ImmInst.Org
٭ Newsletter
September 2010
Message from the Chairman:
Well, holiday time is
certainly over now. I for one struggle to find time to waste-- certainly
on introductions. So, today I'd like to tell you about our new
'₮
points system'
that may revolutionise the way we present incentives for volunteering
and say thank you to those people who impress us, I'd like to invite you
to join us to at least one conference on life extension
at the beginning of October - in Brussels or in San Francisco.
And I'd like to crow with excitement about the success of our
science fundraising effort! I could talk for
hours about how this type of grass-roots, member reviewed and
co-ordinated life extension science makes me proud of out site, but...
next business looming... no time to waste.
Caliban
Oct.9th & 10th -- are you coming to Brussels... or to San Francisco?
The first full 'ImmInst' event in Europe is happening in
Brussels, Belgium next month. Confirmed speakers include Michael Rose, Aubrey de Grey,
Stephen Spindler, Leonid Gavrilov, Steven Coles, Paul McGlothin,
and Stephen Spindler.
This should be a great event with plenty of opportunity for networking,
getting to know ImmInst members and discussing future projects. We need to
know numbers so make sure you register NOW:
http://www.imminst2010.com/registernow.html
If you can't make it to Europe, maybe you are interested
in the conference on 'Personalised Life Extension' in San Francisco:
http://lifeextensionconference.com/
With speakers like Peter Thiel, Greg Fahy and Esther Dyson, the event should
be a real blast. Also it is organised by Christine Peterson, the President
of Foresight Institute who co-organised the Convergence Conference in
partnership with ImmInst last year. So, There is a discount code for ImmInst
members of $100!
Members check here for details.
During the Month of August ImmInst Members rallied to fund a research
project on mitochondrial uncoupling.
This project ticked all the important boxes:
- it investigates a crucial mechanism of how and why we age
- it may show the path towards practical interventions in the aging process
- it is small enough that your donation, every cent of which will be matched
by ImmInst, *will* make a real difference
- it is led by a reputable scientist who will respond to community questions
and update us periodically on the progress of the research
Read the research proposal here
We are incredibly proud to announce that the threshold amount has been
raised! Thanks to everyone who donated, and made this fundraiser a success.
Keep an eye out for regular updates from Jan Gruber and his team and for the
new research fundraiser, coming soon!
http://www.imminst.org/Research2010
In the past, this slot in the newsletter was reserved for announcing the winners of the volunteer prize system, randomly drawn each month. See this topic for all past volunteer prize winners.
That system was, by its nature a bit random and maybe not the fairest. So
this month, ImmInst has established a new system to recognise and reward
volunteers based on individual efforts. In fact, all Members can help with
this: users have 'Thank You' or '₮' points, a kind of virtual 'currency'
that they can either donate to others in appreciation, or redeem these
points at a 'virtual
store' for some small prizes or fun items.
At the moment, you can't 'buy' a lot in this store yet -- we want to get
some experience with the system and iron out some of the flaws before we
make it the centrepiece of a 'reputation economy'. But in time, this system
has great potential to allow us to say 'thank you' to those volunteers and
valued contributors at the site.
If you have other ideas or suggestions regarding new initiatives, please visit the ACTION forum to share your thoughts.