Category Archives: Human Immortality

The people occupying the two unmarked graves Cabin Radio could not definitively confirm who is buried there likely never saw Yellowknife while alive. Both are understood to have been Europeans whose bodies were shipped to the North in the 1990s, to be buried in the NWTs permafrost.

A similar burial is reported to have taken place in Inuvik in the late 1980s. There, an American man known as F Marden was buried in the towns cemetery, a development covered at the time by the Inuvik Drum, Canadian Press and Edmonton Journal.

They are examples of cryonic burials people buried using specific techniques in the hope that their bodies will remain sufficiently well-preserved to be reanimated if science is one day able to bring dead people back to life.

Cryonics, now sometimes known as biostasis, began in the 1960s, when American Robert Ettinger published his book The Prospect of Immortality. Ettinger founded the cryonics movement and the Cryonics Institute in Michigan.

Advertisement.

Advertisement.

Cryonics facilities where people are suspended in liquid nitrogen have since opened across the United States and Europe, though there are none in Canada.

In the United States, around 450 people have undergone the process at the Cryonics Institute and Alcor, the two main cryonics facilities.

But even in the cryonics field, burials involving permafrost are unusual.

Meanwhile, permafrost across the North is thawing potentially taking with it three peoples hopes of a second chance at life.

Advertisement.

Advertisement.

The Northwest Territories Department of Health and Social Services told Cabin Radio it had no death certificates for the three, suggesting they died outside the territory.

Marden was supposedly buried in Inuvik by then-funeral director Dave Hanson at a depth of 10 feet, according to a 1988 Inuvik Drum article. The article stated Marden was a university professor from Wood Haven, New York.

According to the Canadian Cryonics News, his son, a New Jersey businessman, had him buried there.

Mardens burial took place after the founder of the Cryonics Society of Canada, Douglas Quinn, flew to New Jersey to convince the businessmans mother that a permafrost burial doesnt violate Christian principles.

According to the societys website, Quinn arranged the burial and acted as an intermediary between Mardens family and Hanson in Inuvik.

Mardens final wish was to be buried in the permafrost, hoping it would preserve his body indefinitely, the Canadian Press reported in 1988.

According to Ben Best then a writer for Canadian Cryonics News, a newspaper launched by Quinn the lack of pre-mortem suspension arrangements and a family opposed to liquid nitrogen suspension made PCI the only acceptable alternative.

PCI stands for permafrost cryonic interment.

Advertisement.

Advertisement.

Mardens son hopes to eventually have his father frozen in liquid nitrogen when family problems are resolved, an article published in Canadian Cryonics News stated.

While the New York funeral director involved in the burial told Cabin Radio Marden had been initially buried in New York but later transferred to Inuvik, and the Canadian Press reporter who covered Mardens fate told Cabin Radio Hanson had confirmed the burial to her, not all accounts of what took place line up.

Richard Campbell is the director of public works in Inuvik, and his father was a town councillor at the time of Mardens burial. Campbell says there is no documentary evidence that Marden was actually buried in Inuvik. He thinks it never happened.

People from town didnt want somebody from out of town being buried in the same cemeteries, same spots as them, and the cemetery at that time wasnt very big, Campbell said. So if you started selling off spaces to rich people, youd end up with no spots.

Tom Zubko was a town councillor when Hanson brought the idea to council.

Zubko says he remembers a few inquiries regarding permafrost interments, including one from a family in California.

Their reasoning behind using permafrost, said Zubko, was that the temperature would not be affected by a power outage in the same way a cryonics facility might be.

We could either bury the body, or maybe just the head, said Zubko. There were a number of different iterations that floated around.

Advertisement.

Advertisement.

Council even floated the idea of building a separate cemetery in the town for that purpose, said Zubko, but the economics of the idea didnt come together and the community of Inuvik pushed back.

I think the sad reality is that none of that ever came to fruition, said Zubko. To the best of my knowledge, nothing like that ever actually happened. No bodies, no heads.

Whether or not F Marden resides in Inuviks cemetery his grave was reported to be unmarked, and a short tour of the cemetery this month provided no clue as to his presence Inuvik definitely spent time in the cryonics spotlight.

In 1988, Hanson told a reporter he had received about a half-dozen inquiries about permafrost burials in the past year.

Ive had all kinds of requests from all over the world since then, Hanson told the Edmonton Journal in 1994. England, Japan, Hawaii, Australia and all over the US.

In the early 1990s, two Europeans definitely did have permafrost cryonic interments in Yellowknife. Each took place with good chemical preservation, according to the Cryonics Society of Canada.

Since then, however, the Cryonics Society of Canada has not assisted or recommended permafrost burial, the society now states on its website.

The people buried in Yellowknife died in 1991 and 1992, according to the Lakeview Cemetery database.

Advertisement.

Advertisement.

Unlike the case of Marden in Inuvik, Cabin Radio has been able to confirm the presence of these two cryonic burials.

While the specific identities of the two could not be firmly established, the Cryonics Society of Canada told the Edmonton Journal in 1994 it had assisted in burying the grandmother of a French chemist in Yellowknife.

Yvonne Quick was the funeral director who assisted with the Yellowknife burials. She operated Territorial Funeral Homes at the time.

Quick remembers picking up the first body at the airport, alongside instructions outlining how the burial should proceed.

The casket was made of metal and larger than a normal casket, she said. It was sealed, she told Cabin Radio. There was no way you could open it.

She was instructed to fill a wooden crate surrounding the casket with dry ice, and dig the grave down to permafrost level.

According to Quick,the graves at Lakeview Cemetery are 12 and 14 feet deep, the depth required at the time for the caskets to rest on permafrost.

We had a front-end digger there and they just kept digging until we found the permafrost, said Quick, and then we lowered the casket.

Advertisement.

Advertisement.

Neither casket was shipped with a headstone only instructions and burial permits from their countries of origin.

One of the individuals, said Quick, was shipped from Switzerland.

The PVC pipes were installed to enable temperature monitoring, she said. That way, a temperature gauge could be lowered through the pipe to ensure the caskets temperature was right for preservation.

Quick does not know if anyone has since monitored the temperature of either casket. She says the funeral home was not asked to check the temperatures.

She said the families of the two have never contacted her.

While it is not clear if any relative has ever visited Yellowknifes cryonic gravesites, they do appear to have had at least one visitor.

In an article written in the 1990s, Doug Skrecky describes being told to visit the graves by Best, then the Canadian Cryonics News editor.

Skrecky wrote that one of the two Europeans was shipped initially to Rankin Inlet, where they were refused burial. He also provided different data for the grave depths, suggesting they were only six feet, not deep enough to hit permafrost.

Advertisement.

Advertisement.

According to Skreckys account, he tried to check the temperature but could not see a thermometer in the pipe. He said he ordered brochures about headstones to send to the parties concerned.

When Cabin Radio visited Lakeview Cemetery this May, the two graves had no headstones.

Skrecky told Cabin Radio in an email that he believes there has not been much interest in permafrost burial due to the low prices charged by the Cryonics Institute for liquid nitrogen storage. (The Cryonics Institute, in Michigan, offers to perpetually suspend people in liquid nitrogen for between $28,000 and $45,000, according to its website.)

Interest in permafrost burials seems to have essentially evaporated in recent years.

The current president of the Cryonics Society of Canada, Christine Gaspar, said she had heard of such cases when she first joined the society.

Permafrost burial was something that people came up with when there werent any other options. Its not something that I would ever advocate for now, she told Cabin Radio.

Its already such a complicated matter to try to preserve a human brain with enough fidelity to potentially imagine that the person is still in there, let alone the imperfect nature of relying on nature you know, permafrost to keep tissue cold enough to not break down.

But the 1960s to the late 1980s formed the Wild West for cryonics, said Jeremy Cohen, professor of religious studies at McMaster University, who studied cryonics for his dissertation.

