The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology (118 page)

arginine, 210

Argonne National Laboratory, 283

Aristotle, 154, 337, 539
n

Aristov, V. V., 516
n

arm:

        of kinematic constructor, 228, 229

        of nanobot, 229–230, 233

        of octopus, 181, 544
n

Army, U.S., 280, 312, 331–332, 336

Army Science Advisory Group (ASAG), 331

Arndt, Michael, 580
n
, 581
n

Arnold, Michael S., 527
n

ARPANET, 78

art,
17, 18, 20
, 145, 191, 340, 498
n

        as knowledge, 372, 375

        pattern and, 388

Artificial General Intelligence Research Institute, 599
n

artificial intelligence (AI), 8, 111, 144, 240, 438

        Bayesian nets and, 267–268, 280

        combining methods in, 278–279, 293

        defined, 265

        development of, 497
n

        divergence of human intelligence and, 146

        education of, 202–203, 294

        expert systems and, 266–267, 280, 282–283

        genetic algorithms and,
see
evolutionary (genetic) algorithms

        Lanier’s views on, 441

        Markov models and,
see
Markov models

        narrow,
see
narrow AI

        neural nets and,
see
neural nets

        recursive search and, 272–273, 279, 576
n
–580
n

        from simple rules, 91–94

        in software, 428

        strong,
see
strong AI

        toolkit of, 265–273, 278–279, 293, 435, 439, 456, 570
n
–580
n

        winter of, 263–266, 289, 569
n

        
see also
computers, computation; nonbiological intelligence; robots, robotics

art programs, recursive search and, 273, 577
n
–580
n

Asaad, W. F., 542
n

Ascent Technology, 284

Asia, 95, 469

        GMOs in, 471

        poverty in, 99, 470

        vitamin A deficiency in, 414

ASICs,
see
application-specific integrated circuits

Asilomar conference, 402, 418

Ask MSR (Ask MicroSoft Research), 286–287

Association of American Publishers, 497
n

asteroids,
20
, 40, 281, 398, 405–406

astrocytes, 177

astrophysics, singularity in, 23, 486, 487, 503
n

Atanassov, P., 595
n

atherosclerosis, 212, 217, 257

At Home in the Universe
(Kauffman), 509
n

atomic bomb, 392–393, 404, 408, 594
n

atomic-force microscope (AFM), 138, 237, 536
n

atomic memory drive, 115

atoms, 5, 14, 85, 168, 198, 210, 383, 404, 499
n

        computational capacity and, 131, 133, 138

        information in, 14,
15
, 119, 131, 134, 536
n

        nanotechnology and, 226, 227, 228, 234, 240, 244, 251, 253

ATP,
see
adenosine triphosphate

atrasentan, 218

Audience, Inc., 530
n

Audio Spotlight systems, 313

auditory cortex, 124

auditory nerve, 195

auditory system, human, 153, 165, 438, 530
n

        scanning of, 165

        Watts’s model of, 123–124, 147–148, 183–184,
185
, 443, 452, 530
n
, 545
n
–547
n

auditory virtual reality, 105, 310, 312–313, 318, 472

Augarten, Stan, 513
n

Augsburg, University of, 536
n

Australia, 128, 398, 433

Australopithecines
, 509
n

Austria, Austrians, 2, 327

autoimmune reactions:

