Over at Newsweek, Hannah Osborne is reporting - First Human Head Transplant Successfully Performed on Corpse, Sergio Canavero Announces — Key bits:
Scientists have carried out a head transplant on a human corpse, the neurosurgeon behind the operation has announced.
At a press conference in Vienna, Austria, Sergio Canavero said his team was able to remove the head from one body and connect it to the body of another by fusing the spine, nerves and blood vessels. He said the next step will be to carry out the operation on a living person, The Telegraph reports.
"The first human transplant on human cadavers has been done. A full head swap between brain dead organ donors is the next stage,” he said. "And that is the final step for the formal head transplant for a medical condition which is imminent.”
Canavero said a “high number” of people have volunteered to be his first head transplant patient. It is thought he will carry out the operation in China in December.
Because, of course, some of us are aware of the special dynamics of the intersection between Ethics, Journalism, and the Chinese government.
And then the next kicker to sufficiently anti-bait the click:
The Italian neurosurgeon did not present any evidence of his claims at the conference.
But, who knows what gruesome story we'll hear about in December.
Related Stories
A breakthrough in restoring micro-circulation has allowed scientists to keep pig brains alive outside of a body:
In a step that could change the definition of death, researchers have restored circulation to the brains of decapitated pigs and kept the reanimated organs alive for as long as 36 hours.
The feat offers scientists a new way to study intact brains in the lab in stunning detail. But it also inaugurates a bizarre new possibility in life extension, should human brains ever be kept on life support outside the body.
The work was described on March 28 at a meeting held at the National Institutes of Health to investigate ethical issues arising as US neuroscience centers explore the limits of brain science.
During the event, Yale University neuroscientist Nenad Sestan disclosed that a team he leads had experimented on between 100 and 200 pig brains obtained from a slaughterhouse, restoring their circulation using a system of pumps, heaters, and bags of artificial blood warmed to body temperature. There was no evidence that the disembodied pig brains regained consciousness. However, in what Sestan termed a "mind-boggling" and "unexpected" result, billions of individual cells in the brains were found to be healthy and capable of normal activity.
It's possible that the level of function could be increased, and the brains could be kept alive indefinitely:
Sestan now says the organs produce a flat brain wave equivalent to a comatose state, although the tissue itself "looks surprisingly great" and, once it's dissected, the cells produce normal-seeming patterns.
The lack of wider electrical activity could be irreversible if it is due to damage and cell death. The pigs' brains were attached to the BrainEx device roughly four hours after the animals were decapitated.
However, it could also be due to chemicals the Yale team added to the blood replacement to prevent swelling, which also severely dampen the activity of neurons. "You have to understand that we have so many channel blockers in our solution," Sestan told the NIH. "This is probably the explanation why we don't get [any] signal."
Sestan told the NIH it is conceivable that the brains could be kept alive indefinitely and that steps could be attempted to restore awareness. He said his team had elected not to attempt either because "this is uncharted territory."
Next step: hooking it up to a computer?
Related: First Human Head Transplant Could Happen in Two Years
Complete Head Transplant or Complete Publicity Stunt
Claims That Head Transplant Has Been Successfully Done on a Monkey
How Would You Define "A Successful Human Head Transplant"?
(Score: 2) by legont on Tuesday November 21 2017, @03:42AM (2 children)
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fountain-of-youth-young-blood-infusions-ldquo-rejuvenate-rdquo-old-mice/ [scientificamerican.com]
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 21 2017, @03:54AM (1 child)
For sure, it didn't help Hillary.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 21 2017, @08:52AM
No, it doesn't help Peter Thiel, High Tech Advisor to the "Little Boots" (or "hands") Precedent of the Untitled States. Vampires. California.
Lost Boys, 1987. [imdb.com]
(Score: 1, Informative) by c0lo on Tuesday November 21 2017, @03:52AM (16 children)
Warning: this post contains images that may be not unseeable.
Do it with the agent Orange head grafted on the bitch's body... because the reverse is just too horrible [imgur.com] (Trump over Hillary may have chances to something remotely human, like Dolores Trumpbridge [imgur.com] or Donald Thatcher [imgur.com])
(if this does not help the USian electorate start looking to elect third parties, nothing will)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday November 21 2017, @04:59AM (13 children)
"... even if you're joking." -- Clint Eastwood, "Line Of Fire"
Some Kuro5hin member received a visit at his place of work by the secret service a few days after jokingly threatening a covered person.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by MostCynical on Tuesday November 21 2017, @05:29AM (1 child)
whose president?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday November 21 2017, @12:30PM
I bet is wasn't Lizzie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Tuesday November 21 2017, @12:37PM (10 children)
Threatening?
You mean... Photoshoping is now a threat? Are you really serious?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday November 21 2017, @12:44PM (9 children)
The Secret Service also investigates counterfeit bills... so that's possibly a second way they could get involved with someone's use of Photoshop.
The Secret Service investigates cybercrimes [nytimes.com] (an antiquated mission of theirs)... so investigating Adobe getting hacked could be a loose #3 way they would respond to something Photoshop related.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 21 2017, @12:56PM (2 children)
At least Stasi investigated for seditious content.
But yeah, I can understand that; in the land of the home, free of the brave, threatening finances is the highest treason.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 21 2017, @04:43PM (1 child)
Through an odd historical quirk, the Secret Service is actually under the Department of Treasury. That is most likely why it may be tasked with investigating counterfeit bills. Just so you know.