Advertisement.

Advertisement.

Cryonicists were trying any number of things, Cohen said. If a cryonics facility went under financially, patients were thawed out and sent to other facilities, or sometimes never recovered.

There was a lot of hope and a lot of idealism around cryonics in this era, Cohen said.

There still is, he continued, but there are more protections and contingency plans in place.

Current cryonics procedures typically begin right as the patient dies, said Cohen. The body is immediately cooled down with ice.

Then, at a cryonics facility, the body is drained of all fluids and injected with chemical preservatives.

From there, the body is inserted into a cylindrical vessel named a dewar. At Alcor, the Arizona facility at the centre of Cohens research, he said a dewar holds four bodies and a multitude of heads.

The dewar is filled with liquid nitrogen, which is replenished every two weeks.

The body is kept there, hopefully and indefinitely . until resurrection, said Cohen.

Advertisement.

Advertisement.

In contrast to that procedure, a permafrost burial provides many more opportunities for things to go wrong.

What happens if reanimation occurs, or the ability to reanimate an individual happens in 100, 200 years? said Cohen. Is anyone going to be around to dig these individuals up and try to bring them back?

This was part of the reason the Town of Inuvik decided against permafrost cryonic interments, said Zubko, town councillor at the time.

If youre going to commit to look after somebody, or look after a location or whatever, for 100 years or an indeterminate period of time, you cant just dig a hole or drill a hole or drop a head in the ground and walk away, said Zubko.

Theres a certain amount of guardianship required, right? I think how to put that together really didnt make a lot of sense.

Gaspar, the president of the Cryonics Society of Canada, said the temperature at which water freezes is too warm to potentially preserve a brain with enough structure to infer that function might still be in there.

Even dry ice temperature, which is about -79C, is too warm, she said.

Even the founder of the Cryonics Society of Canada, Quinn, questioned the practicality of permafrost burial according to the societys website.

Advertisement.

Advertisement.

Now, the permafrost on which those burials relied is thawing.

A 2019 study from the Northwest Territories Geological Survey found that annual mean air temperatures have increased by 0.6C per decade since 1970.

Rising air temperatures make the warm, ice-rich permafrost vulnerable to thawing and terrain subsidence, with impacts on ecology, hydrology, infrastructure and human use, the study stated.

It makes it even worse. I dont know how much worse it can get, said Gaspar of the permafrost thawing. I feel bad for people who didnt have any choices, because they did the best that they could for their loved ones. And it was done in good faith.

The two patients underwent chemical preservation, which gave her more hope for their outcomes, she later stated in an email.

Gaspar said she has reached out to cryonics companies and individuals in Europe, as the individuals buried in Yellowknife could be transferred to a facility in the United States, Germany or Switzerland.

She is trying to locate their families.

Perhaps Ill get lucky, she told Cabin Radio in an email, and someone Ive contacted will know who they are.

Original post:

The NWT and immortality: Explore the North's cryonic burials - Cabin Radio

To reach a certain level of governance in the human society is to reach immortality. It is to engrave your name on a stone deep in the annals of history.

Though all men cease breathing, not all men actually die. To die is to be forgotten, to leave upon the surface of the earth no mark, to be gone and never remembered, whether for good or for bad, another matter.

Children who know nothing and cant differentiate their right from their left often can tell you the name of he or she who leads their country. They are questioned in current affairs classes and they are taught in subjects like Social Studies.

Gen Sani Abacha died ages ago, but his name until the end of time will never be eroded. It then becomes quite unfortunate when a leader climbs to this immortal echelon only to be uninterested in leading, to be indolent so that the parasites under him become free to ravage their host.

Such is the memory of President Muhammadu Buhari. A story of indolence and parasites. A tooth-picking President who wasted eight years of our collective lives. Nigerians in this period didnt just suffer from the apathy of their leader, they suffered a double jeopardy because the players in his cabinet simply toiled the field only to harvest for themselves.

It is therefore intentional that I referred to the decision makers who worked under him as players. Players like the former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and players like Abdulrasheed Bawa, the suspended EFCC Chairman. Why? It was Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), the former Minister of Works and Housing, who compared Buhari to a coach who simply sits in the dugout after naming his team and allows them to play.

He then said that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the opposite because he names his team and keeps coaching them while the match is being played. He made this comparison in the build-up to the 2023 presidential election on a programme with Seun on Channels TV.

If memory does not fail me, and my secondary school biology will still suffice, a parasite is an organism that takes a detrimental advantage of its host, feeding and living off its nutrients, while contributing nothing to the hosts development. The opposite being, a symbiotic relationship where two organisms live off and benefit from each other.

What is clear from the songs that Emefiele has been singing while in DSS custody is that he was the captain of Buharis parasitic team. He played the role of a number 10. He was the play-maker. He passed and received the bad ideas as he wanted, he assisted his teammates generously and they obliged him by scoring the goals (helped in achieving their aim). All of these while the coach just sat down and watched, quite unfortunately.

Those bad ideas such as redesigning the Naira led to the parasitic ravaging of the collective patrimony of the people. The people as spectators then suffered from the negative economic football that Buharis team chose to play. Some are still yet to recover from the darkness of the naira scarcity at the time.

It is only the beginning of an inquest into their season, as we are now in the Season of Tinubu. Yet it seems to be a sure thing that as time goes on, more players who made up the squad of Buharis unfortunate parasitic team will be revealed. May Nigerians never suffer such a season of indolence and parasites again.

114% Salary Increment

No doubt fuel subsidy had to go. It was nothing but a Greek Gift to the Nigerian people. The decision to remove it however must come with some sacrifices from all and sundry, for the betterment of the Nigerian State. What will be unfair is when the people are ready to willingly sacrifice the luxurious effects of fuel subsidy, thereby going through hardship, while those in government continue to live flamboyant lifestyles at the expense of tax payers. It is important for our leaders to recognise this. A kite flew recently, announcing the 114% increment of salaries for political office holders and judges. It has been denied as mere propaganda and fake news. What is clear is that due to our new economic reality, salaries and wages need to be reviewed, for everyone. The minimum wage should however be the first port of call. It would serve the Tinubu administration way better if they put the masses first. Decisions should be made so that the poor can truly breathe, let the ordinary man be the priority and then we can take care of political office holders and judicial officers.

Belgore, a legal practitioner, writes from Abuja.

E-mail: [emailprotected] Twitter:@amintin

Views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of TheCable.

Go here to see the original:

Buhari: A legacy of indolence and parasites - TheCable

An upside-down house

The Possibilities

July is here, and its brought with it an almost overwhelming array of new sci-fi, horror, and fantasy books. Whether youre in the mood for magic, monsters, or mysteriesor some combination of all threeio9's monthly list of new releases has you covered.

Amazon has a ton of different Kindle options, so its a great time to check those out if youre looking to get an e-reader or upgrade yours.

