Category Archives: Immortality

Alex Kuffner Journal Staff Writer kuffneralex

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. At a time when President Donald Trump and others are accusing the media of manufacturing fake news, award-winning TV reporter Vladimir Duthiers, in his commencement address at the University of Rhode Island on Sunday, defended journalism as a profession that gives voice to the powerless.

At the universitys 131st commencement ceremony, Duthiers, a 1991 graduate in political science, spoke about his time as a CNN correspondent in Nigeria covering the terrorist group Boko Haram. An activist once told him that even after more than 1,000 people had been killed in a series of attacks by the group, their families only rarely heard from the government, he said.

But they do see journalists, Duthiers said. Journalists who take what theyve seen, what theyve witnessed, the voices of those theyve spoken with, and put this all in front of the countrys leaders. To hold them accountable in front of the world, so that you and everyone else with access to a free, fair press will know.

That knowledge may not bring someone home from the clutches of a terrorist, he continued. It certainly wont bring someone back from the dead, but in remembering them, we honor them. In a sense, we immortalize them.

Duthiers, who is now a correspondent for CBS News, was one of two journalists who spoke during the schools commencement weekend. On Saturday, Boston Globe columnist and associate editor Thomas Farragher, a member of URIs Class of 1977, delivered the keynote address to students receiving graduate degrees. Farragher was part of the Globes Spotlight team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for investigating sexual abuse by Catholic priests.

Both Duthiers and Farragher were awarded honorary doctoral degrees on Sunday. The other honorees were Loren Spears, Class of 1989, executive director of the Tomaquag Indian Museum; Alfred J. Tella, Class of 1955, an economist, professor, composer and author; and Robert L. Carothers, the president emeritus of URI.

The road to the university quadrangle was a sea of black robes as thousands of graduates marched in for the ceremony just after noon. As they went to take their seats, relatives and loved ones gave them hugs and cheered them on.

In all, 4,122 graduates were honored. The youngest was 20 years old and the oldest was 77, said university president David Dooley. There were 78 military veterans in the graduate and undergraduate classes and nine sets of twins.

All together, our youngest to oldest, we represent this creative, vibrant and dynamic public institution of research and higher education in Rhode Island, Dooley said.

Gov. Gina Raimondo urged them to remain a part of the Rhode Island community.

I want all of you to think about sticking around Rhode Island, she said. We need your talent."

Duthierscame to journalism later in life. He worked in finance after graduating and decided to switch careers at the age of 37.

It was the fulfillment, he said, of words attributed to Saint Augustine: The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.

After getting a graduate degree in journalism from Columbia University, he joined CNN as an unpaid intern, working first for foreign correspondent Christiane Amanpour, another URI graduate, and then Anderson Cooper. He reported on the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and then became a correspondent in West Africa, covering such stories as the kidnapping of more than 200 young girls by Boko Haram, reporting for which he won a Peabody Award.

He told the graduates not to fear change and to look for a life of meaning.

Ive come to realize that yes, the key to some kind of immortality is living a life worth remembering, Duthiers said. But Ive come to see this isnt just about my own life being memorable. Its about being a conduit for the stories of others.

And now I do what I do so others will not forget those who would otherwise be forgotten, he said.

University of Rhode Island's 131st Commencement

3,383 undergraduate degrees; 749 graduate degrees awarded in Saturday ceremony

Undergraduate speaker: Vladimir Duthiers, CBS News correspondent and anchor

Student speaker: Colin Rumbel

Graduate degree speaker: Thomas Farragher, columnist and associate editor at The Boston Globe

Honorary degree recipients: Robert L. Carothers, URI president emeritus; Loren Spears, executive director, Tomaquag Museum; Alfred J. Tella, economist, educator, composer and fantasy fiction author; Duthiers and Farragher

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URI speaker: Telling stories of others is one key to immortality - The Providence Journal

The best songwriters can take an old idea and make it sound fresh. And Jason Isbell is one hell of a songwriter. Even though its a thought that most of us have had, his rumination on the idea that any life-long couple will eventually reach a point where one of them has to die first still manages to be heartbreaking. It certainly doesnt hurt that If We Were Vampires features Isbells real-life wife crooning right alongside him about how lucky the undead have it. Prepare for some dusty onion moments on this tender track.