        biological, 223, 233, 255, 417, 426

        nanobot, 417

automation, 31, 65, 108, 340, 507
n

        in investing, 265, 435

        with robots, 285

autonomic computing, 284, 437

autonomous, semi-intelligent observatories, 281

Autonomous Intelligent Network and Systems (AINS) program, 333

avastin, 218

Aviram, Avi, 115, 528
n

Avouris, Phaedon, 527
n

axons, 124, 145, 150, 154–155, 176,
192
, 428, 452

Babbage, Charles, 93–94

Babcock, Alpheus, 53

babies, 190

        “designer,” 215, 225–226, 553
n

baboons, HIV-type xenoviruses in, 418

Bachand, George, 560
n
, 561
n
, 585
n

backpropagation, 156

bacteria, 220, 282, 317, 367, 397

        blood-brain barrier and, 163

        cultivation of, 594
n

        in digestive system, 386

        eukaryotic,
17, 18
, 450, 583
n

        flagellum of, 440

        future of, 297–298

        genetic engineering and, 393

        nanotechnology and, 226, 233, 236, 248, 254, 255

        protein synthesis and, 551
n

Baguisi, A., 556
n

Bai, Q., 584
n

Bailey, Patrick, 562
n

Baker, Andrew H., 216

Baker, Sue, 589
n

balance, 179, 189

Balkenius, Christian, 538
n

Ballard, D., 547
n

balls, catching of, 178–179

bandwidth, 9, 96, 107, 337, 346, 432

        of brain scanning, 25, 144, 161, 197, 292

        of endocrine system, 200, 443

        Internet, 81,
81
, 263, 312, 472, 516
n

banking, 102, 289

Barel, Helit, 597
n

Barlow, Horace, 154

Barrow, J. D., 502
n

Barrow, John, 356, 500
n

Bartol, Thomas M., Jr., 190

Barton, S. C., 595
n

basal dendrites,
192

Basel, University of, 115

Bashir, Rashid, 583
n

basis functions, 179, 544
n

batteries, 133, 246, 248

Bayes, Thomas, 267, 570
n

Bayesian nets (belief networks), 267–268, 280

Bayles, Fred, 588
n

“Be a Scientist, Save the World” (Smalley), 241

beauty, 310, 389, 476

Beethoven, Ludwig van, 378

Begley, Sharon, 542
n
, 543
n

behavior, 378, 380, 385

Bekenstein, Jacob D., 593
n

belief networks,
see
Bayesian nets

Bell, Anthony J., 169–170, 444–446, 448–451, 542
n
, 600
n

Bell, Gordon, 328

Bellis, Mary, 515
n

Bender, Eric, 589
n

Benenson, Y., 530
n

Bennett, Charles H., 130, 534
n

Bennett, James, 598
n

Benson, E., 542
n

Bentley, Jon, 438, 600
n

Berg, Paul, 418

Berger, Ted, 188, 195

Bergeron, Bryan, 328–329, 588
n

Berndt, E. R., 512
n

Bernoulli’s principle, 265

Bernstein, Michael, 526

Bernstein, N., 544
n

Berra, Yogi, 14

beta-carotene, 414

beta-catenin, 505
n

Beveridge, W. I., 427

Bezos, Jeff, 96

Biever, Celeste, 516
n
, 530
n

Big Bang(s), 14, 356, 361, 500
n

Bilesch, Stanley, 547
n

Bils, Mark, 100, 525
n

Bingham, R., 539
n

biochemists, skepticism of, 13

Biocosm vision, 361–362

biological age, 253, 257

        test for, 210, 550
n

biological assembler, nanotechnology and, 232–233

biological evolution, 522
n

        anthropic principle and, 15, 357, 359

        asteroid and meteor collisions and, 398

        complexity increases and, 36–38, 508
n
–509
n

        computational limits and, 137

        continuance of, 47, 94, 511
n

        death and, 320, 321

        
digestive processes and, 301–302

        disease and, 511
n

        diversity in, 45–46

        in Epoch One, 14–15,
15

        in Epoch Two,
15
, 16, 47

        in Epoch Three,
15
, 16, 47

        incredulity about, 433

        “inventions” of, 5

        key events of,
see
key events, of biological and technological evolution

        limitations of, 21, 26, 27, 148, 271, 309–310, 311, 321

        local optimization and, 309

        measurement of, 357

        mutations and, 42, 92, 506
n

        as open system, 42

        order increased by, 40

        punctuated equilibrium theory of, 44–45, 510
n
–511
n

        survival purposes of, 38, 39, 41, 96

        technological evolution as continuation of, 7, 42, 137

        technological evolution compared with, 16–19,
17–19
, 94, 347, 441, 487

        upending of, 374

        water-based chemistry of, 239

        wheels and roads and, 440

biological intelligence, 124, 128, 428

        concerns about end of, 30

        limits of, 8–9, 32, 316, 337, 340, 377

        merger of nonbiological intelligence with, 4, 9, 24, 25, 47, 123, 128, 197, 296, 300, 316–317, 337, 340, 372, 375–376, 377, 424

        technology merged with, 9, 28, 298

        transcendence of, 375–376

Biological Micro Electronic Mechanical Systems,
see
BioMEMS

biology, 411, 412

        emulating, three-dimensional molecular computing and, 112–113, 116–117, 519
n

        limits of, 206, 227, 234, 320, 321, 323, 325, 376, 381

        models of, 168

        nanotechnology compared with, 227, 232, 234

biomass, 243, 399–400, 425–426, 595
n

BioMEMS (Biological Micro Electronic Mechanical Systems), 254, 303, 570
n
, 583
n

biosphere, 33, 397

biotechnology, 27, 84, 95, 102, 210–227, 301, 323, 398, 549
n
–557
n
, 595
n

        availability of knowledge about, 398, 595
n

        dangers of, 206, 232, 395, 407, 408, 412

        defensive technologies and, 408, 416–418

        designer baby boomers and, 210–214, 551
n

        environmentalist campaign against, 391, 395, 414–415

        ethical issues and, 221–222, 223, 224, 553
n

        gene chips and, 214–215, 552
n