Editor in Chief: J. Hughes - secretary@transhumanism.org
Managing Editor: Christopher Camp - CCamp@OMM.com
--------------------------------------------------
WTA News is a monthly e-newsletter of the World
Transhumanist Association, a non-profit organization
dedicated to the study of and advocacy for the use
of technology to overcome the limitations of the
human body.

To submit news about your chapter or affiliate,
or about transhumanism in general, please send
it to Managing Editor Christopher Camp <CCamp@OMM.com>.
--------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS:

Events
Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology
and Cognitive Science NBIC Conference 2002
February 5-7, 2003 UCLA

"World Futures: The Science of Humanity in the Epoch of Technology"
Friday, February 21, 2003 - 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Thompson Center at New York University

WTA News
Clones, Raelians and Bioethical debate
New WTA Board Members
Tanshumanist Powerpoint Archive

News From the Field
Toronto: TTA - Toronto Transhumanist Association
New York: NYTA - New York Transhumanist Association
Chicago Transhumanists
More from Chicago

New Chapters Organizing
Venezuelan Transhumanist Association
Transhumanist Association of Nigeria
WTA-Africa: Discussion List for African Transhumanists

News from Friends and Affiliates
Betterhumans Continues to Grow
Extropians Announce New President
Center for Responsible Nanotechnology

Things to Read and Watch
New in Transhumanity
New in Betterhumans
Juvenews

--------------------------------------------------------
EVENTS

"World Futures: The Science of Humanity in the Epoch of Technology"

http://www.incipientposthuman.com/symposium.htm
Friday, February 21, 2003 - 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Thompson Center at New York University

Sponsored and organized by: Colleges Against Cancer, NYU Chapter
with the participation of: The New York Transhumanist Association
(NYTA)

FREE ADMISSION! DINNER INCLUDED!
Attendance is limited to 125 persons - RSVP REQUIRED - Email:
hrp205@nyu.edu to attend
NOTE: Picture ID required for admittance!

TOPICS TO BE ADDRESSED INCLUDE:
- Human life extension
- Environmental challenges and responses
- Directed evolution of humanity
- Morphological freedom
- Future definitions of "human"

Please join us in learning about and discussing the Science of
Humanity in the Epoch of Technology!

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
hrp205@nyu.edu - Hatuna R. Pokrovskaia, Founder and President of
Colleges Against Cancer; Director of Science and Technology Research,
New York Transhumanist Association


NBIC CONFERENCE 2002: CONVERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING HUMAN
PERFORMANCE
February 5-7, UCLA
http://www.infocastinc.com/NBIC/nbic.asp

The convergence of nanoscience, biotechnology, information technology
and cognitive science ("NBIC") offers immense opportunities for the
improvement of human abilities, social outcomes, the nation's
productivity and its quality of life; it also represents a major new
frontier in research and development. More information on the
conference can be found at http://www.infocastinc.com/NBIC/nbic.asp.

The original report can be found as a pdf file and is worth a look -
http://wtec.org/ConvergingTechnologies/


TRANSVISION 2003 USA - Submission Deadline Nears

The Transvision conference is really coming together nicely. More
than fifty papers will be presented, and a conference program will be
put up shortly. The keynote event will be a debate between Greg
Stock, author of Redesigning Humans, and bioethicist George Annas,
proponent of an international treaty to make human genetic
modification a "crime against humanity." Some other notable speakers
include
- Greg Pence Ph.D., author of Whose Afraid of Human Cloning?
- Alice Dreger Ph.D., author Hermaphrodites and the Medical
Invention of Sex
- Steve Mann Ph.D., Univ. of Toronto and inventor of WearComp and
WearCam
- Natasha Vita-More, Director, Transhumanist Arts and Culture
- Gregor Wolbring Ph.D., Director International Center for Bioethics,
Culture and Disability
- Jose Cordeiro, Venezuelan economist and author of The Great Taboo
- Nick Bostrom Ph.D., Oxford Univ., WTA Chair, and author of
Anthropic Bias
- Eliezer Yudkowsky, Research fellow at the Singularity Institute for
Artificial Intelligence
- Mark Walker Ph.D., Editor Journal of Evolution and Technology
- Simon Smith, Editor Betterhumans magazine
and many more

People are registering for the conference from as far away as Ghana.
If you would like to present a paper at the conference review the
submission criteria at
http://www.transhumanism.org/tv/2003usa/call.htm , and get in your
proposal as soon as possible.

