Most of the activity in this blog is in additions and comments to existing posts. Aging | Human Skin Cells Converted Into Embryonic Stem Cells Lifestyle | Getting Fit in Middle Age Can Reduce Heart Failure Risk Disasters | Breathing Auto Emissions Turns HDL Cholesterol from 'Good' to 'Bad' Lifestyle | Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Associated With Increased Kidney Stone Risk Lifestyle | Fish Oil May Sta ... (More)

The following was written by RJH for a recent post on bcc.  It concisely makes very important points about what it means to be Christain and, in particular, a LDS Church member.  Under the heading “Have concern for people,” RJH writes (with a heavy indebtedness to Lowell Bennion): We are here to serve people not programs or institutions or things. Notice how Jesus was interested in ... (More)

Conference talks (Spring 2013) by two General Authorities–Elder Richard G. Scott and Elder Jeffery R. Holland–address issues important to Mormon scientists and transhumanists. During the Saturday afternoon session, Elder Scott made the following observation: You live in a world where technological advances occur at an astounding pace. It is difficult for many of my generation to keep u ... (More)

The Foundation (www.pratoriate.org ) is pleased to announce that, after several years of planning, our first Trans-human Institute Retreat will open in June 2013. The initial retreat is being opened for up to 8 researchers at an initial test facility with the goal of working toward getting Trans-humanists from several fields working on projects such as the data archive, AI, long term planning, sust ... (More)

I had the opportunity to speak in my local congregation today on the topic of "Honoring Motherhood". Below is a transcript of my talk. I invite your feedback. What did I get right? What did I get wrong? What did I miss? Please let me know. Thanks.Honoring MotherhoodLincoln CannonGood morning. The bishopric invited me to speak on honoring motherhood, and I’ve prayerfully considered how I should do ... (More)

In the Siem Reap region of Cambodia, I recently spent a short time shadowing LDS humanitarian missionaries–Brother and Sister Kohls–and a short-term specialist engineer (and his wife).  It was a very enlightening two days. On the first day, we spent the entire day visiting 12 rural primary schools located in the region southeast of Siem Reap.  The humanitarian workers were looking ... (More)

One of the joys I have in life is constructing swing sets in rural areas in developing countries.  So far, my colleagues and I have installed over 20 swing sets in four countries, the lastest being Cambodia. Recently, a friend was traveling to Cambodia to do some oversight work for his church’s humanitarian arm.  He agree to show me some of “the ropes” while he was there.  So ... (More)

In a very thought-provoking article in Sunstone (Mar 2013), Michael J. Stevens suggests two ways that LDS women could be more involved with the actual administration of Wards and Branches: have women start filling the positions of ward clerk and Sunday School president (I assume counselors also); these positions do not require that one hold the priesthood have 12-18-year-old young women join the ... (More)

The following conversation is taken from Time magazine (13 May 2013).  Dr. Paul Farmer, a Harvard professor and global-health expert, is the founder of the NGO “Partners in Health” and the subject of the bestselling book Mountains Beyond Mountains. You say the very poorest don’t get health care because of a failure of imagination.  Is that really what it is? It must be, because ... (More)

In an article on The Telegraph, Royal Astronomer Sir Martin Rees writes on post-biological evolution, immortality, the Singularity, vast oceans of yet unknown science, and synthetic realities created by super-advanced civilizations. Interstellar travel is “in my view, an enterprise for post-humans, evolved from our species not via natural selection but by design,” says Sir Martin ... (More)