Extro-5 Conference Coming in June

from the thinking-big dept.
The Extropy Institute will be hosting the EXTRO-5 Conference: "Shaping Things to Come", in San Jose, California, June 15-17, 2001. According to a press release, the Extro-5 international conference will assemble "big thinkers from numerous fields to provoke our culture to think more carefully about the more plausible perils of progress and to shape the future for the better."

Big thinkers at Extro-5: "Shaping Things to Come" include inventor, entrepreneur, and writer Ray Kurzweil, leading information economist Hal Varian, science correspondent Ronald Bailey, leading information economy strategist Steve Flinn, cyberspace economist David Friedman, best-selling author Greg Bear, extropic philosopher Max More, evolutionary biologist Michael Rose, artist and cultural catalyst Natasha Vita-More, co-architect of the pre-Web Xanadu hypertext system Mark Miller, and other leading thinkers from computing, artificial intelligence, law, "hard" science fiction, Internet technologies, neuroscience, and business.

Don't miss out on this singular chance to listen to and network with those who are shaping the future. Stimulate your brain, expand your vision of the future, make contacts for your interests and businesses. Attendance is limited, so register now to secure your place.

For more information, visit the Extropy Institute conference Web site, email [email protected] or call conference Chair Max More at 310-823-3594.

Read more for the complete press release.

NWU celebrates new nanotech center with symposium

from the Northwestern-goes-nano dept.
Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois (near Chicago) is celebrating the establishment of its new Institute for Nanotechnology with a day-long Symposium on Emerging Molecule-Based Nanoscale Science and Technology. The symposium will also honor Morrison Professors Joseph T. Hupp and Mark A. Ratner. In addition to Hupp and Ratner, speakers will include Chad A. Mirkin, Director of the new Institute, Richard Smalley of Rice University, George Whitesides of Harvard University, Angela M. Belcher of the University of Texas at Austin, and Richard J. Colton of the Naval Research Laboratory. The symposium will be held on Monday, 21 May 2001 in the Technological Institute Lecture Room 3, at 2145 Sheridan Road in Evanston, Illinois. If you would like to attend, you can register online.

Ralph Merkle to present public program on nanotechnology

from the 21st-century-teach-in dept.
Ralph Merkle, a principal fellow at Zyvex Corp. and winner of the 1998 Feynman Prize, will lead a half-day public program on nanotechnology at the University of California Berkeley campus on Saturday, 5 May 2001 (That's this coming Saturday). Designed for the lay public, "Nanotechnology: Basic Concepts and Potential Applications" will take place on Saturday, May 5, from 1 to 5 p.m., in Dwinelle Hall on the UC Berkeley campus in Berkeley, California. The fee is $20. To register, call 510/642-4111 or register online. For more information see www.learningsphere.org/nanotech.htm.

At the four-hour public UC Berkeley Extension program, Dr. Merkle will explain the basic concepts of nanotechnology and the potential it offers in medicine, computer science, aerospace and the military, as well as other fields. He will examine how the development of this powerful technology could be best guided to maximize the benefits while minimizing any potential risks. The program is co-sponsored by the Foresight Institute.

MG Taylor to hold "Transparent Society" event

from the Inventing-the-Future dept.

Foresight benefactor and associate MG Taylor will hold a TANSTAAFL DesignShop Event, "Coding the Transparent Society," on May 8-10 in Palo Alto, California, bringing together a community of people concerned with impact of the advent of the Internet, an "Information Revolution that will alter global societies as dramatically as the invention of the printing press over 500 years ago . . . The decisions we make regarding the design of cyberspace will have an ever greater impact on our everyday lives in the years to come."
You are invited to participate in the event, where critical issues concerning the future of society and of the global information infrastructure will be discussed, solutions explored and next steps designed.

Read More for a sampling of issues on the table . . .

Bill Joy to Speak at Stanford in April

from the Bring-your-questions dept.

