Science Cheerleader

On Sunday, the same day the New York Times featured YOUR future–aka Singularity, read on–on the cover of its business section, I was listening to the head cheerleader of all-things-Singularity, Ray Kurzweil, as he presented the future of humanity at the H+ Summit at Harvard. You might recall that we interviewed Ray on SciCheer sometime last year.

Ray and I, along with several others, were speakers at the H+ Summit, the theme of which was The Rise of the Citizen Scientist. I spoke about “citizen scientists” as I know them. (A copy of my powerpoint presentation can be found, below. I’ll post a link to the video when I have it.) As it turns out, my definition of citizen science isn’t quite the same as the who follow the Transhumanist/Singularity philosophy. While they are very interested and enthusiastic about what “our” citizen scientists are doing–and quite a visionary and friendly group of people, I might add–they are more interested in how humans can, ultimately, harness the deepest powers of technology to  “seize control of the evolutionary process” and create immortality.

I’ll do my best to explain what this means by pulling excerpts from my past interview with Ray Kurzweil:

Ray’s “short version” definition of  Singularity:  “The Singularity is a future time when the pace of technological change will be so fast and transformative that you will not be able to follow it unless you merge with the intelligent technology we are creating.”

How this work will and when: “Accessing the web from inside our brains is one good example of what we will see in about twenty years. The machine extensions to our brains will grow exponentially both in hardware and software capability. By the late 2030s, it will be the nonbiological portion of our intelligence that predominates.”

No thanks, I like things just the way they are. “First of all, it is human to change who we are. We didn’t stay on the ground, we didn’t stay on the planet, and we have not stayed with the limitations of our biology. Human life expectancy was 23 a thousand years ago. We are the only species that changes who we are and extends our reach, both physical and mental, through our tools. So it is human to change who we are. There will always be early and late adopters, but people are not going to completely dismiss these changes. How many people today complete reject medical and health technologies? When there is a therapy based on blood cells devices that overcome a particular disease, very few if any people will reject it. People put computers in their brains today if they have Parkinson’s Disease. People do not reject this FDA approved therapy due to philosophical issues.”

The buzz kill: real concerns that microscopic robots will pose a threat to the world: “Yes, that is called the grey goo scenario, and the narrative thread in the movie illustrates this danger. I do think we can manage that through a combination of ethical standards to build in safeguards into nanotechnology, as well as a rapid response system that detects threats and immediately deals with them, just like our biological immune system is designed to do. But this is not something we should be sanguine about. We need to be very diligent about it.”

So, there’s your future. Want to have a say? First step, head over to the beta website of ECAST (Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science and Technology) and sign up so we can keep you apprised of so-called “participatory” opportunities. We (see below) set up ECAST precisely so the public and scientists can inform each other on emerging technologies so smart, representative policies are initiated. And, as stated before: government policymakers, businesses, non-governmental organizations, and citizens need such analysis to capably navigate the technology-intensive world in which we now live.

“We”=Science Cheerleader, Arizona State University, Boston Museum of Science, the Loka Institute, and the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars.

Now, more than ever, we need to get in front of emerging technologies to help shape our future.

As promised, here’s a copy of my presentation.

June 12-13 at Harvard.

“The H+ Summit is a two day event that explores how humanity will be radically changed by technology in the near future. Visionary speakers will explore the potential of technology to modify your body, mind, life, and world.”

As a speaker, here’s what I plan to chat about. Registration is now open. I hope to see you there!

I had so much fun doing Science Cheers with 1,500 kids at a Temple University basketball game yesterday. Those kids were awesome! Thanks for the invite, Temple and thanks for the assistance Hootie and Temple cheerleaders! Stepping on campus brought back a flood of wonderful memories. Goooo Owls! I’ll post the video shortly. I’ll be in San Francisco, L.A., Jacksonville, Washington, D.C., and NYC in the coming months. If you’d like me to get some Science Cheers going at a location near you, just email me at Darlene@sciencecheerleader.com
“LET’S go, SCI-ence,” clap, clap, clap-clap-clap! “4, 3, 2, 1, Science is for EVERYONE!”

Philly NetSquared , a local chapter of the national organization, NetSquared ,brings together web innovators and social changemakers to socialize, strategize, learn from and inspire one another.

Last week, I had the opportunity to share the vision of Science Cheereleader’s sister site, ScienceForCitizens.net during one of Philly NetSquared’s monthly meetings. This particular meeting was built on the concept of Crowdsourcing Change:

“Crowdsourcing Change” will be a highly participatory event where attendees will have an opportunity to help three “Social Changers” who are using –or trying to use — the social web for the common good. The way it will work is that presenters will first explain the change they are trying to achieve through social media. Attendees, with the help of a moderator, will then provide feedback, ideas, constructive criticism and concrete instructions to help the presenters succeed. This is a great opportunity to learn and to have an impact.”

It was a wonderful experience and the attendees provided excellent suggestions (many of which will be employed). In the spirit of all the embodies ScienceForCitizens.net  it was fitting to tap the wisdom of the crowds in our effort to strengthen ScienceForCitizens.net! Thank you, Philly NetSquared (and Jacquie Lewis for nominating me)!

I’m here in Pittsburgh, PA, at Carnegie Mellon University where Discover Magazine, in partnership with the National Science Foundation, is producing a panel discussion on the future of robotics! The event takes place tonight and highlights will be featured in a subsequent issue of Discover, while recorded interviews will appear on NSF.gov, the Research Channel, and DiscoverMagazine.com
Thought it would be fun to share with you all that goes into producing one of these events.
Each panelist (described here) is interviewed on camera. The screen in the background is plain now, but using “green screen” technology, the editor will drop in some cool backgrounds. Here’s MIT’s Rodney Brooks being interviewed. When asked “what would make robots better?” he replied: “Give robots the visual object recognition capabilities of a 2-year-old child; the verbal comprehension of 4-year-old; the manual dexterity of a 6-year-old; and the social understandings of an 8-year old. That’s it.”

