The Star Gate
Page 59
Natty smiled feebly.
“What brings you here?” Leon asked, downing the rest of his drink, and filling another glass from his bottle, “being as you don’t drink.”
“I thought you might like to know a bit about where we’re headed.”
Leon stiffened. “Probably not just yet.”
“We’re going to investigate Truman’s Legacy.”
Leon gave him a dirty look for ignoring his admonitions. “The probes he jettisoned out of the solar system before you could get your hands on him and put him out of commission for good?”
“Those would be the ones, yes.”
Leon thought about it, swirling his drink in the glass. “Well, I suppose probes beat star gates, any day. You have a fix on the first one?”
“Yeah.”
“And?”
“And I think today is the day I take up drinking.”
Leon did a double-take, checked Natty’s eyes for genuine dread, and in his estimation, being a bit of a connoisseur on the subject, Natty wasn’t trying to be funny. Leon snorted. “Bartender, a glass and a bottle for my friend.”
The bartender—and his bar—rematerialized to pick up where he’d left off.
###
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AUTHOR’S NOTES
Many of the far-future ideas presented in this story may be closer to reality than we think, if the transhumanists prove to be correct, as I believe they will. I wanted to share some articles with you that might make it easier for us all to get our minds around such a wild idea.
Get ready for Singularity: it’s closer to reality than we think | The Week …
www.theweek.co.uk/technology/…/get-ready-singularity-it-s-closer-reality-we-think
Mar 4, 2014 - Well, it means we‘ll have connected our brains to computers. They’ll be able to monitor everything we hear, see and think, plus everything in our email box and answer our questions before we‘ve thought of them. Asked recently ‘why would we do this?’, Kurzweil responded: “Our search engines will… watch …
Singularity, transhumanism, humanity+: What word should we use to …
www.slate.com/…/future…/singularity_transhumanism_humanity_what_word_should…
Aug 28, 2014 - Life extension. Transhumanism. These are all terms thrown around trying to describe a future in which mind uploading, indefinite lifespans, artificial intelligence, and bionic augmentation may(and I think will) help us to become far more than just human. They are words you hear in a MIT robotics laboratory, …
The Future of Biohacking, AI, and Transhumanism | Natural Stacks
https://www.naturalstacks.com/blogs/…/the-future-of-biohacking-ai-and-transhumanis…
Aug 14, 2017 - The Future of Biohacking, AI, and Transhumanism … I met Hannes Sjob, the Chief Disruption Officer at Epicenter Stockholm when I spoke at Sweden’s Biohacker Summit in May. … Machine Learning is already changing the way we live and AI is closer than we think - see Facebook’s recent experiments.
Why Elon Musk’s transhumanism claims may not be that far … - Wired UK
www.wired.co.uk/article/elon-musk-humans-must-become-cyborgs
Feb 15, 2017 - The Tesla and SpaceX founder warned that a future where AI is smarter than us will be ‘dangerous’ and we must all become cyborgs to survive … “Over time I think we will probably see a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence,” Musk said at a Tesla launch in Dubai, according to a …
But, of course, no list would be complete without mentioning Ray Kurzweil’s The Singularity is Near. Much of my sci-fi extrapolates and builds on his ideas in a fictional context, using the stories themselves as scenario games, or “thought experiments” as Einstein would have described them.
***
Regarding the idea that our gut bacteria is what drives our “gut instincts” and constitutes a kind of brain in its own right…
The Pit In Your Stomach is Actually Your Second Brain | Psychology …
https://www.psychologytoday.com/…mind/…/the-pit-in-your-stomach-is-actually-your…
Jan 17, 2017 - But yogurt that lists strains such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium lactis actually contain the healthy bacteria your gut needs. … As with most of medicine, the gut-brain connection is a complex, varied, and ever-changing system for which no one definition of “healthy” will do. Your gut is, after …
Psychobiotics and the Manipulation of Bacteria–Gut–Brain Signals
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5102282/
by A Sarkar - 2016 - Cited by 36 - Related articles
Trends. Psychobiotics are beneficial bacteria (probiotics) or support for such bacteria (prebiotics) that influence bacteria–brain relationships. … Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli do not possess pro-inflammatory lipopolysaccharide chains, and so their propagation in the gut does not trigger full-fledged immunological reactions.