Read more

London exorcist Felix Castor takes on a baffling new case, searching for a missing ogilarch whose mansion is home to malevolent forces both living and dead. To crack it, he assembles a team that includes a zombie, a cop, a warrior, and a reformed succubus. (July 1)

Odd-job specialists Indrajit (a poet) and Fix (an ex-monk) return for more adventures chasing crooks, solving crimes, finding lost objects and people, and dodging their rivals in a city full of turmoil and magic. (July 4)

Admiral John Black Jack Geary returns for a deep-space adventure involving a mysterious alien species, a different alien species with technological superiority, dangerous human factions, and shadowy forces rising within the Alliance hes long been loyal to. (July 4)

The Liaden Universe series continues as the light keepers and their allies band together to rebuild the station that once held the malevolent Tinsori Lightand keep it from falling into the wrong hands while theyre at it. (July 4)

After their young son dies, a couple tries different coping mechanisms to deal with their grief: the husband digs holes to keep his mind off the tragedy, while the wife turns to the occult. (July 4)

Story continues

In this fantasy romance, a troubled teen grows up next door to a family of shape-shifters; years later, in the wake of a terrible tragedy, he feels a spark with the son closest his age. (July 4)

A young woman whos sent to hell after she dies sees an opportunity for escapebut then must decide if she wants to return to Earth, or stay and try to fix what she realizes is a system of divine injustice. (July 5)

Fifteen zombie-themed tales from across the Bram Stoker Award-winning authors career, including a never-before-published new story. (July 6)

A 15-story horror and suspense collection from the author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World. (July 11)

This coming-of-age tale set in rural Pennsylvania is billed as The Exorcist meets Lord of the Flies, by way of Midnight Mass. (July 11)

A traveling sideshow in Victorian London achieves great fame thanks to its performers real magical powers, including the ability to grant wishes and create fire. Complications arise with blackmail and a forbidden attraction. (July 11)

This tale of corporate intrigue, political unrest, unsolved mysteries, and the havoc wreaked by one companys monomaniacal endeavor to build the worlds first space elevator comes from one of South Koreas most revered science fiction writers, whose identity remains unknown.(July 11)

The ninth book of this dark urban fantasy series follows necromancer Eric Carter through a world of vengeful gods and goddesses, mysterious murders, and restless ghosts.(July 11)

A royal spy tasked with keeping dark magic out of the queens realm must team up with her worst rival once she begins to understand the surprising strength of her own powers. (July 11)

This fantasy tale is described as a female John Wick story with dragon magic set in contemporary San Franciscos Chinatown.(July 11)

The Water City future-noir trilogy continues with a new mysterythis time taking our detective turned bounty hunter from his underwater home to the moon on the trail of a dangerous conspiracy. Read an excerpt here. (July 11)

This epic fantasy kicks off a new seriesthe Nightingale and the Falconthat reimagines the Mongol Empires invasion of Persia, following the lives and treacherous journeys of four key figures in the heart of war.(July 11)

Sisters who both have one son clash with each other and their community when one of them refuses to test her son for a gene that predicts violence. (July 11)

In a city full of doors that are actually portals, a young man escaping a violent upbringing finds his new home is packed full of divine destiniesincluding his own. (July 11)

In this YA space opera, a reincarnated god and a grumpy pilot go on a mission to save a beloved space DJ and stop an intergalactic war. (July 11)

In this debut sci-fi tale, a young tea expert is taken as a political prisoner and recruited to spy on government officialsa role that may empower her to win back her nations independence.(July 11)

Firefly meets The Breakfast Club in this tale set in a galaxy with a dying sun, and the unlikely group of misfits who just might figure out how to rescue it. (July 11)

A thief travels from her home moon to rob the richest attendees at a royal ball, but the mission gets complicated when the emperor is murderedand shes on the list of suspects. (July 11)

The black-sheep son of an industrial tycoon starts working for a tech pioneer whos running a biomedical startup selling nothing less than immortality, only to uncover the horrifying truth at the heart of her sublime promises. (July 11)

Cinderellas familiar story gets a retelling here, as the former maid schemes to become a princess with the help of her stepsisters and a limited supply of magic. What will happen when her powers begin to fadeand she starts to fall for the wrong prince? (July 11)

The Covenant of Steel trilogy ends as outlaw turned knight Alwyn begins to question the royal mistress hes long servedand a final battle for the fate of the kingdom looms. (July 11)

This all-new anthology in the long-running seriesset in a universe where an alien virus mutates some and grants superpowers to othersfeatures stories by Kevin Andrew Murphy, Christopher Rowe, Marko Kloos, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Bradley Denton, Walton Simons, Peter Newman, Gwenda Bond, and David Anthony Durham. (July 11)

A mysterious severed hand upends the lives of a washed-up singer and her son as they run from shadowy government agents and the random victims affected by the hands ability to incite anyone to extreme violence. (July 15)

After he dies and comes back, a security expert at a secret research facility sets out to help two deserving people who are still among the livingif he can avoid angering a street gang and an assassin capable of making a man die twice. (July 18)

The fourth installment in the Chronicles of the Avatar series follows Avatar Yangchen as she charts the course of her legacy, finally making peace with her choices and facing Avatarhood with the courage it demands. (July 18)

This collection gathers the first three books in the Hugo- and Nebula-winning Wayward Children series: Every Heart a Doorway, Down Among the Sticks and Bones, and Beneath the Sugar Sky. (July 18)

The Lightspeed first contact trilogy continues as humanity pushes forward in exploring new systems, and discovers the Fermi may not be the only alien intelligence in their midst. (July 18)

In an ancient city with a long, bloody history where countless thousands live and their stories endure, an heir to a merchant family falls in love with a mysterious stranger. His search to find her may alter not just his life, but the lives of all the city-dwellers. (July 18)

Tingles first traditionally published novel is a horror tale set at a gay conversion summer camp. (July 18)

John Tucker Must Die meets Shrek in a revenge tale where princesses save themselves.(July 18)

The video game designerco-creator of Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein 3-D writes about his life and groundbreaking career in this new memoir. (July 18)

The Graven Trilogy ends with this concluding chapter in the space opera, which sees Caiden reunited with his long-lost sister and finally at peace with his worst enemy. But theyll need to face one last towering threat to the multiverse before they can rest easy. (July 18)

In this Egyptian-inspired fantasy debut, a fugitive queen strikes a bargain with her greatest enemy and becomes embroiled in a complex game that could resurrect her scorched kingdom or leave it in ashes forever. (July 18)

In this prequel to the authors sci-fi fantasy Coldfire trilogy, we follow colonists who arrive on a new planet thats nowhere near as welcoming as theyd expected. (July 18)

This feminist alt-history tale, a sequel to Widowland, is set in 1955 and imagines a dystopian London where the Nazis won World War IIand the woman hiding a huge secret whos tasked with convincing Queen Wallis Simpson to fight for whats right. (July 18)

In an America thats nearly all underwateran apocalypse brought about by climate changea teen and her adoptive father seek a community of survivors. But their journey wont be easy since the country is not only flooded, its populated by cannibalistic murderers. (July 18)

In this tale set in the film industry of 90s Mexico City, a sound editor and her best friend become drawn into the world of a cult horror director, who claims the unfinished film that ended his career is cursed with Nazi black magic. (July 18)

The romance of Poppy and Casteel continues as the newly powerful Poppy falls into stasisleaving Casteel to try and bring her back from the brink as a war between gods begins to brew. (July 18)

Gideon the Ninth meets the Game of Thrones White Walkers in this dark young adult fantasy about a disgraced ghost-fighting warrior who must journey into a haunted wasteland to rescue a kidnapped prince. (July 25)

The Godstone fantasy series continues as healer Fenra becomes caught up in a power struggle between the Red and White Court magic practitionersand starts to suspect their conflict has darker forces urging it forward. (July 25)

An AI that works as an investigative reporter uncovers a story so juicy its subject resorts to memory wipes to keep it from getting out. (July 25)

The authors Hades Saga concludes as Persephone and the God of the Dead excitedly prepare for their wedding, despite attempts at interference from Theseus in the mortal world as well as various Gods of Olympus. (July 25)

A new trilogy begins in the fantasy realm of Valdemar, where a gryphon hero sets out to explore an unexpectedly dangerous mystery with an old friend. (July 25)

This tale illuminates the lives of women involved in the Trojan War, including Prince Hectors warrior wife, Andromache; gifted horsewoman and spy Rhea; and legendary beauty Helen, who finally shares her side of the story. (July 25)

In this Gothic fantasy, a teen flees her familys estate after realizing shes cursed to see ghosts. But the refuge she finds, and the romance that accompanies it, soon begin to turn dark and frightening. (July 25)

The best-selling YA authors adult debut is an Antony and Cleopatra-inspired tale set amid a magical and deadly royal games tournament. Read an excerpt here. (July 25)