The sparse and mellow folk arrangement isnt exactly out of left-field for someone like Isbell, but it stands in stark contrast to the cuts weve heard already from his upcoming album The Nashville Sound. Hope The High Road and Cumberland Gap were dark and driving, more akin to Springsteen than anything from his last album. Vampires gives us hope that when Isbell says hes taking on the Nashville Sound, he means all of it. It might be readig too much into things, but Im ready to hear him run his voice through as many rock, folk and country permutations as can be found in that musical city.

The Nashville Sound drops June 16 via Isbells own Southeastern Records.

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Jason Isbell Pines For Immortality In The Heartbreaking 'If We Were Vampires' - UPROXX

Brendan Cummins: Tipps bid for immortality will fail if they fall into trap of old and take eye off the ball

Independent.ie

It's the Tuesday night before we play Cork in the 2010 Munster quarter-final. Having run Kilkenny so close in the previous year's All-Ireland final, we're odds-on favourites to make it back to Croke Park in September.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/hurling/brendan-cummins-tipps-bid-for-immortality-will-fail-if-they-fall-into-trap-of-old-and-take-eye-off-the-ball-35714721.html

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It's the Tuesday night before we play Cork in the 2010 Munster quarter-final. Having run Kilkenny so close in the previous year's All-Ireland final, we're odds-on favourites to make it back to Croke Park in September.

It's Liam Sheedy's third year in charge and this is our year. This is our mindset.

After training, one of the lads asks me not to swap jerseys with a Cork opponent after the game.

He wants mine for a friend of his. I don't see an issue with this and reply: 'No problem.'

Five days later, we lose by ten points at Pirc U Chaoimh and when I sat down on the Monday to reflect on why everything had gone so wrong, and the factors that fed into our flat performance, the jersey issue gnawed at me. Eye off the ball.

It was a little thing but when you give six months of your life preparing for a championship opener, that work can be derailed by mental weakness in the days leading up to it.

The disillusioned supporter in the stand wonders what on earth happened during those 70 minutes, why were they stuck to the ground?

Players ask the same questions but when they honestly reflect, they realise they've made poor decisions in those crucial days before the match - sometimes without even realising it.

Any time we were flat during my career, there was always a reason. It could be as big as a discussion around a planned night out after a game or as small as that jersey swap. Eye off the ball.

The successful teams looking to create legacies deal with those challenges better than others, and the hope for every Tipperary person in Thurles next Sunday is that the mental filters have worked, that this team's DNA is different.

Of course, all players have no choice but to meet people every day before a game. I used to nod politely when hurling talk struck up but the ability to do that was as important to me as any striking drill in training.

But in my mind, I was in the pre-match team huddle, when all you see are the burning eyes of your team-mates moments before battle.

I had to take myself there. And if any conversation took a negative tone, I'd tell this person, in my head, that what you're going to see on Sunday will blow your mind.

If things were right, chatting with people wasn't an issue. But when they weren't, I'd have to work harder to block out what was being said to me.

Michael Ryan's biggest challenge for the next six days is to ensure that their business is conducted in an air-tight environment.

They're All-Ireland champions but the county hasn't won back-to-back titles since 1964/65. Why? It's a complex question.

When you get to the top of the hill, you can often feel, subconsciously, that you've arrived. But the more sacrifices you make and the quality of your attention to detail will determine whether you'll succeed again.

The distractions have been greater for these players since last September. When you win an All-Ireland, the lure of social media can be more difficult to ignore.

You're letting people into your life and you're fielding more requests to promote various products. Everybody wants a piece of you and that's a mental drain.

The danger is that you lose a piece of yourself, and some of the drive that made you the animal you were last year.

The players and teams who can sacrifice their lives, even more, for the greater prize are the ones who have the best chance of retaining All-Ireland titles.

They don't make the same mistakes that I saw, and avoid the old, familiar traps.

I often wonder should I have said more, or spoken up when I noticed that standards were slipping.

Ahead of a new season, Tipp are raging hot favourites next Sunday; even Cork supporters acknowledge that.

That brings expectation but this is hurling after all, and anything can happen.

Still, next Monday morning's headlines will be written by Tipperary, either way. That power is in their hands.

If they lose, the glass half full brigade will say it's a good opportunity to go through the back door, which it ultimately was in 2010.