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Tuesday November 21 2017, @10:52PM
Your information is out of date. According to the Secret Service website: [secretservice.gov]
They still are called on to investigate counterfeiting as a result of he historical quirk you mentioned, but no longer do so under the umbrella of the Dept. of Treasury.
Of course, some Secret Service agents have gone on record saying that DHS is the wrong place for them, and they should go back to the Treasury... [vox.com]
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday November 21 2017, @01:07PM (5 children)
Cool. Photoshoping can bring the Secret Service, but owning, carrying and using an arsenal into a hotel room [wikipedia.org] is just a fact of everyday life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Tuesday November 21 2017, @02:16PM (4 children)
It's simple. Law has force only on people who respect law. For example, if you start thinking that jail is just another hotel with bad service, law loses power.
The unlawful don't read the law and then change their behavior, they expect law enforcers to catch them first. The lawful on the other hand are busy demanding tougher laws.
The enforcers just want people to work and obey.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 21 2017, @02:35PM (2 children)
Yeah sure jail... because there is no penalty greater than that in socialist utopia. But in real world you get the fucking chair.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 21 2017, @03:14PM
If the guy's planning to off themselves anyway, it doesn't much matter does it?
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Wednesday November 22 2017, @05:14PM
All fine and dandy until you end up "getting the chair" for throwing a burnt cigarette on the footpath.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 21 2017, @06:08PM
how has this approach to justice affected your ability to enjoy a fine cuban cigar? I imagine that there are some ways to get one, and other ways to get one. but if you are not really clear on which way is the right way, in the end, you still may enjoy a fine cuban cigar, just with less details to cloud your smoke.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 21 2017, @07:32PM (1 child)
"The Thing With Two Heads" (1972) but with Donald and Hilary.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday November 21 2017, @09:03PM
I'm missing this from my list - thanks for the reference, seems promising.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday November 21 2017, @04:28AM (1 child)
Two similar men. I'd rate Sergio over Roger Shawyer due to Shawyer's big claims about flying cars with squat to show for it, the inconclusivity of peer-reviewed EmDrive tests, and the lack of any physics barriers to reconnecting spines and nerves (it's just really hard, but maybe robot surgeons could help do it). Death and brain death is being shown to be more fluid than thought, but possibly breaking conservation of momentum is a tougher sell.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 21 2017, @04:42AM
(Score: 5, Funny) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday November 21 2017, @04:38AM (1 child)
Head transplants, in fantasy D&D: http://www.blindpanic.com/humor/vecna.htm [blindpanic.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 21 2017, @07:56AM
For some reason, it does not strike me as beyond the realm of possibility that potential head transplant recipients would fight amongst themselves to see who has the honor of being recorded in the history books as the first, with similar results.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday November 21 2017, @04:39AM
That's not nearly enough.
FWIW a friend of mine kicked cocaine as a result of dissecting cadavers during her premed studies.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Tuesday November 21 2017, @05:31AM
it didn't fall off when we moved the body!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdIwe46XizY [youtube.com]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 4, Funny) by maxwell demon on Tuesday November 21 2017, @06:01AM (1 child)
A successful human head transplant means transplanting the head of a successful human.
He applied electricity to the body consisting of different corpse parts, and it now is alive.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 4, Funny) by inertnet on Tuesday November 21 2017, @09:17AM
The locals aren't happy about it, they're shouting outside with torches and pitchforks.
I guess that's a success then.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by acid andy on Tuesday November 21 2017, @09:37AM (2 children)
Clearly, it's a body transplant! If you have a liver transplant, that means someone else's liver was grafted into your body. So, if you have a head transplant, that means someone else's head was...
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 21 2017, @01:44PM (1 child)
If you have a body transplant, someone else's body was grafted into your body?
(Score: 1) by MindEscapes on Tuesday November 21 2017, @02:22PM
Yes, if we maintain that who a person is, resides within their mental being. The thing being donated is the body to which it will be attached. This is a body transplant. The person we expect it to be after the transplant is not whom donated the body.
Need a break? mindescapes.net may be for you!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 21 2017, @02:25PM (2 children)
Swapping (not just adding a head) everything from the neck down such that the head (brain + eyes + ears + touch) is capable of rational thought and function for an indefinite period after the operation.
Keeping the body/organs functioning so that the chemical balance is good enough for a working, sane brain is a pretty high bar.
Having the head control the body seems a secondary step.
Pretty gruesome stuff.
Even assuming a suitable, brain dead donor, hopefully the ethics for do-no-harm would make this unlikely for a long, long time to come.
Can we ask nicer question here please?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 21 2017, @03:30PM
When I can buy a new body that will look good on Venice Beach (LA), then the technology will be perfected.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 21 2017, @03:38PM
A functioning set of organs, but paralyzed would be bare minimum as the recipient would be technically alive for a period, but if they can't get the nervous system hooked up, I see little point other than as a stepping stone.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday November 21 2017, @04:29PM (1 child)
Assuming we could do a body transplant, it may be just as easy for us to use cybernetics. Assuming, you could successfully do a body transplant that would be major trauma every time you do it. Whereas, if you had a cybernetic body, you could "easily" upgrade to the latest model. I have a feeling that even done perfectly, neither approach would significantly increase your life span. You'd still have your original head / brain / spinal cord and they have their own expiration date. You'd have to figure out a way to keep your body from self-destructing in order to increase your life span. Assuming you can do that, why go through the trouble of a body transplant?
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2, Insightful) by tftp on Tuesday November 21 2017, @08:13PM
(Score: 1) by jman on Wednesday November 22 2017, @03:23AM