Paul Kimball's posted a few photos from the New Frontiers Symposium, damningly titled "A Night on the Town with Generation NOW."

It's official: I'm signed up for cryonics

I put my MedicAlert bracelet on for the first time yesterday, and at first it felt slightly odd. Some of the initial feelings that arose were the same as those depicted in my story of being frozen alive; loneliness and isolation. I felt this way largely because so few people I know are signed up for cryonics, so, should it work, they would not be there upon my reanimation.

But I've since grown more comfortable with this symbol of my decision, and with the decision itself. To me, cryonics is a rational choice if you want to do everything possible to create, relate, experience, learn, love and grow as much and as long as possible in this world. So now I look at my bracelet as a symbol of personal empowerment; this is just one of many steps I plan to take on a journey towards a better future for me and the world.

(Via Sentient Developments.)

Opec Says British Climate Change Report "Unfounded"

A hard-hitting report on climate change published by the British government on Monday has no basis in science or economics, OPEC's Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo said on Tuesday.

*yawn*

*click*

Overnight in the sleep-pipes

Austria's relatively new dasparkhotel is an inn "constructed from repurposed, incredibly robust drain pipes."

Each pipe's Zen-like "external simplicity," we're told, "surrounds an unexpectedly comfortable interior -- full headroom, double bed, storage, light, power, woolly blanket and light cotton sleeping bag. All other hotelery devices (toilets, showers, minibar, cafe, etc) are supplied by the surrounding public space."

Oh, wow. Just look at this. Now imagine it teeming with Soviet bureaucrats.

(Hat tip to the omniscient Boing Boing.)

I wish I'd made this. No, I wish I could make this.

(Found at Reality Carnival.)

Stealing Prison Items In Order To Escape

Civilization, the most colossal, immoral, unreformable mistake ever made by human beings, is a prison. I naturally wish to escape this prison. But it's a diabolical prison! Its walls are composed of my inability to survive outside it. Civilization says, "What was once easy to procure, like your food and shelter and clothing, is now under lock and key. You must sell your life to civilization in return for what was once free to everyone. You must comply with this system because you are no longer capable of entering the wilderness and procuring your own free food, shelter, and clothing. If you do not comply, you are doomed to die. But don't fret, we know it seems like a rotten deal, but you get American Idol and Cool Ranch Doritos, so it's not that bad."

I'm down with the flu this Halloween; posting may be scarce.

Have a fun holiday!

Advertisement: Let's Go To the Colonies!

Are YOU finding it difficult to leapfrog to the head of the dole queue? Sick of rubbing shoulders with billions of other citizens on Earth? Tired of breathing in disgusting pollution? Clothes shredded and skin raw from acid rain?

Cool robot vehicle transports man around Tokyo

Just outside Harajuku station today I saw the craziest/funniest/most dumbfounding thing I've seen in Japan to date. The machine containing this man was fully mobile and powerful enough to get up and down the curbs with ease, not to mention immaculately put together.

But it's the discrete radiation trefoil that makes this contraption truly cool.

UN Sees 'Far More Robust' Global Warming Evidence

In its last assessment in 2001, the IPCC said there was "new and stronger evidence" that gases linked to human activities, mainly from burning fossil fuels in power plants, factories and cars, were the main cause of global warming.

Its next report, the first chapter of which will be launched in Paris on Feb. 2, will group research by about 2,000 scientists on the drivers of climate change and its impacts on weather, disease, ecology and water supply.

Marked strengthening in the IPCC conclusions might pressure the United States -- which pulled out of the emissions-cutting UN Kyoto Protocol in 2001 -- to toughen its policies.

I had a multiple-witness saucer sighting while in Halifax. Greg Bishop shares his recollection:

Breakfast at "The Triangle" Halifax N.S. 10/15/06. Mac Tonnies orders steamed mussels and has a flying saucer sighting. Mac is overcome by the spiritual nature of the encounter (note golden halo which mysteriously appeared around his head.)

I don't know if the steamed mussels came in peace or not; I ate them before they had a chance to communicate.