The glass half empty crowd will nod and think 'that's the end of that, sure they were never good enough anyway.'

Since Adam was a boy, that's how it's always been.

But that Monday morning narrative depends on the little things. Forget about where you might be going for the few drinks on Sunday night, forget jersey swaps.

Get yourself mentally right for 4pm, and the rest should take care of itself.

Irish Independent

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Brendan Cummins: Tipp's bid for immortality will fail if they fall into ... - Irish Independent

On the second day of freshman orientation back in August 2013, I walked into Belfer Hall for the first time. The whirlwind first 24 hours of my Yeshiva University experience had been a blur of new faces, informational sessions, and meet and greets, and I was beginning to wonder if all of this stuff was wholly necessary. The reason I thought I came to college the promise of an education that would pave the path toward medical school or an engineering degree had been buried under counseling center pamphlets, student life swag, and maps of Washington Heights.

The meeting in Belfer was a First Year Writing orientation for honors students. The writing professors sat scattered among the students, and Dr. Gabriel Cwilich, the director of the Honors Program, stood at the front of the room. He told us that several sections of the introductory writing course would be reading Rebecca Skloots The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a book I had never heard of, and, as it wasnt assigned for any of my science courses, had already decided I didnt care about. In my mind, I had already consigned my First Year Writing course to the collective of humanities classes I would tolerate, not enjoy.

Then Dr. Cwilich began his presentation. The book, it turned out, was about a black woman who died from cervical cancer in 1951, and whose biopsied cancer cells were the first human cells to survive immortally in culture. Her cell line has proven invaluable to countless scientific breakthroughs, including the polio vaccine, cancer research, and AIDS medication. As Dr. Cwilich spoke, I realized that I had used Henriettas cell line HeLa cells in research I did in an oncology lab mere weeks before arriving on campus. A book about biology that might be relevant to my career goals? I was hooked.

But as I discovered throughout the next few weeks, the story is not merely one of scientific achievements. Skloot takes pain to seek out Henriettas family, who knew hardly anything about the extent of her cells importance. Along the way, the author confronts religion, race relations, and the ethical dilemmas of science as she endeavors to give Henrietta the legacy she deserves.

The Immortal Life acted as a springboard from which I launched into my own personal trajectory through the liberal arts. It taught me about the imperatives of writing: lending voice to the voiceless, making sense of complex ideas, building bridges between communities ordinarily isolated from one another. It turned my attention to the crossroads between medicine and the humanities, an area that has since become one of my deepest passions. It ultimately led to my honors thesis, a screenplay about Rosalind Franklin, another woman whose contributions to the discovery of DNAs double helical structure went largely unnoticed.

Fundamentally, Henrietta Lacks story is one of faith, dedication, and the search for justice. It is a story of empathy, which is to say, a story of humanity.

In a way, its also a story of us, Yeshiva University students. We all know David Foster Wallaces spiel about the liberal arts: the value of viewing the world through a lens of compassion and complexity, the power of connecting with others and sharing ideas, etc. etc. But its only now that Ive walked out of my last undergraduate class that I realize the extent to which my experiences here have changed the way I see the world.

The thing about HeLa cells is that they only survive and grow under proper conditions. They need just the right amount of moisture, a constant temperature of a toasty 37 C, and a certain balance of the nutrients surrounding them. When everything is just right, they form a colony, a microcosm, a community.

As I reflect on my time at YU, I think about the extraordinary environment Im leaving behind. I think about the spell that will break when I graduate next week. Because this place is magic, and I truly mean that; its Narnia, it's Hogwarts, it's Alagasia. It alters the very fabric of time and matter: you look up one day and realize the stranger borrowing your pencil has transformed into your best friend; your professors have charmed you into being passionate about things you couldve sworn you didnt care about, gravity itself has shifted and the world suddenly seems somehow larger and smaller at the same time. This place exists outside of the timeline of whats next?, outside of the mainstream quid pro quo mentality, outside of the zero-sum game well face when we leave.

As I tend to do when all things come to an end, I find myself searching for circles. Im desperate for signs of completion, perfection, and wholeness. I tell myself its fitting that Ill eat at the same restaurant after graduation as I did when I came to New York almost six years ago to interview for YU. I tell myself how profound it is that the first book I read in college was about a woman whose impact on medicine goes unrecognized, and now four years later Im writing a senior thesis about another woman who deserves a legacy for her contributions to science.

