Lifeboat Foundation

Team at University of Edinburgh using microbes to recycle lithium, cobalt and other expensive minerals.

Note: This post is co-authored with Stacy Li, a PhD student at Berkeley studying aging biology! Highly appreciate all her help in writing, editing, and fact-checking my understanding!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to upload your mind to a computer? To have a digital copy of your personality, memories, and skills that could live on after your biological death? This is the idea behind whole brain emulation, a hypothetical process of scanning a brain and creating a software version of it that can run on any compatible hardware. In this video, we will explore the science and challenges of whole brain emulation, the ethical and social implications of creating digital minds, and the potential benefits and risks of this technology for humanity. Join us as we dive into the fascinating world of whole-brain emulation!
#wholebrainemulation.
#minduploading.
#digitalimmortality.
#artificialintelligence.
#neuroscience.
#braincomputerinterface.
#substrateindependentminds.
#transhumanism.
#futurism.
#mindcloning

Advances in synthetic biology are moving biopharma closer to a world where treatments can be tailored while remaining cost-effective.

In celebration of Earth Day and Earth Month, we’ve rounded up five sustainability discoveries made possible by advancements in synthetic biology.

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Can biology be explained entirely in terms of chemistry and then physics? If so, that’s “reductionism.” Or are there “emergent” properties at higher levels of the hierarchy of life that cannot be explained by properties at lower or more basic levels?

Continue reading “Michael Ruse — Philosophy of Reductionism & Emergence” »

Scientists are rethinking how to implement automation for biologists to reduce costs, simplify adoption, and increase reproducibility.

Many fundamental processes of life, and their synthetic counterparts in nanotechnology, are based on the autonomous assembly of individual particles into complex patterns. LMU physicist Professor Erwin Frey, Chair of Statistical and Biological Physics at LMU Munich and member of the ORIGINS Excellence Cluster, investigates the fundamental principles of this self-organization.

A view into how nanoscale building blocks can rearrange into different organized structures on command is now possible with an approach that combines an electron microscope, a small sample holder with microscopic channels, and computer simulations, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Michigan and Indiana University.

The approach could eventually enable smart materials and coatings that can switch between different optical, mechanical and electronic properties.

Continue reading “Morphable materials: Researchers coax nanoparticles to reconfigure themselves” »