Human For the Time Being?!

A senior astronomer has said that the hunt for alien life should take into account alien "sentient machines".

"If you look at the timescales for the development of technology, at some point you invent radio and then you go on the air and then we have a chance of finding you," he told BBC News.

"But within a few hundred years of inventing radio - at least if we're any example - you invent thinking machines; we're probably going to do that in this century.

"So you've invented your successors and only for a few hundred years are you... a 'biological' intelligence."

Scary stuff or an idea that's out of this world?

"Research Fellow Anders Sandberg, at the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University, says our hard drives may one day contain the most important digital replacement of all - digitised replicas of our own brains.

The concept is called "mind uploading", and it suggests that when our bodies age and begin to fail like a worn or snapped record, we may be able to continue living consciously inside a computer as our own virtual substitutes."

A race to become cybermen - is that driving too hard a bargain?

Sci-Fi usually comes before Sci-Fact, what sounded impossible 50 years ago is now commonplace - some folk scoff at "ideas" like this, but if every one had no ideas whatsoever we'd go nowhere!! I think

ooooo, too much for me on a monday! but an interesting read!

Its been said but not scientifically verified that socialistS were once human. It hard to believe that an animal with such a limited intelligence could once read and write

If scientists bust a gut, we might have to infinity and beyond to think about it, Nicola.


If humans ever lose their sense of humour, things will have gone too far, Harry.

If it makes programming a VCR (remember them) easier, I'm all for it.

@ jo anne

Harry old chap,is there owt that you cant blame the socialists for?

@ hughes the booze

errmmmm!

I'll have to get back to you on that one

contact with aliens has already been established. problem is, its too mind boggling fer the doubting thomases. i am of course, refering to thought transferance.
(oops-now fer it.)

well at least they wont be tories (thinking) rules them out

resistance is futile

billy my wifes been master of thought transference for has long has i can remember,now where was i?