Be More Than You Can Be

Improving radically the performance, mental capacity, and resilience of the human body. It is one of the first targets of transhumanism. Robert Ettinger wrote about it in “Man into Superman”. Of course there are always the naysayers, the discusions about ethics and “playing God”. (Ettinger’s answer to this accusion: “it is better to pay God than playing ostrich”).As usual, when the army may profit from science, a different ballgame is played. And maybe this is not too bad at all. According to an online article by Wired Magazine  the DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, has a budget of US$ 90 million a year to explore how “biological systems … adapt to wide extremes.” Since the human-enhancement program looked promising, DARPA received another $78 million-per-year push for research including “the development of biochemical materials for enhancement of performance.” By “sustaining and augmenting human performance,” as well as “enabling new human capabilities.” Darpa was going to figure out how to build a better soldier. But, since humans are Universal Soldiers (according to that old song by Donovan), I do hope that we may profit a little from this expertise.

How long will it take untill we can buy extensions and enhancements? Cryonics is the solution for people who are too old to wait for the results of DARPA’s research.

Roth knew that some animals hibernate — slowing their metabolisms until environmental conditions improve. He also knew that some cells can enter a kind of dormancy and then spring back to life — essentially, they go into suspended animation. Roth wanted to better understand this “metabolic flexibility.” He started testing various chemicals that slowed metabolism, like heavy water and tetrodotoxin (puffer fish poison, used in Haiti to turn people into zombies). Nothing worked. But then Roth found a loophole in one of nature’s seemingly absolute rules: Animals need oxygen. But some creatures, like nematodes, fruit flies, and zebra fish, don’t die if oxygen levels drop. Instead the critters suspend. Their hearts stop beating for up to 24 hours. They don’t breathe. And they don’t die. Wounds stop bleeding; nearly any injury becomes survivable, and the brain shuts down without damage. “If you were shot, this is exactly what you would want,” Roth says.

It’s a timing issue: At oxygen concentrations below some critical level, animals kick off. But take the oxygen level even lower than that, fast, and they don’t. The problem was, Roth couldn’t figure out how to pull off his oxygen reduction trick in mammals, let alone humans. What would a battlefield medic do? Tie a plastic bag over a wounded soldier’s head?

This is interesting research. Cryonics providers should watch this carefully.

A television show gave Roth the clue he needed. In October 2002, he was watching a PBS show about caving in Mexico. The host had to don a breathing mask because the cavern’s air was full of hydrogen sulfide, which binds to mitochondria and impedes the body’s ability to use oxygen. “Oh my gosh,” Roth thought. “We can de-animate people.”

Three weeks later, Roth was at a meeting at the Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado, organized by DSO’s Bielitzki, the ex-NASA veterinarian. The agency was looking for ways to extend the “golden hour,” the period of time within which massive-trauma victims need to get medical care. Bielitzki thought Roth had the best shot, and was prepared to fund further research.

This is awesome. And what about the critics?

But before the program could start, DSO’s performance-enhancement push ran into trouble in Washington. The President’s Council on Bioethics was publishing reports decrying body hacks. Some in Congress worried about being accused of funding a Frankenstein army.

In response to those critics, the agency already predisposed to clandestine research — decided to go underground. Program names were changed to dull their mad-scientist edge. Metabolic Dominance became Peak Soldier Performance. Augmented Cognition became Improving Warfighter Information Intake Under Stress. Researchers were told to keep their mouths shut; many current and former program managers still won’t talk on the record, requesting anonymity for this story. The Surviving Blood Loss program, meant to fund Roth’s work, was itself put into suspended animation.

So the research will continue. And that is good. We want better cars, houses and computers all the time, so why shouldn’t we want a better body if it is possible?