But then I realize that this isnt really about me. Henrietta Lacks original cells no longer exist; the nucleotides and peptides and phosphates that made up her cells have long since been replaced by new molecules. But its their genetic code, their continuity that stretches back to Henriettas conception back in 1919, that gives HeLa cells their significance. My legacy does not lie in any contribution Ive made as a student, a Commentator writer, or a student council president. The legacy lies in the very fabric of liberal arts college, and the more specific Jewish traditions of YU. Generations of individuals before me have left their marks on this place, and the impacts these people had continue to be felt today. This legacy has existed since long before I got here, and it will continue long after Im gone. Its not a circle; there is nothing to seal, nothing to complete. I havent finished yet, and neither has Yeshiva University.

Within these walls, this chaotic Petri dish of accountants and writers, lawyers and professors, doctors and rabbis, we exchange the elixir of life. Within these walls we are immortal.

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From the President's Desk: YCSA Thoughts on Immortality - The Commentator

In Brief On YouTube, MinuteEarth explains how telomeres play an important role in aging not just in humans, but in several critters that can exist in a seemingly perpetual middle age. Telomere Trouble

If humans cant yet achieve immortality, the next best thing would be finding a way to slow down or even reverse the process of aging. While theres an entire industry devoted to so-called anti-aging, the biological truth is that our fate is written in our DNA. Specifically, the end bits which are called telomeres.

These caps dont hold thecodes for proteins like genes do, so when the telomere gets a bit shorter each time the DNA replicates, no important information is lost. In humans, those telomeres will eventually get too short and codingDNA will start to be lost in the replication process, throwing a major hitch into cell regeneration. If our cells are no longer replicating at the rate they once did, the impact is felt throughout our body in short, we start getting older and slowing down.

In one of their YouTube videos, MinuteEarth explains the role telomeres play in aging across multiple species and why some animals, such as the naked mole rat, dont seem to age at all. Despite their wrinkly appearance, naked mole rats produce a special enzyme that rebuilds the telomeres that keeps them young. Or, at the very least somewhat indefinitely middle-aged.

They arent truly putting a stop to aging, however: the naked mole rat may be able to live longer at a younger age, and they may have the unique ability to evade cancer, but they arent immortal. In fact, the longer the critters live, the higher their chance of being gobbled up by a predator.

If humans could extend their lives in a similar capacity to the naked mole rat, we may not have to worry about being eaten by something bigger than us but unlike our perpetually middle-aged, hairless, wrinkly pals, we can and do fall prey to cancer.

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Ending Aging: Scientists Say Telomeres May Be the Key to Unlocking Near-Immortality - Futurism

Featuring simple, bold, and colorful illustrations, A Beginner's Guide to Immortality examines humanity's never-ending quest to discover the secret to eternal life. The book is categorized into five options on extending one's life: Elixirs, Meeting Immortals, Visiting Magical Places, Patience, and The Future.

Starting with a look at historical figures such as Gilgamesh's search for youth-restoring seaweed and Qin She Huang's hunt for a fruit which grants eternal life, the book touches on the unsuccessful search for mythical life-extending tools like alchemical elixirs, the philosopher's stone, and the flesh of the ningyo fish. The folkloric Moon rabbit is shown is vibrant yellow, stirring its cauldron of the Elixir Of Life.

The journey continues to mythical places where some form of a fountain of youth supposedly exists in Bimini, St. Brendan's Island, and Tir Na Nog. A dynamic full-page illustration of a maiden soaking in a mountain stream in bold aquamarine evokes an idyllic atmosphere. Real-life places such as those in Earth's Blue Zones occurring in Sardinia, Okinawa, and Loma Linda, California, where inhabitants regularly live to upwards of 90 years, are also investigated.

Venturing into the realms of biology and other sciences, long lived animals such as naked mole rats, planarian worms, and a jellyfish known as turritopsis dohrnii are described. A gene that centenarians may possess known as FoxO is examined. Healthy routines like eating well, regular exercise, and flossing are suggested. A humorous full-page illustration of famous literary immortals is shown, featuring amazons, wizards, Pinocchio, and Dracula.

