With a New Afterword
Must We Age?
Nearly all scientists who study the biology of aging agree that we will someday be able to substantially slow down the aging process, extending our productive, youthful lives. Dr. Aubrey de Grey is perhaps the most bullish of all such researchers. As has been reported in media outlets ranging from "60 Minutes" to "The New York Times," Dr. de Grey believes that the key biomedical technology required to eliminate aging-derived debilitation and death entirely--technology that would not only slow but periodically "reverse" age-related physiological decay, leaving us biologically young into an indefinite future--is now within reach.
In "Ending Aging," Dr. de Grey and his research assistant Michael Rae describe the details of this biotechnology. They explain that the aging of the human body, just like the aging of man-made machines, results from an accumulation of various types of damage. As with man-made machines, this damage can periodically be repaired, leading to indefinite extension of the machine's fully functional lifetime, just as is routinely done with classic cars. We already know what types of damage accumulate in the human body, and we are moving rapidly toward the comprehensive development of technologies to remove that -damage. By demystifying aging and its postponement for the nonspecialist reader, de Grey and Rae systematically dismantle the fatalist presumption that aging will forever defeat the efforts of medical science.

Advancing Conversations is a line of interview books documenting conversations with artists, authors, philosophers, economists, scientists, and activists whose works are aimed at the future and at progress. The biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey, as the world's pre-eminent longevity advocate, is nothing if not future oriented. De Grey is the founder of the SENS Research Foundation, an organization developing medical interventions to repair the damage the body does to itself over time. Stated more directly, Aubrey de Grey and his organization aim to defeat aging. In 2005 a panel of scientists and doctors from MIT, Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Microsoft, and the Venter Institute participated in a contest to judge whether de Grey's "Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence" were worthy of debate and verification or whether these ideas were wrong on their face. The panel found that de Grey's proposals for intervening in the aging process, while speculative, often "ran parallel to existing research" and were not "demonstrably wrong."

Medical Implications of Basic Research in Aging provides a sampling of the most important discoveries of the past several years relevant to aging research in the context of enhancing life- and healthspan. Have you ever wondered if there is anything that you can do to slow aging or prevent diseases associated with aging? Are you interested in enhancing your health based on the latest scientific discoveries? Are you a biohacker experimenting on your own body in an attempt to live longer? Assembled in this volume are a number of the commentaries that previously appeared in the scientific journal Rejuvenation Research. The presentations are clearly written and accessible to those with a general background in biology and medical science. An overview summarizes the articles for the informed layman. Thorough referencing provides an opportunity for further in-depth reading.

A description of the anthology DEATH AND ANTI-DEATH, VOLUME 5: THIRTY YEARS AFTER LOREN EISELEY (1907-1977) follows: Volume 5, as indicated by the anthology's subtitle, is in honor of Loren Eiseley (1907-1977). The chapters do not necessarily mention him. The chapters (by professional philosophers and other professional scholars) are directed to issues related to death, life extension, and anti-death. Most of the contributions consist of scholarship unique to this volume. As was the case with all previous volumes in the Death And Anti-Death Series By Ria University Press, the anthology includes an Index as well as an Abstracts section that serves as an extended table of contents. (With Volume 5, you will also find a new section entitled BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS.) The 17 chapter titles are as follows: 1. Asking The Unaskable Question - Do People Have The Right NOT To Die? (by Marcus Barber) ----- 2. Deadly Economics: Reflections On The Neoclassical Paradigm (by Giorgio Baruchello) ----- 3. A Frozen Future? Cryonics As A Gamble (by Gregory Benford) ----- 4. Three Big Problems (by Nick Bostrom and Rebecca Roache) ----- 5. A World Of Exception: Exploring The Thought Of Loren Eiseley (by Marcus Bussey) ----- 6. Knowledge And Death: Return To The Garden (by Harry Hillman Chartrand) ----- 7. Is It Safe For A Biologist To Support Cryonics Publicly? (by Aubrey D.N.J. de Grey) ----- 8. Taking The Defeat Of Aging Seriously: The Time Is Now (by Aubrey D.N.J. de Grey) ----- 9. Choosing Death In Cases Of Anorexia Nervosa - Should We Ever Let People Die From Anorexia? (by Simona Giordano) ----- 10. Technologies Don't Die (by Kevin Kelly) ----- 11. Intimate Moments Among The Dead: Death And Time In The Work Of Loren Eiseley (by Lawrence Kimmel) ----- 12. No Turning Back: Past-Directed Time Travel Is Scientifically Unlikely, Though Virtual Alternatives May Still Offer Solace (by R. Michael Perry) ----- 13. Embodiments Of Paradise: Symbolism Of Death As Existential Mastery In Jihadism (by Arthur Saniotis) ----- 14. On Death And Dying: Summing Up At 70 (by Arthur B. Shostak) ----- 15. Once Upon A Time (by Stanley Shostak) ----- 16. Teleological Causes And The Possibilities Of Personhood (by Charles Tandy) ----- 17. Terrestrial Peoples, Extraterrestrial Persons (by Charles Tandy) ----- ----- The TITLE of the anthology is: Death And Anti-Death, Volume 5: Thirty Years After Loren Eiseley (1907-1977). It's EDITOR is: Charles Tandy, Ph.D. It's ISBN is: 978-1-934297-02-5. It's PUBLISHER is: Ria University Press. It's DISTRIBUTOR is: Ingram.

Why do representatives of different religious traditions find the transhumanist vision of the future not only theologically compatible but even inspiring? Transhumanism is a global movement seeking radical human enhancement. The trans in transhumanism marks the transition from the present stage in human evolution into the future, namely, post-human existence. Containing chapters written by adherents to a variety of religious traditions, Religious Transhumanism and Its Critics provides first-hand testimony to the value of the transhumanist vision perceived by the religious mind. In addition, the contributors critique both secular and religious transhumanism in light of realistic science and commitment to social justice.