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Category: cyborgs – Page 65

A write-up on transhumanism, the vaccine, and Covid

A former independent presidential hopeful is vexed at the COVID-19 vaccine at the moment, and for multiple reasons. That would be Zoltan Istvan, a self-described transhumanist candidate who was billed as the “cyborg who is running against President Trump” in press reports throughout 2020. The California hopeful — who ran in the Republican primary — based his campaign on a futuristic message of fusing radical technology with daily life under the motto “Upgrade America.”

Mr. Istvan recently looked into how long it would be before he got a COVID-19 vaccine.

“I took the New York Times’ ‘Find your Place’ in the vaccine line report, and I was near the bottom 15% of the timeline for getting the vaccine — meaning I’ll be nearly last,” Mr. Istvan wrote in an email to Inside the Beltway.

China Used Exoskeletons to Recover Moon Samples

The team in charge of recovering China’s successfully returned lunar samples in Inner Mongolia wasn’t just futuristic because it was picking up Moon rocks — its members also wore passive exoskeletons to help trudge through the snow, the South China Morning Post reports.

“I would have been exhausted after walking 20 or 30 meters, but with the help of the exoskeleton, 100 meters or more was not a problem,” one of the team members told SCMP. He was tasked with carrying 110 pounds of gear through the deep snow with temperatures well below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

Sibongile Mongadi, STEM Innovator, Founder, Uku’hamba, Improving The Lives Of Amputees Across Africa

On today’s episode we are going to continue our virtual global road trip over to the country of South Africa, to the Soweto township of the city of Johannesburg, and meet up with Ms. Sibongile Mongadi, Founder of Uku’hamba Pty Ltd, a start-up company that focuses on biotechnology and healthcare manufacturing with a goal of improving lives of amputees across Africa.

Uku’hamba is a 100% black youth women owned company and Uku’hamba means “To Walk” in Zulu.

Utilizing 3D printer and 3D scanning technologies, she has dedicated her career to developing prosthetic limbs that can be widely and cheaply manufactured. Her mission is to ensure prostheses are made available to anyone in need, greatly increasing the independence of amputees who may not currently be able to afford them.

Ms. Mongadi has been designated as one of the top emerging innovators across Africa in 2018, named in the Inspiring Fifty’s class of 50 South African Women of 2019, and as a Top 100 South Africa Shining Stars for Science & Technology in 2019.

When the Covid-19 pandemic struck South Africa, she redirected her company’s efforts to manufacturing safety equipment for front line workers. She has also worked with 3 other young innovators to build a contact-less thermometer sensor and hands-free, hand sanitizer system used in schools and corporate locations in the fight against COVID-19.

Ms. Mongadi is also the founder of the Soweto Young Women Empowerment initiative that seeks to shape young women to be leaders in different spheres of society.

Continue reading “Sibongile Mongadi, STEM Innovator, Founder, Uku’hamba, Improving The Lives Of Amputees Across Africa” | >

France Says It’s Working on Bionic Supersoldiers Because Everybody Else Is Doing It

The French military is starting exploratory work on the development of bionic supersoldiers, which officials describe as a necessary part of keeping pace with the rest of the world.

A military ethics committee gave its blessing to begin developing supersoldiers on Tuesday, according to The BBC, balancing the moral implications of augmenting and altering humanity with the desire to innovate and enhance the military’s capabilities. With the go-ahead, France joins countries like the U.S., Russia, and China that are reportedly attempting to give their soldiers high-tech upgrades.

Stephen Langevin

I just read an incredible post about Transhumanism by Francesco Neo Amati, CM of Transhumanism: The Future of Humanity.

What an excellent representation of how pragmatic and collaborative our community can be. People like Francesco Neo Amati are the reason why I call myself a Transhumanist…

“Community Announcement:

The following will address the purpose of our community as outlined in the Pinned Post and to dispel common misconceptions of Transhumanism by clarifying what it is and what it isn’t.

I have no desire in being a ‘leader’ in the Transhumanism community. I merely hope to be and remain a credible educator/resource, passionate advocate, and a voice of reason for the movement.

ICYDK:

I’m the founder and CM of our community. I started it in 2014 after being interested in Transhumanism since 2010, which complemented my passion for the philosophy of Self-Actualization/Transcendence (i.e. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Bruce Lee’s Self-Actualization, Nietzsche’s Ubermensch, Plato’s Realm of Forms, Aristotle’s Metaphysics on Being/Becoming, Emerson’s Transcendentalism, etc.).

Continue reading “Stephen Langevin” | >

French army gets ethical go-ahead for bionic soldiers

The French armed forces now have permission to develop “augmented soldiers” following a report from a military ethics committee.

The report, released to the public on Tuesday, considers medical treatments, prosthetics and implants that improve “physical, cognitive, perceptive and psychological capacities,” and could allow for location tracking or connectivity with weapons systems and other soldiers.

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