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In Scalzis thriller, Lock In, people can mentally inhabit robotic bodies

In his new science fiction thriller, Lock In (Tor Books, 2014), novelist John Scalzi portrays a near future in which a virus has rendered some people completely paralyzed, or locked-in their bodies. A wealth of new technology has sprung up to meet the needs of these people, known as Hadens, after the virus that took their mobility. Most notable are the threepsrobotic bodies that Hadens can mentally control, giving them some strength and talents that able-bodied humans do not have such as the ability to transfer their consciousness instantly from one robotic body to another one in a different location.

Scalzis storyone of Scientific Americans Recommended titles for Novemberis a rollicking murder mystery, with meditations on disability politics and gender issues woven in. Many readers may not even notice, for instance, that the gender of Haden protagonist Chris is never revealed (pronouns for Chris are avoided throughout). Scientific American spoke to Scalzi about imagining this possible future and the parallels he sees to the real world.

[An edited transcript of the conversation follows.]

Characters in the book argue about many disability issues, such as whether or not Hadens deserve special accommodations and funding from the government. Did you aim to avoid taking a side on those questions? I wasnt interesting in doing a polemic. We live in a very politically polarized era right now. I do think people of good will can have different opinions but still be coming not from a place of malice.

I had the lot opportunity as part of world-building to show these different points of view and to show there are a lot of different ways of looking at things. There are some people who think that funding for Hadens has outlived its usefulness and can be allocated for other things. There are other people who see it as a willful act of bigotry. Rather than say one of these is right and the other is wrong, to me its more interesting to do the thing that happens in real life and say there are certainly ways to look at this as right or wrong or good or evil, but most people are looking at it with sound reasons for believing what they do.

Do you see Hadens as a metaphor for any disability cultures in the real world? There are some parallels but you have to be very careful with that. I know a little bit about deaf culture because a friend of mine has been in the deaf culture for awhile. Over the course of 25 years she and I have talked about many of the issues and concerns for deaf people and deaf culture. I used that as a starting basis for how Hadens see their identity, and having what other people would see as a detriment be a cornerstone of a cultural and social identity. But Haden culture is not deaf culture. It has very specific things about it that real-world cultures dont have.

Im also aware of the simple fact of the matter that when Im a man with no disabilities greater than wearing glasses, you have a potential minefield when you model a disability culture. This was my attempt. It was worth it to make the attempt. But by all means criticize it, because the next time I do it I dont want to make the same mistakes.

Why did you choose to leave the gender of the protagonist unspecified? Chris spends all of the book in a threep. Theres no immediate reason for Chris to be gendered one way or the other. Threeps do not necessarily have to show any gender preference.

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Imagining Our Post-Human Future: A Q&A with Author John Scalzi

We are not entirely human.

Scientists have found that the bacteria living inside us their tiny cells outnumbering human cells 10-to-1 have an outsized influence over almost everything about us.

There are, on average, 3 pounds of them in every adult human about the weight of an adult brain. And they provide humans with traits we did not evolve on our own.

"The field has been expanding exponentially," said professor Rob Knight, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Colorado and leading researcher whose name is ubiquitous in scientific publications on the subject. "Several hundred different laboratories in the U.S. are working in it. Ten years ago there were 20 labs."

Microbes are such a big part of human life that researchers are beginning to see humans and their microbial components as supraorganisms with mingled traits. And depending on the microbes present, this supraorganism is more or less likely to suffer from autism, obesity, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, allergies, depression, dental problems, immunity deficiencies, Crohn's disease, colon and other cancers and more, according to researchers worldwide.

The microbes residing on our hair and skin and inside our mouths, airways and digestive and reproductive systems exert massive effects over our health and vulnerability to disease.

But until recent years, human-associated microbes the "good" bacteria remained largely unstudied.

"We're right at the beginning of discovery," said Knight, who in 2009 earned an appointment to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, receiving a $1.5 million research budget over six years.

