Transhumanism; a 'secular spirituality'?

For those who are uninitiated, Transhumanism(>H, H+) is a movement rooted in the concept of lengthening, improving, and eventually transcending humanity through the pursuits of science and technology. This includes virtual and augmented reality which can eventually be used to digitize consciousness, gene therapy, cryonics and designer drugs to extend the human life span, and a dazzling array of techniques that are on the bleeding edge and are being pushed every day to the limits of imagination.

It sounds like a Gibsonesque sci-fi plot, but it's every day science, and it's growing.
Now, I'm Christian, and region not being a trait very common in any room full of Western scientists, atheism gets tossed in my face quite often. I, however, have to admit that the concept of a godless, faithless spirituality is quite interesting, if not appealing. What do you think?

Read up.

Mind the gap.

A sixth sense that has nothing to do with dead people.

Granted, the human 'five senses' are a misnomer, as there are more like thirty, but for the sake of the article- and my terrible joke, just let is slide this time, alright?

Okay, transhumanists. You looking for a poor man's magnetoception? Now's the time to get an implanted magnet to provide you with a limited 'magnetic sense'. This will provide a range of sensations as they detect electromagnetic fields inside their finger.

I'm getting one. How about you? Story at Wired.


Mind the gap.

Nano, nano...

And if you weren't a child of the 80's you wouldn't get that joke.

In this short article from the Australia National University, Doctors Simon Ruffell, Madhu Bhaskaran, and Sharath Sriram are working on using a blend of piezoelectrics and nanotech to create a near-infinite power source derived from the particular device's user.

Your hands, dummy. Welcome to the future, bitch


-Mind the gap

There is nothing not awesome about this.

-click to see the image-
Blowin' your mind like the Big Bang.

Everything comes down to poo!

Sometimes, science gets icky. Such as right now. E. coli can now be genetically modified used to change the color of your ca-ca to test your insides for toxins and contaminants.

Here's the story(and some pics of pooh-pooh).
No, I am not posting pics of the poly-chromatic poo. So I'll just post one of Turk and JD.




"Cuz the answer's not in your head, my dear- it's in your butt!"


-Mind the gap... and wash your hands.

Paraplegic man now moving!

How? NEUROSCIENCE!

I heard this story on NPR this morning. Truly amazing stuff.


Now, to get a Robospine™ and a MechaFist™ to go with my ZombieHand™

Science comes through again!

I am actually too excited to read this story before I post it, so I am just going to say that I am excited that science is finally on track crack one of the biggest issues of the human condition: a possible cure for HIV/AIDS.

Here is the story!

Next, cancer and male pattern baldness!

Hand transplant. HAND.

I said her HAND. Since when can we do this?

Science is such a sexy bitch.

Hello, Earth!

Namaste, bitches! Now we know what she looks like. Gonna have to buy a new globe, eh?

Earth's true shape.



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Work your brain like biceps!

I'm doing all of these save for one starting tomorrow. Guessing which one gets you a prize!

If you can read this, you are a cyborg.

Well, not in the traditional sense, sadly. We are surrounded by a web of technological wonders at all times that connects us while giving us the ability to stand apart from one another.

Amber Case had a thought-provoking TED talk recently concerning 'Cyborg Anthropology', a field of study that concerns the relationships between humans and technology. She touched on really neat concepts and a lot of optimism.

I am by no means a luddite, but my view of the man/machine state of affairs is a little darker. I agree, technology is awesome. Seriously. If I had to give up broadband internet, computers, my phone, or any of the technological advances that have made my life infinitely more convenient or easy for the past ten years, I would lose my mind.

This isn't a good thing.

Technology, since the wheel, and goddamn fire, was to make life more livable, to keep us safe and alive. Now, it's to make simple lives even simpler, and to make us a comfortable as possible.

The upside is that we have unprecedented time freed up by automation, the downside, however, is the human laziness factor. The more connected that we are, the less we connect with one another. We stop talking to one another. We stop having conversations, and we exchange catchphrases and buzzwords, competing for attention and never actually listening. We farm one another for information while texting someone else.

From the outside, it's at the best, annoying, and at worst, dangerous. How many people have died, or killed someone because they were on their phone and not paying attention? We have infinite potential, but instead, we use this wealth of tech to update Facebook about how much we love American Idol. I don't see it improving. We used to think that more technology would make us gods, but it just makes us worse.