Daniel Rourke /stream

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Humans were once a fairly average species of large mammals, living off the land with little effect on it. But in recent millennia, our relationship with the natural world has changed…

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But when Tech Insider asked 26 AI researchers whether AI has to mimic the human brain to be truly intelligent, many of them flat out said no.

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The significance of the idea of the Anthropocene epoch is centrally about the understanding of human intervention into and extraction from nature, and one that can be signalled in the geological…

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I believe that the present century is the most precarious in which humanity has ever lived. On the one hand, certain emerging technologies are placing an ever-greater amount of power in…

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While humanity continues to become more reliant on technology swipe by swipe, the computers at our fingertips are becoming smarter – so smart, that they might just get fed up of…

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In many ways, computers are becoming invisible and will continue to do so.

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Hi folks and welcome to the anarcho-transhumanist AMA. The term "anarcho-transhumanism" is a relatively recently one, barely mentioned in the 80s, publicly adopted in the early oughts and only really popularized…

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Genomes are so regularly represented as strings of letters—As, Gs, Cs, and Ts—that it’s easy to forget that they aren’t just abstract collections of data. They exist in three dimensions. They…

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Is humanity’s impact on its environment so huge that the planet has entered a new geological era: the Anthropocene? The idea is gaining ground—and dividing scientists. Helen Gordon investigates

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Like much of her work, Ashley Zelinskie eludes a one-dimensional definition. She is a Star Trek-obsessed nerd who studies electrical engineering, theoretical physics, and space in her spare time.

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Explorers happened upon the bones after squeezing through a fissure high up in the rear wall of the Rising Star cave, 50km from Johannesburg, before descending down a long, narrow chute…

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Earlier this month, scientists working in South Africa made an exciting announcement: They had discovered a new species of human ancestor.

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“Ban sex robots!” scream the tech headlines, as if they’re heralding the arrival of the latest artificial intelligence threat to humankind since autonomous killer robots.

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If we hope to preserve the knowledge and art produced by human civilization long after we are gone, or send a message to beings far from us in space of billions…

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Australian bioethicist Julian Savulescu has a knack for provocation. Take human cloning. He says most of us would readily accept it if it benefited us.

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Face it: Siri sucks. So often, she has no clue what you’re saying. And when she does, there’s a pretty good chance she’ll respond with nothing more than a page filled…

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…suicide is the decisive political act of our times.― Franco “Bifo” Berardi, Precarious Rhapsody It is not worth the bother of killing yourself, since you always kill yourself too late.

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Describing the McDonald’s double cheeseburger as “the cheapest, most nutritious, and bountiful food that has ever existed in human history” might seem beyond fanciful, but according to the author of Freakonomics,…

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Let’s say someone successfully cloned human ancestors. Then what? Are they like chimps, to be put in a zoo or a nature reserve? Do they need carers? Should we enroll them…

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From Reza Negarastani's blog: It is through this operative fog that some of the more insidious mechanisms of neoliberal capitalism are directly plugged into the cognitive infrastructure under the guise of…

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Humans were once a fairly average species of large mammals, living off the land with little effect on it. But in recent millennia, our relationship with the natural world has changed…

Bookmark

But when Tech Insider asked 26 AI researchers whether AI has to mimic the human brain to be truly intelligent, many of them flat out said no.

Bookmark

I believe that the present century is the most precarious in which humanity has ever lived. On the one hand, certain emerging technologies are placing an ever-greater amount of power in…

Bookmark

In many ways, computers are becoming invisible and will continue to do so.

Bookmark

Evolution’s retirement plan has been 3.6 billion years in the making. With the appearance of the modern human being, we now have an organism that can take over from natural processes…

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Genomes are so regularly represented as strings of letters—As, Gs, Cs, and Ts—that it’s easy to forget that they aren’t just abstract collections of data. They exist in three dimensions. They…

Bookmark

Is humanity’s impact on its environment so huge that the planet has entered a new geological era: the Anthropocene? The idea is gaining ground—and dividing scientists. Helen Gordon investigates

Bookmark

Like much of her work, Ashley Zelinskie eludes a one-dimensional definition. She is a Star Trek-obsessed nerd who studies electrical engineering, theoretical physics, and space in her spare time.

Bookmark

Scientists recently suggested that the Earth’s sixth mass extinction has begun.

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Earlier this month, scientists working in South Africa made an exciting announcement: They had discovered a new species of human ancestor.

Bookmark

If we hope to preserve the knowledge and art produced by human civilization long after we are gone, or send a message to beings far from us in space of billions…

Bookmark

Australian bioethicist Julian Savulescu has a knack for provocation. Take human cloning. He says most of us would readily accept it if it benefited us.

Bookmark

Face it: Siri sucks. So often, she has no clue what you’re saying. And when she does, there’s a pretty good chance she’ll respond with nothing more than a page filled…

Bookmark

…suicide is the decisive political act of our times.― Franco “Bifo” Berardi, Precarious Rhapsody It is not worth the bother of killing yourself, since you always kill yourself too late.

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The text below is a paper I wrote to correspond to my presentation at the first 100YSS Symposium in 2011. 0. Preamble1. The case against civilization2. The evils of civilization3. The…

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From Reza Negarastani's blog: It is through this operative fog that some of the more insidious mechanisms of neoliberal capitalism are directly plugged into the cognitive infrastructure under the guise of…

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From rainforest revival and green technology to social changes, the age of humans is not necessarily a one-way ticket to eco-disaster, argue three new books Will more of the world's cities…