Ending the book with options that might exist in the future, cryogenics, mummification, cloning, and inserting one's consciousness into a digital avatar are all represented. The theory of biomechanical immortality is vividly illustrated in emerald green with an enormous robot having its puny human brain installed as pleased scientists look on. Finally, the belief in an afterlife in world religions is presented.

A Beginner's Guide to Immortality is a lively, quick read, exploring concepts in history, science, literature, and geography, and presented in an easily digested manner. Charmingly illustrated in a blocky, comic book style, with chunky images of futuristic robots with glowing brains, medieval alchemists mixing strange chemicals, and Ponce De Leon wielding a metal detector, it's an informative, humorous book.

SD

A Beginner's Guide to Immortality: From Alchemy to Avatars by Maria Birmingham, Josh Holinaty (Illustrator) Owlkids 2015, 48 pages, 7.4 x 0.6 x 9.7 inches, Hardcover $11 Buy on Amazon

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A Beginner's Guide to Immortality: From Alchemy to Avatars - Boing Boing

You know what they saysatin sheets are very romantic, but everyone loves a biopic. Admittedly, that wasnt my best Madonna transition, but the point of it all is that Universal has recently acquired the rights to an unproduced screenplay, Blonde Ambition, and are currently brainstorming a film of the same name which will chronicle Madonnas rise to fame in New York of the early 1980s. If only I could go back in time to 1983 and rub this knowledge in my young fathers facewhos a flash in the pan now, dad?

If I had to speculate about similar biopics to come in the next few decades? Lady Gaga would probably be a good guess, but maybe Im a little biased as her rise to fame, personal style, and fan base remind me of Madonnas meteoric rise to prominence. Beyonc is up there tooI mean shes basically already hailed as a goddess, so I cant imagine that will diminish in years to come. In fact, archaeologists of the future may unearth Mother Monster and Queen Bey memorabilia buried beneath the ruins of our civilization and conclude that they were worshipped as deities. History is fascinating, isnt it?

But what exactly elevates a pop star or group to that level of immortality that only a few chosen artists have managed to attain? Is it the number of hit singles under their belt, their daring fashion choices, the sheer magnitude of their fan base, or is the accidental genius of an early, tragic death? Artists have become immortal in all the aforementioned waysjust look at Diana Ross, Cher, Michael Jackson, or Prince (who is still staking a claim in the industry post-mortem, with the issue of several new, previously unreleased songs), artists that fit snugly into one or more of those categories.

Perhaps, in order to solidify ones place in the pantheon of undead icons that are emblazoned forever in the collective musical psyche, you have to conquer all of the above in one way or another. Killer, experimental fashion sense, the ability to produce hit after hit, and the undying love of millions of fansall these accoutrements combine to create an indestructible force of musical domination. And the untimely demise? Maybe that is just the morbid cherry on top that really puts you over the edge into eternal super-stardom.

Only time will tell which artists of our generation manage to make legendary status and achieve eternal fame. Until that time, we can only satisfy ourselves with watching the biopics and post-mortem releases of our parents idols, wondering fondly what the future may bring.

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Musical Immortality: What Does it Take to Become a Legend? - Noiseporn

One of the things humans have plotted for centuries is escaping death, with little to show for it, until now. One startup called Humai has a plan to make immortality a reality. The CEO, Josh Bocanegra says when the time comes and all the necessary advancements are in place, well be able to freeze your brain, create a new, artificial body, repair any damage to your brain, and transfer it into your new body. This process could then be repeated in perpetuity.

HUMAI stands for: Human Resurrection through Artificial Intelligence. The technology to accomplish this isnt here now, but on the horizon. Bocanegra says theyll reach this Promethean feat within 30 years. 2045 is currently their target date. So how do they plan to do it?

The company writes on their website: We're using artificial intelligence and nanotechnology to store data of conversational styles, behavioral patterns, thought processes and information about how your body functions from the inside-out. This data will be coded into multiple sensor technologies, which will be built into an artificial body with the brain of a deceased human.

Advances in many new technologies including cryonics will be required for the plan to be successful. Getty Images.

This will be done with Humai company-developed apps. Theyll be collecting data on you for years. Over time, theyll get a good model of who you are, what you know, what youve been through, and even your personality quirks. Then when the inevitable is upon you, cryonics will freeze your brain for storage while they prepare your artificial body.