To register for the TV03USA conference and the June 26 seminar go to:
http://www.transhumanism.org/tv/2003usa/registration.htm

----------------------------------------------------------

WTA NEWS


CLONES, RAELIANS AND TRANSHUMANIST THEMES SET THE STAGE FOR 2003

The weeks leading up to and directly following the new year were
dominated by a radical and scientifically questionable press
release. This press release spawned a series of international
debates and created a surge of activity within transhumanist
circles. Both the World Transhumanist Association and the Toronto
Transhumanist Association responded to the news with their own press
releases. Both can be found here
http://www.transhumanism.org/resources/cloning.htm In addition to
the press releases a number of articles have been written by
Transhumanists that address cloning and other bioethical issues that
are increasingly being debated in popular media and by the general
public. Links to these articles
can be found below.


WTA OFFICERS

The following people have been elected to serve a new term (2003-
2005) on the WTA Board

Mike LaTorra NM USA
B.J. Klein AL USA
Giulio Prisco Spain
Mike Treder NJ USA
Theo Ibrahim London UK

For more information on them and the other board members:
http://www.transhumanism.org/board.htm


TRANSHUMANIST POWERPOINT ARCHIVE

J. Hughes has prepared a basic Powerpoint presentation "Introduction
to Transhumanism":
http://www.transhumanism.org/resources/Introduction%20to%
20Transhumanism.ppt

The WTA now like to start collecting Powerpoint presentations on TH
topics to distribute from the WTA website. Please PPT presentations
on nanotechnology, genetic engineering, cryonics, the Singularity,
and related topics to secretary@transhumanism.org, and check back for
the archive at: http://www.transhumanism.org/resources/resources.htm

----------------------------------------------------------

NEWS FROM THE FIELD

TORONTO TRANSHUMANIST ASSOCIATION

With the holidays, the Toronto Transhumanist Association cut back its
activities. But this didn't stop us from issuing press releases and
submitting letters to local media outlets following the Raelians'
dubious cloning announcement. For 2003, the TTA plans to become more
professional and sponsor several public talks on such topics as
cryonics and cyborgs. We also aim to expand our membership and are
currently seeking a membership recruiter.


NEW YORK TRANSHUMANIST ASSOCIATION

On January 16 the NYTA held a meeting featuring Arnell Dowret. Mr.
Dowret is one of the leaders of the Center for Inquiry's NY chapter
(http://www.cfi-metrony.com/). CFI is a secular humanist
organization. Mr. Dowret talked about how transhumanism can
incorporate and build on the best parts of humanism. His website can
be found at http://www.onewitheverything.org


CHICAGO TRANSHUMANISTS

The Chicago Transhumanist Chapter has emerged, and the organizers
plan to complete the operating documents that will make it official
within the next six months. The group plans to hold monthly meetings
for discussion and recreation, elect officers to maintain the
organization, network with related groups and individuals in the
area, create clubs on local campuses and eventually facilitate any
special projects individuals within the group want to take on.


MORE FROM CHICAGO

A Humanist group in the western suburbs of Chicago has been
discussing Transhumanism intermittently. The group is based in a
Unitarian Universalist Church. One of the subjects recently posted
was the agenda of the UU leader to add belief in God to the Church's
principles, which is, of course, upsetting to longtime humanistic
UUsts. Ben Hyink is planning to attend one of the monthly meetings in
an effort to give some insights into the WTA and the transhumanist
movement.

Here's their yahoo site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Humanists-
WestSuburbanOfChicagoland


-----------------------------------------------------------

NEW CHAPTERS ORGANIZING

VENEZUELAN TRANSHUMANIST ASSOCIATION

Venezuelans take time from domestic troubles to start WTA chapter.
Santiago Ochoa [mbsistemas@cantv.net} and Jose Cordeiro
[jose_cordeiro@yahoo.com], both in Caracas, want to start a
Venezuelan chapter of the World Transhumanist Association.