By the way, Tim Binnall has me pegged as a "should-be" Coast to Coast AM guest:

Considered by many to be one of the "next big things" in esoterica, Tonnies is quickly gaining a following in the blogosphere. His book on the much discussed anomalies on Mars has drawn widespread critical acclaim. Tonnies could bring a fresh, open-minded, but thankfully grounded, look at the C2C stalwart that is Mars.

While I'm not sure I see a C2C guest spot happening (late-night radio politics being what they are), I appreciate the vote of confidence. In any case, it's not inconceivable that I'll make an appearance on Tim's own show.

THE STUPIDEST IDEA EVER

Early problems with voting machines are starting to show up, and they seem to be rather more serious than a few glitches. A glitch is when I'm not sure if I kicked the voting machine unplugged by accident. When my vote flips from the candidate of my choice to the opposing candidate all by itself, that's more than just a little glitch.

Paper ballots and Pencils: superior technology.

Silken celluloid
an autumnal effluvium
of bitmapped memories
consiged to Mandelbrot branches
and fossil roots;
inverted iterations
like pale music

China Makes a Sexy, Slutty Robot

This "Dion" robot from China can both "sing" (in Chinese) and look sexy. Yes, simultaneously. That's two more than Britney Spears can currently do.

(Via PAG E-News.)

If you know what a "replicant" is without resorting to Google, don't miss "On the Edge of Blade Runner."

Clever Raven

Some ravens in Japan come up with a clever way to eat food that they naturally wouldn't be able to. Sir David Attenborough narrates.

(Via Feral Intelligence.)

File under "Endearingly Hitchcockian."

The Top 50 Cryptids From Around The World (Loren Coleman)

In my book, Cryptozoology A to Z, I detailed several of the well-known and lesser-known but technically unknown alleged animals from around the world that are of interest to cryptozoologists. From that 1999 work, my earlier lists, and later research and fieldwork, here’s my list of the top fifty picks of these hopefully soon-to-be-found animals, which are actively being pursued today.

(Via The Anomalist.)

Mars Rover Beginning To Hate Mars

But as the winter lingered, Spirit began producing thousands of pages of sometimes rambling and dubious data, ranging from complaints that the Martian surface was made up almost entirely of the same basalt, to long-winded rants questioning the exorbitant cost and scientific relevance of the mission.

"Granted, Spirit has been extraordinarily useful to our work," Callas said. "Last week, however, we received three straight days of images of the same rock with the message 'HAPPY NOW?'"

Jack Chick meets H.P. Lovecraft!

(Thanks: Utility Fog.)

Hitch hike to Mars inside an asteroid

A small population of asteroids pass by both the Earth and Mars in their orbits. So the idea is that a spacecraft containing Mars-bound astronauts could rendezvous with one of these objects as it goes by the Earth and travel with it until it nears the Red Planet.

In one version of the idea, the astronauts would actually dig a hole in the asteroid, put the spacecraft inside and cover it over with material from the asteroid. Within this protective burrow, the spacecraft would be shielded from cosmic rays during the six- to 10- month journey to Mars.

(Via Futurismic.)

Could someone have already done this? And is Mars' moon Phobos evidence?

New Planet Hunter Prepares for Launch

A powerful new instrument for finding extrasolar planets is about to launch: COROT (Convection Rotation and planetary Transits). Developed by the European Space Agency, COROT will search for planets using the transit method; it will be able to detect the slight drop in brightness as a planet moves in front of its parent star. If the observatory performs as expected, it should be able to detect rocky worlds just a few times larger than the Earth. COROT is scheduled to launch in December, 2006.

Protopanpsychism and the consciousness conundrum, or why we shouldn't assume uploads

If a quantum computer comprised of biological matter could arise through autonomous evolutionary processes, then I would have to think that intelligences like our own will eventually come to figure it out. If this is the case, then it may be possible to engineer subjectivity outside of our grey matter. Quantum computers could also be useful for running simulations of quantum mechanics, an idea that goes back to Richard Feynman; he observed that there is no known algorithm for simulating quantum systems on a classical computer and suggested to study the use of a quantum computer for this purpose. One has to wonder if the same logic applies to the potential for quantum computers to run consciousness simulations.