The Taking of Jake Livingston meets Cemetery Boys in this YA ghost story about a Puerto Rican teens battle with a malevolent spirit targeting his apartment building and the all-too-real horrors of gentrification. (July 25)

The Red Rising series continues as Darrowthe legendary leader also known as the Reaperdecides its finally time to reunite with his family on Mars, though the journey to his home planet wont be an easy one. (July 25)

In this ecological fable, a young woman must venture on a quest to find out why her land, the Real, has suddenly become enveloped in a noxious brown fog (July 25)

A new mother ventures into parallel worlds to find her missing child in this mind-bending novel that turns the joys and anxieties of parenthood into an epic quest.(July 25)

Psychic powers clash and different sets of twins must forge their own paths in this seventh entry in the authors Psy-Changeling Trinity. (July 25)

A homicide detective suspects an AI created by a top-secret Pentagon project might be tied into her new murder case in this thriller described as Silence of the Lambs meets Ex Machina. (July 25)

Two women embark on a unforgettable quest that draws them into a world of dark gods and ancient magic in this sweeping fantasy debut inspired by the history and folklore of colonial South America. (July 25)

A Black teen desperate to regain her Ivy League acceptance enters an elite competition only to discover the stakes arent just high, theyre deadly, in this searing thriller thats Ace of Spades meets Squid Game with a sprinkling of The Bachelor. (July 25)

This follow-up to Among Thieves returns to the world of the heist crew, who must put aside their differences and reunite to try and separate a dangerous criminal from an even more dangerous magical artifact. (July 25)

This novel inspired by Viking history and myths follows two womenone desperate only to save her missing sister, the other a witch destined to become queen of Norwaywho meet as children and form a magical bond that remains strong throughout their lives. (July 25)

After leaving her violent husband, a woman makes a new life tending an apple orchard in a town with magical rootsand must find the strength to overcome the persistent shadows of her dark past. (July 25)

The author expands her acclaimed Green Bone Saga with four prequel short stories that delve into the personal histories of the Kaul and Ayt families. (July 31)

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

More from Gizmodo

Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.

More:

All the New Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Books to Put on Your Radar for July - Yahoo Entertainment

Our Venerable Father Anthony of the Monastery of the Caves in Kiev (1073); Forty-Five Martyrs of Nicopolis in Armenia (321-3); Holy Brothers Francis, Mutius and Raphael and Those with Them, Martyred in Damascus (1860)

Polyeleos Feast.

GREAT VESPERS

Kathisma Reading

Blessed is the man is sung.

At Psalm 140

In Tone 1

When the love of God took possession of you, venerable Anthony,* you began to look upon the enticements of the world as vain.* For this reason you left your homeland and settled on the Holy Mountain.* There, among the father, your virtues have shone forth like a light.* Pray to Christ, Whom you have served already from your youth,* for the enlightenment and salvation of our souls.

When the love of God took possession of you, venerable Anthony,* you began to look upon the enticements of the world as vain.* For this reason you left your homeland and settled on the Holy Mountain.* There, among the father, your virtues have shone forth like a light.* Pray to Christ, Whom you have served already from your youth,* for the enlightenment and salvation of our souls.

When you were enflamed with the love of Christ* you despised the world its wisdom and passing glory -* and led an ascetic life, like an angel.* For this, God counted you worthy of the glory of the angels.* Now standing with them before Christ,* pray, Anthony, for the enlightenment and salvation of our souls.

When you were enflamed with the love of Christ* you despised the world its wisdom and passing glory -* and led an ascetic life, like an angel.* For this, God counted you worthy of the glory of the angels.* Now standing with them before Christ,* pray, Anthony, for the enlightenment and salvation of our souls.

When you, father, received into your heart the love of God,* you then entered a dark cave, as though it were a bridal chamber.* There you enriched yourself with knowledge, which is beyond all understanding:* To behold the future as though it were present,* and to openly preach it to all.* Pray to Christ, to Whom you have consecrated yourself, since your youth,* for enlightenment and salvation of our souls.

Your feastday has arrived, O God-bearer.* Brighter than the sun, your memory enlightens all who come to you in faith.* O Anthony, intercessor for our souls, your soul is fragrant with immortality* and you pour out healing for our souls.

O wonder-worker Anthony, you subdued the sensual and bodily passions* with the bridle of abstinence.* On earth you displayed angelic zeal* in subjecting bodily lusts to the spirit.* In the heavenly courts where you now dwell,* offer prayers for our souls.

O blessed Anthony, by discarding the old self and its urges,* and by truly clothing yourself with Christ,* you laid a foundation for virtue.* And so, after repelling many hostile attacks,* you became a guide for monks, O venerable one.* Offer your prayers for the salvation of our souls.

In Tone 6

Glory

Having witnessed your austere life and ascetic endeavours,* the fathers of the Holy mountain, under the inspiration of God,* sent you back to your homeland, saying:* Go, son, so that, there, the blind may learn about God.* Having returned, venerable father Anthony,* you enlightened your entire homeland* and became the head of community of ascetics* whom you have drawn to Christ.* Beseech Christ for us, that He protect us from the enemies of our souls* and grant us all salvation.

Now

Who would not call you blessed, O Virgin most holy?* Who would not sing a hymn of praise* to the glory of your giving birth without pain or travail?* The Only-begotten Son Himself,* begotten of the Father before all ages,* was made flesh out of you in a manner* that cannot be explained, O Woman most pure!* And for our sake, He Who is God by nature* assumed the nature of a man.* He is not divided into two persons;* He is understood to have two natures* without commixion or confusion.* O noble and blessed Woman,* intercede with Him that He may have mercy on our souls.

Readings (1) Proverbs 10:6-8; 8:6-21; (2) Wisdom 3:1-9; (3) Wisdom 5:15-6:3

Aposticha

In Tone 1

O venerable father, you followed in the footsteps of the great Anthony.* Seeking solitude, he dwelt in the desert,* so as to be counted worthy to converse with the angels,* while you shut yourself up in an underground cave,* in order to contemplate the unspeakable world.* Because you have imitated his life, you took his name.* Now that you stand before the Holy Trinity,* pray for the salvation of our souls.

Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His faithful.

Like a lampstand shining in a dark place,* you have shone forth, O father Anthony!* And like the prophetic palm tree you flourished in the house of God,* offering yourself, in an unbloody sacrifice,* as blessed fruit to the Master.* Therefore, having gathered together,* we always extol you as is fitting.

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in His commandments.

Because your life resembled that of the great ascetic Anthony,* in Gods plan you were called Anthony,* for, having gathered together many monks,* who observed your teachings, you led them to God.* Therefore, as a co-dweller of the monastics and righteous,* with whom you now stand before the Holy Trinity,* pray for all those who with hymns glorify your glorious departure.

In Tone 6

Glory

By zealous prayer and great faith you became likened to the prophet Elijah.* For he drew from heaven fire to consume the sacrifices,* while you through prayers drew fire from heaven* to prepare and purify the site where you desired to build a glorious church* in honour of the Lady and Mother of God.* Therefore, we extol you as a fellow-monastic of the ascetics and heir of the prophet* and implore you: Pray to Christ for the salvation of our souls.

Now

Christ the Lord, our Creator and Redeemer,* came forth from your womb, O most pure Virgin.* He clothed Himself in our human flesh* to set us free from the original curse of Adam.* Therefore, O Mary, we praise you, without ceasing,* as the true Virgin Mother of God,* and we sing with the angels:* Rejoice, O Lady, advocate, protector, and salvation of our souls.

Troparia

In Tone 4

Leaving behind worldly tumult,* O venerable Father Anthony,* in keeping with the gospel you turned your back on the world,* and leading a life equal to that of angels you attained to the calm haven of Mount Athos* from whence you came to the Mount of Kiev* with the Fathers blessing* and living there an arduous life you enlightened your fatherland,* pointing the way into the Kingdom on high to a multitude of monks and nuns* and thus lead your homeland to Christ.* Pay to Him that He save our souls.

