How do they train themselves to be so impervious to reality?

strange has happened in America in the nine months since Barack Obama was elected. It has best been summarised by the comedian Bill Maher: "The Democrats have moved to the right, and the Republicans have moved to a mental hospital."

A drug which appears to erase painful memories has been developed by scientists. The astonishing treatment could help sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder and those whose lives are plagued by hurtful recurrent memories. But British experts said the breakthrough raises disturbing ethical questions about what makes us human. They also warned it could have damaging psychological consequences, preventing those who take it from learning from their mistakes.

The widow of a man who took his own life at an assisted suicide clinic says her husband wanted to make his decision for what he saw as the right reason.

'I didn't want to have any more operations': Girl, 13, says why she would prefer to die with dignity than have transplant

AGELESS THINKING

Creating Positive Transhuman Attitude

By Natasha V. More
(f/k/a Nancie Clark)

Journal of Evolution and Technology - Vol. 17 Issue 1 – January 2008 - pgs 13-22

Abstract

The progress of biology, neuroscience and computer science makes it clear that some time during the twenty- first century we will master the technologies of mind and life. We will build machines more intelligent than ourselves, and modify our own brains and bodies to increase our intelligence, live indefinitely and make other changes. We live together according to a social contract, consisting of laws, morals and conventions governing our interactions. This social contract is based on assumptions we rarely question: that all humans have roughly the same intelligence, that we have limited life spans and that we share a set of motives as part of our human nature. The technologies of mind and life will invalidate these assumptions and inevitably change our social contract in fundamental ways. We need to prepare for these new technologies so that they change the world in ways we want rather than just stumbling into a world that we don't.

ScienceDaily (May 22, 2008) — Researcher Daan Hobbelen of TU Delft (The Netherlands) has developed a new, highly-advanced walking robot: Flame. This type of research, for which Hobbelen will receive his PhD on Friday 30 May, is important as it provides insight into how people walk. This can in turn help people with walking difficulties through improved diagnoses, training and rehabilitation equipment. Read more

Kreftsyke Bjørnar Kanli (71) fra Arendal tok sitt eget liv før påske i protest mot at aktiv dødshjelp ikke er tillatt i Norge.

(CBS) Imagine re-growing a severed fingertip, or creating an organ in the lab that can be transplanted into a patient without risk of rejection. It sounds like science fiction, but it's not. It's the burgeoning field of regenerative medicine, in which scientists are learning to harness the body's own power to regenerate itself, with astonishing results. Correspondent Wyatt Andrews brings you to the scientific frontier.