Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies

Wealth is a strong predictor of life expectancy even with a national health service. But a national health service is better for everyone's life expectancy.

Lab grown human spinal cord heals after injury in major breakthrough Researchers have built a realistic human mini spinal cord in the lab and used it to simulate traumatic injury. The model reproduced key damage seen in real spinal cord injuries, including inflammation...

Lab grown spinal cords were central to the Star Trek Next Gen story "Ethics." www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...

In Philippine Slums, Capturing Light In A Bottle For poor families in the Philippines, electrical bills are a huge burden. But an old soda bottle, filled with water and bleach, can be turned into a 55-watt bulb with the help of the tropical sun.

www.npr.org/2011/12/28/1...

Old Pete always seemed rather sweaty, incoherent and terrified to be any kind of "philosopher-king" to my mind but Ive realized the tech elites of the world have significantly lower standards for who they embrace as their "intelligentsia"

A psychedelic quickly reduced depression (in patients with major depression disorder) in a small, double-blind placebo randomized trial
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Plus a new review on the science of psychedelic medicine
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Since its invention in the 16th century, the idea of 'Utopia' has carried an inherent ambiguity. Suspended between reality and fiction, the emancipatory and the fatal, two conflicting meanings have clung to the word, as visions of utopia are making a comeback. creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/...

Technoprog Transhumanism A Conversation with Marc Roux

In the episode of Bread and Robots, "Technoprog Transhumanism," Matteo and Marc Roux dismantle the cliché that transhumanism is merely a playground for Silicon Valley billionaires seeking digital immortality.
breadandrobots.substack.com/p/technoprog...

How Do Technoprogressives Understand Social Change? Reflecting on the rise of fascism and the Epstein class through the lens of post-Marxist and technoprogressive social theory

What can technoprogressives learn from debates about the nature of power in society? Does money make the world go around, or money and sex and other stuff? What role does technology play in social change? ieet.substack.com/p/how-do-tec...

Thought of the day: They Live had it completely backwards.

We're heading for a future where only the people wearing the special glasses are fully immersed in a landscape of propaganda and corporate mindfucks and the rest of us can glimpse the truth

The image features a gradient background transitioning from pink to blue. Text reads "Introducing the Trans Bill of Rights" with an icon of a paper and pen.

A colorful infographic titled "What is the Trans Bill of Rights?" outlines four points with icons: protections from employment and housing discrimination, equal access to medical treatment without discrimination, legal recognition of gender identity, and the right to use restrooms aligning with a person's gender identity.

ICYMI: I introduced my Trans Bill of Rights with @markey.senate.gov — legislation to defend trans people across this country as Republicans continue to push anti-trans rhetoric and bills.

To our beloved trans community: We see you, we love you, and we will always stand with you.

Why haven’t humans been back to the moon in over 50 years? | CNN Humans haven’t been back to the lunar surface since the Apollo moon program ended over five decade ago. The reasons why go beyond science, according to experts.

'Cause it's haunted

www.cnn.com/2026/02/13/s...

Why Transgender People Are Not Feeling Gavin Newsom We have seen this song and dance before.

There seems to be a lot of discussion about Gavin Newsom today.

I wanted to re-share this piece that I wrote, because I have a lot of center-to-left Dems that follow me that want to understand.

There are very good reasons transgender people do not like Gavin Newsom.

Who We Are: Gender Ideology | City Journal Podcast Leor Sapir and Rafael Mangual dive into one of the most polarizing issues of our time: gender ideology. They explore how gender discourse evolved over the past decade, including cultural and policy sh...

How gender discourse evolved over the past decade, including cultural and policy shifts during the Obama administration, and how these developments reshaped institutions, media narratives, and social norms.
www.city-journal.org/multimedia/w...

No policies will return us to replacement level fertility. Instead we need to “develop a sustainable response to demographic change by adapting and investing in the populations and institutions we have rather than chasing unattainable population targets.”
thehill.com/opinion/heal...

Is Big Tech Trying to Shut Down Democracy? Big Tech companies are increasingly bypassing democratic systems to build deregulated spaces for controlling human existence. But in the struggle for ‘digital sovereignty’, countries like Brazil are e...

Big Tech companies are increasingly bypassing democratic systems to build deregulated spaces for controlling human existence. But countries like Brazil are struggling for ‘digital sovereignty.’ tribunemag.co.uk/2026/02/is-b...