Glory Now

O Mother of God, the mystery hidden from all eternity* and unknown even to the angels,* was revealed through you to those on earth:* God took on our human nature* and united it to His divine nature in a perfect but unconfused union.* Then, He willingly accepted the cross for our sake* and thereby raised again the first created man,* and saved our souls from death.

DIVINE LITURGY

Troparia and Kontakia

Troparion, Tone 4: Leaving behind worldly tumult,* O Venerable Father Anthony,* in keeping with the gospel you turned your back on the world,* and leading a life equal to that of angels you attained to the calm haven of Mount Athos* from whence you came to the Mount of Kiev* with the Fathers blessing* and living there an arduous life you enlightened your fatherland,* pointing the way into the Kingdom on high to a multitude of monks and nuns* and thus you lead your homeland to Christ.* Pray to Him that He save our souls.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.

Kontakion, Tone 8: Cleaving to God,* whom you loved from your childhood above all else,* you followed Him lovingly with your whole heart,* O Father Anthony.* Scorning this passing world as a trifle* you made your dwelling a cave in the earth.* There you fought well against the unseen enemys snares* and shone like the sun to the ends of the earth.* From whence you passed joyfully to heavens mansions* and stand now with angels at the Masters throne.* There we ask you to remember those who feast your memory* that we may cry to you: Rejoice, O Anthony, our Father.

Prokeimenon, Tone 7 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His venerable ones. verse: What shall I render to the Lord for all the things He has rendered to me? (Psalm 115:15,12)

Epistle: Galatians 5:22-6:2

Alleluia, Tone 6 verse: Blessed is the man who fears the Lord; he shall delight exceedingly in His commandments. verse: His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth. (Psalm 111:1,2)

Gospel: Luke 6:17-23

Communion Hymn The just man shall be in everlasting remembrance;* of evil hearsay he shall have no fear.* Alleluia, alleluia,* alleluia. (Psalm 111:6)

More here:

July 10: Our Venerable Father Anthony of the Monastery of the ... - Edmonton Eparchy

A depiction of Zeus and Athena in Olympus in the painting by Rene Antoine Houasse. Public Domain

The Naxos Quartet is a compelling series of novels by author Patrick Garner about the Greek gods in the modern world.

We know the Greek gods from mythology, and assume their stories ended there. According to Garner, they did not. The books which can be read as stand-alone novels or as a series makes the reader feel that he or she knows the gods and wont want the story to end.

For those who would appreciate a reminder of whos who, theres a glossary of the featured gods in each book.

The premise is that the ancient Greek gods were not myths at all, and have chosen this moment to reinsert themselves onto the world stage.

Books 1 4 begin with The Winnowing, and continue with Cycladic Girls, Homo Divinitas and All That Lasts. Much of the action takes place in Greece, centering on Mykonos, Delos and Naxos.

The Winnowing (Book 1)

The Olympic gods return to prevent humans from discovering immortality. As we know, geneticists worldwide are in a race to extend life to unimaginable lengths. The Fates three ancient goddesses who determine human life span reappear so they can manipulate events to restore the balance of life and death. Their machinations make this a classic Greek tale.

As long as the reader keeps in mind that the Olympic gods and goddesses are brothers and sisters who sleep with each other, marry each other, and generally behave without human morals, you wont be dismayed by the apparent incest that appears in the beginning of the book. Be assured that the Fates are involved, and a rollicking good story is about to unfold. Get ready for Artemis, Apollo, Aphrodite and Nyx for starters, with mother earth Gaia in attendance.

Jack Night is a financier who raises his daughter by himself in a bucolic Pennsylvania country-side. When shes 19 extraordinary events begin, which include golden light and irresistible lust. Sightings of a massive, three-headed dog and the goddess Artemis occur in the backyard. Hes shocked to find his daughter claims to be one of the Fates.

Jack finds himself pulled into the amoral world of Greek divinities and a mad rush to take down world-famous scientists. A second Fate who also claims to be his daughter joins them at his estate. When a third daughter appears, the Fates are set for action.

The stakes rise and additional Greek goddesses join in the fray. As scientists are picked off one by one, Jack is torn between conventional morality and loyalty to his supposed daughters.

Just before the startling climax, Jack is aided by a nymph who is destined to become more powerful than the Olympic gods. She is the subject of Books 2, 3 and 4.

Cycladic Girls (Book 2)

The Greek gods once again take an active role in human events when one of Artemiss nymphs is transformed into the primeval Great Goddess. The reader is swept into tales of high fashion,

Cycladic islands, satyrs, alliances between the gods, and a powerful love story. Youll feel like youre on a first name basis with these deities.

The nymph Timessa becomes an internationally famous fashion model and leader of a group of young followers. However, she is tormented by constant mental and physical changes she cannot understand. She finds some solace in the company of women, but is increasingly unhinged. The Olympic gods recognize her growing power, and are concerned about how shell use it.

Demonstrating her new abilities, she visits the desolate island of Delos south of Athens, where she dances over the old stones. The alchemy of her ancient steps awakens the Olympic gods, who 1,600 years earlier had retreated there to escape the changing world. Now they are astonished at her mastery of long-forgotten sacraments.

One of the divinities who escapes the island is the war-god Ares. Weeks later in a small town in France, Timessa and Artemis confront him in an epic battle Timessas unconventional battle gear is a shear bodice, ruffled skirt and stilettos. Her victory confirms her ascendence as a divinity whose powers supersede the Olympic gods.

Homo Divinitas (Book 3)

Artemis former nymph Timessa fully embraces her transformation into the Great Goddess, a primal being who was worshipped throughout the ancient world. Her powers are second only to Gaias, and she doesnt know what to do with them.

Shes gotten as far as understanding that humans and gods are part of the same family tree, and that humans are the mortal variation of the Homo species. Unlike Homo divinitas which is what she calls the gods humans spend their lives worrying about death. Thats not an issue to the Olympians, whose lifetimes seem endless.

Timessa as the Great Goddess struggles to find purpose, which increasingly puts her at odds with Gaia. The Olympians see her as the new wave in their development, and provide assistance. Her attempts to ease human suffering using elements of the ancient Eleusinian mysteries rituals that ancient Athenians believed saved them from extinction at death set us up for one of the greatest love stories of all time.

All That Lasts (Book 4)

In the final book of the series, the Great Goddess Timessa is challenged by Gaia to correct her predecessors ancient failings. She is ripped in time from the modern-day Greek island of Naxos to Europe of 40,000 years ago, where the original Great Goddess reigned over a peaceful, matriarchal society. When she stopped protecting her followers from invading barbarians, the world was changed forever.

Gaia challenges Timessa to redo the old Great Goddess decisions. Timessa is forced to relive the ancient goddess trials, all the while chided by Gaia and confronted at every turn. The Olympic gods hold their breath as they watch Timessa struggle.

Concluding that Timessa, like her predecessor, has failed, Gaia strips her of her powers. The event forces the enfeebled Timessa to look inside herself and discover what all of us seek.

The Naxos Quartet and the individual novels explore issues of morality and purpose in an imaginative and compelling story. Readers may be interested to know that Gaia always appears to Timessa as a 9-year-old girl practicing ballet so she doesnt overwhelm her.

These four page-turners deliver. The Olympic gods are on center stage.

The Naxos Quartet is available on Amazon. Homo Divinitas is also available as an audible book at Amazon or Audible.

Patrick Garner is also the creator of the breakout podcast, Garners Greek Mythology, with listeners in 178 countries.

