io9: Ray Kurzweil

Will Ray Kurzweil make Roland Emmerich's Singularity movie even more unrealistic than 2012?

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:16:32 PST

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Roland Emmerich has pushed bad science to its limit before, most notably with the amazing 2012. But for his upcoming movie Singularity, he's actually enlisting the help of Ray Kurzweil, author of The Singularity is Near, to help him revise the script. On the one hand, this means the movie will accurately reflect Kurzweil's theories about a magical transformation in which everything becomes awesome thanks to A.I. and other breakthroughs. On the other hand... will the result actually be more unrealistic than 2012? More »

Everything You Need To Know About The Singularity (Until Your Brain's Capacity Quintuples, At Least)

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:13:07 PST

We can't wait until our brains are hardwired into cybernests, so we can fully appreciate the hilariousness of SpaceCollective's guide to skepticism about the Singularity. My fave part: This illustration, explaining how "extreme shit going down" leads to The Future. More »

Near-Immortality Within the Next 20 Years? Life-Extension Scientists Hope So

Alex Eichler — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:00:03 PST

Researchers at the Maximum Life Foundation met recently to discuss their latest anti-aging findings. Their goal is to extend the human lifespan indefinitely by 2029... though it's not yet clear how that'll actually work. More »

The New York Times Columnist Who's Helping To Ruin The Future

Charlie Jane Anders — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:30:00 PST

Why is John Tierney so skeptical, and yet so gullible? The New York Times' science columnist is one of the most vocal global-warming doubters in the media, but when it comes to Ray Kurzweil's Singularity and geo-hacking, he's suddenly wide-eyed. More »

The Nature Of Humanity Is To Change Nature

Graeme McMillan — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:00:00 PDT

Futurist Ray Kurzweil has a simple response to people concerned that technology gives us the chance to alter nature: Nature is inherently flawed, and it's our duty as human beings to use technology to fix it. More »

Can Ray Kurzweil's Rosy Predictions Stand Up To Fact-Checking?

Charlie Jane Anders — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:40:12 PDT

When the Singularity arrives in 2045, Ray Kurzweil will finally be infallible. Until, then, however the famous futurist's meat brain has made some ludicrously inaccurate predictions, as Newsweek magazine pointed out recently. Kurzweil has sent an angry letter to the magazine, to try and clear his name. More »

We're Only 16 Years Away From Creating Actual Cylons

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:42:01 PDT

We're much closer than you think to the reality of a "mindclone" — a computer with the mental capacity of the human mind — says the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies' Martine Rothblatt. We're "close enough to feel the bits and bytes of cyberbreath on our cheeks." Ooh, spooky. More »

In The Future, Cyborg Singers Will Be Our Teachers

Graeme McMillan — Sat, 02 May 2009 15:00:24 PDT

The man in charge of Google's new university plans to become a cyborg and dreams of the day when he can fulfill his fantasy of being a female rock singer. Where can I sign up? More »