the therapies. But if early data is accurate, it is already the world’s first successful example of telomere lengthening via gene therapy in a … Read More
April 21, 2016
(The New Yorker) – It was the annual meeting of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, a group of people who believe that the development and dissemination of advanced technologies—cryogenics, bionics, artificial intelligence, and so on—will raise humanity to the heights of power … Read More
April 13, 2016
Ethical Theory and Moral Practice (vol. 19, no. 2, 2016) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “Empirical Adequacy and Virtue Ethics” by Philip A. Reed “Human Enhancement, Social Solidarity, and the Distribution of Responsibility” by John Danaher “Causal Impotence … Read More
March 30, 2016
(Quartz) – Governing bodies of pretty much every sport in the world generally consider it an unfair advantage for athletes to ameliorate themselves in any way. But what if that was the whole fun of the sport? Researchers at ETH … Read More
March 17, 2016
(STAT News) – Scientists seeking $4.5 million to study a new kind of stem cell therapy for tendon and ligament injuries find out on Wednesday if their proposal will receive funding, and they’ve got an unlikely cheerleader standing on the sidelines: US … Read More
March 16, 2016
(Nature) – Working with Halo Neuroscience in San Francisco, California, the sports group is testing whether stimulating the brain with electricity can improve the performance of ski jumpers by making it easier for them to hone their skills. Other research … Read More
