Cyborgs on the Horizon: A Reportback from the 92nd Street Y

Cyborgs on the Horizon:

A Sitrep Reportback

Friday night, I crowded into the 92nd Street Y with hundreds of other BSG fans for the World Science Festival event "Battlestar Galactica: Cyborgs on the Horizon." In the lead-up to the event I had conducted interviews with panel participants Hod Lipson , Kevin Warwick , and Mary McDonnell, so I was prepared for a lot of the topics of discussions... and it was still shocking and eye-opening and exciting to be so close to these marvelous people and hear about the work that they're doing, and their perspectives on these issues.

Please see below for a list of a bunch of my favorite moments. I know there were other Sitrep readers in attendance, so I hope people will post their additional favorite moments in the Comments field! All photos used in this post are © Dawn Garizzo for World Science Festival. For a full slideshow of official photographs, click here.

Event highlights included:

Nick Bostrom saying that the definition of human-level artificial intelligence is "sort of a moving target," and that "we keep moving the goalposts." "Many things that were once considered paradigmatically human, and evidence of our superior intelligence - like playing chess - we stopped considering them signs of intelligence once a computer could master them."

Michael Hogan saying that "During the miniseries, I said to myself a number of times 'man, am I glad I'm not playing a cylon!'"

Mary McDonnell saying "NOBODY gets a bigger trailer than Eddie."

Kevin Warwick telling us about a robot brain that he built out of rat brain cells, and how he hooked it up to a machine and it was able to control it, and ultimately learn not to bump into walls, and as it learned they could observe the growth of pathways among the brain cells, which is how learning happens in human brains.

Michael Hogan saying that the research for Saul Tigh was a lot of fun because it just involved "drinking a lot, which I'm good at," and Mary McDonnell saying "He really is."

Mary McDonnell saying of the episode "Epiphanies" (in which fetal stem cells from Hera save Roslin's life): "part of the reason for writing it was to address the resistance to stem cell research in this country."

Michael Hogan saying that he initially "vehemently disagreed with the idea that Tigh would go down to live on New Caprica at the end of Season Two," but "look at the arc they wrote for me in Season Three as a result - I am so proud of the work that we did, and so honored."

Hod Lipson showing a scary video of a robot that he built, teaching itself to walk, and my friend Manny turning to me and saying "this is the beginning of the end."

Mary's shock and excitement mirroring our own as we all learned about the work that Prof's Lipson and Warwick are doing.

Kevin Warwick scoffing at the idea that we would be able to control robots once they achieve super-intelligence: "Do we really think they're going to say 'I'm more intelligent than you, but I'm going to do what you tell me to do?' I mean, how stupid are humans?" And that "People tend to say 'oh, we can just switch it off if it gets too scary...' but think of the internet. It's just not possible to switch off the internet."

Mary saying that Ron Moore was "wise enough to realize that there was a co-creative aspect to the show, in his interactions with the fans. A lot of these hearts and minds (here she gestured to the audience) were very engaged in the direction the show took."

Nick Bostrom saying that once we had developed truly sentient robots, we would have to extend human rights to them, because "It ultimately doesn't matter if you're a carbon-based intelligence or a silicon-based intelligence. It makes no more difference than the color of your skin."

Kevin Warwick telling about his experience becoming a cyborg - a chip was implanted into his nervous system in his arm, and then hooked up to the internet, and he was able to control a robot hand on an entirely different continent. "I could feel that I was gripping something." "Your brain can adapt to perceive new stimuli. If we want new senses, we've got the technology to do it."

When asked what BSG taught her about being human, Mary said "If we can begin to think our way into a place that's more creative and less fearful, so many of these things we want to do can be done. I no longer suffer from the illusion that we have a lot of time. On a spiritual and political plane, I'd like to be of better and more efficient service, because it really feels like we're running out of time." And we all got chills.