The field is being catapulted forward by technical and computational advances in genomic science, including the DNA sequencing of microbial communities.

A Smithsonian Magazine article described microbiome research as "Big Science" that "promises the biggest turnaround in medical thinking in 150 years."

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CU gut check: Humans' important relationships under the microscope

Published: Sunday, November 9, 2014 at 4:11 p.m. Last Modified: Sunday, November 9, 2014 at 4:11 p.m.

DELTONA Even after voters chose two new city commissioners and re-elected Mayor John Masiarczyk last week, a new direction for Volusia Countys largest city remains unsettled.

Two key issues remain: Who will serve as the District 2 city commissioner after Dec. 31, when Webster Barnabys resignation takes effect, and who will be the next city manager?

Those issues will be decided after Monday, when the new commission, including District 1 representative Mitch Honaker and District 5 winner Brian Soukup, participate in a swearing-in ceremony.

Masiarczyk, who defeated Zenaida Denizac by barely more than 1 percentage point for a fifth term, said Wednesday getting past the election will be a good thing for Deltona.

Im looking forward to bigger and better things, and the enthusiasm that comes with being new and fresh, Masiarczyk said. Hopefully, we will have the ability to get some new ideas, some fresh thoughts on things that are lacking.

Vice Mayor Heidi Herzberg, who was re-elected to her District 3 seat without opposition earlier this year, doesnt necessarily disagree, but says the past year shows a city government that has lost its way.

City Manager Dave Denny, citing commissioners overstepping their bounds, announced he was retiring. Some commissioners talked him into staying on awhile longer, but he eventually left at the end of August.

Dale Baker, the interim city manager, has run into several controversies.

After a 7-0 vote by the commission, Baker fired the human-resources director following revelations of an email, regarding union negotiations, that commissioners found offensive. Commissioners were also critical of staffs handling of the search for an executive search firm. Commissioners had wanted to hire a firm to lead the search for the next city manager, with key parts of the process timed to follow the election. But only two firms applied, and Baker has re-started the process of advertising for proposals.

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Post-election, Deltona commission looking for 'bigger and better'

Post-Human
Post-Human I-Exist 2014 I-Exist Released on: 2013-03-05 Auto-generated by YouTube.

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BoLS Unboxing PHR Starter Army Box | Dropzone Commander
BoLS opens up the Post Human Republic Starter Box for Dropzone Commander. If super charged humans in slick mecha appeal to you check this out! From Hawk Wargames Host: AdamHarry ...

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BoLS Unboxing PHR Starter Army Box | Dropzone Commander - Video

Clare Algar, executive director of Reprieve: 'What little credibility the ISC had left is rapidly evaporating.' Photograph: Suki Dhanda for the Observer

Britains leading human rights groups are to boycott the official investigation into the UKs involvement in torture and rendition in the years after 9/11, grievously undermining the controversial inquiry.

Nine organisations have announced that they want nothing to do with the parliamentary inquiry by the intelligence and security committee (ISC) into Britains alleged role in the ill-treatment of detainees.

A strongly worded letter to the committee team investigating detainee allegations says that, despite raising concerns with the government more than six months ago over whether its decision to allow the ISC to lead the inquiry was lawful or appropriate, their concerns of an establishment cover-up remained unanswered.

The letter, obtained by the Observer, says the coalition of groups including Reprieve, Amnesty International and Liberty have lost all trust in the committees ability to uncover the truth. Consequently, we as a collective of domestic and international non-governmental organisations do not propose to play a substantive role in the conduct of this inquiry, the letter states.

Other signatories of the letter include Cage, Rights Watch UK, Freedom From Torture, Redress, Justice and the legal charity the Aire Centre. Their anger follows assurances by David Cameron that the inquiry into whether MI5 and MI6 were actively involved in the secret rendition and torture of UK citizens and residents would be headed by a senior judge.

