Richard Leis

Horror Writer & Poet

Category: Conferences & Other Events

  • “No Graveyard”

    “No Graveyard”

    “Alcor is no graveyard.”

  • Alcor Conference – Table of Contents

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. Frontier Channel liveblogging from the 7th Alcor Conference: Day 1 Day 2

  • Alcor Conference – Chris Heward

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] [Recap] Chris Heward discussed his work on the “Kronos Longitudinal Aging Study (KLAS)” as a measurement of human aging. KRONOS Science Laboratory [defunct link] is a research institution in Phoenix, AZ, USA. Heward showed a graph of progress…

  • Alcor Conference – Christine Peterson

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] Christine Peterson presented “Good News, Bad News, Surprising News” about life extension. She now spends about half time studying life extension as an enthusiast. She began by stating that terminology matters. Which terms are best: life extension, health…

  • Alcor Conference – Calvin Mercer

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] [Recap] Calvin Mercer asked “Cryonics and Religion: Friends or Foes?”  Cryonics, Mercer believes, will require support from more people than just scientists, including religious people.  How should cryogenics supporters present these ideas to religious people? How the discussion…

  • Alcor Conference – Morning Break

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] Popcorn, cookies, and pretzels. We talked to a couple who are musicians and Alcor members about how art can be used to promote life extension and transhumanism.

  • Alcor Conference – Calvin Mercer

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] [Recap] Calvin Mercer asked “Cryonics and Religion: Friends or Foes?” Cryonics, Mercer believes, will require support from more people than just scientists, including religious people. How should cryogenics supporters present these ideas to religious people? How the discussion…

  • Alcor Conference – Steven Harris

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] [Recap] Steven Harris is a researcher developing “Rapid Body Cooling for Prevention of Brain Damage.” Rapid body cooling technologies are important to both cryonics and emerging short-term treatments. Hypothermia induced by lowering the body temperature by 4 degrees…

  • Alcor Conference – Morning Panel

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] Day two of the Alcor Conference. The day began with the “Human Cryopreservation and Critical Care Medicine Panel,” including Alcor’s Tanya Jones, critical care physician David Crippen and bioethicist Leslie Whetstine and moderated by Aschwin de Wolf. [Recap]…

  • Alcor Conference – Alcor Board of Directors Panel

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] Stephen Van Sickle, Ralph Merkle, Michael R. Seidl, and Brian Wowk of the Alcor Board of Directors answered questions from the audience for the last session of the day. The Board addressed questions about the current state of…

  • Alcor Conference – Aubrey de Grey

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] [Recap] Does Aubrey de Grey really need an introduction at this point? His public proposal for repairing and reversing the damage of aging, SENS, and his public admission of being an Alcor member were the topics he discussed…

  • Alcor Conference – Afternoon Break

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] Ice cream! Networking! Being nearly run over by busy organizers!

  • Alcor Conference – Michael West

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] [Recap] Another approach to recovery of cryonics patients, or patients prior to requiring cryonics, is regenerative medicine, that is, the ability to use stem cells to rebuild tissues. Michael West from Advanced Cell Technology discussed “Immortal Cells: The…

  • Alcor Conference – Ralph Merkle

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] [Recap] Nanotechnology. Once only an obscure buzzword among fringe techno-progressives, nanotechnology has emerged both as a multi-billion dollar industry and a controversial technology that could lead, according to some, to a prosperous future of plenty, or, according to…

  • Alcor Conference – Luncheon

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] It is time for lunch. These breaks, lunches, and dinners are includes in the conference package and sponsored and funded by organizations or wealthier Alcor members. These sponsors have been mentioned between talks.

