On July 1, I had the honour to lead the singing of “O Canada” at the Lieutenant Governor’s Garden Party at Government House in celebration of Canada Day. And here’s a video! Here I am …
My young-YA/middle-grade fantasy Fireboy, already a finalist for Best Young Adult Novel in this year’s Aurora Awards and finalist for a 2027 Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award in the Northern Lights Division, has just been …
Had a great time being part of the cast of Regina Lyric Musical Theatre‘s production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. I played Fogg (the insane asylum keeper) and also sang in …
My young-YA/middle-grade fantasy Fireboy, a nominee for Best Young Adult Novel in this year’s Aurora Awards, is also a finalist for the 2027 Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award in the Northern Lights Division. This is …
I’m thrilled to announce that I’m up for two Aurora Awards this year! Fireboy is on the ballot for Best Young Adult Novel, and The Worldshapers is once again on the ballot for Best Fan …
I spent a good chunk of today at Wordbridge, the annual writers’ conference in Lethbridge, Alberta. My main reason for coming was to launch a Shadowpaw Press title (Broken Realm by Jenna Greene, a Lethbridge …
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Science fiction headline of the day: Mission to build a simulated brain begins
In what may be a first step along the road to copying consciousness described in last week’s science column, IBM and a Swiss university team have set out to create the first computer simulation of the entire human brain, one complete down to the molecular level.
Nary a hint or whisper in this news story about the possibilities of consciousness emerging in such a computer simulation. I certainly would have asked the question, however guache it might have seemed in a serious scientific context, had I been the reporter writing this piece.
But then, although I’m a science writer, I’m also (and to my mind, primarily) a science fiction writer and reader. And that’s why I’m making this my SF headline of the day.
Permanent link to this article: https://edwardwillett.com/2005/06/science-fiction-headline-of-the-day-mission-to-build-a-simulated-brain-begins/
