DARPA Wants Artificial Lifeforms

Originally posted by burntheships

DARPA Wants Artificial Lifeforms

www.technologyreview.com

Yesterday morning, at the Fifth International Meeting on Synthetic Biology at Stanford University, a representative from the DARPA announced a new program called Living Foundries that will invest in and develop synthetic biology projects.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
LivingFoundries

edit on 16-6-2011 by burntheships because: (no reason given)

"Wants" what a joke. Do some reading because they already have some.

reply to post by chunghwa


BTS has said it many times before - when they "announce" they want such and such it's generally a tacit admission that it already exists. They're just feeling out public opinion with such releases. And yes, you're absolutely right.

Originally posted by burntheships

DARPA Wants Artificial Lifeforms

www.technologyreview.com

Yesterday morning, at the Fifth International Meeting on Synthetic Biology at Stanford University, a representative from the DARPA announced a new program called Living Foundries that will invest in and develop synthetic biology projects.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
LivingFoundries

edit on 16-6-2011 by burntheships because: (no reason given)

Yes.

something has to outlive humans if we end up destroying ourselves.

reply to post by John_Rodger_Cornman


As interesting as that is...and as right as you may be, I think the odds for human survival
as nature would take its own course would be better than transhumanism.

Again, thanks for your comments, and thats just my 2 cents.

So DARPA wants to bypass the whole robot-soldier thing and go straight to the artificial-lifeform-designed-for-killing program.

Nice. We are screwed.

This new life form will probably feed off of the brains of the "enemies" it kills.

Originally posted by Cryptonomicon

Nice. We are screwed.

This new life form will probably feed off of the brains of the "enemies" it kills.

That scenario is entirely possible, imo.
Whats to stop them?

Ethics? Thay have little to none.

Accountability? Nope.

Funding? No boundries.

Honestly I never thought I would say such a thing, but no wonder they reported
that ole bin Laden was hiding out it a cave.

reply to post by BigfootNZ

And I wont be tolerant to any bandwagon jumping idiot who decides to upgrade themselves.

going into the future kicking and screaming eh? Ive read a lot on this topic, and theres a great arguement going on about what will happen to the people who are left behind, or more precisely, the people who dont want to upgrade.

I cant say I like the idea 100%, but, when given the option, some people will take it. Businesses will want to hire these "super-people" more than normal people. They will be more functional, more intelligent, and in better shape. This is just another step in the evolution and organization of matter.

Just think The Digital Divide x 100.

The digital divide refers to the gap between individuals, households, businesses and geographic areas at different socio-economic levels with regard both to their opportunities to access information and communications technologies (ICTs) and to their use of the Internet for a wide variety of activities.[1] It includes the imbalance both in physical access to technology and the resources and skills needed to effectively participate as a digital citizen. Knowledge divide reflects the access of various social groupings to information and knowledge, typically gender, income, race, and by location.[2] The term global digital divide refers to differences in access between countries in regards to the internet and its means of information flow.

guess which side of the divide this would put you? I dont think human 1.0 will beat out human 2.0 or 3.0 or 4.0... you get the picture

reply to post by burntheships


unfortunately, natural evolution takes FOREVER, and humans are destroying our planet at a pace much much much much faster than natural evolution can keep up with. And on top of that, humanity has essentially destroyed progressive natural evolution in ourselves. Nowadays any ol sick, weak, incompetent, and lazy person can have 10 kids and gather a welfare check. There is no survival of the fittest in our species for the most part. So you honestly cant hope that natural evolution will cure this. Technology is just an epigenetic form of evolution.

This is from a thread I did a long time ago. You can see we are somewhere between epoch 4 and 5. this is the evolution of the universe and chaotic matter into organized matter.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c07e92d0e2a6.png[/atsimg]

Its all evolution. We cannot just think of evolution as a genetic process either. For example there is molecular evolution, which is the study of why some molecules and compounds are more prevalent than others, which is a rather simple concept.

we're all so quick to think up negative things and repercussions... if our thoughts influence reality and society then wouldn't we be better off thinking about the positive effects this would have on humanity? why are we such an aggressive race? perhaps because of a percieved scarcity of resources and time to enjoy the spoils of our labors, right? so what would happen to that paradigm if humans can effectively live forever using this tech? what if albert einstein could have lived for a couple of hundred years? and if this research turns into something that will help the majority of the human race, will we ever thank darpa for it? here we are, ranting against darpa on a forum made possible by using technology derived from research sponsored and conducted by darpa.

reply to post by toreishi

I almost went there!