And, here’s Robin Murphy being interviewed about her search and rescue robots.

Then Discover’s photographer take portraits of the panelists and the moderator for use in the magazine. Here’s the moderator, Discover’s editor Corey Powell, preparing for his portrait.Discover’s director of photography, Rebecca Horne, is calling the shots from the back there.

Here’s the video producer, Dan Agan, with Discover’s marketing director, Tricia Gately, talking through the on stage line up (while panelists Rodney Brooks and Javier Movellan look on).

Oh, and here’s Tank, the Roboceptionist who greeted me when I entered CMU’s Gates Building where this event will take place this evening.

Guests will start arriving at the Rashid Auditorium around 6:30 pm. Show time is 7pm!

Stay tuned for the feature article in Discover!

Tomorrow, I’m heading to Pittsburgh, PA, to prep for another Discover Magazine roundtable discussion. This time, the topic is on the future of the machine: How will robots transform industry, health care, and warfare? And will they ever be our equals? This is part of a multi-year series of Discover panel discussions sponsored by the National Science Foundation and hosted by a number of awesome institutions including: The Franklin Institute, CalTech, The Exploratorium, and Capitol Hill. This year, we’ve got Carnegie Mellon University, the South-by-Southwest Festival/Austin (see Discover’s abstract here!) and a yet-to-be finalized host.

Here’s some more information on Thursday’s event at Carnegie Mellon University:

Date: January 28th, 7pm.

Panelists:
Rodney Brooks, MIT

Javier Movellan, UC San Diego

Robin Murphy, Texas A&M University

Red Whittaker, Carnegie Mellon University

Hosted by Discover Magazine’s editor in chief, Corey Powell.

I’ll post highlights here!

Hot diggity-DOG! After years in the making, my partner, Michael Gold, and I–with generous support from Science House–have officially unveiled the beta version (that means this is still a work-in-progress) of ScienceForCitizens.net . Science journalist, Carl Zimmer, who frequently writes for Discover and Time Magazine, said “It’s like Amazon.com for all sorts of possibilities for doing cool citizen science”. We’ll take that!

We’re seeking your feedback on ways we can make the site a phenomenal resource for all who use it. And, consider registering as a new member you can can explore the many citizen science projects out there, add your own project, create a personalized blog, or just meet up online with folks who share your interests.

I had the opportunity to unveil the site during the increasingly popular Science Online 2010 conference in Durham, N.C., this past weekend where I was invited to speak about citizen science, adult science literacy, and science in the media to a captive audience of science writers and bloggers. [I think my family and local friends were relieved to finally catch a break from me yapping about these topics every chance I get. Break's over folks, sorry ]

Here’s more about the Citizen Science session and the launch of ScienceForCitizens.net . Soon, I’ll post a report here on some of the most interesting issues sifted from some of the other sessions at Science Online 2010,  including: Adult Science Literacy, Science in the Media, Blogging 102, and more. For now, here’s a picture taken at the conference, of me (left) with uber science communicators: Dr. Kiki Sanford, Rebecca Skloot, and Joanne Manaster.

Bloggy (Scientific Blogging’s mascot) is my roommate here at the Radisson in Durham, NC, where we are staying during the ScienceOnline Conference 2010. So glad I chose a room with two beds. He’s a frisky thing. But, thanks for sending him to me, Hank (AKA Founder of Scientific Blogging). Question for you, Hank!

Posts have been less frequent because I’ve been prepping for the ScienceOnline 2010 conference in North Carolina where I’ll be speaking on the topics of Science in the Media (with Dr. Kiki); Adult Science Literacy; and Citizen Science.

Exciting news to add: I’ll be doing a soft launch of SciCheer’s sister site: ScienceForCitizens.net . It’s something my partner, Michael Gold, and I have been working on for a long time. Thanks to the generous support of Science House and help from our own Dr. John Ohab, the site is finally crystalizing! Known as “THE source for people who want to do science,” the site will serve as a Craigslist meets Match.com in the realm of citizen science. Interested in learning about or participating in research projects? We’ve got something for you (no degree? no worries! ). Looking to  find volunteers for your project? Just add it to our (soon-to-be extensive) database of projects.

Sign up to be notified when the site is live (Saturday morning) and consider joining us on Twitter (@sci4cits) and Facebook: Science For Citizens .

Pictured with me are David Guston (Professor of Science Policy at Arizona State University) and on the right is David Rejeski (Director, Science, Technology and Innovation Program, Smithsonian’s Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars). The three of us, plus Richard Sclove (Founder, Loka Institute; U.S. Advisor, Worldwide Views on Global Climate Change) are hashing out a plan to create a participatory technology assessment agency. (Read: citizen input in federal tech policy discussions.)  Very exciting stuff. I’ll keep you posted on developments.
On Wednesday, we met with at the Wilson Center with Rich Hung (Government Accountability Office) and John Wonderlich (Sunlight Foundation) to discuss this very topic. Then, Dave, Dave and I had lunch and posed with this giant pumpkin. So, how much do you think this pumpkin weighs?
After lunch, I skipped across the street to the Museum of American History where I bumped into this wax replica of Ira Remsen (1846-1927)the first Professor of Chemistry at Johns Hopkins. He pushed for the support of “pure” science for its own sake instead of the more traditional “outdoor” sciences such as natural history and geology. Remsen is credited with creating a pioneering lab at Hopkins, later modeled by other universities. These labs are considered the main training ground for American scientists.