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editorial contents A different consciousness, 2. Transhumani sm a different etiiic, sustains this 'civilised' mode of life. 3. Living on Murri Land Tlie eartli and its creatures 6. Election ResuL ts are increasingly considered 8. Alienation From Cyberspace the property of humanitind: i for domination, control, 10. MandaLa Garden and manipulation, until 11. Dr. Doug Ogilvie ultimately, the whole 12. Mind Mechani c of nature is seen Uke some giant machine, designed 14. Environmentally Friendly Transport for human benefit. 15 C.F . C. Gases (Norman Myers) 16 No Nukes in the Pacific 18 Mi tsubishi Welcome to the October edition of Semper. In 20 Short Story Winner this edition we explore the environmental 21 Poetry Winners interaction between technology and nature. Our 22 Sea Shepard environment:- built, technological and natural, is 23 HEMP the reality that creates who we are. The built environment symbolises humanity's victory over 24 Logg ing in P.N.G. the natural enviror)men\, taming it and reforming 26 Consumer ism it in our own image. Regardless of the false structures it promotes, the built environment is 30 Letters to the Editiors one we live within and must utilise for its positive 31 Tardy Vengence of the People aspects. Technological environments are just beginning to be explored as dimensional 35 Win '95 environments. The stage of history, and tfie place 36 Aunty Stella in Photos in the world that we find ourselves necessitates 37, Christian Environmentalism that we also journey into these environments to Macleay Island Paradise discover their potential for benefitting the world 38. Gurr L Musi c and the people that belong to it. 40. Freedom of the Press Similarly the textual environment must be 42. Reviews journeyed into, explored and criticised. 49. Union Pages Tfiroughout this year, we at Semper have tried to 56. Whats On provide some interesting environments for you to explore. The responses have been a tad more critica' than we expected, but that's o.k. Some of you have been confused by our layout, frustrated by our politics and blatantly offended by our sense of humour. We've solicited praise, amazement, anger, disgust and satyr. We hope that we have encouraged you to think about the issues that we have presented and have inspired you to see the world around you a little differently (if only for a second). i i So this is the last printed issue of Semper for 1995. We're in the process of producing a CD of local bands and performers as our final commitment to the pursuit of world harmony, Conspirators (in a particular order) students rights, your happiness and the growth of Mitch Porter. Tim Mansfield, Dianne Cassidy, Carlos and Toby De the student union in our role on this earth as Maine, Andrew Powell, Tim Colen, Gary Kemble, Jacinta Toomey, Semper Editors. Jane Curtis, Annie Winter, Nick Saw, Marcus Salisbury, Greg Makowski, Lisa Pender, Cynthia Kennedy, Nicole Hills, Jen So enjoy the 'environnent' edition of Semper. We Seevinck, Kerry Woodcock, Helen Demidenko, Melissa Green, hope that it suits your aesthetic tastes and desires. Juzz 'sure', Darryl Rosin, Simon Kenny and Maleha Newaz. At (east it's clean. Front cover and inside back cover:* Karen Fendley. Middle pages:* Stephen Muller. luv Semper P.S. Sandy, we love you, come home soon. Transhumanism is the doctrine that we can and should become "more than human". A typical transhumanist wishlist might Include: physical immortality; a superior mind and body; access to the universe. These desires are hardly unique to the 20th century, but the transhumanists argue that for the first time they have become realistic prospects, because of our new technologies. The number-one item in the transhumanist toolbox is nanotechnology, or molecular engineering: the design and manufacture ol devices to atomic- scale precision (the size of atoms is measured in nanometers, hence the name). One molecule could act as a bearing, another as a motor or a memory register... it would be the ultimate form of miniaturization. Nanotechnology first hit the big time in 1986, with the publication oi Engines of Creation by K. Eric Drexler. Drexler, who coined the term, argues that eventually we will be able to create almost any arrangement of atoms consistent with natural law, through the use of "assemblers", molecular machines specialized for manufacturing. The ribosome of a cell, In which proteins are put together, is already a sort of assembler, and the existence of nature's own biotechnology is the best argument for the feasibility of nanotech. A cell is just a membrane filled with molecular machinery, say the nanotechnologlsts; if evolution can do it, why can't we? The ability to put atoms where you want to has major consequences. These include materials stronger and lighter than anything known, supercomputers smaller than sand grains ("nanocomputers"), "ceil TRANSHUMANISM repair machines" that