Given the extreme computational power and speed of quantum computers, I can't even become to fathom what a conscious agent would do within such an architecture.

All bets are off once a conscious superintelligence starts to engage in selective decoherence.

I've yet to discover a compelling reason why consciousness can't be substrate-independent -- provided that the substrate is "quantum compatible."

"Humming" by Portishead

Mountain looks like an Indian listening to an iPod

Truly one of the best profile simulacra I've seen.

Testosterone Levels in Men Decline Over Past Two Decades, Study Shows

Testosterone levels in American men have been declining steadily over the past two decades, a new study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism concludes.

The reasons for this decline are unclear; the study suggests that neither aging nor changes in certain health factors, such as obesity or smoking, can completely explain the phenomenon.

Maybe there's hope for humanity after all.

'McMurdo' Panorama from Spirit's 'Winter Haven'

Oct. 26, 2006, marks Spirit's 1,000th sol of what was planned as a 90-sol mission. (A sol is a Martian day, which lasts 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds). The rover has lived through the most challenging part of its second Martian winter. Its solar power levels are rising again. Spring in the southern hemisphere of Mars will begin in early 2007. Before that, the rover team hopes to start driving Spirit again toward scientifically interesting places in the "Inner Basin" and "Columbia Hills" inside Gusev crater. The McMurdo panorama is providing team members with key pieces of scientific and topographic information for choosing where to continue Spirit's exploration adventure.

Uh-oh . . . Cliff Pickover's discovered the "glass tubes/worms" of Mars.

Top 10: Controversial pieces of evidence for extraterrestrial life

Undeniably fascinating stuff . . . but of course the UFO phenomenon isn't even mentioned. I predict science historians will look back on this omission with bafflement and dismay.

(Thanks again, Mondolithic!)

Humans Living Far Beyond Planet's Means - WWF

Humans are stripping nature at an unprecedented rate and will need two planets' worth of natural resources every year by 2050 on current trends, the WWF conservation group said on Tuesday.

[. . .]

"If everyone around the world lived as those in America, we would need five planets to support us," Leape, an American, said in Beijing.

Our Polar Impacts

In the 1990s the world successfully addressed the ozone hole by agreeing to phase out ozone destroying chemicals. Its now a waiting game as the hole will continue to fluctuate while slowly healing over the course of the next 50 years. It is a vivid yet disturbing lesson about the time frame of planetary recovery as we continue to play Russian roullete with the world's climate by failing to act with the urgency the problem warrants.

The reasons for this are myriad, but a major one is quite literally in our view of the problem. Unlike the ozone hole we have no shared image of global warming. We see receding glaciers and drying lakes, but nothing that uniquely captures the novelty and urgency of the problem we are now facing.

Blog of the day: The Space Elevator Reference

What are the chances of aliens sniffing us out?

Beaming signals into space to find ET could potentially be risky for Earth and its inhabitants. So researchers are developing a Richter-like scale to assess the chance that extraterrestrials could detect -- and potentially react to -- such signals.

Close encounter witnesses almost invariably describe electromagnetic anomalies both in the presence of UFOs/entities and in mundane surroundings. I'm drawn to the possibility that some abductions are energetic intrusions of some sort, a hypothesis that "nuts and bolts" pundits are likely to deride. Perhaps instead of focusing on recovering memories of events occluded by "missing time," researchers should attempt a comprehensive electrical profile of the witness' nervous system and vicinity.

To my knowledge, the only researcher to undertake a rigorous survey of the electromagnetic environment's impact on the experiencer is Albert Budden, who has come to accept that alien visitation and "hauntings" alike can be attributed to EM "hotspots" interacting with the human brain. Budden's model hinges on the human brain's ability to conjure convincing hallucinatory states. And while there's no doubt the brain can be remotely stimulated to produce otherwordly imagery (through both EM and chemical means), laboratory tests have thus far failed to produce anything comparable to an archetypal "abduction" experience.

