The next ExtroBritannia lunch/get-together is scheduled for Saturday the 11th of October at 12 noon in central London.
We will have two themes for the meeting, Nano & Bio: nanotechnological and biomedical interventions will both be needed to achieve our primary goal of a open-ended lifespan. Both technologies are under intense scrutiny right now and it is time we made our voice heard on the direction we want them to take.
NANO: In June 2003 the UK Government commissioned the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering to carry out an independent study of likely developments and whether nanotechnology raises or is likely to raise new ethical, health and safety or social issues which are not covered by current regulation. An entry to the study was submitted by two ExtroBritannia regulars, highlighting our concerns that nanotechnology’s development might suffer in a similar way to GM crops due to the action of idelogically motivated pressure groups. The next stage of the study will involve NGO workshops and public consultations: this is an unmissible chance of influencing public policy regarding what is arguably the holy grail of transhumanist technologies.
For further info on the study:
http://www.nanotec.org.uk/index.htmBIO: Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence: Reasons Why Genuine Control of Aging may be Foreseeable. That was the title of the recently held 10th Congress of the International Association of Biomedical Gerontology and a few ExtroBritannia regulars attedend. Come along for views, comments and info on what’s happening in the field of practical life-extension research.
For further info on the conference and some online
presentations:
http://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/iabg10/WHERE & WHEN******************************************
If you want to attend, you have three choices:
1) you can show up at the basement café of Europe's largest bookshop (Waterstone's in Piccadilly, London) at 12,00
2) you can go directly to the restaurant for lunch ("Chowki", 1,00
o'clock). The table will be booked under my name (Fabio).
3) you can join us back at Waterstone's for coffee/drinks and further discussion at about 2,30/3,00 pm.
If it's your first time at an ExtroBritannia meeting I'll be the guy clearly displaying a copy of Kurzweil's "The Age of Spiritual Machines" on the table we'll be sitting at.
DETAILS/MAPS/ETC****************************************
WATERSTONE'S
From Piccadilly Circus, Waterstone's is about 50 yards down
Piccadilly (on the left handside). Once inside take the stairs on
the right, down to the lower floor cafe'/restaurant: the cafe will be right in front of you.
MAP:
http://www.multimap....20&GridN=180474CHOWKI
The restaurant is a five minutes walk from Waterstone's.
Chowki, 2-3 Denman Street,
London W1D 7HA
(Nearest Tube Station: Piccadilly Circus)
MAP:
http://uk.multimap.c...=W1D7HA&cat=resThe ExtroBritannia homepage:
http://groups.yahoo..../extrobritanniaThe ExtroBritannia BLOG:
http://www.extrobritannia.blogspot.comCheers,
Fabio