15 replies to this topic

[Mind]

I have an upcoming podcast scheduled with Aubrey De Grey of the SENS Foundation. He recently spoke at the Alcor40 conference and had some interesting updates regarding the SENS research program.

The podcast will be recorded at 2100 GMT on Wednesday November 7th. If you have any questions about SENS, the research they are doing, or future programs, please post them here in the forum.

Attached Files

•  de-grey1.jpg   34.01KB   1 downloads

Edited by Mind, 21 April 2013 - 01:15 PM.

[The Immortalist]

Can you please ask him about this online course the SENS foundation is creating? http://www.sens.org/node/3123

[Mind]

Can you please ask him about this online course the SENS foundation is creating? http://www.sens.org/node/3123

I sure will! You can also listen to this recent podcast to get a few more preliminary details about it.

[Mind]

This podcast has been postponed until next week. That gives you more time to post some questions for Aubrey

[Brafarality]

Cool. Aubrey de Grey is subject to urban legends in the life extension community the same way a rumor/legend went around that Dan Marino had dizzy spells during the 1984 super bowl, if you have pop rocks with soda you can explode and die, and similar fare in the general community. In this case, it's that Mr. de Grey scored the highest on some biomarkers test, that he has the shortest telomeres, or that he already made some breakthrough but is keeping it under wraps for now, and so on.

But, he is a very interesting person, a genuine eccentric in the hyper-best of ways, and I hope to offer at least one meaningful question to consider before the podcast. Great job!

Edited by Brafarality, 13 November 2012 - 04:16 AM.

[Lothar]

Here in Germany we have two sayings, I think they are known in English too: "Truth is concrete!" and "The Devil is in the details!" So I want to know his latest views about the timelines of SENS: Is he still thinking that we have a 50% chance of reaching human escape velocity in 25 years, based on enough funding of 100 Million Dollars a year for ten years (to reach first robust mouse rejuvenation with a 90% chance)? Have the prospects improved in the last years, have they become worse or are they the same?

Second question: How confident is he to get this financial support in the next 5-10 years, especially in the context of global economic crisis? Any special plans, (media-)strategies, initiatives in the nearer future he could speak about? Where is he seeing now the main players, the significant institutions, the relevant target groups after more than ten years of activism?

Third question: Am I right, if I'm saying that the extent of overall support and deriving donations depends on the motivation for the overcoming of aging in general and that all kinds of questions of the desirability of longevity/regenerative medicine or the connected common objections(*) are no questions of scientific or medical feasibility but have a preceding logic of its own: psychological and sociological, political and economical, cultural and ethical, philosophical and spiritual...?

(*like boredom, overpopulation, the tithonus error, "aging is natural", "I don't want to work forever", "extreme longevity is only for the rich", "I don't want to live in a destroyed world", ethical objections, religious attitudes and so on and so on. These objections in the context of desirability represent more than 90% of all discussions in every comment section under every article in the global mainstream media about Aubrey de Grey, SENS and related topics!?)

[Musli]

I'd like to hear some more details about this Telomere Biology Group Leader they're looking for.
Also if there is anything known about next year's SENS conference (SENS6). It's a long way to September 2013, but still - some speakers may already be known, for example.
And since the year is slowly approaching its end, I'd love to hear Aubrey's summary of this year's progress in SENS and longevity medicine/biotech in general. What breakthroughs (if there's anything he considers a breakthough) does he consider the most significant? And, of course, SENSF's plans for 2013 (changes in funding, new initiatives, expansion of current initiatives, etc.).

Edited by Musli, 13 November 2012 - 09:31 PM.

[Mind]

Great questions everyone. The podcast should be soon and hopefully we will get some great answers.

[Mind]

Sorry, postponed again until next week. Aubrey is a busy guy of course, but he always keeps his word, so we will hear from him eventually.

[The Immortalist]

Sorry, postponed again until next week. Aubrey is a busy guy of course, but he always keeps his word, so we will hear from him eventually.

I have some more very important questions for Aubrey de Grey:

1. How long did it take you to grow your beard?

2. Do you shampoo and condition your beard?

3. Do you dry it with a blow dryer and if so how long does it take to completely dry?

4. Does it ever get itchy?

5. Does it ever get caught on anything?

[Mind]

Those are some interesting questions Immortalist. Things I have always wondered as well. Unfortunately, I didn't see your post until after the interview. I apologize. I don't think I could have fit an off-beat personal question in anyway.

The interview is done. A lot of great information. I don't think I will get it edited until next week though because I have a lot of other things going on.

[Mind]

File Name: http://www.Longecity.org/media/LongeCityPodcast_DeGrey2012_A01.mp3
File Submitter: Mind
File Submitted: 01 Dec 2012
File Category: Podcasts

An interview with Aubrey DeGrey of the SENS Foundation. Topics range from current SENS research, future SENS research, job opportunities at SENS, persuading more people to support life extension, and future conferences.

Click here to download this file

Edited by Mind, 04 December 2012 - 06:14 PM.

[Mind]

Once again, I apologize for the less than stellar audio in this particular interview. If there is something that you cannot discern, please feel free to ask me about it.

The main theme is that SENS needs funds. They have a lot of research lined up, but it is just "sitting on the shelf". Aubrey mentioned that their current funding is not tied to economic cycles so the ongoing recession in the developed world should not hold them back much.

SENS 6 conference will be September 3rd through the 7th 2013 in Cambridge England.

I was able to ask all of the questions offered in this thread, so have a listen for the answers.

[LucidMind]

My question will be with regards to safe guarding major advancements in rejuvenation therapy in the near or long term future from what I would call religious fundamentalist terrorists.

This is one of my main fears regarding signing up for Alcor for instance and as the technology gets closer for bringing someone back someone destroys the whole facility and all Neuro preserved specimens because they feel that it does not fit with God's plans in their distorted view of morality.

This could also apply to therapies and research work that are in trial and have the potential to be destroyed by these threats or even the doctors and researchers themselves being targeted similar to how abortion doctors have been. I think for a significant minority of the population with such religious fundamentalist views
there is a real risk involved as the technology and science shows that we are arriving at a closer "cure" for aging and therefore avoiding death and the "so called afterlife."

One can bring to mind the scene in Contact regarding the religious suicide bomber who destroys the first space wormhole machine because it was going against God's plans.

My main question to Aubrey is how real he sees this as a threat and what steps the life extension community can take take to safeguard against this threat. I believe that this technology will cause a revolution in for humanity's progress but Unfortunately I see this technology becoming even more divisive then the abortion debates we have been having for some time in the United States; potentially causing violent reactions amongst religious fundamentalists as the technology becomes more probable to being implemented.

Thank you

[Mind]

I don't think SENS research will come under terrorist threat anytime soon. SENS research is more along the lines of "curing disease", which a very accepted, even among very religious people. Cryonics is a different story because it goes straight to the heart of "immortality" and conflicts with many fundamentalist religious teachings. As far as I am aware, the major cryonics organizations have considered security threats. They do have plans to protect from some forms of terrorism.

[Mind]

I was alerted to a misspelling in the download link which made it impossible to download. It should be corrected now.