Comments

Out of the large amount of races that probably exist, I would figure at least a single one has come far enough to have mechanical bodies, and even minds. What makes something a "robot," anyway? Where do we draw the line? I suppose I would count the brain as the most important thing in our body, making the heart come second. We have artificial hearts already (though are quite limited in their life span *at the moment*), and most of us have seen a mechanical arm or leg (Olympics, anyone?). A mechanical brain has to be possible, somehow. The "mind" (consciousness) is the hard part to transfer over, I would assume. My grandma was born in the 1910s. I can't imagine how 2008 must look and feel to her. If we can come that far in less than 100 years, what will I, and we, be seeing 20 years from now? 2090? We have sound facts that prove we as a species/race, planet, solar system, and even galaxy are relative newcomers. From how we have advanced, even a slow species in poor circumstances could easily be ahead of us if only 100 years ahead. Now add a race that has a nice, decently sized planet with many resources and a motivated and naturally more intelligent race than our own with neighbor alien races to trade ideas with, and who have been around 1000 years/100,000/one million+ years ahead of us. Robotic bodies and minds should be no problem. They, if not robots, could not remember the last being of their race who didn't have a flesh (or what have you) body. The only philosophically hard problem for me would be the soul. I'll assume the soul, if it exists, resides in the "mind." So transferring the "soul" may prove difficult, if at all possible. But that's an entirely different topic of discussion.

My question is, "What is stopping various primates from becoming "human" in the non-species sense?" Divine motivation, alien assistance, simple survival? Very interesting nonetheless. Perhaps one day we will be finally talking and/or understanding our long lost cousins.

Ha, you have to love college spirit, ambition, and creativity (all while, usually, not hurting anyone).

I like NASA's interaction with the public, at least in this fashion. NASA may have some of the brightest minds, but bringing in new, smart, and creative young people or just people outside of NASA itself is a great way of coming up with new ideas and solving old problems. I am very excited to live in the era that I do. What we accomplish in these next few years (hoping that we don't manage to destroy ourselves and/or our planet) should be impossibly amazing and just plain cool. It's time to call the Moon ours.

I will have to agree with Portillo that MMOs aren't going anywhere for a long, long time. Too many people said gaming (then arcades) was just a fad, but, of course, people said the same thing when the highly expensive but magical "television" was introduced to the world. Games know no bounds as they are only limited by our imagination (unlimited) and our technology (raising exponentially all the time). They satisfy many needs of human beings, virtual or not, including social needs, however, Portillo. In fact, gaming provides an excellent source of socialization. One may meet, talk, discuss, and play with people from all across our wide planet with few restrictions such as prejudice as one cannot know if the people with which they converse are obese, skinny, tall, short, ugly, diseased, of one ethnicity or another, etc, and so people are not judged as such. Though I feel it is wrong, people are always seeking an easier way in life, trying to cut corners, and are natural business people always trying to make some money. So, though ambitious and creative, these "farmers" and people who deal with them are hurting the MMOs that they play. I am surprised this article did not mention these farmers and their associates doing this for actual, physical cash on eBay, for example, though.