  • Alcor Conference – Tanya Jones

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] [Recap] Tanya Jones is the COO of Alcor. She has also participated in over half of the members’ cryopreservations. She talked about “Improving Cryopreservation Technology at Alcor.” The moment the heart stops and legal death begins, Alcor must…

  • Alcor Conference – Stephen Van Sickle

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] [Recap] The next speaker from Alcor was Stephen Van Sickle, Executive Director, discussing the “Research Direction at Alcor.” There was a time when Alcor did not conduct much research, focusing instead on their services and gaining new members.…

  • Alcor Conference – First Break

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] [Commentary] Break time! Time to mingle, network, eat snacks, or catchup on liveblogging… The accommodations are very nice here at the Hilton Scottsdale Resort. About 100 people are in the audience, with water, gum drops, and notepads on…

  • Alcor Conference – Brian Wowk

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] [Recap] Brian Wowk discussed cryobiology, the field of cold tolerance in nature and cryopreservation of biological material. In nature, organism survive freezing temperatures by ice avoidance and ice tolerance, using cellular “antifreeze” or cryoprotectants. By studying these organism,…

  • Alcor Conference – Steve Bridges

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] [Recap] A former Alcor president, Steve Bridges opened up the conference with a question: “Why are we here?” His answer: “Alive = Good. Dead = Bad.” Over the past 100 years, technology and medicine have improved our ability…

  • Alcor Conference – Introduction

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] When people die, some of them are buried in a plot in a graveyard. Others choose cremation their remains kept in an urn (perhaps after some of their remains are sprinkled in favorite locations around the Earth.) For…

  • Frontier Channel at 7th Alcor Conference

    Read Richard’s current thoughts about transhumanism and related fringe topics here. [Alcor Conference – Table of Contents] Frontier Channel will be liveblogging this weekend from Scottsdale, AZ, USA for the 7th Alcor Conference [defunct link]. The three day event will bring together experts in cryobiology, life extension research, and nanotechnology to present the latest information…

  • SENS3 and the Anchor Pub and Crap Documentaries

    [Guest Writer] I waddled into the Anchor Pub [defunct link] and there was Aubrey with a beer. He asked what I was drinking and I said “One of those” and pointed at his beer and soon had one because he brought me one and I was very tired and very merry and surrounded by excellent…

  • SENS3 – still processing

    [Guest Writer] I’ve been back from SENS3 [defunct link] for five days, and my brain remains scrambled. In reporting it I can only ramble – as evidenced by last Friday’s H+ Club weekly meetup in Tucson, where I exploited the SENS3 online meeting program [defunct link] to linearize my desultory observations before a nicely crowded…

  • WIRED NextFest Wrap-up

    Image Caption: WIRED NextFest Banner at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The Fourth Annual WIRED NextFest in Los Angeles, California, USA this past weekend offered a glimpse of our technological future with a variety of themed pavilions exploring the future of exploration, entertainment, security, education, design, robotics, green technologies, communication, play, health, and transportation. WIRED…

  • Google Lunar X PRIZE Announced

    Image caption: X PRIZE Moon exhibit and logo at WIRED NextFest A robotic scavenger hunt to the moon is the next big space competition. The X PRIZE Foundation announced at Wired NextFest, along with representatives from Google, NASA, and one of the Apollo 11 astronauts, the Google Lunar X PRIZE. The largest incentive competition in…

  • WIRED NextFest – Introduction

    The fourth annual WIRED NextFest event begins today in Los Angeles, California. Running through Sunday, the event will feature technology exhibits and demonstrations. In addition, the X Prize Foundation will announce their new space prize. Thursday is Education Day, with 4th through 12th graders and their teachers filling the LA Convention Center for an early…

  • Speaker: Paul Saffo

    Paul Saffo from Stanford University is a forecaster and essayist. He explored AGI at the Singularity Summit 2007 in the context of popularization. Even as the public begins to join the AGI discussion, pessimism is popular right now. News reporting and commentary are lurid and pessimistic. Saffo suggested that what we need are positive and…

  • Speaker: Dr. Ben Goertzel

    Dr. Ben Goertzel is SIAI Director of Research and chief science officer and acting CEO of Novamente. He believes that with the right funding and capital, AGI could be developed in nine years. Novamente is approaching AGI development by focusing on virtual agents in virtual worlds like Second Life. Goertzel defined AGI as “the ability…

