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Can We Become Immortal? The Quest to Live Forever Through Technology


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Can We Become Immortal? The Quest to Live Forever Through Technology

Several promising projects involving robotics, genetics, cryonics, 3D printing and more are in the pipeline seeking to make the idea of living forever plausible.

By  Kashyap Vyas

Link to article from October, 15th 2018

Humans have always been looking for ways of not having to die. It is an instinct as strong as survival to extend our lifespan and eliminate diseases from the face of humanity.

As unrealistic and incomprehensible as the idea might seem, researchers have forever been focusing their efforts on cheating death and leading invincible lives. There have been countless experiments, studies, and investigations into this theory that have prompted scientists to design ingenious ways of not just extending our lives, but eliminating the concept of death altogether.

Bina48 is a robotic very primitive representation of you that can incorporate the characteristics and unique eccentricities of your being into a new form. According to the latest experiment dedicated to Bina48, the robot is being loaded with inexhaustible information.

Bina48 at TEDx Source: iBina48/Twitter

This information is being derived from the interviews held between Bina Rothblattand Bruce Duncan. This robot has been the subject of an experiment for more than a decade where scientists have been trying to make it more social and smarter.

2017 made Bina48 the first robot in history to ever successfully complete a university level course and the following year has only proved to be more victorious for the robot. This robot experiment is just one amongst countless that have been initiated in a bid to live forever!  Another study revealed by the futurologist Dr. Ian Pearson reveals that human beings are quite close to becoming “immortal,” i.e., they are likely to achieve the ability to “not die” ever. According to Dr. Pearson, there are various ways of living forever but only if we can make it till 2050.

Some of the methods that he listed are as follows:

Body Part Renewal: With the help of genetic engineering, your body parts can be rejuvenated. Also, scientists are working towards creating human body parts and organs with the help of 3D printers that are loaded with living cells. It can help in replacing the old and withered body parts with healthy ones.

Start your life in an Android body: Another way to live a longer life is to link your mind with a machine and start living in the cloud. According to Dr. Pearson, you can easily hire an Android in 2050 like you hire a car these days and transfer your consciousness to it.

For example, the current status of sex dolls is almost like humans, and they are likely to achieve a form closer to humans in the next 30 years.

Biomedical Technology

The biomedical technology has also made several advances toward reverse the aging process. According to a statement issued by Daily Express, “From enhancing certain proteins which protect cells from aging to extending telomeres – fragments of DNA which cap both ends of each chromosome and protect against the wear and tear of natural aging – scientists have tried to halt the aging process.” Hence, there is a lot of hope for humans to live forever.

Cryonics

Cryonics is also an excellent option for human beings who want to achieve immortality. Through this process, people can be frozen in liquid nitrogen with a hope to be safely revived and defrosted. Although there is no proof of this concept, yet it is hoped that there would be enough scientific advancements in the future to revive such bodies so that they can start reliving a normal life.

 

 

Alcor Life Extension Foundation has put forward an approach in which the brain of a person would be removed before his/her death and will be treated with a chemical fixative and a cryoprotective agent. Brain preservation there is still a lot of is technically possible according to a neuroscientist Kenneth Hayworth, but he says that research needed.

Swap Your Body with An Android Avatar

Dmitri Itskov, a Russian billionaire and a former media tycoon, has founded the 2045 Project. In this project, he is trying to find possibilities to replace human bodies with their robotic avatars that would be uploaded with all the content of their human counterparts.

The ultimate goal of this project is to extend the lives of human beings by hundreds or even thousands of years. Itskov’s overall ambition is to create a utopia where people can be free from their corporal selves and can spend their time on spiritual and intellectual growth.

 

 

Recently, Dmitri also unveiled a sophisticated robot that was a replica of his own head. It was designed by the pioneer in robotics named David Hanson. There would be as many as 36 motors in the head that ought to create exceptional realism or in other words, an exceptional Android.

2045 Project Vision Source: 2045 Initiative

The final aim is to create a full human Android body that can jump, run, walk and behave exactly like a human being in the future. This will help people to live longer and healthier lives.

Transferring Your Consciousness to An Artificial Body

A new startup called Humai wants to help people live forever by transferring their consciousness to an artificial body. The CEO of this company, Josh Bocanegra believes that the team in his startup will create its own human being in the next 30 years.

 

 

In his words, "We’re using artificial intelligence and nanotechnology to store data of conversational styles, behavioral patterns, thought processes and information about how your body functions from the inside-out. This data will be coded into multiple sensor technologies, which will be built into an artificial body with the brain of a deceased human. Using cloning technology, we will restore the brain as it matures."

As can be seen, countless initiatives and experiments have been started to date and continue popping up to increase the life of humans and make them “immortal.” Humans continue striving to achieve the impossible and have dedicated their careers to making this dream happen.

Irrespective of the approach taken by different scientists and researchers to avoid the inevitability of death, their long-term goals are pretty much aligned - make humans live forever! Only future holds the truth of this dream while efforts in this direction continue.

 
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Yes, when the sun starts to go supernova it will be the beginning of the end for all life on Earth, and eventually all suns everywhere will burn out and there will be no life anywhere in the universe.  Its weird to think of a completely dark universe with no life just existing and carrying on forever.  Then again its even stranger to think of how it all began in the first place, springing into existence out of nothing.  There's a great video clip on YouTube of Richard Dawkins getting flustered trying to explain how everything came from nothing as his audience laughs at him.  Anyway, I'm open to any possibilities, I don't see senescence as an insurmountable problem, just a challenge awaiting a solution.  I think AI will play a significant role in developing the solution, and I'm putting my money where my mouth is by investing in AI companies.  I welcome a more interesting future.

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Even if we can understand and drastically slow or stop damage resulting from normal metabolic functioning; ultimately the main source of damage from ROS production from mitochondria; we need to be able to repair the damage that has already occured or some forms of damage that still accumulate.

SENS is a great starting point but it might be necessary to have nanotechnology (nanobots) in the millions (or billions?) that are made safe & available (and cheap) to reverse DNA damage and clean out all forms of intra & extra-cellular 'build-up' (or garbage) to truly achieve immortality.  This nano-technology could be possible as soon as the 2030's and be available for safe use & mass production not long afterwards.

With gene therapies becoming available now, AI getting better every day/week/month, SENS with projects like SENS21 -  we are approaching longevity escape velocity.

Once we conquer aging then over the next couple centuries we will find ways to hack even our solar system to give us sustainable life; I will make every effort to avoid 'throwing in the towel' any earlier than necessary especially in light of Hawking's convinction that there is no afterlife. 

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