TRANSHUMANIST ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA

The Nigerian Chapter of the World Transhumanist Association will hold
their inaugural meeting from Monday, the 27th of January 2003 until
January 30, 2003. The Chapter Coordinator, Innocent Ogu states that
the commissioning will include dignitaries from Government
ministries, Institutions, Private bodies and International
organizations. The meeting would be declared open by the Vice
Chancellor, University of Port Harcourt Dr. Nime Briggs while His
Royal Highness, Eze J. N. Nwala JP and his Royal members would be the
Fathers of the Day. The Nigerian Chapter of the association seeks
encouragements, comments, and moral support towards our vision.

AFRICA

WTA-Africa is established to bring together African Thists. This
list is for all Africans interested in the World Transhumanist
Association to discuss topics relevant to transhumanism, and the
activities of the WTA. To participate go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wta-africa/


-----------------------------------------------------------
NEWS FROM FRIENDS AND AFFILIATES

BETTERHUMANS

www.betterhumans.com

Betterhumans continues growing and expanding its offering to serve
the Transhumanist community. We have dramatically increased our
production of news articles and coverage of events, forcing us to
launch a daily newsletter in addition to our weekly newsletter. We
also welcomed aboard Philip Shropshire, a veteran writer on science
and science fiction, to write book reviews and a column called Red
Hour Orgy. Finally, we were proud to become a media sponsor of
Transvision 2003.


EXTROPY INSTITUTE

http://www.extropy.org/

Extropy Institute elects new President!

Max More has stepped down from his long-term position as President of
Extropy Institute. Having held this position for many years, Max More
will continue to be deeply involved in the direction and development
of ExI in his new position as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Unanimously elected as the new President of Extropy Institute is
superlongevity advocate and cultural catalyst Natasha Vita-More.
Natasha joined Extropy Institute in 1992 after a decade of
spearheading many futurist projects and writings along with the
success of Transhumanist Arts & Culture, and the recent founding of
Progress Action Network.

Greg Burch was re-elected Vice President. Greg has been a strong
voice of reason and provoking spokesperson for Extropy Institute, as
noted in his talk at Extro 5. Mark Miller and Robert Bradbury, were
re-elected to the Board. Extropy Institute looks forward to working
with the expertise of both Mark and Robert in developing new business
strategies, a top-notch Extro 6 Conference, and building our Advisory
Council and affiliates.

Extropy Institute applauds Max More for his many years as President.
Max unquestionably set an unparalleled example of quality, honesty
and panache in his many years as President. Not only is Max one of
the most intellectual and rational thinkers in the transhumanist
movement, he is also one of the leading experts on the future. His
philosophy has given many thousands of people throughout the world a
basis for values in a world that is constantly changing. His
leadership qualities have forever engrained in the minds of
extropians and other transhumanists what it means to be devoted to a
goal in life and to set out, step by step, pursing such goal. It was
his hard work and determination throughout the 1980's, 1990's and
into the 21st Century that brought transhumanity to the world
movement it is today.

Extropy Chat: Jan 25, 2002 2:00 PM EDT

Extropians chat takes place on ExI's own IRC server, at
irc.extropy.org:6667, channel #extropy . If you don't already have an
IRC client program, you can either download one from
http://www.irchelp.org/

(which also has good introductions for new users), or use a Java chat
applet at http://www.extropy.org/bbs/


CENTER FOR RESPONSIBLE NANOTECHNOLOGY

A new non-profit organization has been formed to advance the safe use
of molecular nanotechnology. The Center for Responsible
NanotechnologyT (CRN) was founded by Chris Phoenix and Mike Treder in
December 2002. The vision of CRN is a world in which nanotechnology
is widely used for productive and beneficial purposes, and where
malicious uses are limited by effective administration of the
technology.

CRN President Mike Treder, a member of the WTA Board of Directors and
a business professional with a background in technology and
communications company management, is both optimistic and cautious
about the implications of advanced nanotechnology. "Since the 1980's,
when Eric Drexler wrote Engines of Creation, many of us have dreamed
of a world with cheap, non-polluting, innovative manufacturing
capability," says Treder. "That dream is now within sight-but so is
the nightmare of accidental or deliberate misuse."

