(The below text version of the notes is for search purposes and convenience. See the PDF version for proper formatting such as bold, italics, etc., and graphics where applicable. Copyright: 2022 Retraice, Inc.)
Re39: News -- Space, Technology, Death
Retraice^1
Live longer, in space, with Big Brother.
Air date: Thursday, 3rd Nov. 2022, 11:00 PM Eastern/US.
News matters
It's only news if it matters. It only makes sense if it's connected.
What matters? "What we care about amongst what is happening amongst what is."^2
What we care about: What's `good' (RTFM), survival and experiences (fun and doom, hence threat modeling and the decisions, two of life and one of death).^3
It's ok if you don't understand all that. Leave it to us, the professionals.
H1 Space:
caves on Mars
H1. Space: `Humans are now technologically capable of living in space.'
House-Hunting on Mars Has Already Started, Katherine Kornei, nytimes.com Oct. 29th, 2022.
"Researchers identified nine caves on the red planet that might make suitable shelters for future astronauts."
The caves seem sizable, and are near rover landing sites. We used to live in caves (`cave men'). And what is a house, or an apartment, but a cave or system of caves?
H2 Technology:
the robo-minister
H2. Technology: `Human technology risks are growing faster than their mitigation.'
The robo-minister tasked with helping Japan go digital, Leo Lewis, ft.com, Nov. 2nd, 2022.
"The Japanese people are reluctant to share their personal data with the government in the form of ID cards. Can a robot help?"
The robot is, among other things, promoting a government digital ID system "that, in effect, needs 100 per cent national participation to function." It's easy to imagine such a system being abused, but becoming very hard to get rid of. And who controls it?
Cf. Retraice (2022/10/27b), "New European Political Party Is Led by an Artificial Intelligence, futurism.com".
H3 Death:
making cells young again
H3. Death: `Human lifespan is being prolonged by new technologies.'
How scientists want to make you young again, Antonio Regalado, MIT technologyreview.com, Oct. 25, 2022.
"Research labs are pursuing technology to `reprogram' aging bodies back to youth."
The technology is based on the discovery "that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent"^4 made in 2006 by Shinya Yamanaka, who won a Nobel Prize for it in 2012.
There is big Silicon Valley and Persian Gulf oil money ($3 billion) behind Altos Labs, a company trying to commercialize the technology. But there are signs that Altos is as much hype as hope.
H12 Computers:
Who controls those machines?
We're going to be living longer^5 , in space, but because we have to use machines and digitization to scale our civilization to more lifespan and more humans, we have to ask: Who controls those machines?^6
_
References
Johnson, S. (2021). Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer. Riverhead. ISBN: 978-0525538851. Searches:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9780525538851
https://www.google.com/search?q=isbn+9780525538851
https://lccn.loc.gov/2020033229
Retraice (2022/10/19). Re22: Computer Control. retraice.com.
https://www.retraice.com/segments/re22 Retrieved 19th Oct. 2022.
Retraice (2022/10/24). Re28: What's Good? RTFM. retraice.com.
https://www.retraice.com/segments/re28 Retrieved 25th Oct. 2022.
Retraice (2022/10/27a). Re31: What's Happening That Matters - WM5. retraice.com.
https://www.retraice.com/segments/re31 Retrieved 28th Oct. 2022.
Retraice (2022/10/27b). Re32: AI News. retraice.com.
https://www.retraice.com/segments/re32 Retrieved 31st Oct. 2022.
Footnotes
^1 https://www.retraice.com/retraice
^2 Retraice (2022/10/27a).
^3 Retraice (2022/10/27a), Retraice (2022/10/24).
^4 Shinya Yamanaka, nobelprize.org.
^5 Johnson (2021).
^6 Retraice (2022/10/19).