The Stanford GSB Futurist Club will present a WIRED Conversation with Bill Joy, titled "Nirvana or Nightmare? Exploring the Technological Future," on Thursday, 5 April 2001.
Joy, cofounder and chief scientist of Sun Microsystems, will discuss his controversial Wired essay, "Why The Future Doesn't Need Us," (April 2000) with Katrina Heron, Editor in chief of Wired Magazine, followed by Q&A with the audience. Joy's essay, which has sparked heated debate in science, technology, ethics and policy circles since its publication, argues that imminent advances in genetics, robotics, and nanotechnology may pose grave threats to the future of humankind.

The event will be held at 5:30 pm on Thursday, 5 April 2001, in the Bishop Auditorium of the Graduate School of Business on the Stanford University campus. RSVP by Monday, 2 April to [email protected].

Bill Joy speaking in SF Wed. 2/14/01

from the but-will-they-relinquish-when-you-tell-them-to dept.
ChrisPhoenix writes "Bill Joy will be speaking about "Genomics, Robotics, and Nanotechnology: Science and Religion Converse on the Shape of the Future" on Wednesday February 14, 2001, 7:30 p.m. at Grace Cathedral, 1051 Taylor St., Gresham Hall, Rooms 150-250, San Francisco. Details are at ctns.org. They'll have panel responses from several scientists, a theologian, and an ethicist. The event is put on by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, publishers of Science) and by the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences.

After you go to the talk, come back here and comment on it! Personally, I'm very interested in whether Mr. Joy has developed any viable plans yet for enforcing the limitations he wants to place on technology. Chris"

Extro 5: Shaping Things to Come

from the ensuring-friendly-super-intelligence dept.

The February Extropy Institute Newsletter announced that Extro-5: Shaping Things to Come "will take place from June 15th to 17th at the San Jose Hilton and Towers in San Jose, California." It is intended to be a "solution-oriented conference" with extensive participation aiming "to come to useful, actionable conclusions." Themes are:

"TransVision 2001 will take place one week after Extro-5, from June 22nd to 24th, 2001 in Berlin, Germany."

Nano class with Ralph Merkle

from the prepare-for-nanoquiz dept.
Senior Associate GinaMiller brings to our attention a Yahoo press release on UC Berkeley courses open to the public, including "May 5: Nanotechnology: Basic Concepts and Potential Applications — Saturday, May 5, 1-5 pm, 155 Dwinelle Hall, UC campus, Berkeley. Fee: $20. Nanotechnology expert Dr. Ralph Merkle leads a stimulating discussion — in terms the lay public can understand — of this burgeoning field. Starting with fundamental principles, he moves on to potential applications of this technology in medical, aerospace, computer science, and military arenas." For enrollment information, see http://www.unex.berkeley.edu. Let's hope it's taped for the web.

Mitsubishi Corp. to sponsor fullerene workshop

from the sooty-tubes-for-profit dept.
Bryan Hall writes "A press release on yahoo news reports that Mitsubishi Corp. is sponsoring an international meeting in Tokyo to discuss the state-of-the-art technology and strategies for commercializing fullerene nanotubes. The Mitsubishi International Fullerene Workshop 2001, Feb. 20-21, will feature keynote speeches from Nobel Prize winners and fullerene co-discoverers Richard E. Smalley and Sir Harold W. Kroto. Donald R. Huffman, the University of Arizona co-inventor of the method for producing commercial quantities of fullerenes, will chair a discussion on super-hard carbon material. Other sessions will include panel discussions and lectures on applied research and development." See the symposium website.

Foresight conference stimulates "Future Lust"

from the lusting-for-nanotech dept.
An item by digitech posted on slashdot by Senior Associate Jeff "Hemos" Bates brings our attention to a piece at Reason titled "More More More: Nanotechnology and the Law of Accelerating Returns" by Ronald Bailey on the recent Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology. Excerpts: "[Kurzweil's keynote] predictions of superfast progress received a sympathetic hearing at this gathering of around 400 nanotechnologists. That's hardly surprising of course: That's exactly what they are working to achieve…the fact is that very few practical nanodevices have made it out of the labs yet. Still, given an inkling of what the future may hold, I suffer not from Future Shock, but Future Lust."

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