Brain in a vat? Coming soon or here already?

"If current research trends continue, however, perhaps the ethical and political problems surrounding stem cell research will succumb to a technical solution. At least three teams of researchers in the United States and Australia have recently reported encouraging results suggesting it may be possible to generate embryonic stem cells—or at least cells that are functionally equivalent to embryonic stems—without having to create or destroy embryos in the process. Several hurdles remain. But the work strongly suggests that the fantasy of someday being able to turn ordinary cells—from, say, a person's skin—into personalized stem cells capable of becoming replacement tissues for various ailing organs may not be so many years away." Including, for example, a brain in a vat?


"Fantasy writers have long been captivated by the possibility of preserving human life in a reversible state of suspended animation. In fictional tales the technique enables characters to "sleep" through centuries of interstellar travel or terrestrial cataclysms, then awaken unaffected by the passing of time. These stories are great fun, but their premise seems biologically far-fetched." Has reality caught up with and passed fantasy?

"Why are top scientists from the fields of neuroscience, biology, psychology, physics, computation, and philosophy increasingly interested in researching human consciousness?

Because the quest to solve the puzzle of human consciousness—the very essence of our being—is one of the great problems of modern science." Many philosophers remain skeptical.

How about you?