Best of H+ Magazine, Vol. 1 is edited by counterculture legend R.U. Sirius, and brought to you by futurist organization Humanity+. It is our great privilege to live in an era when H+ - the extension of humanity beyond its traditional biological form - is not merely fantasy but a reasonable description of the practical, everyday unfolding of science and technology. H+ Magazine has provided a venue for edgy, creative thinking about H+ technologies and ideas since it was founded in 2008. This volume collects some of the best H+ Magazine articles from the magazine's first few years, when it was edited by legendary futurist R.U. Sirius.
Table of Contents Preface by Ben Goertzel Preface by R.U. Sirius The Rise of the Citizen Scientist Why DIY Bio? Re-Engineering the Human Immune System Self Tracking: The Quantified Life is Worth Living From Hackerspace to Your Garage Scrapheap Transhumanism DIY RFID Radically Enhanced Human Body Our Machines/Ourselves: AI/Bots/The Singularity Ray Kurzweil: The H+ Interview Brain on a Chip: A Roundup of Projects Working on Silicon Intelligence The Chinese Singularity Build an Optimal Scientist, Then Retire Here Come the Neurobots: Brain Bots are Developing Personalities - and a Whole Lot More Can "Terminators" Actually Be Our Salvation Chronic Citizen: Jonathan Lethem on P.K. Dick Isn't It Time for Cinematic Sci-Fi Television? Let a Hundred Futures Bloom The Reluctant Transhumanist Was Michael Jackson a Transhumanist? Gene Genies: BIO Adventures in Synthetic Biology: Interview with Stanford's Drew Endy Eight Ways In-Vitro Meat Will Change Our Lives One Atom at a Time: Nano How Close Are We to Real Nanotechnology? Targeting Cancer Cells with Nanoparticles Engineering an End to Aging Smart Biology to the Rescue I Am Ironman : HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) Cybernetic Suit My New Sense Organ Sports Enhancement and Life Enhancement: Different Rules Apply Botox Parties, Michael Jackson, and the Disillusioned Transhumanist This is Your Brain on Neurotechnology Optogenetics: The Edge of Neural Control Cognitive Commodities in the Neuro Marketplace Will We Eventually Upload Our Minds? Transhumanism at Play Gamification: Turning Work Into Play The Perils of FDS Fun Deficiency Syndrome The Pursuit of Crappiness

Transhumanism is an international movement that advocates the use of science and technology to overcome the "natural" limitations experienced by humanity. Beyond ending aging, gaining greater intelligence, and conquering the stars, many transhumanists look forward to a plethora of other alterations to what has been the ordinary human condition, among them:
the Singularity--the creation of machine intelligences that exceed the capacities of our biological brainsradical robotics and the end of economic scarcity and boring laborthe ability to replicate individual minds and put them into solid-state bodies or virtual environmentsimproved physiological strength, sexual pleasure, and the intentional mutation of the human bodythe ever-increasing interconnectedness and empowerment of humans via ever-faster and more powerful communications technology and, with it, the potential for vastly more productive and creative group mindsindividual control over mental and emotional states for enhancing functionalities and/or ecstasies

Some of this is happening now. Some of it is still in the minds of dreamers. In nearly ninety A-Z entries, Transcendence provides a multi-layered look at the accelerating advances in artificial intelligence, cognitive science, genomics, information technology, nanotechnology, neuroscience, space exploration, synthetic biology, robotics, and virtual worlds. Entries range from Cloning and Cyborg Feminism, to Designer Babies to Memory-Editing Drugs. In addition, the book notes historical predecessors and personalities, both in mythology and history--ranging from Methusala to Timothy Leary to Ray Kurzwiel. It also introduces the culture around Transhumanism, covering all the geeky obsessions of the Transhumanist movement.