How and of what the body will be made of hasnt been elaborated on. Your brain will be thawed and any damage repaired via nanotechnology, borrowing information from backup files, if need be. As the brain ages we'll use nanotechnology to repair and improve cells, Bocanegra said. Cloning technology is going to help with this too." Once your brain is transplanted into this new body, your brainwaves will control it, as if it was your own.

Futurists like Ray Kurzweil say the singularity will shortly be upon us. This is when AI becomes so advanced, that it can program itself to become better, smarter, faster, and therefore, beyond human control. Elon Musk says well need to create neural implants thatll link our brains with computers, in order to keep up.

We already have AI thats so advanced, researchers dont completely understand it. But this plan and Musks go beyond aligning us with technology. They ultimately seek to interweave us and advanced technology, to the point where we may not know where the person ends and the machine begins.

We can now hook the brain up to prosthetic limbs, even give them touch sensation. Getty Images.

This brings up all kinds of philosophical and existential questions. Are we merely data imprinted into neural networks? Will this become a service to lend immortality to the rich, while forgoing others? Bocanegra says it will be made available to everyone and should lead to other life-saving techniques and technologies. And you wouldnt have to undergo the process, if you didnt want to. I dont think of it as fighting death, he told Popular Science. I think of it as making death optional.

How might the advent of such a technique change the allocations of resources on our planet? Eliminating death from the equation could see our world become overpopulated and resource scarce, should no controls be put into place, leading to social turmoil, even war. And would we still savor life, without an end to it, and work to make it as rich an experience?

Or would we become, as Freud once called us, prosthetic gods, completely bored because the world has become devoid of any discovery or surprise? Such concerns arent quite around the corner, and many critics have questioned the soundness of Bocanegras plan and the forthrightness of his motivations.

This isnt exactly pie in the sky. But it isnt doable yet either, and some wonder whether Humais timeline is sound. For instance, we havent yet successfully placed a human in suspended animation and revived them. And thats just one piece of an exceedingly complex puzzle. According to Bocanegra in an interview with Popular Science, the most challenging part will be surgically implanting the preserved brain into an artificial body.

Other biological processes too would have to come with this new body. A lot of delicate factors would have to be understood and balanced properly. Consider that our behavior isnt only regulated by our brain. Hormones for instance play a crucial role. Colonies of bacteria in our microbiome also contribute quite a bit to our neurochemistry. Yet, we know very little about how they work.

Theres a question as to whether the human mind can be digitized. Pixababy.

Experts questions whether or not it will be possible to download someones thoughts into a computer. "The technology which could extract legible thoughts and ideas out of an organ made of living tissue is nowhere near anything we have yet, according to British software consultant Michael Maven.

He told the Huffington Post that Humai has just two researchers working on the project, and a total staff of five. An impressive source of funding and large teams of scientists would have to be employed for decades, to ensure such advancements, unless Humai is planning to piggyback on others work, or merely to collect payments from desperate parties hoping to escape their demise.

Even so, the trajectory of these technologies overall, will likely make such a feat possible in the distant future. And this isnt the only ambitious project looking to cheat death. The 2045 Initiative, started by Russian billionaire Dmitry Itskov, is also looking to develop technology, which would allow someone to transfer their personality into a non-biological carrier and extend life, perhaps indefinitely.

Futurist Ray Kurzweil thinks the first step is not only possible but inevitable.

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Startup Promises Immortality Through AI, Nanotechnology, and Cloning - Big Think

Published April 29, 2017, 1:30 AM

by Nick Giongco

Donnie Nietes shoots for immortality tonight when he faces Komgrich Nantapech of Thailand for the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight (112 lbs) crown at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City.

If he gets past Nantapech, younger by almost eight years than the soon-to-be 35-year-old Filipino, Nietes will become a three-division champion after wins at minimumweight (105 lbs) and light-fly (108 lbs).

Donnie Nietes seeks to become a three-division world champion today. (Juan Carlo de Vela | Manila Bulletin)

Only Manny Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire have more than two division titles.

Pacquiao won an unprecedented eight titles, and while Donaire has four.

Other Filipino two-division titlists include Dodie Boy (108 and 112 lbs) and Gerry Penalosa (115 and 118) and Luisito Espinosa (118 and 126).

During yesterdays official weighin at the Robinsons Galleria, Nietes came in at the division limit of 112 after stripping naked.

