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Creating first synthetic life form
Globe and Mail Dec. 19, 2005
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Work on the world's first
human-made species is well under way
at the Genome Science Centre at the
University of British Columbia to
play a key role in the production of
the first synthetic life form -- a
microbe made from scratch. The
controversial project is being
spearheaded by U.S. scientist Craig
Venter. One option for sparking life
in...

http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=5133&m=7610

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Robot Demonstrates Self Awareness
Discovery News Dec. 21, 2005
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A new robot being developed by
researchers at Meiji University in
Japan can recognize the difference
between a mirror image of itself and
another robot that looks just like
it. This "mirror image cognition" is
based on artificial nerve cell
groups built into the robot's
computer brain that give it the
ability to recognize itself and...

http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=5129&m=7610