Features

• Categorized in Biotechnology and health

  The debate over whether aging is a disease rages on

  In its latest catalogue of health conditions, the World Health Organization almost equated old age with disease. Then it backed off.
• Categorized in Humans and technology

  Technology that lets us “speak” to our dead relatives has arrived. Are we ready?

  Digital clones of the people we love could forever change how we grieve.
• Categorized in Biotechnology and health

  Why the sci-fi dream of cryonics never died

  The idea that humans could be frozen and later brought back has survived for decades. The hope is still alive and even growing today—never mind that it’s still not possible.
• Categorized in Biotechnology and health

  The bird is fine, the bird is fine, the bird is fine, it’s dead.

  The pursuit of immortality is getting older. So are we.
• Categorized in Policy

  Inside effective altruism, where the far future counts a lot more than the present

  The giving philosophy, which has adopted a focus on the long term, is a conservative project, consolidating decision-making among a small set of technocrats.
• Categorized in Computing

  Everything dies, including information

  Digitization can help stem the tide of entropy, but it won’t stop it.
• Categorized in Biotechnology and health

  How scientists want to make you young again

  Research labs are pursuing technology to “reprogram” aging bodies back to youth.
• Categorized in Biotechnology and health

  What happens when you donate your body to science

  I visited a body farm and an anatomy lab to see what the process looks like at its best.