When asked whether AI should be regulated by the government, Hod Lipson said it should be "something open, and not regulated, but the discussion cannot just be scientists publishing jargony articles in scientific journals no one reads - it needs to be an open discussion among everyone. This can't be something that only scientists - or anyone - has control over."

But when asked the same question, Kevin Warwick said that "The goal in military circles is 'no bodybags by 2020.' I'm personally scared by that scenario. We're developing these machines that are programmed to destroy something, usually something human, and I do feel that with that kind of destructive potential the people - whether or not it's through their governments - should have some say in how it's developed."

And finally, an audience member asked Mary if she was surprised to find out she wasn't a cylon. She said she wasn't. "It could have been an interesting cruel joke, seeing as how I'd killed so many... But I was pretty sure that Laura Roslin had to remain on the human, fearful plane - her karma was about completion of some kind of responsibility, a very blood-and-guts, cancer-ridden experience, and I just couldn't imagine that they'd want to throw all of that out."

--Sam J. Miller

Upcoming Events

As part of the World Science Festival, Michael Hogan and Mary McDonnell will appear at the 92nd St. Y Friday June 12 in NYC to discuss "Cyborgs on the Horizon" with other great panelists:

Cast members from Battlestar Galactica join leading roboticists to explore scientifically, philosophically and ethically the approaching frontier where intelligent machines are commonplace and cybernetic technology enhances human capabilities. Featuring sneak previews from the forthcoming Battlestar spinoff The Plan as well as live appearances by some of the shows favorite cylons.

Moderator
Faith Salie

Participants
Nick Bostrom
Michael Hogan
Hod Lipson
Mary McDonnell
Kevin Warwick

Kevin Warwick is often called the world's first cyborg, because of his self-experimentation with computer chip implants. Nick Bostrom is a co-founder of the World Transhumanist Association and recently gained attention for his thought experiment describing one of the strange philosophical implications of multiverse theories: our universe may be a computer simulation.

So, it should be an exciting event. Galactica Sitrep co-editors Proggrrl and Sam J. Miller will be attending.

Also coming up this Thursday, in Los Angeles is the free Los Angeles Times Envelope Screening Series:

June 4, 7:30pm Battlestar Galactica (SCI FI)
Q & A with exectutive producers Ronald D. Moore & David Eick and
actors Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell.
Moderated by Geoff Boucher

Boucher notes on his Hero Complex Blog:

A reminder that this Thursday night I will be moderating a very special "Battlestar Galactica" panel with Mary McDonnell, Edward James Olmos, Ron Moore and David Eick along with some representatives of the United Nations. That may sound like an odd mix, but anyone familiar with the late, great television series knows that it delved into some harrowing human rights issues and was laced with heavy social and ethical themes.

This will be the second panel of this kind -- there was a New York edition moderated by Whoopi Goldberg that set a starting point for this West Coast conversation.

We'll be doing the panel in a 500-seat venue at Mann Chinese 6 Theatres (6801 Hollywood Blvd.) and you can find out about the ticketing process and other details at the Envelope Screening Series website.

RSVP for the event here.

Another reminder, Bear McCreary's summer BSG concert series gets underway in downtown L.A. at Grand Performances at California Plaza on Saturday evening June 13th, for free.

Be there.

Auction Reports

Reports indicate that the BSG props auction was a great event. Check out photos from the events here and here.

Michael Trucco and Kate Vernon attended the event and spoke about working on The Plan.

See also, the Battlestar Blog.

Emerald City

Michael Hogan attended the 7th Annual Emerald City ComicCon April 4th & 5th, 2009 held at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle, WA along with Aaron Douglas, and Tahmoh Penikett.

erradient from the LJ Battlestar Blog has a convention report.

David Crosman, Contributing Writer for Comic Book Resources, has a detailed report as well.




Video from wrathofdon







Video from klozzocity

Michael Hogan will also be at the Polaris Con in Toronto, July 10-12.