The Thai also came in at 112.

Nietes has a 39-1-4 mark with 22 KOs while Nantapech has a 22-3 with 15 KOs.

Nietes will attempt to join Pacquiao and Jerwin Ancajas as the countrys reigning world champs following the heartbreaking stripping of bantam Marlon Tapales last week in Osaka.

Tags: Donnie Nietes, immortality, International Boxing Federation, Komgrich Nantapech, Manila Bulletin, mb.com.ph, Nietes seeks immortality

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Nietes seeks immortality - Manila Bulletin

I first realised my brother was missing when I logged into Facebook one evening to see his bashful face grinning at me from a MISSING notice. Rather absurdly, I wondered why they hadnt picked a better photo of John instead of this blurry, orange-toned selfie. I continued scrolling through Facebook while frantically calling my family. Funny, innocuous videos of cats being alarmed by cucumbers were interspersed with worried messages from friends. Then came the awful, awful Skype call from my parents, when I realised that my brothers digital life was really the only thing I had left of him. His body had been found.

Not much thought is given to ones online legacy after death. Yet according to statistician Hachem Sadikki, by the year 2098, the number of dead people on Facebook will outnumber living members. Our profiles might not have the same crumbling grandeur of Dunedins Southern Cemetery, but our old statuses and selfies will preserve us indefinitely. Sometimes, I imagine my brother floating through cyberspace like an unmoored astronaut.

With 1.86 billion users worldwide, Facebook is an integral part of our lives and our deaths too. While it was not the first social media platform to establish a policy for deceased users, it certainly addressed the issue in a unique way. In the early days of our favourite electronic bulletin board, family members took control of a deceased users account, often posting eerie messages from beyond the grave. There is nothing more surreal than seeing that little green active dot hovering beside a dead friends name in a chat log.

Now however, Facebook ensures ones digital legacy can live on in the form of a memorialised timeline where friends can visit the page, view prior status updates or photographs and leave posts of remembrance. I often find myself scrolling through my brothers Facebook page, digging up silly photos of him pulling faces at the camera, or laughing at his old statuses. Its the other posts though the ones full of sadness and love from his grieving friends that really get to me.

Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram have similar policies, but with other social media platforms, the deceased accounts remain dormant until they are deleted due to inactivity. I think theres a certain sadness to this quiet erasure of ones digital footprint. Some alternatives, however, are far stranger. Take for instance the online service Dead Social. Founded by James Norris after he watched a video of comedian Bob Monkhouse posthumously starring in an advert for prostate cancer, Dead Social allows people to schedule posts after they have died. I have to admit, if I am ever diagnosed with terminal cancer, Ill probably use this service to plague my friends and loved ones with awful jokes and puns long after Ive shuffled off this mortal coil.

It gets weirder though. In my favourite episode of the British science fiction anthology series Black Mirror, a young womans boyfriend is tragically killed in a car accident. As she grieves, the woman discovers a technology that allows her to communicate with an artificial intelligence imitating her deceased lover. In this case, truth certainly lives up to fiction. Eternime is an online service that uses artificial intelligence to collect your thoughts, stories and memories to create an avatar that mimics your looks and manner of conversation. As you chat with the avatar for the remainder of your life, theyre able to learn more about you and your personality. Naturally with more information, the avatar becomes more adept at mimicking you, eventually becoming your digital alter ego after death.

The internet is truly redefining the grief process. Online memorial sites provide a much more interactive experience than viewing a concrete headstone in a cemetery. Moreover, they can be accessed from anywhere in the world, connecting loved ones with the click of a mouse. And in missing people cases, memorialised social media accounts offer the bereaved an opportunity to visit a memorial.

I often find myself obsessively trawling the internet, trying to piece together every fragment of Johns online life. Finding his YouTube channel was a bittersweet moment. I never knew he could play the guitar so beautifully, though his singing left a lot to be desired. And as for his Instagram account? Who knew a simple photo of muddy feet could affect me so much? The photographs, jerky videos, Facebook messages, likes and dislikes all amounted to a precious scrapbook of memories. I cant visit Johns grave every day, but I can fondly remember him through the pixels on my computer screen.

Lets face it death is inevitable. But in cyberspace, you may live forever.

Jean Balchin is an English student at the University of Otago.

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Immortality found in cyberspace - Otago Daily Times