Brave New World

How to usher humanity into an era of transhumanist bliss: first, end scarcity. Second, eradicate death. Third, eliminate the bungled mechanisms that introduce imperfections into the human body. The vehicle for accomplishing all three? Molecular nanotechnology—in essence, the reduction of all material things to the status of software.

BrainCells, a new company based in San Diego, is testing several drugs that will give you a super-powerful, enhanced memory (and maybe other cognitive properties too) by growing more neurons in your head.

Rarely acknowledged in the debate on global climate change, the world’s weather can now be modified as part of a new generation of sophisticated electromagnetic weapons. Both the US and Russia have developed capabilities to manipulate the climate for military use.

Could robots take over the world? In many ways, they already have.

California Institute of Technology (Caltech) engineers have developed a robotic device able to act as a brain-computer interface. This is the 'first robotic approach to establishing an interface between computers and the brain by positioning electrodes in neural tissue.'

Organ transplantation is one of the chief glories of modern medicine. But it's a miracle tragically out of reach for many thousands of people whose lives might be saved.

In the future there will be no more human beings. This is not something we should worry about.

It looks like an ordinary baseball cap. But when you put it on, the cap detects and analyzes the electroencephalogram (EEG) signals from your brain. It can even tell you if you’re getting too sleepy when driving based on your brain wave patterns. Similar technology could also allow you to control home electronics such as TVs, computers, and air conditioners, all by just thinking about them.

High end business magazine Condé Nast Portfolio has a feature article on the latest developments in the 120 billion dollar neurotech industry that aims to develop drugs and devices to cure diseases and optimise our brains.

Kits made by Qiagen and Invitrogen make copying biological molecules -- DNA and proteins -- easier than painting by numbers. Using them reminds me of playing with a chemistry set: There are clearly written instructions, each step is simple, and the chemicals come in tiny plastic tubes. But unfortunately, mixing those liquids will not cause their color to change or start a fire.