Published inFuture Human·Apr 1, 2021Member-onlyThe Military Is Funding Ethicists to Keep Its Brain Enhancement Experiments in CheckEfforts involving brain-computer interfaces pose myriad risks to would-be supersoldiers — The military has long been interested in what medical ethicist Jonathan Moreno calls “the whole supersoldier business” — using technology to produce bionically or pharmaceutically superior warfighters. Moreno, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, is interested too. Specifically, in one question that keeps gnawing at him: How much can…Us Military8 min readUs Military8 min read
Published inFuture Human·Aug 5, 2020Member-onlyHow Do We Know If a Virus Is Bioengineered?Detecting bioengineering is a fraught task for any organism — Almost as soon as the coronavirus appeared in the news, so too did speculation that it was purposefully engineered, the result of experimentation at one of several Wuhan laboratories. The idea that the virus, whether natural or engineered, came from a scientific facility was pushed by some politicians. …Coronavirus9 min readCoronavirus9 min read
Published inOneZero·Feb 21, 2020Member-onlyThe Tech Entrepreneur Who Thinks He Can Reverse Climate Change With Nuclear PowerBret Kugelmass believes nuclear energy can regain popularity if we can make it profitable — “We have to convince the rest of the world,” Bret Kugelmass tells an audience of engineers at the University of Michigan, “that nuclear isn’t as bad as they once thought.” Speaking in slow, carefully enunciated sentences, he paces the stage, his hair slicked back in a swoop. We not only…Energy10 min readEnergy10 min read
