Contemporary biotechnologies, and especially emergent technologies, are taking art into wet yet nimble associations with science fiction, science fraction and science fact. Bioart and its subsets are working with genetics, cloning and hybridization, and its practitioners are “co-creators” alongside the gods, stirring up moral issues, and portraying the role of lab-technician, scalpel in hand.

The question of boosting the intelligence of animals other than humans, to the level of self-awareness and consciousness, is one that cannot be considered in isolation from the general process at work in the social and speculative movement known as Transhumanism.

Thousands of scientific studies have examined the possible genetic causes underlying brain/mind disorders such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, violence and criminality, and psychopathy. The more positive side of human behavior, with aspects such as altruism and empathy, has been studied much less – even though these are obviously much more valued from both transhumanist and typical humanist perspectives.

Are we on the verge of totally new social and economic paradigm brought about by the increasing power of computation in our machines?

This week has brought several interesting articles about human enhancement. Although much of this technology is still in the research phase, some tech is beginning to make it to the market.

As Claude Lévi-Strauss famously stated, “animals are good to think.” For the last ten years, scholars have been thinking about animals very seriously, particularly about the place of non-human creatures vis-à-vis the “posthumanities”.

When I first heard that the entire left was selling products under the Occupy name my natural reaction was disgust. I am very critical of liberals because I have experienced their hypocrisy on a firsthand basis.

Science news overview: new neutrino detector taller than Dubai tower, Jupiter’s core is liquefying, antimatter sail for space missions, and more.

The universal forces of evolution have acted on organisms to create e.g. metazoan multicelluarity and its attendant specialization of cells, tissues, and organs. Similarly, human social roles are differentiated, and there are many specialized human “organs”.

There is no question that new technologies are allowing humans and animals to interact in more profound and novel ways. As a result, we are getting increasingly able to peer more deeply into the psyche of animals and gain a better understanding of how they perceive and engage in the world.