The Constant Wanderer

Let's get real. The greatest threat to humanity right now is not nuclear holocaust or space invaders. It's a toss up between trans-human robots and killer dinosaurs. Here's a quick recap of the (very real) threats:

Dinosaurs (Go check out this mind-blowing article.)

Some crazy scientists have figured out how to "activate" hidden genes in chickens to trick them into growing dinosaur parts. Soon enough, there will hordes of dinosaurs running around out neighborhood eating up our children! Here's a quote from the lead scientist:

‘I have to admit that I’ve certainly imagined walking up on a stage to give a talk, and having a little dino chicken walk up behind me,’ he says, ‘That would be kind of cool. There is now nothing to stop us bringing back dinosaurs but ourselves.

The only way to prevent this from happening is if we eat all the chickens in the world before it's too late!

Robots (read this or watch this)

Another group of equally crazy scientists, who probably watched too many episodes of Battlestar Galactica, are trying to figure out a way to gain eternal life by downloading memories and uploading them into robot bodies. Simply put, they are trying to create Cylons!

Sandberg and his fellow transhumanists plan to bypass death by using technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), genetic engineering and nanotechnology to radically accelerate human evolution, eventually merging people with machines to make us immortal.

The article gets a little heavy at the end with the ethical issues, but it's still an interesting read. Even the new firefox3 hints at the imminent robot takeover (type "about:robots" in the address bar).

Labels: dinosaurs, immortality, robots