Im glad you did and brought up the point about the net

Technology is a double edge sword. It can be used for good or bad.

Another artificial lifeform I truly believe is Windows.

Look at how many GIGS of data now makes up that operating system and it really doesn't do anything more than Windows 95. What's all those GIGS of code doing there?

Can a laptop now use it's wifi as a radar to "see" whats in a room? I noticed on the new HP Laptops when you flip that front switch turning the wifi "off".....somehow the computer is still able to use the wifi and spool up the harddrives in other computers in the same room. Like it's "pinging" around to see whats there....but wait a minute....the wifi "switch" is turned off....or is it?

Microsoft got into bed with the Bios manufacturers and it's amazing how much memory is now in a BIOS chip. What's all that being used for? Is there an operating system in the BIOS now as well?

I think Artificial Life Forms actually exist now and are spread throughout the world. They follow their programing/rules just as humans do.....but it appears their "programming-rules" are to learn what's in their environment.

Even Hotmail has became an Intelligent Artificial Life Form. Whatever you type in a new email is seen by microsoft before you even click send....trying writing an email with the words "Bootleg Windows".......notice a little box appears where the "Send" used to be and Microsoft won't let you send the email?

Artificial Intelligence is HERE.

Double-edged sword is right! If DARPA wasn't a malevolent gov't research mule with a Super-Soldier agenda then I'd be optimistic about this. However, we know(sort of) DARPA's track record, so I'm really on the fence here. There really are some great things that CAN come from this, but that takes a private, benevolent, for-the-people organization who's policies include transparency with the public to do research and development of their own. Tough luck seeing that happen. Cybernetics and AI have great potential, but I don't necissarily trust it in current gov't hands. Too much room for corruption and abuse of technology. I can see it now; the streets being patrolled by AIDOKs(Artificial Intelligence Designed Only for Killing) armed with weapons you've never heard of. Welcome to the 21st century I suppose.

Artificial limbs..somewhat okay.....
Artificial life and now they ARE trying to play god.

Think of it like this, if you believe you have a soul and when you die it's free from
your body, free to roam around.....what's to say that they aren't trying to put your soul
in a machine then as soon as you want freedom, they just flip your switch off, maybe flip
your switch back on and lesson learnt?

Sounds more to me like they want to control you before AND after death taking away
any last freedom you could have had, very sad...

Originally posted by Pervius
Another artificial lifeform I truly believe is Windows.

Look at how many GIGS of data now makes up that operating system and it really doesn't do anything more than Windows 95. What's all those GIGS of code doing there?

Can a laptop now use it's wifi as a radar to "see" whats in a room? I noticed on the new HP Laptops when you flip that front switch turning the wifi "off".....somehow the computer is still able to use the wifi and spool up the harddrives in other computers in the same room. Like it's "pinging" around to see whats there....but wait a minute....the wifi "switch" is turned off....or is it?

Microsoft got into bed with the Bios manufacturers and it's amazing how much memory is now in a BIOS chip. What's all that being used for? Is there an operating system in the BIOS now as well?

I think Artificial Life Forms actually exist now and are spread throughout the world. They follow their programing/rules just as humans do.....but it appears their "programming-rules" are to learn what's in their environment.

Even Hotmail has became an Intelligent Artificial Life Form. Whatever you type in a new email is seen by microsoft before you even click send....trying writing an email with the words "Bootleg Windows".......notice a little box appears where the "Send" used to be and Microsoft won't let you send the email?

Artificial Intelligence is HERE.

Ok, I'm sorry, but its obvious from this when it comes to technology your not the smartest person out there ( not a big deal, not alot of people are. I just encourage you to become more affiliated with technology because it is such a big part of our world ).

Each new OS is coded to allow you to do more, and is coded to work with new technology that is being released today, or new games. Buy a 2011 PC game, and try running it on windows 95. Even if you had the required technology ( Graphics card, RAM, motherboard, CPU, etc ) it would not work, because its coded to work on different a OS.

All those "gigs of data" you mention don't make it artificial intelligence. Also you mentioned the wrong term persay, Gigs of data means it has alot of INFO on it ( this is stuff you download, programs you use ).

Computers nowadays aren't smart AT ALL. Infact, there is no "intelligence" in computers. You can only do what they are programmed to do. IE run games, check your email, download the latest porno, etc......
They can't do what they are not programmed to do.

Intelligence implies freewill, ability to learn, and do what you want, when you want. A computer can't do what it wants when it wants. IT can only do what its programmed to do, when YOU want it.