  • Speaker: Neil Jacobstein

    Neil Jacobstein, chairman and CEO of Teknowledge Corporation, spoke in the afternoon of day one of the Singularity Summit 2007. He presented information about where we stand today with AI and where we might be heading in the medium term. Specialized AI applications have existed for a number of years and often outperform humans. Jacobstein…

  • Applauding Death

    [Commentary] During the Singularity Summit 2007, one of the most unexpected moments came during a panel session on day one. Peter Voss and Dr. Stephen Omohundro sat down to answer questions from the audience after their own individual presentations. Voss had suggested during his talk that AGI could benefit health and longevity research. An audience…

  • NanoBio 2007 Day Two Speaker: Dr. J. Storrs Hall

    Dr. J. Storrs Hall is an independent scientist, inventor, and author. His most recent books are Nanofutures and Beyond AI: Creating the Conscience of the Machine. Hall talked about what nanofactories could make. Hall believes that just as computers are getting ever cheaper and smarter, nanotechnology will follow the same timeline and price improvement track.…

  • NanoBio 2007 Day Two Speaker: Tihamer Toth-Fejel

    Tihamer Toth-Fejel is a senior research engineer at General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, member of the advisory board for the Nanoethics Group, and a chair for the Society for Manufacturing Engineers Nanomanufacturing Technical Group. Toth-Fejel stated that “if you can’t measure it, you can’t make it.” Nanotech needs to follow these guidelines: Accuracy Precision Reliability,…

  • NanoBio 2007 Day Two Speaker: Ralph Merkle

    Dr. Ralph Merkle is a nanotechnology expert, Alcor Director, Zyvex Principal Fellow, and Foresight Institute adviser. He talked about health, wealth, and atoms. If you shuffle around the same atoms found in coal, you could get a diamond. Arranging atoms allows for greater precision, diversity, and lower manufacturing costs. Suppose that you can build anything…

  • NanoBio 2007 Day Two Speaker: James Von Ehr II

    James Von Ehr II is the founder and chairman of Zyvex Corporation. He is recognized as a respected leader in the nanotech industry and has received many awards. Zyvex was created in 1997 to develop molecular technology and has now spun off into four different companies: Zyvex: Instruments, Performance Materials, Labs, and Asia. Zyvex is…

  • NanoBio 2007 Day Two Speaker: Dr. Nadrian Seeman

    Dr. Nadrian Seeman received a B.S. in Biochemistry and a Ph.D. in Biological Crystallography. He has published over 200 papers. He presented a talk entitled “It’s more than the secret of life: Building with DNA”. Seeman lamented that he is a working scientist, and therefore his work does not progress as fast as he would…

  • NanoBio 2007 Day Two Speaker: Chris Phoenix

    Chris Phoenix is CRN’s Director of Research and has studied nanotechnology for more than 15 years. He has a BS in Symbolic Systems and an MS in Computer Science. The following is paraphrased from Phoenix’s lecture “A History of Nanotechnology from 1959 to 2029”. Some people like to trace the field of nanotechnology to 1959…

  • NanoBio 2007 Day One Speaker: Jason McCoy

    Jason McCoy is the Vice President of Global Seawater, Inc., a for-profit firm. They are developing a globalized system for agriculture and aquaculture in order to provide immediate and long lasting planetary ecological balance. The lecture presented today was called “Greening the Deserts of Earth”. The firm explores many biotechnology approaches to global concerns. They…

  • NanoBio 2007 Day One Speaker: Dr. Behrooz Dehdashti

    Dr. Behrooz Dehdashti has a Ph.D. in Cardiovascular Biology and is currently a senior research analyst at the University of Arizona. He is working on the development of the Syncardia Total Artificial Heart. Dehdashti said that advanced complex atherosclerotic coronary artery disease is a therapeutic challenge, poorly treated by angioplasty and bypass surgery. Many options…