Continued here:

The Naxos Quartet: The Greek Gods in the Modern World - Greek Reporter

True immortality may always exist beyond our reach, but research suggests that human biology can at least be optimized for greater longevity. And a growing number of biotech companies are investing in research that could prevent and reverse the aging process in humans, including UK-based company Five Alarm Bio.

The company says it is committed to boosting the bodys defenses against the damage of aging, and its research focuses on how the healthy life of cells can be extended. Though anti-aging research may seem like science fiction, it doesnt mean its impossible. To paraphrase J. B. S. Haldane: The future will not only be stranger than we imagine, it will be stranger than we *can* imagine.

We spoke to Five Alarm Bio CEO Janette Thomas about the companys work.

Five Alarm Bio was founded on William Bains vision to interconnect academic work on the fundamental chemistry of life with practical diseases of aging, and a drug molecule that could test the link between the two. Bains is our Chief Science Officer and has been involved in biology research for over 30 years.

Not exclusively; the two are linked. If people remain healthy and active in old age, the likelihood of a premature death diminishes drastically. However, if longer lifespans are plagued by chronic illness or disability, a lower quality of life in their extra years is to be expected. When approaching increasing human lifespans, there must be equal emphasis on improving the quality of life during those extra years. And that means investing in research and interventions that promote healthy aging that prevent or treat age-related diseases and conditions.

Age-related diseases, such as Alzheimers, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis are major drivers of disability and pose significant public health challenges among older adults. Therefore, investigations into immune-senescence, epigenetic changes, and senescent cells should be a core focus for future research as it impacts all age-related diseases.

Aging affects every system in the body, and current research points to it being a system failure not a failure of one pathway, molecule, or cell. The mechanisms of aging are complex and multifactorial, with several key processes contributing to aging, cellular dysfunction, and disease, including:

Our foundational science has shown that targeting the chemical damage of aging can modulate a range of fundamental aging processes. Using a model probe on primary human skin cells, our results suggest we can reduce cell senescence, the chemical damage that accumulates in aged cells, and the decline in an individual's ability to heal a wound in cell culture.

We have also collaborated with Magnitude Biosciences to test the effect of our probe on aging in the nematode worm C. elegans, which demonstrated that our probe extends the healthspan of C. elegans by ~40 percent.

These initial programs are in chronic wounds, sarcopenia, and an evaluation of whether this has the potential to be a treatment for Alzheimers Disease.

Our future programs will target this core technology to specific organ systems and their diseases.

Though anti-aging science has made significant progress in recent years, there are still limits to how far it can take us and how much we can predict. The average lifespan has risen consistently since the 1840s by approximately 2.5 years per decade. However, the maximum lifespan has not increased by the same degree, and the mortality of centenarians has remained constant in the UK for the last 40 years (even though the mortality for all ages below 90 years has declined hence the longer lifespan).

Increasing healthspan is a more interesting and beneficial possibility than continuously increasing lifespan. By improving overall health and reducing the burden of age-related diseases, anti-aging interventions may help people live well for their whole lives.

There are several realistic possibilities for the future of anti-aging science. As we learn more about the biological mechanisms of aging, it may be possible to develop targeted interventions for specific age-related diseases, or even interventions tailored to an individuals genetics, microbiome, and other factors. These interventions may include small molecules, gene therapies, or other approaches that can slow or reverse the underlying disease processes. Biomarkers of aging may also be a useful tool for identifying people who are at risk of age-related diseases and for monitoring the effectiveness of anti-aging interventions.

Its challenging to predict the future many factors, such as technological advances, social trends, and policy changes, can influence these areas. I would like to see more personalized medicines, tailored to an individual's unique genetics, lifestyle, and other factors, which could lead to more effective treatments with fewer side effects.

Additionally, the diagnostics available today could be hugely valuable if used routinely. Testing panels done every six months could pick up early signs of all sorts of diseases, in time for simple lifestyle modifications to reverse them before needing medication. I think people would make those lifestyle changes because they would see the measurable impact of their choices. The use of AI and machine learning algorithms could also be used to analyze large amounts of data from electronic health records, wearables, and other sources to identify patterns and predict health outcomes. Such big data could enable automated earlier diagnosis and treatment of age-related diseases.

Your question may be alluding to the area of science fiction. Taking a step away from our aim at Five Alarm Bio, try The Long Habit of Living by Joe Haldeman as perhaps a plausible anti-aging medicine story albeit only for the rich and powerful! In reality, the future will be like nothing we imagine now.

As a writer and cultural enthusiast, I have always been fascinated by the power of words to shape our understanding of the world. While I initially pursued a career in the music industry, starting as a classical pianist and later an electronic music producer for record labels worldwide, my true passion has always been with writing.

Now, as an associate editor, I write for the diverse audience of the pharma industry, covering everything from exciting new research coming out of academia, to new facility announcements, and more. I'm particularly interested in cell and gene therapeutics, as well as the societal impact of medicinal drug development.

Go here to see the original:

The Fountain of Youth: Safe and Effective Anti-Aging Treatments for ... - The Medicine Maker

For the first time in my life, I was seen.

With these words, AMCs Interview with the Vampire thrusts us into the gothic, twisted romance of vampire husbands Lestat de Lioncourt and Louis de Point du Lacone of the worlds most iconic, queer vampire relationships.

Interview with the Vampire is the first book in the Vampire Chronicles, a thirteen book (yes, you read that correctly) series by Anne Rice, which began in 1976. The novel follows Louis, a vampire who inflicts his life story upon a young journalist called the boy, later named as Daniel Molloy. Louis recalls a life spanning long, distraught decades, filled with loving and losing the famous French vampire named Lestat, adopting Claudia, a young girl who they bring into cursed immortality with them, and eventually finding his way to Paris, where things go from bad to worse. It is an emotional, sensual gothic horror novel that looks deeply into what it means to be a monster, what it means to be human, and is deliciously queer.

Despite being a major title in the gothic horror genre, theres been some argument as to whether Interview with the Vampire can truly be considered a quintessential queer gothic horror novel. This is probably because blatant declarations of queerness occur later in the series, after Interview with the Vampireafter many modern readers gave up and decried that subtext was not enough for them.

The 1994 adaptation certainly did not help. It never defines the nature of Lestat and Louiss relationship, nor Louis and Armands. Its representation of race is no better: after Louis dramatically frees his slaves, we never see another Black person again.

When AMC announced their plans for a TV show, I assumed their adaptation would remain as close to the book as the 1994 film had. Imagine my surprise when I learned that AMCs show was not only set in the early 20th century, but that Louis and Claudia were being played by Black actors.

As a Black, queer fan of the book, I was skeptical about this. Interview with the Vampire is many thingsgothic, haunting, lyrical, emotionalbut conscientious about race is not one of them. In the novel, Louis is a slave owner, and all the Black characters are enslaved, preyed upon by Lestat, and completely disappear after the characters leave the plantation.

I was skeptical about the production teams ability to portray a faithful queer relationship, and even less hopeful about their ability to portray a Black, queer man in a toxic, abusive romance with a white, queer man with substantially more power than him. The issue of being seen is one deeply entrenched in every queer person of color I know. It is so incredibly rare to see the experience of the double bind of racism and homophobia portrayed well.

Ironically, it is this very topicthe topic of sightthat lies so centrally to AMCs Interview with the Vampire. It is truly an adaptation in every sense, as it expands on the themes and relationships in the novel with new, modern insight. It cannot be divorced from its queerness (unlike the film) nor its Blackness (unlike the novel). Despite this, it manages to remain in conversation with both because, here, it is the power of being seen that matters most.

Screenshot: AMC

This adaptation does not fear the blatant queerness of its source material. Any fan of the Vampire Chronicles will tell you that the queer relationships are the beating heart of the series. AMCs Interview is spiritually in keeping with this: it is Louis and Lestats love story, embracing all of its yearning, vampiric coffin sex, and messy, tragic violence.