When the coalition government came to power, Cameron told MPs that no other arrangement would command public confidence, and vehemently rejected suggestions that the ISC should conduct the investigation. He said that only a judge-led inquiry could get to the bottom of the case.

The boycott follows the debacle of the independent inquiry into child abuse, which has been dogged by whitewash claims and recently lost its second chair, Fiona Woolf, after she accepted that abuse survivors had lost confidence in her ability to conduct the investigation impartially.

The ISC has faced years of criticism as evidence of UK involvement in rendition has emerged, and was also condemned for failing to report on the bulk surveillance being conducted by the UKs signals intelligence agency, GCHQ, until after it became public.

After an initial inquiry by retired appeal court judge Sir Peter Gibson was cut short two years ago as further evidence came to light of British complicity in rendition and torture, the governments decision to hand the inquiry to the ISC was widely condemned.

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UK rights groups reject official inquiry into post-September 11 rendition

Post-Human Era
Post-Human Era Psilocybe City Life Auto-generated by YouTube.

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By Keith Whitcomb Jr.

kwhitcomb@ benningtonbanner.com @kwhitcombjr on Twitter

BENNINGTON >> A former trustee of the local hospital will now serve as its human resources manager, leaving a successful manufacturer to do so.

Kevin Dailey, a Shaftsbury native, has been the human resources director at Mack Molding in Arlington for 15 years. In January he will become the vice president of human resources at Southwestern Vermont Health Care, the parent company of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.

To take this new job, Dailey resigned from the SVHC Board of Trustees, where he had sat for the past five years serving on its quality and finance committees, and its governance committee's second vice chair.

"Kevin is a particularly successful human resources professional and has had a terrific run at Mack," said SVHC President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas Dee. "We are excited about him coming on board as our vice president of human resources."

Dee said Dailey's open-door approach, experience, and familiarity with SVMC will be tremendous assets to the health care group. Dailey has also practiced law for 17 years.

Dailey said he is excited to take on this new challenge, "but it was a very difficult decision to leave. Mack Molding is a great place to work."

Mack Molding is a plastics manufacturer based in Arlington with a plant in Cavendish as well as facilities in Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Mexico. Among other things, the company makes parts for the medical industry.

Taking Dailey's place at Mack is Nancy Cefalo, who has been with the company for 14 years according to a statement released Thursday.

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Hospital gets a new human resources manager

TEHRAN, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Detained Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who has been held by Iran without charge since July, may soon be released.

Mohammed Javad Larijani, head of Iran's human rights council, made that prediction in an interview taped Monday with the Euronews television channel. The full interview is set to air Friday.

According to an interview transcript provided to the Post, Larijani said he anticipates Rezaian to be released "in less than a month."

Rezaian has been detained for "activities beyond journalism... which breaches the security of the state," Larijani said without offering specifics. The reporter has been held while charges were considered and "this prosecutor detained him and again renewed his detention because the file was not ready," Larijani explained, adding "I think this dossier is approaching completion."

Larijani said he hopes the prosecutor will decide to drop the case after concluding "maybe the accusations are not quite substantial." If not, the case will go to the courts -- where Larijani's brother heads the judiciary -- and either Rezaian's case will be dropped or the journalist will be indicted.

Rezaian's family published an open letter last week to mark the passage of 100 days since his detention. "After 100 days it's time for Iran to concede Jason's innocence and release him."

Rezaian, 38, a dual U.S. and Iranian citizen, has worked for the Post since 2012. He and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, were among four journalists detained by Iran in July. The other two, a photojournalist and her husband, were freed in August. Salehi was released on bail in early October.

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Detained Washington Post reporter to be released soon, predicts Iran official

Crysis 3 | Playthrough | Part 1 | Post Human | HD
I forgot to say that I #39;m going to playthrough this with all of the stuff I #39;ve unlocked just to keep it interesting because I don #39;t wan #39;t to unlock everything...

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Crysis 3 | Playthrough | Part 1 | Post Human | HD - Video