io9’s head honcho Annalee Newitz talks about the relationship of science fiction and technological innovation at Webstock09. “Just two decades ago, the Web and public internet were the stuff of science fiction. Creators like William Gibson, who coined the term “cyberspace” in his novel Neuromancer, helped define the terms of social life online, as well as inspiring many of the inventions (like smartphones) that we take for granted. But what is today’s science fiction telling us about where our technology will go tomorrow? I’ll talk about the stories today’s scifi creators are telling about the Web and internet, and how their ideas create a fantastical map of what people are seeking in their online lives.”

Annalee Newitz at Webstock 09 from Webstock on Vimeo.

Ohio State Political Science professor Alexander Wendt lectures on why he believes a one state world is inevitable.

Part One of a lengthy interview with IEET Managing Director Mike Treder.

Dr. J. chats with David Koepsell, Asst. Prof. of Philosophy, Delft University of Technology, about his book Who Owns You? The Corporate Gold Rush to Patent Your Genes. They discuss the absurd legal rationales for the patenting of the human genome, and disastrous consequences for biotech innovation that the patent mess has wrought. (MP3)

For all the ability of genes and even memes to battle for survival against one another, human beings are just as likely to share and cooperate as they are to cheat and compete. But the ascendance of market rhetoric in America and Britain was accompanied by the assertion of some decidedly antiromantic science. University anthropologists seemed determined to correct the hopeful impressions that so many still clung to of peaceful, vegetarian gorillas enjoying one another’s company in the jungle. Like stories of supposedly peaceful aboriginal tribes as yet untainted by corrupt Western civilization, such visions—according to the new social Darwinists—were pure fantasy.

Life Inc. Dispatch 05: Markets Love Selfish People from Douglas Rushkoff on Vimeo.

David Koepsell is an author, philosopher, and attorney whose recent research focuses on the nexus of science, technology, ethics, and public policy. He is Assistant Professor, Philosophy Section, Faculty of Technology, Policy, and Management at the Technology University of Delft, in The Netherlands, and Senior Fellow, 3TU Centre for Ethics and Technology, The Netherlands. He is also the author of The Ontology of Cyberspace: Philosophy, Law, and the Future of Intellectual Property, as well as numerous scholarly articles on law, philosophy, science, and ethics. His latest book is Who Owns You? The Corporate Gold Rush to Patent Your Genes.

In this interview with D.J. Grothe, David Koepsell discusses the implications of corporations patenting parts of the human genome, and how current patent practices negatively impact basic scientific research in genetics. He reviews the history of the practice of patenting genes and contrasts private ownership of gene sequences found in nature with that of the public ownership of the work of the Human Genome Project. He contrasts discovery with invention, and argues that patents should apply only to the latter. He details the relationship of human genes being patented with the practices of big agribusiness owning engineered crops, such as Monsanto’s “terminator corn.” He discusses the ACLU’s recent lawsuit against Myriad Genetics on behalf of scientists and cancer patients, and how it may lead to one of the most important legal battles in the history of biotechnology. He talks about “upstream” and “downstream” patents, and how this impacts genetic research. And he discusses various solutions currently proposed for the problems resulting from private ownership of naturally occurring gene sequences.

(MP3)

A “video time capsule” containing messages to future humans, artificial intelligences, and posthumans…

Jamais was interviewed on geoengineering by the Dutch group FreedomLab.

Here’s the first clip What is Geoengineering?:

Four more videos—The Geoengineering Dilemma, The Political Aspects of Geoengineering, Catastrophe or Radical Action?, and The Anthropocene and Human Responsibility—below the fold.

Jonathan Moreno on The use of neuroscience by the US military, Douglas Rushkoff on the need to train citizens in digital combat arts, the relationship of disgust sensitivity to conservatism, and Greg Beato’s defense of memory deletion in the participatory panopticon. (MP3)

Dr. J chats with Ed Klonoski, the president of Charter Oak State College, a leading distance learning innovator. They discuss the way students use online learning, the changing and emerging technologies, and the challenge of open sourcing education.  (MP3)