Edward James Olmos and other BSG guests will be at this years DragonCon, September 4-7 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Also of note, the Paley Festival is hosting Battlestar Galactica / Caprica: A Look Back and a Look Ahead April 20th at the Arclight Cinerama Dome in Hollywood:

In Person:

Ronald D. Moore, Executive Producer
David Eick, Executive Producer
Jane Espenson, Executive Producer
Paula Malcomson (Amanda Greystone, "Caprica")
Eric Stoltz (Daniel Greystone, "Caprica")
Esai Morales (Joseph Adama, "Caprica")
Alessandra Torressani (Zoe Greystone, "Caprica")
Magda Apanowicz (Lacy Rand, "Caprica")
Tricia Helfer (Number Six, "Battlestar Galactica")
Grace Park (Sharon/Athena/Boomer, "Battlestar Galactica")
Special Guest Moderator:
Seth Green (Robot Chicken, Buffy The Vampire Slayer)

“This has all happened before. And it will happen again.”

Now that Battlestar Galactica—itself a reimagined version of a 1970s TV space opera—has dry-docked, we turn our attention to Caprica, a BSG prequel scheduled to debut on DVD in April and on Sci Fi Channel in 2010. Set fifty years before the nuclear apocalypse that opened Galactica, Caprica follows two families—the Graystones and the Adamas (particularly Bill’s “old man” Joseph)—as they feud over the creation of cybernetic life forms, marrying artificial intelligence with mechanical bodies, aka, Cylons. Like BSG, Caprica is executive produced by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, plus Remi Aubuchon.

This event brings together cast and creative team members from both shows and features a premiere screening of Caprica.

For other upcoming conventions with BSG and Caprica guests the Battlestar Blog is keeping track of it all.

Start Tonight

Drinking, that is. Why the frak not.

::pours you some Ambrosia::

New favorite words: DRUNKALOGUE, OCTOCYLON

BSG Gallery

More behind the scenes photos of the BSG cast photography for TV Guide.

Note: Michael Hogan, in background behind MM and EJO

Islanded In A Stream of Stars clip

SevorTB reports:

Here's a clip that was shown on The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet. I believe it's from Islanded in a Stream of Stars. Features Ellen & Saul Tigh talking about Saul having to face what he is and about Hera.

Interviews

Bunch of good interviews floating around today...

• Mo Ryan talks to Jane Espenson about "Deadlock" (with a few supplementary questions from Alan Sepinwall)...and to Tahmoh Penikett about BSG and his new show DOLLHOUSE.
  

• Thanks to Morjana for finding these Space/Circuit interviews with Michael Hogan and Jamie Bamber.  (And thanks to Space for letting us lousy Americans get your stream this time!)
  

• Much to our collective luck, Bear McCreary continues to interview cast & crew for his season 4.5 blogging -- this week he talks with Michael Hogan. 
  

And congrats to Aaron Douglas, who has a new CTV show THE BRIDGE which has just been picked up for American broadcast on CBS...

Interview with the Cylon

BSG composer Bear McCreary continues his conversations with Cylons, this time with Michael Hogan.

Bear also teases next week's episode, in which music plays a big part.

Promo for Deadlock

Preview of the next episode, Deadlock:


Via SevorTB.

Bear McCreary interviews the final five Cylons, part one, of two part interview series with the actors, Aaron Douglas, Michael Trucco, and Rekha Sharma. Next week Bear will post his interview with Michael Hogan and Kate Vernon.

Commentary track for 414

The "enhanced" episode with commentary is on Hulu and SciFi.com, and the commentary podcast is now up on iTunes and the SciFi.com RSS page. I don't know if it was the gin and tonics, or "MrsRon's" presence, or all the discussion of sandwiches and the BSG Auction...but this was one of my favorite podcasts in quite some time. Two things one might consider newsworthy in the 414 podcast: Moore bought Baltar's cigarette case from the auction; Terry Moore seemed to indicate that Moore will be directing again quite soon.





