The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology (122 page)

data mining, 265

Dautenhahn, Kerstin, 548
n

Davis, Tamara M., 592
n

Dawkins, Richard, 440, 600
n

Dayan, Peter, 170, 542
n

death, 7, 9, 320–323, 373, 398, 470

        of author’s father, 211, 326

        biological evolution and, 320, 321

        of cells, 215, 218

        in gene-therapy trials, 416–417

        from heart disease, 211, 217, 373, 413, 418

        inevitability of, 320, 326

        mutations and, 219

        religious view of, 368, 372, 374

        from SARS virus, 402

        tragedy of, 329, 372

        in war, 330–331,
331
, 409

decentralization, 396, 420–421, 473

        of computation, 351

        democratization and, 406, 408

        of work, 105, 122, 340–341

decision making, 8, 190, 191

        expert systems and, 266–267

        by unmanned spacecraft, 280–281

decision (halting) problem, 453, 601
n

Deep Blue, 274–277, 441, 459

deep brain stimulation, 195, 585
n

Deep Fritz software, 274–278, 441

Deep Space One
, 280–281

Deep Thought machine, 275

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), 194, 284, 328, 333, 334, 588
n

Defense Department, U.S., 312, 331, 594
n

Defense Ministry, British, 594
n

defensive technologies for GNR age, 408–410, 416–426, 598
n
–599
n

deflation, 65, 101–108, 245

DeGaspari, J., 584
n

de Grey, Aubrey, 212–213, 219–221, 321, 587
n

dehydrogenase, 247

Dekker, Cees, 527
n

Delio, Michelle, 582
n

Dembski, William A., 431, 473–478, 483, 602
n

democracy,
20
, 152, 395, 396, 406, 408, 498
n

dendrites, 145, 153, 170–173, 178, 180, 197, 202, 383, 428, 452, 530
n

        apical, 191–192, 192

        basal,
192

        defined, 124

        morphology of, 155

        nonlinearities in, 124, 137, 148, 151

        spines of, 171–172, 173,
174

dendritic cells, cancer and, 217–218

Dennett, Daniel, 191, 467, 473, 548
n

Denning, Peter J., 167

Denton, Michael, 431, 479–483, 599
n
, 602
n

depressions, 99, 102

Derocher, Robert J., 582
n

DeRose, James, 515
n

Desai, T. A., 584
n

Desai, Tejal A., 568
n

Descartes, René, 173

Desert Storm campaign, 284

De Silva, H., 560
n

desktop cold fusion, 250, 567
n

developing countries,
see
underdeveloped countries

development stage, 52

De Vos, Alexis, 566
n

DeWan, George, 597
n

Dewey, David, 600
n

diabetes, 212, 303, 549
n

        type 1, 223, 255, 557
n

        type 2, 210, 211, 225, 302

Diamond, M. C., 549
n

diamondoid assembler, 229–230, 234, 238, 239–240

DiCarlo, James, 194

Dickens, Charles, 396

Diehl, Michael R., 528
n

digestive system, 234, 238, 301–305, 307, 386

digital, digital operations:

        analog operations vs., 14, 126, 147, 149–150, 308, 428, 442, 461, 519
n

        in author’s archive, 327

        in brain, 71, 85, 126, 147–151, 442, 483, 519
n

        cameras, 113

        disks and tapes, 327–328, 588
n

        pianos, 53

        as theory of physics, 86–87, 518
n
–522
n

Digital Biology Interest Group, 288

digital divide, 95

Dijkstra, E. W., 56

Dingel, B. B., 516
n

dinosaurs, 222

diodes, light-emitting, 245

dioxins, 253

disabled, 189, 195

disaster zones, 286

discount rate, 109–110, 526
n

disease, 100, 116, 209

        biological evolution and, 511
n

        brain damage and, 177

        brain reverse engineering and, 144

        degenerative, reversal of, 210, 217–221, 553
n
–555
n

        elimination of, 205, 206, 241, 259, 396, 424

        
see also specific diseases

disks, digital, 327–328

disorder, 38, 40, 510
n
, 520
n

Dittmer, W. U., 560
n

diversity, 152, 225, 424

        chaos and, 40, 41, 45–46

        genetic, 402

DNA, 11,
20
, 45, 86, 218–223, 378, 386, 483, 551
n

        complementary (cDNA), 551
n

        computing with, 112, 117–118, 119, 529
n
–530
n

        damaged, 397, 552
n

        in Epoch Two,
15
, 16, 47

        in Epoch Three, 16

        errors in, 207–208, 233, 254, 256, 300, 471

        fetal, 168

        in gene therapy, 215–216, 553
n

        information in,
15
, 16, 38, 40, 117, 207, 232, 518
n

        junk, 510
n
, 516
n
, 517
n
–518
n

        as life’s computer, 207–210

        military uses of, 334

        mutations of, 208, 219

        
nanotechnology and, 232, 233, 235–236, 237, 242, 251, 397, 412

        physical constants compared with, 362

        RNA interference and, 214

        of SARS virus vs. HIV, 398

        self-replication of, 16, 47, 116, 117, 118, 207–208, 235, 529
n

        sequencing, 73–74, 85, 470, 514
n

        structure and behavior of, 207–208, 549
n

        transdifferentiation and, 223, 471

        2–bit base pairs of, 85, 207, 209–210, 516
n
, 517
n

Doctorow, Cory, 271–272

dogs, consciousness of, 467, 468

Dolly the Sheep, 221

Dombeck, Daniel, 163

Domjan, Michael, 542
n

Donovan, 300

dopamine, 303

dorsal pathway, 175

Dorus, Steve, 506
n

Doyle, Arthur Conan, 570
n

Drake, Frank, 344, 590
n

Drake equation, 342, 344–349, 590
n

DRAM (dynamic random access memory), 57, 58, 58, 59, 66

Drexler, K. Eric, 111, 141, 236–240, 242, 245, 535
n
, 558
n
, 559
n
, 560
n
, 561
n
, 563
n
, 564
n
, 568
n
, 595
n
, 598
n

        as founder of nanotechnology, 139, 228–231, 395

        on MNT manufacturing safeguards, 400

        molecular assembler idea of, 228–231, 234, 236–237

        nanocomputer design of, 135, 228–229

drugs, 371

        for AIDS, 95, 470

        antiangiogenic, 218, 222

        antirejection, 223, 557
n

        antiviral, 417, 422

        biological evolution and, 511
n

        cancer, 212, 303, 304

        cholesterol-lowering (statin), 217

        development of, 209, 213, 259, 282

        genetic profiling and, 214–215

        as information technology, 470

        nanotechnology and, 242–243, 303, 583
n

        to prevent weight gain, 11–12, 303

        to promote neurogenesis, 177

        to reverse atherosclerosis, 217

        smart, 100, 212–215, 251, 256, 303–304, 323

Dubois, Charles, 196

Dudley, Gary, 538
n

Duke University, 117, 118, 194–195

Dulberger, E. R., 512
n

Dumé, Belle, 536
n

Dutta, A. K., 516
n

DVDs, 54

dynamite, 404

dyslexia, 175, 337, 589
n

Dyson, Freeman, 350, 359, 591
n

Dyson Sphere, 350

Dzegilenko, Fedor N., 562
n
, 563
n

ear, 123, 165

Earth:

        asteroid collisions with, 20, 40, 398, 405–406

        biomass of,
see
biomass

        as center of universe, 342, 433

        comet collision with, 405–406

        hot core of, 246

        magnetic field of, 281

        mass of, 349

        meteor collisions with, 398

        NTT model of, 113

        water chemistry on, 239

eating, 301–305, 307

eavesdropping, 333, 354

Eberhart, Russell C., 589
n

Echelon system, 280

E. coli
, 236, 551
n

e-commerce, 13, 103–105, 104, 263, 264

economy, economic growth, 128

        GNR age and, 98, 230–231, 396–397, 406, 410

        information technology and, 65, 107, 107, 525
n

        law of accelerating returns and, 96–110, 433, 524
n
–526
n

        in World Bank report, 99, 338, 396, 470

Edelman, G. M., 532
n
, 540
n
, 538
n

Edelman, Gerald, 201

Edgar, B., 502
n

Edison, Thomas, 52, 53

education, 202, 294, 336–337

        of AI, 202–203, 294

        exponential growth of, 108, 108, 525
n

        software for, 175, 337, 341, 589
n

        
see also
learning

egg cells, 221–222, 553
n

Eighth Day of Creation, The
(Judson), 550
n

Einstein, Albert, 133, 355, 361, 388, 521
n
, 570
n
, 592
n

        general relativity theory of, 341, 355, 378, 500
n
, 503
n
, 520
n

        parietal lobes of, 202

        on simplicity, 39, 519
n

        special relativity theory of, 341, 354, 520
n

Einstein-Rosen bridges, 355

Eisenach, J. A., 600
n

Eisenhower, Dwight D., 72

Eldering, C., 600
n

Eldredge, Niles, 510
n
–511
n

electricity,
17, 18
, 244

        nanotechnology and, 114, 230, 248, 249, 250, 252

        prions and, 116–117

        from solar power, 249, 250

electrocardiograms (ECGs), diagnosing of, 8, 276, 281–282

electromagnetic-coupling constant, 499
n

electromagnetic fields, 131