This frustrating lack of repeatability in a clinical environment invites the possibility that we're dealing with an external phenomenon of considerable power and complexity; we may, in fact, be dealing with a form of nonhuman consciousness that takes the form of plasma.

Oh, the angst!





(Photo: Greg Bishop.)

Greg Bishop took a bunch of good pictures in Halifax (posted here in proper high-resolution). Here are three selected favorites.

The first one looks like a quintessential band promo shot, like we've just released an EP and are trying to hit it big with a new single. Nick Redfern truly looks the part. I'm wearing black leather, so I suppose I qualify -- although I don't envision myself doing anything overly visible; I'd probably be the "concept manager" or something -- like Brian Eno except without the musical ability. Will Wise (third from right) looks appropriately angsty. And Lisa looks charming. Maybe she's the lead singer.





Here I am with Paul Kimball and Nick in Paul's office. Paul actually did play in a band; I think I'm holding a T-shirt from a benefit he played in 1996.





And here's a final (?) shot of me at the mic talking about something or other. Space elevators, maybe. Or decrypting ET personae.

This gives an idea of what futurists mean about when they talk about progress going nonlinear.

It's common knowledge that ufologists know how to party. Throw a token transhumanist into the mix and look out.





As far as I could tell, none of us actually got drunk that night. But I certainly look impaired.

(Photo courtesy of symposium attendee Jezzie.)

Here's a mesmerizing video of shape-shifting rovers in action, via Communist Robot:



Like watching origami come to life . . .

Want your own pet "rod"? Master anglers tell how to catch elusive "skyfish"! Impress your friends!



(Thanks to Pink Tentacle.)

Cydonia's 'Face on Mars' in 3D animation

The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) science team have produced a dramatic 3D animation that beautifully simulates a flight over the Cydonia 'Face on Mars', one of the most famous surface features on the planet.

I suppose it makes no difference that the ESA's rendition of the Face on Mars is demonstrably inaccurate. The "debunking" effort clanks predictably forward.

Dawkins: Why There Almost Certainly Is No God

Ignorant and absolutist attacks on stem cell research are just the tip of an iceberg. What we have here is nothing less than a global assault on rationality, and the Enlightenment values that inspired the founding of this first and greatest of secular republics. Science education - and hence the whole future of science in this country - is under threat. Temporarily beaten back in a Pennsylvania court, the 'breathtaking inanity' (Judge John Jones's immortal phrase) of 'intelligent design' continually flares up in local bush-fires. Dowsing them is a time-consuming but important responsibility, and scientists are finally being jolted out of their complacency. For years they quietly got on with their science, lamentably underestimating the creationists who, being neither competent nor interested in science, attended to the serious political business of subverting local school boards. Scientists, and intellectuals generally, are now waking up to the threat from the American Taliban.

The erudite Greg Bishop, author of "Project Beta" and a fellow speaker at the New Frontiers Symposium, now has a blog. I took the photo above in his LA studio. If you want to talk intelligently about UFOs and their social significance, Greg's your guy.

More Halifax photos . . .

Paul had printed off posters for all of the speakers. This collage was one of the first indications of weirdness as you entered the auditorium, followed by a merchandise table staffed intermittently by Stan Friedman and Robert Zimmerman.

(I bought an aged copy of "The Zeta Reticuli Incident," a commentary on the Betty Hill "star map" controversy, and the new 2-disc edition of "Do You Believe in Majic?", Paul's MJ-12 documentary.)





Halifax has a sense of history that's all-too lacking in the Midwest. The photo below was taken at the perimeter of a colonial citadel with a fantastic view of the city.





Here I am with Will Wise and actress Veronica Reynolds, who I met in Los Angeles in May.





We ate at a pub that served fish and chips, which necessitated breaking my vegetarian vows. Fortunately, my newly gall bladder-less digestive system didn't give me any problems.

While I've been hanging out in Nova Scotia talking about mind-uploading, friend and editor Patrick Huyghe has been taking in the Fortean scene in Paris.