A deep look at some of the truly advanced and surprising options that might become available to us as we improve our skill with genetic engineering, ranging from altering humans to adapting life to live on alien planets or to serve as machines. Isaac will also look at methods for doing genetic engineering, such as […]
Matrioshka Brains
What Are Matrioshka Brains? A Matrioshka Brain is a hypothetical megastructure, based on the Dyson sphere, of immense computational capacity. It is an example of a Class B stellar engine, employing the entire energy output of a star to drive computer systems. Such a structure would be composed of a collection of one or more […]
Self Replicating Machines
John Von Neumann And Self Replicating Machines Scientists and engineers since the 1940s have been toying with the idea of building self-replicating machines, or von Neumann machines, named for John von Neumann. With recent advances in 3D printing (including in zero gravity) and machine learning AI, it seems like self-replicating machines are much more feasible […]
Transhumanism and Immortality
An in-depth look at the Transhumanism movement and related concepts, with a special focus on pathways for extending the human lifespan. Topics including SENS and anti-aging research, mind uploading, Technological Singularities, and physical and mental augmentation. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
The Kardashev Scale
What is the Kardashev scale? The scale was originally designed in 1964 by the Russian astrophysicist Nikolai Kardashev. He was looking for signs of extraterrestrial life within cosmic signals. The Kardashev scale has 3 base classes, each with an energy disposal level: Type I (10¹⁶W), Type II (10²⁶W), and Type III (10³⁶W). Other astronomers have […]
Technological Singularity
What is Technological Singularity? The idea that human history is approaching a “singularity”—that ordinary humans will someday be overtaken by artificially intelligent machines or cognitively enhanced biological intelligence, or both—has moved from the realm of science fiction to serious debate. Some singularity theorists predict that if the field of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to develop […]
Space Warfare
This episode focuses on the basic concepts and misconceptions of wars fought in space and examines the notions of weapons, defenses, stealth in space, and the distance involved. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Post Scarcity Civilisations
Post Scarcity Civilisations If resources were unlimited, everything would be free. Cars would be free just as gumballs would be free. And because everything is free, then NOTHING would have value. There would be no prices. Just “stuff.” What Is A Post Scarcity Society? “Post Scarcity” is basically a utopian ideal of economists. It means […]
Interstellar Empires
The concept of Interstellar Empires has fascinated us for as long as we’ve know those stars in the night sky were other solar systems, and it’s become a staple of science fiction. But rarely do we consider how realistic such galaxy-spanning confederations are, and what special challenges they’d face. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Interstellar Highways
This episode discusses the idea over using chains of relays firing immensely powerful lasers or streams of particles to move spaceships between neighbouring stars at near-light velocities. Republished by Blog Post Promoter