Electrodes on the scalp sent current to the frontal and parietal lobes of the brain to synchronize gamma wave rhythms. Brain stimulation nudged participants’ unselfish preferences, making them consider their partner more when weighing each money offer. www.usnews.com/news/health-...

AI rights and responsibilities. The discourse on AI personhood must move beyond the ethics of inclusivity to a rigorous defense of democratic accountability...a social contract where rights are never detached from duties. jeet.ieet.org/index.php/ho...

Mamdani Hires Groundbreaking Computer Scientist as Chief Tech Officer

Mamdani has brought on Lisa Gelobter as NYC's CTO. She's a computer scientist who developed the technology used to create GIFs. She will oversee cybersecurity, data management and the city’s technology infrastructure, and improve digital access to essential services. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/n...

A Chinese team developed a stretchable, flexible microelectrode that can dynamically adapt to brain motion, addressing a bottleneck in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology in which electrodes are prone to displacement and retraction during brain movement. www.globaltimes.cn/page/202602/...

Inside the lab where scientists want to rewrite our DNA from scratch Artificial biological intelligence could change humanity forever. Chris Stokel-Walker reports

For @standard.co.uk.web.brid.gy I interviewed Adrian Woolfson about his lab that has grand visions of overhauling DNA from the ground up - and why bioengineering isn't something to be feared, but does need to be talked about www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/la...

Selling AI to the left Britain’s government makes the union-friendly case for artificial intelligence. Progressives take note

Britain’s government makes the union-friendly case for artificial intelligence. Progressives take note. www.economist.com/britain/2026...

Palantir made $1.8 billion in 2025 by helping ICE deport people How surveillance company Palantir made record profits helping the Trump administration with 'unusual operations.'

If you've had a loved one stolen from you or a neighbor disappeared, it's thanks, in part, to Palantir's ImmigrationOS surveillance platform—a software solution for finding, tracking, and deporting individuals from within America's borders. boingboing.net/2026/02/10/p...

Tech Talks with Europe.

In the latest Tech Talks with Europe, CDT Europe’s David Klotsonis & CDT US’ Aliya Bhatia unpack transatlantic debates on minors’ safety — from platform design & recommender systems to the risks + trade-offs of age assurance. cdt.org/insights/tec...

If Scientists Ever Find Strong Evidence of Alien Life, Communicating It Will Pose Serious Issues If we were to ever find alien life, breaking the news to the general public could be much more difficult than one might think.

It's not nearly as easy as one might think.

Is India about to make Ozempic-like weight-loss drugs a whole lot cheaper? | CNN On any given morning in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park, power-walkers circle the running track, fitness watches buzzing with every step. Minutes later, some drift toward nearby food stalls, where oil sizzles a...

India will be making cheap generic semaglutide. Novo Nordisk’s India patent will expire in March. www.cnn.com/2026/02/07/i...

Don’t Let Elon Musk Implant a Device in Your Skull The world’s richest man is obsessed with putting Neuralink chips in people’s brains and integrating their minds with AI. He can’t be trusted with this technology.

Musk, the world’s richest man, is obsessed with putting Neuralink chips in people’s brains and integrating their minds with AI. He can’t be trusted with this technology. www.currentaffairs.org/news/please-...

Utopia Abstract. Ideal societies, better worlds, more just and peaceful ways of living: these have long been the stuff of human beings’ social dreaming. In this c

NEW BOOK!

I'm very happy to say that my new book, Utopia, co-written with Douglas Mao, has been published on-line

academic.oup.com/book/62279

The Knockoff GLP-1 Market Is Still the Wild West Telehealth company Hims & Hers unleashed a wild few days in the obesity drug market last week when it introduced a cheap, compounded version of Novo Nordisk’s new Wegovy pill.

Hims & Hers set off a wild few days in the GLP-1 market when they introduced--and later pulled--a cheaper compounded version of the new Wegovy pill. The mini-drama might have subsided, but the Wild West of obesity drugs persists. My latest for @opinion.bloomberg.com:

Not surprising from a historical perspective, at all. "Labor saving" technology never actually reduces the amount of work that people are expected to do. It increases it. That's because A) work is fundamentally a social relationship and B) technological innovation creates new problems to be fixed

I've prepared my scene-setting remarks for tomorrow's online London Futurists discussion, "What we must never give away to AI". Despite huge uncertainty over near-future developments, there are six trends that we should continue to keep in mind