Also on iTunes this week: Celebrity Playlists from Jamie Bamber, Katee Sackhoff, and Michael Trucco. [HT to bsg blog] ...OT: For you LOSTies in the house, they also posted lists from Michael Emerson, Evangeline Lilly, Naveen Andrews.


Other great links after you have seen ep 414:

• Mo Ryan, bless her heart, has another interview with Ron Moore discussing this week's show.

• Bear McCreary has posted his weekly exploration of the music for this week's ep, and includes comments from Ron Moore, Richard Hatch, and Alessandro Juliani. Bear also mentions a portion of the Baltar prayer meeting sequence that was cut from the version we saw on air.

• This is just another frakkin great interview with Michael Hogan. And here's another.
  

More Auction Stuff

Access Hollywood has this up:




Battlestar Blog found video of a Hollywood 411 piece from the Auction.


Melody Muse was blogging the auction here and posted a nice flickr set of her photos from the weekend.


Don't forget the eBay auction is up for another 7 hours...


ETA: Thanks to reader Jack for two more great auction links: a really fun video up on EW.com's BSG HQ, and this SciFi Australia article that runs down the selling prices of a lot of the major items -- apparently the auction raked in over A MILLION DOLLARS this weekend...

Off the wireless

[photo: LA Times]

The first season 4.5 videoblog is up…"The Fifth Is Among Us."

The Los Angeles Magazine waxes poetic about BATTLESTAR GALACTICA this week. The Star has 10 Tips for The Battlestarved (great new word!). This blogger penned a thoughtful essay. And this gentleman at The Atlantic twists the knife one last time – yet I couldn’t stop reading his piece. Maybe because he likes to complain about TV shows that “become the culture’s homage to vertigo—to the suspicion that we live in a universe of surfaces, pointlessly arranged, whose invitations to depth or transcendence are all red herrings, shaggy dogs, wild goose chases, and decoy ducks.” ...Does he know something that we don’t?

Time Out and Live@7 interview Katee Sackhoff.

Access Hollywood interviews Tricia Helfer. (Yeah Tricia, I'm gonna be a soppy mess too, when it's over.)

IGN interviews James Callis and Katee Sackhoff.

Comic Book Resources and Cort and Fatboy interview Mark Verheiden.

The New York Times Syndicate and FanCast interview Jamie Bamber.

SyFy Radio interviews Jane Espenson.

The L.A. Times interviews Michael Hogan and Rekha Sharma.

Tahmoh Penikett, with two shows about to go on air, has been interviewed recently by The L.A. Times, TV Guide, and Watch With Kristin.

Fear.net interviews Bear McCreary.

The Space podcast interviews Alessandro Juliana and Nicki Clyne, and in this other show, claims to have director Andrew Stanton revealing a WALL-E/BSG connection.

Slice of SciFi interviews Aaron Douglas.

Darth Mojo has begun blogging again, and has put up a very cool post about VFX radiosity, including a ton of great renders of BSG ships that I’m sure we’ve never seen before. Well, OK – maybe only SOME of you guys are with me on how cool this is. The rest of you, move along.

The UGO TV Blog posts an explanation written by auction CEO Alec Peters of why there are TWO arrows of Apollo on auction.

The Star and Wired’s Geekdad blog mark geek territory as they proclaim the crucial nature of BSG’s final season for geeks everywhere. Duh.

Entertainment Weekly has a Guess Who’s the Final Cylon bracket game up…and has put the BSG 4.0 DVD (and the return of 4.5) on this week’s Must List.

There is apparently a BSG-themed rollercoaster being developed for the Universal theme park in Singapore (see 12/3 & 12/8 entries).

The Hero Complex blog things J.J. Abrams’ STAR TREK owes a massive debt to BSG and STAR WARS for its battle scenes.

You can watch Rekha Sharma guest starring on SANCTUARY here.

If you have a Tivo DVR or a Windows PC, you can watch the film MY NAME IS BRUCE, written by Mark Verheiden, on Amazon VOD.