Framed as a response to both the film and the novelthe first episode establishes that this is Daniels second time interviewing Louis, which parallels the fans experience, since its our second time watching an adaptationyou can feel the conversation the adaptation is having with both the novel and the 1994 film.

AMCs Interview is the story of Louis coming to terms with his sexuality, of tryingand failingto build a family for himself after losing his own, something that is so resonant for many queer viewers. Even the source of Louis and Daniels relationship is queer, as the two met while flirting in a gay bar in the 1970s (in keeping with the original short story Anne Rice wrote about Interview, before she expanded it into a novel).

Instead of being enslaved, here the Black characters are given center stage. The season follows Louiss pushing back against rich white men who exploit his labor, with his grieving family, with raising Claudia as a young Black woman, and even with Lestat. Claudia, too, learns to navigate the world as she comes-of-age, both as a Black woman and as a vampire. The Black characters are no longer a negligible part of the story, they are the story.

In this Bridgerton-era of colorblind casting, the relevance of Louis and Claudias experience as Black peopleand Louiss experience as a queer Black manis refreshing. Never has the power imbalance between Louis and Lestat been more textual. Louiss struggle to find himself in a world where he knows one other queer, Black man, is one that is intimately familiar to queer people of color, especially queer Black people. The pilot episode sees him rushing headfirst into a relationship with Lestat, who sees him for the man that he istrapped in the double bind of racism and homophobia alike, forced to play a palatable role to survive the expectations of a white, heteronormative world. This is the double bind that Lestat frees Louis from. It is seductive, it is rich. It will be his undoing.

Louis and Claudias Blackness alienates them from Lestat, while deepening their bond to each other. Louiss newfound power as a vampire directly informs the way he pushes back to racism. This isnt the colorblind casting that has become so popular within recent diverse worksthis is an adaptation that genuinely wants to explore the Black queer experience, adding a new complexity to the power struggles between the trio that makes up this strange, toxic vampire family.

Screenshot: AMC

While Claudias own voice leaves much to be desired, with her own words in her diary often being ripped out, it is clear that the series wants to dig into these questions of power and of voice. Who decides who gets to be seen? How do we decide how much of another is seen? Is it another persons place to decide how much of another person can be seen by the world?

To see, to truly see, is to know. And to be seen, to truly be seen, is to be known. And what is more beautifully tragic than the mortifying ordeal of being known? To be seen and loved in tandemwhat more can any of us desire? What violence would we forgive to be seen and, in that same moment, to be loved?

Ultimately, I see AMCs adaptation as more than a modernization. It is in direct conversation with the novel and the 1994 adaptation. More importantly, its daring to go where its predecessors did not. It expands and modernizes the themes of the novelquestions of desire, power, intimacy, what it means to love and be loved in return.

I read Interview with the Vampire for the first time when I was thirteen, and Ive been in love with the series ever since. I was a grieving, depressed, queer girl and, ironically, the books made me feel seen. These are the themes I am so glad to see presented in AMCs adaptation, so gloriously explored and given the weight and power they deserve.

Interview with the Vampire will always be the perfect gothic horror love story. It is beautifully messy, it is brilliantly horrificbecause isnt love, at its core, always a little terrifying?

Interview with the Vampire will always have my heart. It understands, so intimately, the dangerous ordeal of being known.

Ashia Monet is a novelist and essayist from Pennsylvania. As a lifelong fan of myth and poetry (especially Sappho), her fantasy novels explore various forms of magic and monsters. Online, shes @ashiamonet on Twitter and @ashiawrites on Instagram and Tiktok. Her website isashiamonet.com.

Read more here:

The Power of Sight in AMC's Interview with the Vampire - tor.com

Another bogeyman has arrived to keep us awake and in fear of Armageddon. This time it is artificial intelligence.

The threat it poses exploded suddenly without warning onto media circuits as an existential threat to humanity, joining the growing list of other apocalyptic practices and forces we are asked to worry about.

Ironically, this time the looming end of everything human came from those directly responsible for creating it. Could it be what the poet Yeats called the rough beast, its time come round at last, (that) slouches towards Bethlehem to be born.

More surprisingly, its creators and once most vocal advocates have urgently called for a pause in its development. What must have happened in the Amazon, Microsoft, Google or IBM labs to motivate such a warning? What suddenly changed that merits such a request? We may never know, but there is much we do know about AI and its potential.

The first question about this sudden new threat is why was no one listening in the 1930s and every decade since as philosophers and a small cadre of scientists and engineers alerted the world to its potential. The second is whether the inability of humans to control it will be true.

Regardless it is here. Already broadly used in health care, data analytics and warfighting, it has demonstrated its remarkable power to find patterns in data, i.e., words, images and numbers. It can process information beyond speeds the human mind can never match. As such, it is safe to say it is here to stay, its advantages so powerful it cannot be resisted by economists, politicians or warriors. It will persist in these applications and quickly metastasize into most human activities, whether work, play, economics, etc.

The potential of AI to increase productivity is beyond our present ability to comprehend, and so is our imagination too limited to envision how it will change our world? It is not going away, and no fear-mongering or legislation can stop its effects on human civilization. It will change us and do so swiftly. We may as well brace ourselves for the shock to society at the door and make the most of it. Like the weeds that once found a niche in my lawn and replaced the grass, it will spread into every dimension of life. We must learn how to live with it, control its adverse effects and maximize its ability to improve the stability and sustainability of our species.

Technological innovations have always brought with them risks and tragedies as well as increases in our material comfort. Consider fire, gunpowder, electricity, the wheel, the internal combustion engine not to mention atomic energy. All contributed to positive transformations but always with adverse effects and even the possible to end of human autonomy; just as we fear AI will do.

Our relationship with AI will take many forms. Some will be symbiotic, as in parents to a child or as fuel to the fire. Others include subservience: us to it and it to us if we plan well. It will change how we work. Still, its development will come from our minds and hands, a human product. In that sense, at least, it will be subservient to us. It will eliminate the necessity for many types of work and free our species from the drudgery some work entails, but that will be at the cost of the contributions workers make to the stability and health of society. Without work, what will be the function of men and women other than servicing the machines and the AI code that drives them? This is just one fundamental question we should be examining.

There are many problematic possibilities, but none need to bring about the end of civilization or the replacement of homo sapiens with intelligent machines. Just as we have adapted to every other technologically driven change in our constructed world, we can adjust to AI and be the better for it. How we react, and the wisdom of our choices will depend on whether we remain in charge. Since we cant turn it off and it has already assumed transformative powers, we can no longer do without; what courses of action are needed?

The first step is to realize what AI is and isnt. It may come as a shock, but machine intelligence is an extension of human intelligence, and depending on your definitions is neither artificial nor intelligent. At this stage of its evolution, it can process sensory data faster than our brains. Still, the range of functions it is capable of is far from matching the power of the brain, and, for many reasons, it never can be. You can forget the notion of a looming singularity when your consciousness can be copied and uploaded into some cyber storage facility giving you immortality. Digital technologies cannot replicate the human brain and human consciousness. The brain is reported to be the most complex entity in the universe, so far as science can tell.

The human brain and mind deal with knowledge, and AI deals with data. They are not the same thing. Knowledge is a human construct and can exist only in a functioning human being. Everything else is data, objective in nature. Knowledge is subjective and a product of organic processes and that enable perception. Knowledge as experienced by humans is something a machine can never possess. Humans have capabilities machines will never acquire, i.e., feelings, imagination, anticipation, joy, pain and the genetically acquired cognitive mechanisms our species has developed over millennia to store and process what we experience. These capabilities give us a different kind of information resource that will enable us to maintain dominance over machines, personal knowledge.

Personal knowledge is more necessary than objective data collected by scientific inquiry in all of science. Personal knowledge is the engine that enables the brain to use objective data from observation, measurement and hypothesis testing to create understanding and insights. AI can never have such knowledge because it lacks those human qualities.