What you mention about hotmail, and writing a message, thats not artificial intelligence. IF you call that AI(artificial intelligence) then thats the equivalent of a three year old picking his boggers and eating them. All they do is program their hotmail servers, hotmail in general, so that if it detects certain words it blocks them out, or prevents you from sending an email. If you still don't believe me, then let me ask you this,

Is microsoft's, Microsoft Word spell check editor intelligence? ( if you think yes, then by god man! may you be helped)

That is kind of a scary subject. Creating artificial life forms... I mean, would they be like us? Or would they just be a really fancy robot that has a program that simulates pain? You know?

Id love to see some one make an Artificial brain... One that works exactly like the human brain, though I imagine we are a long way off from that one... We have to understand everything about the brain before we can replicate it, I would think....

I don't know. I've seen too many creepy movies like A.I Artificial Intelligence, and it just raises so many questions about morals and ethics and of course the classic " playing god" argument, but we have been playing god for years now anyway..... so.

reply to post by burntheships


Excellent thread OP, as always. Please bear with me...it may seem off topic but hang with me please, it pulls together.

My research on this thread took all day and through some truly concerning areas of thought.

I have been a vehement protester against nanotechnology until we had the laboratory construction and protocols down. Well, I have learned it is too late for this.

Nano Saftey

There were more articles on increasing lung issues and tininess of the particles the surgeons were locating in the air sacs. What is interesting is I found a pdf (link below) with a compilation of articles that I attempted to update throughout the day. Turned out to be a bigger job than I thought, so I do not mean to just throw out this draft, but it is best.

Nano Links

So then, I think about some research on DARPA's throw away soldiers, i.e. the super soldiers. I cannot begin to rant enough for and against DARPA as you all have. But there may be something to moving on down this path for now, since some of the results from the latter program were tragic.

So, I stumbled upon this body of work:

Stepan Chuprakov’s Doctoral Thesis: This was a successful study (if the chatter is any indicator) and doctoral thesis on the use of a metal to interact with an organic compound and a copolymer.

Scary, yes, but not so much...

His doctoral thesis, which I did not read...

But then, he leaves Russia and ends up in La Jolla, CA and does this...!

Collaboration with other Chemical Scientists

I am not being glib...but, can this Chuprakov’s work be used for micro-vacuums in surgery for the horrible effects of nanites in the lungs? They are putting organic matter together with metals and plastics and it is being used to save brains, help with auto immune disorders...so is the bad maybe the good sometimes. Could a living organism coming out of these DARPA studies and live within a person side by side and assist in the healing process?

And can I have the hope, we, as a nation (and let's remember, the peoples of this nation run the military) for once and for all, do away with the experimental ,disposal soldier.

Do not get me wrong I did not just fall off the turnip truck, but, this work is coming together in promising areas.

Nothing could be more heinous than mankind creating life, trifling with life, under the watchful eye of God and then, throwing it to the winds or putting it in the hospital/lab/clinic bio hazard bin or unleashing to the wild.

I am hoping with this current administration things have changed. I know it is Pollyanna when so many people hold security clearances higher than the POTUS. What hope is there? Just the bumper stickers on my friends cars?

People can do anything they want and blame it on TPTB, when they hold higher security credentials over another or have more cash than all of our representatives put together, or more power over the forces of nature or more alliances off-world. I know this well. And hologram production... this only requires money, contacts and power...no one really knows who is screwing who most of the time.

Still! The Constitution provides for a citizen run military and DARPA, at least in part, is under the military. So my tax dollar is at work and they have to put up with my sh*t and sh*t from others like me...and there is a lot of us.

God is Science and Science is God. It is like white water rafting with others, where we must decide where to paddle and then the river decides where we are going. and then it all runs together. Everyone, finally does end up around the campfire, with their cups of hot chocolate, exhilarated, because it was totally a collaborative effort between God and man.

Thanks OP!

I believe that CERTAIN nanotechnology would have benefits.
Such as, radiation resistance, or rapid limb regeneration.
But I imagine with these technologies comes the control factor.
Imagine something like the movie Gamer with Gerard Butler, everyone injected with the nanobots, can be controlled by one master controller, like a puppetmaster.
Although, if nanotechnology for human use becomes more and more prevelant, I would think there would start to be "black market nanobots", like drugs, only for certain...attributes, such as thermal vision, lactic acid controller (for unlimited muscle stamina), etc.
Idk. Just my take on the situation.