In this Vancouver Sun piece, Ron Moore discusses how fraktastic the Vancouver BSG crew is and how they helped the show excel. Moore also confirms that BSG Production Designer Richard Hudolin is working on the CAPRICA series. Thank the gods!

The Straight has some updates on CAPRICA casting in Vancouver.

For those of you who enjoyed the “Battlestarbook” this week…the fan who created it is going to do more.

Trying to get your friends hooked on BSG? Show them this fantastic primer written last year by Salon, just before the start of 4.0. Combine it with these vids, for the perfect prep session.


[Thanks to readers Kate and Stu for tips]

Inside The Secrets Of The Behind The Making Of...

Someone has just posted the Bear McCreary "documentary" onto youtube. Not sure how long it'll be there, especially now that I'm posting about it...but you must, MUST, watch part 2, 6 1/2 mins in, right away. LOLOL

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3

Happy New Year

To All Things Flesh and Metal


Peace in '09 from Sitrep

What are friends for?

h/t SevorTB.

Friday is Webisode Day

Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune posts this reminder about the BSG Face of the Enemy Webisodes, and showcased the new BSG season 4.5 poster with Starbuck seen above.

Mo Ryan also has gone on her own Galacticathon re-watching Battlestar Galactica from the beginning, her observations and thoughts are here and here.

Also, not to long ago, Ryan talked to the Daily Show's Resident Expert, John Hodgman who is a huge BSG fan, and who has a cameo role in season 4.5.

Time Magazine lists Battlestar Galactica as the 8th best show of 2008 on their top ten list, and ranks the episode Revelations as the 6th best television episode of the year. And Apple includes Battlestar Galactica in their best of 2008 iTunes selections.

Michael Hogan talks about coming to Galactica's end with DreamWatch's Total Sci-Fi.

In other news, Tricia Helfer is to appear in an episode of Chuck. Check out some set photos from Michael Trucco....Interviews with Tahmoh Penikett....And Michelle Forbes talks about working on True Blood, In Treatment, and Battlestar Galactica.

Here are the latest Catch the Frak Up primers, first the previous one, and then the second one which encapsulates all of season 4.0:

BSG highlights from freelancerxo02:


Roslin14's Desolate Earth video:


BSG Teen Spirit by dfktyjr

Driveby DragonCon Goodies

Sorry folks but my "real job that pays actual money" has been mad busy this week, so I am a bit behind on the posting, and sharing collected DragonCon links with you. However, I cannot let another moment go by without sharing the following, which is guaranteed to provide much fandom happy:




- nnaylime's massive collection of panel videos on youtube and for download! Remember to leave comments thanking her, she's a trufan. She's got some other reports up of her con experience on her livejournal, if you're looking for that.

- jettdelirium's wonderful photos and write-up of her experience at the Colonial Fleet party

- bobbarker's glorious party and parade photos

Too fun...no wonder the cast hung out all night!

[photos: jettdelirium and bobbarker]

First bits of fun from DragonCon

[photo by squirrely24U]

Livejournalist m-a-r-i-k-s has posted some lovely photos of the first BATTLESTAR GALACTICA panel at DragonCon this weekend in Atlanta. This panel incluldes Tahmoh Penikett, Richard Hatch, Michael Hogan, Edward James Olmos, Aaron Douglas, Kevin Grazier, and James Callis. WOW!

Fans Wickedpenguin and wisteria have posted some panel videos... Let us know if you find more as they trickle up into the webs...

Cosplay and Michael Hogan: together at last



wisteria's video of panel - Part 1

Dragoncon - BSG Panel - 082908
Uploaded by alannab99

Part 2



Part 3



ETA: Oh and that other guy sitting on the panel, between Douglas and Callis? He is going to appear on BSG in season 4.5...I didn't catch his name, anybody know it?

I'm a Frakkin' Cylon?

The latest videoblog.



Can I let my proofreader side show here a bit and say: GUYS, it's spelled FRAKKIN'. Or frakking. RDM has confirmed this. I know, I know...petty.