The 8th Robert Boyle Summer School will take place from 20 – 23 June 2019 at Waterford City and Lismore and addresses the potentials and perils of SUPERHUMAN.
The inspiration for the 2019 summer school was Boyle’s wonderful, prophetic (and now quirky) document from the 1660’s where he lists 24 things that he thought the new science might deliver. Most of them have come to pass in the intervening 350 years. Many of them refer to human health and performance. Top of the list was the “prolongation of life”, and he would surely be amazed at the advancements made.
We thought that we would start in the 17th Century and consider what Boyle and his contemporaries were thinking about and then look to the present and the future to see how we science and technology are poised to create Superhumans. How much further can we advance life expectancy and what can we do to ensure that our ageing population is healthy and fit? How can technologies help people suffering illness or infirmity to lead more active and engaged lives?
These are all worthy sounding developments, but what about the aim of enhancement from human to superhuman? This is no longer science fiction and the 8th RBSS will explore the possibilities and perils of SUPERHUMAN.
genetic modification | bionics | cybernetics | prolongation of life | enhancement of memory | exoskeletons | sensory enhancement | Implications & Ethics
The school was located at the Tower Hotel, recently refurbished, in the heart of the City’s Viking Quarter. Attendees were transferred by coach to Lismore on Saturday 22nd for a programme at the Lismore Heritage Centre and an evening garden party at Boyle’s birthplace, Lismore Castle. A special event was held on Friday evening at Waterford City Hall.
Speakers include: Prof Annraoi de Paor; Dr Natalie Kaoukji, Cambridge; Prof Luke O’Neill, Trinity College Dublin; Prof Niall Moyna, Dublin City University; Prof Tomás Ryan, Trinity College Dublin; Prof Madeleine Lowery, University College Dublin; Nuala Clarke, Artist; Dr Oliver Feeney, NUI Galway; Calmast Team: Cordula Weiss, Dr Sheila Donegan, Eoin Gill (WIT) and Paul Nugent (IOP).
Programme
Thursday 20 June 2019
2 pm – 5 pm (Lismore Heritage Centre) – Irish Association for Physicists in Medicine Meeting
A dialogue on the usefulness of the Physics Testing Methods of Modern Interventional Cardiology and Radiology Systems
7 pm (Tower Hotel Waterford) – Prof Annraoi de Paor
Superhumans in Ancient Irish folklore: the career of Lugh Lámhfhada
Friday 21 June 2019
Morning and Afternoon sessions. Venue: Tower Hotel Waterford
9:30 am Registration
10:30 am Dr. Natalie Kaoukji, University of Cambridge
Overturning natural limitations: prolonging life in the seventeenth century
11:45 Nuala Clarke, Visual Artist
Inspired by Boyle: Experiments and Considerations Touching Colour
1:00 pm Lunch break
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm Eoin Gill, Sheila Donegan, Cordula Weiss and Paul Nugent
Recreation of Boyle’s original experiments: Touching Colour
Evening Session. Venue: Waterford City Hall
5:00 pm Prof Luke O’Neill, TCD
Humanology
6:00 pm Prof Niall Moyna, DCU
Stone age genes and space age technology – Impact on human health
8:00 School Dinner at Hobson’s Restaurant Tower Hotel overlooking the Suir River
Saturday 22 June
Venue: Lismore Heritage Centre. Coach Transfer Leaving Waterford 9 am
10:30 am Prof Madeleine Lowery, UCD
Engineering the Human Body: from bionics and exoskeletons to brain-computer interface
11:45 am Prof Tomás Ryan, TCD
What is the future of human evolution?
1:00 pm Lunch break
2:30 pm Dr Oliver Feeney, NUIG
From the Human Genome Project to CRISPR-Cas9: a reassessment of the ethical, legal and societal issues
7:00 pm Garden Party at Lismore Castle’s Jacobean Gardens with locally produced gourmet food prepared by award winning Eunice Power, Robert Boyle Gin and Metalman craft beer, and baroque music.
9:30 pm Coach transfer back to Waterford
Sunday 23 June
11:30 am Visit Waterford’s Viking Triangle
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