Abstract

Human Enhancement Projects: Challenges, Opportunities and Implications on Space Exploration

Author(s): Reza Rastmanesh 1* , Radek Trnka 2 and Matti Pitkanen3

 Einstein special relativity suggests that no signal can cause an effect outside the source light cone, and nothing can move faster than light through a vacuum. Brain operations are traditionally expected to be unable to reach the speed of light. Based on a rough calculation, it had been estimated that velocity of neural integration in the cortical paths in human brain may be close to the speed of light, which is an extreme overestimation and highly non-feasible. However, there is strong evidence from clinical trials and experimental studies suggesting that the velocity of information exchange within the brain can be enhanced considerably through the genetic modifications and pharmacological drugs, or by non-pharmacologic measures, e.g. transcranial helmets, nanodevices, and gadgets. Building on the recent empirical evidence across scientific disciplines, the theoretical paper formulates and discusses the possible implications that human enhancement may have for • Definition of human observer in biological physics, • Understanding human perceptual abilities and their biological limits including the velocity of neural information transfer, and • General relativity and quantum physic. A scenario-based method was used to illustrate the implications that human enhancement may potentially have for magnetoreception and the possibility of selective electromagnetic enhancement in humans. Furthermore, a potential of future human enhancements project for the understanding of human cognitive capacity including a priori and a posteriori reasoning is discussed. These theoretical discussions will have implications in future space explorations.