  • NanoBio 2007 Day One Speaker: Lisa Hopper

    Lisa Hopper is CEO and Founder of World Care, a non-profit organization. She has a BS in Radiology Administration and Physics from George Washington University. In 1997, she put all of her retirement savings into World Care and devoted herself full time to developing the organization. In reference to her work in foreign countries Hopper…

  • Challenges & Opportunities: The Future of Nano & Bio Technologies – Introduction

    [Guest Writer: Simone Syed] Image caption: Simone Syed (and Michael Anissimov of Accelerating Future) at the Nano/Bio 2007 conference. My day: I am very excited to be attending the Nano/Bio Conference 2007 put on by World Care and CRN (Center for Responsible Nanotechnology). I was allowed to come to this conference on scholarship after Lisa…

  • Day Two Speaker: Ray Kurzweil

    Ray Kurzweil is an inventor and futurist, perhaps best known now for his books and lectures regarding accelerating change and the Technological Singularity. He joined the Singularity Summit 2007 via satellite. Because his work was referenced often in other speakers’ talks, he addressed some of their comments and conclusions, including a defense of double exponential…

  • Day Two Speaker: Eliezer Yudkowsky

    Yudkowsky returned to the stage to discuss the challenge of Friendly AI. The problem, to Yudkowsky, is increasingly difficult because it is difficult to pick out, of all mind possibilities, the one that we would consider friendly. In some sense, we would like to develop AI that can create expert AI, and an AI-Theory AI…

  • Day Two Speaker: James Hughes

    James Hughes is the the executive director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies and host of Changesurfer Radio. He discussed preparation for the future and how futurists can have an impact on public policy. Hughes listed a series of assumptions he makes about AGI and the Technological Singularity, such as AGI is likely,…

  • Day Two Speaker: Christine Peterson

    Christine Peterson is Vice President of Foresight Nanotech Institute and she talked about how we can prepare for the advent of AGI (what she called “preparing for bizarreness”), with a focus on upcoming risks. According to Peterson, risks, and their potential solutions, can be approached in a top-down monolithic way, or a bottom-up way, in…

  • Day Two Speaker: Steve Jurvetson

    Steve Jurvetson is a Managing Director for the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. He explored two possible paths to AGI, while emphasizing an evolutionary, bottom-up approach versus designing AGI directly, based on the experience of DFJ investigating and investing in nanotechnology. Evolved systems could result in robust, resilient, and adaptive technologies, such as AGI.…

  • Announcement: Michael Lindsay from the X Prize Foundation

    Michael Lindsay from the X Prize Foundation announced the possible development of an upcoming series of education X Prizes. After a video about past and current X Prizes, Lindsay provided new details about their latest incentive competitions. Education is a challenge, especially in the United States. The public perceives the school system as broken. The…

  • Day Two Speaker: Dr. Charles L. Harper, Jr.

    Dr. Charles L. Harper, Jr. is Senior Vice President for the John Templeton Foundation. He provided three big questions people might want to think about regarding AGI and the Technological Singularity: Big Question #1: What do slugs know of Mozart? Big Question #2: How serious is the “dilemma of power”? Big Question #3: How important…

  • Day Two Speaker: Peter Thiel

    Peter Thiel is an investor, co-founder of PayPal before it sold to eBay, and supporter of the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence. He offered advice regarding investing in a world where the possibility of a Technological Singularity exists. The Singularity suggests to Thiel either profoundly positive or negative outcomes. Since it makes little sense to…

  • Day Two Speaker: Dr. J. Storrs Hall

    Dr. J. Storrs Hall, an independent AI researcher, inventor, and author, presented a revised version of Isaac Asimov’s Laws of Robotics. Unlike Asimov’s robots, we want our AI to be self-improving. If there are to be laws, they will need to be flexible and abstract, like a conscience. Just like technology, morality can be improved,…