The Gut-Brain Axis: The Missing Link in Depression - NCBI - NIH
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4662178/
by A Evrensel - 2015 - Cited by 46 - Related articles
Dec 31, 2015 - In this review we explain the pathophysiological mechanisms of the gut-brain axis, show the possible impact of the gut microbiota on depression, and … mother changed the microbiota and decreased the Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus levels.24) Rats separated from their mother showed decreased fecal …
Our Gut Microbes Strongly Influence Our Emotional Behaviors …
www.iflscience.com/health-and…/gut-microbes-strongly-influence-emotional-behavio…
Jul 4, 2017 - For the first time, researchers have identified gut microbes that appear to strongly control our brain’s structure and our response to fear. … in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, the team found that there were two primary groups of bacteria that appeared to have some effect on the constitution of the brain.
The Microbiome-Gut-Brain Axis: Are Gut Microbes the Key to Treating …
darwinian-medicine.com/microbes-body-affect-brain-behaviour/
Dec 26, 2013 - I’ve previously written about the microbiome in relation to mental disorders such as ADHD and autism, and also how the gut microbiota affects our … It’s time to stop looking at the brain as a separate organ, and rather acknowledge that mental disease is closely linked to what happens elsewhere in the body.
That gut feeling - American Psychological Association
www.apa.org › Monitor on Psychology › September 2012 Monitor on Psychology
With a sophisticated neural network transmitting messages from trillions of bacteria, the brain in your gut exerts a powerful influence over the one in your head, new … Finally, correcting microbial imbalances to treat disease requires first defining what constitutes a healthy gut microbiome—something that scientists are still …
***
Can collapsing pulsars truly be powerful enough and far-reaching enough to trigger a star gate? More to the point, as regards real life, could they possibly be powerful enough to destroy an actual planet?
Check out this post from Science.com—a rather reputable source. When I read it, I thought, “Man, that’s crazier than the stuff I write.”
https://www.space.com/5081-real-death-star-strike-earth.html
***
What is the current state of nanotech and artificial intelligence?
Are either far along enough to make this story truly possible, set as it is in the near-future, as opposed to the far-future?
Well, to truly answer that question, I’d refer you back first and foremost to Kurzweil’s, The Singularity is Near. But in the event you find that tome too daunting…
IBM: Next 5 years AI, IoT and nanotech will literally change the way we …
https://www.networkworld.com/…/ibm-next-5-years-ai-iot-and-nanotech-will-literally-…
Jan 4, 2017 - Perhaps the coolest thing about IBM’s 9th “Five Innovations that will Help Change our Lives within Five Years” predictions is that none of them sound like science fiction. “With advances inartificial intelligence and nanotechnology, we aim to invent a new generation of scientific instruments that will make the …
Startup Promises Immortality Through AI, Nanotechnology, and …
bigthink.com/…/startup-promises-immortality-through-ai-nanotechnology-and-clonin…
May 7, 2017 - This is when AI becomes so advanced, that it can program itself to become better, smarter, faster, and therefore, beyond human control. Elon Musk says … Or would we become, as Freud once called us, prosthetic gods, completely bored because the world has become devoid of any discovery or surprise?