Nanotechnology refers to the concept of building complicated machines
out of precisely designed molecules. With devices only a few
nanometers wide, it will become possible to build a supercomputer
smaller than a grain of sand; a weapon smaller than a mosquito; a
self-contained factory that sits on a kitchen counter.

Chris Phoenix, CRN's Director of Research, is an inventor,
entrepreneur, and published author in the fields of nanomedicine,
nanomanufacturing, and administration of nanotechnology. "We believe
that even a technology as powerful as nanotechnology can be used
wisely and well-but that without adequate information, unwise use
will be far too common," says Phoenix. "The humanitarian potential is
vast, and opportunities for economic benefit are astronomical, but so
is the potential for abuse."

In order to provide well-grounded and complete information, CRN is
researching all the issues involved-political, economic, military,
humanitarian, and technological-and will devise and present workable
proposals. "We see our role primarily as educational," says
Phoenix. "The problems are large, but we are finding good solutions.
The more we investigate, however, the more urgency we see. Practical
molecular nanotechnology may not be far away and we must not be
caught unprepared."

"The potential dangers are ominous, and the possible benefits are
enormous," says Treder. "The human race can't afford to do this
wrong."

The Center for Responsible NanotechnologyT is headquartered in New
York. CRN is an affiliate of World CareR, an international, non-
profit, 501(c)3 organization. For more information on CRN, see
www.CRNano.org.

-----------------------------------------------
THINGS TO READ AND WATCH

NEW IN TRANSHUMANITY

www.transhumanism.com

Change Surfing #5 - The Future of the Human Genome, by James Hughes

Fifty years ago James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the
structure of DNA. Within the next 10 years we will begin to cure
dozens of diseases with gene therapies and gene-based vaccines.
Within 50 years genetics will converge with other rapidly evolving
sciences, such as nanotechnology and artificial intelligence, to
permit us to control our bodies and brains in unimaginable ways. As
our abilities grow so has the debate...


Human Reproductive Cloning from the Perspective of the Future, by
Nick Bostrom

Imagine that you are one of the human clones that will be born. And
imagine yourself listening in to the current arguments for making
cloning illegal. Such an imaginary point-of-view helps us put things
in perspective.


Eternal City Grapsody #1 - Mythology for Transhumans, by Amara Graps

Transhumanism needs mythologies for it to succeed. If long-lived
human beings don't have a mythic framework to inform and inspire
their lives, I think that transhumans will go insane.



NEW IN BETTERHUMANS

www.betterhumans.com

Sign up for Betterhumans' daly newslleter of transhumanist news:

http://www.betterhumans.com/Newsletter/index.aspx?action=Subscribe

Redesigning Human Bioethics By George Dvorsky
While making it possible, scientists have been shy about promoting
human genetic reengineering. But times are changing.

Rewriting Humanity By Simon Smith
Our stories shape our future. So why are we letting religious groups,
environmentalists and the mainstream media create such a horrible
plot?

Fight For Your Right To Evolve By Philip Shropshire
Getting that glowing green skin is going to take as much political
science as biological science.

The Battle For Biotech By Philip Shropshire
Their means might be different, but conservative bioethicists and the
Unabomber have similar goals


JUVENEWS

A free news web site and free twice-monthly newsletter focusing on
the biology of aging:
www.juvenews.com

---------------------------------------------------

ABOUT THE WTA

The World Transhumanist Association is a nonprofit membership
organization, which works to promote discussion of the possibilities
for radical improvement of human capacities using genetic, cybernetic
and nanotechnologies. The WTA is growing faster than ever, and we
invite you to join us in this important work. You may also enroll in
one of our discussion lists and join one of our local WTA chapters,
which can be found in countries and languages all over the world. The
WTA speakers bureau can provide someone to answer questions on the
transhumanist perspective to the media or to your group. Also, take a
look at our Journal of Evolution and Technology and our new ezine
Transhumanity.

Join us in working for a brighter future!

http://www.transhumanism.org/join.htm