Great minds have explained all of this in the past: Kant, Whitehead and most famously, Michael Polanyi in his book Personal Knowledge: Towards ad Post-Critical Philosophy. My point is that humankind will prevail in the interaction with AI because our intelligence is of a different quality and more powerful than AI can ever be. That is not to say that our prevalence will come without consequence and loss. Much will be lost as well as gained. What comes out in the balance will depend on how we develop, manage, and use the power our minds have created.

Technology has frequently proven how disruptive it is to existing processes and patterns of life. Social media, a dumb application compared to AI, has adversely affected the traditional bases of how human autonomy develops. We have lost much control over the variables that shape our relationship with others and the world. We have allowed ourselves to become manipulated and shaped and allowed our values to be influenced by corporations and politicians. We have not learned how to manage these simple applications or even accepted the necessity to do so. Recognizing the deleterious effects of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, we insist on warning labels, have laws governing their use and availability, and punish those agencies that do not follow laws governing their use. In a sense, we regulate. We can and will regulate artificial intelligence.

It is absurd to ask that nations pause in their development of AI. That is akin to asking the tides to pause while we prepare for the oceans to rise. The sudden push to pause is but another example of how government fails to protect society. AI has existed since 1951 when Christopher Stachy released the first AI program at Oxford University. Even earlier, Alan Turing described the process in 1935 and used it effectively to defeat the Nazis in World War II. As always, it is too late for the government to deal proactively with possible existential threats. It is time to examine how they will threaten us, and the logical steps needed to manage and control them. We have done so many times in the past; failure to do so now is the real existential threat; one bound up in bureaucratic, akratic government. The storm is coming. Prepare yourself by understanding its power and how to shield yourself and hope someone in Washington takes notice.

Read more from the original source:

COMMUNITY VOICE: Another bogeyman to keep you awake at night - YourGV.com

Warning: contains spoilers for FCBD 2023: Avengers/X-Men #1A prelude to the upcoming reboot of Uncanny Avengers, which debuted in FCBD 2023: Avengers/X-Men #1, depicted Deadpool's mutant daughter Ellie and her adoptive mother Emily Preston being threatened by Feilong's new Stark Sentinels, a threat of violence that will make Wade go into a murderous rage like few times in his life.

Uncanny Avengers will follow a group of mutant and human heroes, led by Captain America, as they attempt to hunt and capture the illegitimate Captain Krakoa while dealing with the ongoing ramifications of the X-Men's Fall of X. Deadpool will join the team, fighting for mutantkind in the name of his daughter, who possesses the X-Gene.

The FCBD 2023: Avengers/X-Men #1 'Uncanny Avengers' story - from writer Gerry Duggan and artist Javier Garron - shows the anti-mutant hate group Orchis escalating their attacks against Krakoa, including a terrifying Stark Sentinel and apparent SHIELD agent approaching Preston's house to threaten Ellie, something that Orchis will most likely deeply regret, given Deadpool's history with his daughter.

Eleanor Camacho first debuted in 2013's Deadpool #19, daughter of Carmelita Camacho and Wade Wilson, although it was revealed that Wade heartbreakingly rejected his daughter when first introduced to her, thinking she was too beautiful for someone like him to have created. Slowly though, Deadpool and Ellie's lives became intertwined, and upon meeting again Ellie instinctively knew that Wade was her father, and since then she has become a central figure in Wade's life and an integral part of his growth into an antihero. Wade has had a lot of horrible things happen to him throughout his life, but both his daughter Ellie and his friendship with former SHIELD agent Emily Preston have been major highlights, with Deadpool placing Ellie in Emily's care permanently.

When Deadpool finds out that Orchis is threatening his daughter, he is going to absolutely lose it, and kill anyone in his way to protect Ellie and get her home safe. While the SHIELD agent who appears at Preston's home is wearing a SHEILD uniform, it is tinted red, a sign that this is an Orchis agent coming to round up Ellie. Deadpool has done some really brutal things to people who have threatened or hurt Ellie, like slaughtering every single member of the U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M. organization after they tried to kill Ellie and the Prestons, and even giving up his costumed identity to keep them safe. Protecting Ellie brings out Deadpool's dark side like nothing else, and is one of the few times fans saw who he really is under the jokes - a stone-cold killer.

It was revealed in Deadpool vol. 5 #34 that Ellie has an X-Gene and is a mutant, and while her powers have not activated on Earth-616, a version of Ellie in the Marvel 2099 timeline showed that Deadpool's daughter has the powerful healing factor of "resurrective immortality," which causes her to resurrect as her teenage self whenever she dies. On Earth-616 this has not been canonically confirmed, so while Wade knows she is a mutant, her powers have not manifested and she is an incredibly vulnerable young woman, who he has fought tooth and nail to protect. It's likely that Cap doesn't know what he's doing inviting Deadpool into the Uncanny Avengers, as there's very little chance Wade will leave anyone who threatened Ellie alive.

While Deadpool treats most everything as a joke, the safety and happiness of Ellie are something that he takes incredibly seriously, since she is the best thing in his life. While slaughtering U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M. was extreme, that organization didn't have the membership or funds of Orchis, and this time Deadpool will truly have to burn a SHIELD-sized organization to the ground to guarantee Ellie's safety. Wade's daughter being violently threatened by Orchis and Feilong's Stark Sentinels is going to go very badly for Orchis, as Deadpool will explode with rage when he discovers that Ellie is being hunted - and fans will have a ringside seat.

FCBD 2023: Avengers/X-Men #1 from Marvel Comics is available now, with Uncanny Avengers #1 coming August 16.

Here is the original post:

Deadpool Is About to Lose His Mind Like Never in Marvel History - Screen Rant

Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Literacy Partners

Does a movie star ever really die? Not if Tom Hanks can help it. The Forest Gump actor wants to be the first human to cheat death by continuing his career long after his physical body fails him, in the form of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Is he crazy? Is it any crazier than the fact that were hurtling through space on a rock?

David S. Pumpkins himself appeared on an episode of The Adam Buxton Podcast and shared his thoughts on the possibility of digital immortality.

If I wanted to, I could get together and pitch a series of seven movies that would star me in them in which I would be 32 years old from now until kingdom come, he said.

Hes not wrong. First used 17 years ago in X-Men: The Last Stand on Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in a flashback, using AI and de-aging an actor is practically standard practice now. Even Martin Scorsese used it on Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, specifically in the 2019 snoozefest The Irishman.

The technology has also been used on Harrison Ford, Samuel L. Jackson, and Carrie Fisher, in their respective blockbusters. Do we even need new movie stars, or will we be stuck with the batch we have now forever? Hanks said thats only going to get more prevalent.

Outside of the understanding that its been done by AI or deep fake, therell be nothing to tell you that its not me and me alone and its going to have some degree of lifelike quality.

Hanks said he knows that his AI ghost wouldnt be able to quite nail a performance like he can now, but he doesnt think anyone would really mind.

Without a doubt, people will be able to tell, but the question is, will they care? he said. There are some people that wont care, that wont make that delineation. Considering his likeness was recorded for perpetuity in the 2004 animated movie The Polar Express, theres already a digital copy of Hanks on some server somewhere.

That was the first time we did a movie that had a huge amount of our own data locked in a computer, he said. There are some legal issues to iron out, however, in terms of using someones likeness and making sure its protected.

I can tell you that there [are] discussions going on in all of the guilds, all of the agencies, and all of the legal firms in order to come up with the legal ramifications of my face and my voice and everybody elses being our intellectual property, he said. The future looks bright, on a movie screen anyway.

Hanks is currently on a press tour for his new book The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece, which also sounds very boring but hey, who knows. Reviews arent great, but Hanks can dry his tears with $100 bills, so hell be fine.

See the article here:

'I could be hit by a bus tomorrow': Tom Hanks plans to continue his ... - We Got This Covered