Artificial Intelligence Intersects with Nanotechnology - Medium
https://medium.com/…/artificial-intelligence-intersects-with-nanotechnology-a674204…
Aug 19, 2016 - Nano-AI: Nanotech powered computer hardware could surpass the GPU and lead to big breakthroughs in Deep Learning, enabling stochastic processes even … Imagine nano-enabled hardware with capabilities beyond IBM’s creation of the world’s first artificial phase-change neurons or Intel’s acquisition of …
Ray Kurzweil Predicts Three Technologies Will Define Our Future
https://singularityhub.com/…/ray-kurzweil-predicts-three-technologies-will-define-our…
Apr 19, 2016 - This post will explore three technological areas Kurzweil believes are poised to change our world the most this century. [Read more about exponential progress in …. Kurzweil says robotics is embodied artificial intelligence—but it’s the intelligence itself that matters most. While acknowledging the risks, …
Artificial intelligence and nanotechnology ‘threaten civilization …
https://www.theguardian.com/…/artificial-intelligence-nanotechnology-risks-human-ci…
Feb 18, 2015 - But I think the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.” The full list of “risks that threaten human civilization, according to Global Challenges Foundation: Extreme climate change; Nuclear war; Global pandemic; Ecological catastrophe; Global system collapse; Major …
How will nanobots and nanotechnology change the future? Is there …
https://www.quora.com/How-will-nanobots-and-nanotechnology-change-the-future-Is-t…
I will keep my answer short but will give you two links which will enlighten you on the grandeur of these two ideas Nano Technology and Artificial Intelligence Transcendence(2014) A Johnny … This gives a road map to current scenarios in AI, how close we are to tipping over the balance of the earth. It takes references to …
Nanotechnology promises powerful new applications for the Internet of …
https://www.brookings.edu/…/nanotechnology-promises-powerful-new-applications-f…
Sep 29, 2015 - The nanoworld is a strange place where things happen much differently than at our normal scale. Adding nanotechnology to the Internet of Things will create networks at a molecular level, enabling new applications in medicine and beyond.
A world where everyone has a robot: why 2040 could blow your mind …
https://www.nature.com/…/a-world-where-everyone-has-a-robot-why-2040-could-blow-…
Feb 24, 2016 - These advances are creating tipping points — moments at which technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), biology, nanotechnology and 3D printing cross a threshold and trigger sudden and significant change. “We live in a mind-blowingly different world than our grandparents,” says Fei-Fei …
How nanotech will change the world - World Economic Forum
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/10/qa-how-nanotech-will-change-the-world/
Oct 23, 2015 - From cheap solar panels you can roll out like beach towels to clean water for millions, Prof. Dr. Markus Antonietti of the Max Planck Institute talks to us about the dizzying potential of nanotech. This is part of an interview series for the Summit on the Global Agenda in Abu Dhabi.Nanotechnology – the .
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
So much research goes into even a highly speculative book of this kind. As much as you’d be tempted to believe it’s all imagination, it’s not. To this end I’m indebted to far too many souls to name. But the short list would have to include:
Those witting and unwitting souls who share their work so freely on the internet. In particular, those folks whose discoveries or reportage thereof weighed heavily in granting my prose that extra realism factor.
My primary Facebook newsfeed folks who keep their nose to the ground for all breaking technology news, especially those pertaining to the transhuman era. Gareth John, Marco Santini, Sergio Tarrero, René Milan, Louisa Baqués, chief among them, but there are literally hundreds of others.
And, of course, to the many transhumanist Facebook groups to which I belong, whose mind-trust is invaluable. Not just for the sharing of great intel, but for the willingness of all participants and experts in their fields to answer questions.
And last but not least, to my loyal beta readers, and to my writer’s circle. They help me to get outside of my own head and help to illuminate all my blind spots when it comes to editing and fact checking.
That said, all errors are entirely my own. As the buck stops with me.
AFTERWORD
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Table of Contents
ACT ONE
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
ACT TWO
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
ACT THREE
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
***
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
ACT FOUR
THIRTY-ONE
THIRTY-TWO
THIRTY-THREE
THIRTY-FOUR
THIRTY-FIVE
THIRTY-SIX
THIRTY-SEVEN
THIRTY-EIGHT
THIRTY-NINE
FORTY
FORTY-ONE
FORTY-TWO
FORTY-THREE
FORTY-FOUR
FORTY-FIVE
FORTY-SIX
FORTY-SEVEN
ACT FIVE
FORTY-EIGHT
FORTY-NINE
FIFTY
FIFTY-ONE
FIFTY-TWO
FIFTY-THREE
AUTHOR’S NOTES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
AFTERWORD
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