“In the game of life and evolution there are three players at the table: human beings, nature, and machines. I am firmly on the side of nature. But nature, I suspect, is on the side of the machines.”
- George Dyson

“It is not possible to be a scientist unless you believe that the knowledge of the world, and the power which this gives, is a thing which is of intrinsic value to humanity, and that you are using it to help in the spread of knowledge and are willing to take the consequences.”
- J. Robert Oppenheimer

“We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us.”
- Henry David Thoreau

“Futures studies is a rigorous, systematic field of inquiry which seeks to articulate the range of possible and probable alternative futures so that individuals, organizations and societies can move closer to their preferred future(s). It is part science, part art, and part ethical practice.

Futures studies is a holistic, multi-disciplinary field which has its modern origins in the early to mid-20th century. While closely related to the disciplines of policy analysis, operations research, anthropology, history, sociology, and others, it is distinct from other fields in the degree of holism, use of specific methods, and in the scope and time scale of inquiry.”

Thoughts?

John Smart has posted a good, short history of the field.

“Aubrey extrapolates from current hard science into, ‘If we can do something about this process and that and seven or eight other ands, then there’s this great opportunity for great human life extension,’” Lithgow said. “And it’s at that point that a lot of scientists are dropping off.”

http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2008/06/methuselah

http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4251491.html

Here’s the Zero Pollution Motors explaination of how the thing works:

Clear as mud?  Well, if that’s not enough for you… check out their video (sans commentary naturally).

Jul. 23 (Wednesday) – Edward Burtynsky, “The 10,000-year Gallery”

Aug. 8 (Friday) – Daniel Suarez (“Leinad Zeraus”), “Daemon: Bot-mediated Reality”

Sep. 12 (Friday) – Peter Diamandis, “Long-term X-Prizes”

Oct. 3 (Friday) – Huey Johnson, “Green Planning at Nation Scale”

Nov. 17 (Monday) – Drew Endy vs. Jim Thomas, “Synthetic Biology Debate”
Dec. 19 (Friday) – Rick Prelinger, “Lost Landscapes of San Francisco”

Jan. 16 (Friday) – Saul Griffith, “Climate Change Recalculated”

http://www.longnow.org

“World-Renowned Scientists and Policy-Makers Discuss Curing Age-Related Diseases

The Methuselah Foundation presents Aging 2008: The Disease, The Cure, The Implications, a panel discussion featuring world-renowned scientists and advocates of stem cell and regenerative medicine research, including Dr. Aubrey de Grey, the Foundation’s Chairman and Chief Science Officer. Panelists will discuss the scientific progress and implications of curing age-related disease, disability, suffering and death, and public policy on scientific research legislation including the passing of Prop 71.

Admission to Aging 2008 is free, with advance registration required at www.mfoundation.org/Aging2008/.

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/03/mri_vision

It’s great to have short summaries of the event, so I recommend checking out her blog if you didn’t attend.  You can also view all the recorded presentations from the event here.  The SIAI website has evolved nicely over the last couple of years, no doubt thanks to the good work of Tyler Emerson with a wealth of resources and content available now.  Go check it out. 

The term “Singularity“ has a lot of baggage, but it’s not a topic anyone who thinks about the future of technology and humanity can reasonably avoid.  IMO, if it’s not the central concept, it’s at least the underlying meme of a majority (maybe 65%) of the medium-term to long-term forecasting work that is happening today (outside of corporate foresight / environmental futures work).  I can’t back that up – just my belief.  Then again, I’m pretty familiar with the general concepts and many of the common issues associated with the Singularity (actually, there are several different notions of what consistutes “The Singularity” – the two most common being Vinge’s definition and Kurzweil’s definition), so I am probably falling prey to the availability heuristic here. 

On that 65%…. please disagree if you do, and if you have any data to back it up, even better!