can enter a cell and fix its DNA, "Santa Claus machines" which will make anything possible upon request (growing AND THE an android or a starship in your backyard from a soup of molecular components... These in turn could lead to abundance and long life for all, do-it-yourself space colonization, superhuman artificial intelligence, SINGULARITY and dangers worse than nuclear warfare. Already chemists can make pictures pushing atoms around on a surface, written by Mitch Porter artwork t^y Steven Muller arranging them Into stick figures or messages for world peace; and new drugs are designed through the use of molecular simulation software. Molecular technology and computer science will stimulate each other's advance: improved micromanufacturing techniques will mean smaller components and more powerful computers, which will accelerate the design of nanotechnology. When computers become smarter still, even the design process will be automated. Fast enough computers could do a million human- years of design work in a month, and use existing assemblers to build better assemblers... Drexler anticipates a period of rapid change in which all the indicators of technological progress climb superexponentially, culminating In a leap to the absolute technological limits. This process has been dubbed the "Singularity": a sort of overnight Industrial Revolution, an event marked essentially by the realization of new technologies, but accompanied by the endless ramifications of that change. Very quickly we would find ourselves In a world where all the possibilities listed above could be realized. Drexler's book is probably still the best attempt to prepare for such a time, and has something to say about all of them. Here I shall focus on just one possibility, Life Extension. One of the most basic spin-offs Is expected to be radical longevity. Complete rejuvenation should be possible, by using and augmenting the cell's own capacity for renewal. Ageing would no longer be synonymous with physical decline. For now, life extension is best achieved by diet and lifestyle modifications. |The purpose of Life is to But more powerful methods seem imminent. For decades it has been known S . M . 1-^2 . L . E . : Space Migration, that ordinary cells, taken from the body and grown in culture, will only Intelligence Increase, Life reproduce for a finite number of generations. Beyond this point, a cell can't reproduce, and eventually dies without being replaced. The l-layflick limit Extension.I (named for gerontologist Leonard Mayfiick, Its discoverer) places an upper bound on lifespan: even if you avoid other causes of death, your cells will -Timothy Leary one day reach the limit, and begin dying off. Molecular biologists may now have found the reason that the i-iayfiick limit exists. At the ends of each chromosome is a region called the telomere, which holds together the two strands of the DNA double helix. At each cellular division, the telomere becomes shorter. After thirty generations, the telomere is gone, and the double helix can unravel. If it truly is this simple, all we need Is a form of telomere repair, and this particular form of ageing can be eliminated. In fact, cancer cells are believed to derive their proliferative powers from a mutation which permits telomere repair. So if this mechanism can be harnessed safely, those who are now at risk of degenerative disease might make it into the 21st century (and here I paraphrase Judith Milhoun of MONDO 2000) "to die of something more interesting". Or never to die at all. Suppose life extension methods add twenty years to your life; you will then have access to another two decades' worth of progress in life extension. How many years will that add? And the process can repeat. "If you are around in 2010, you will have an excellent chance to live to the year 2030. If you are around in 2030 - regardless of your age - you will be able to live indefinitely into the future." - F.M. Esfandiary, Are You a Transhuman? Even if you aren't going to be around in 2010, you might be around in 2030, if you sign with a cryonics organization who will freeze you at death. The cryonicists are vowed to keep you on ice until such time as there are cell- repair machines to thaw you out and heal you of whatever killed you (and to grow you a new body, if you went economy-class and just froze your head, as some people do). Immortality has been an unrealized dream long enough for people to think of all sorts of reason why it shouldn't happen. Who's going to do the work, and support all the old people? Won't there be stagnation? Won't there be overpopulation? But the transhumanists have their re'ioinders: the "old people" will be physically and mentally vigorous, perhaps even more so than the undeveloped young, and so they'll be able to take care of themselves; and abundance and automation will do away with wage-slavery anyway.

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