As an active participant in the Information / Communications Technology domain (ICT), this is perhaps one of the most influential videos I have seen in the last several years.  We are now, again (as with the emergence of the Internet), on the verge of a new great frontier in human ingenuity.

I’ve been tracking the progression of advents in bio-synthetic technology for a while now. Aside from this recent breakthrough in producing a bio-synthetic cell, there are also some significant developments happening in the overall scope of collective access and participation to the knowledge, technologies, and applications involved in this budding frontier.  Essentially, the bio-tech and neuro-tech domains are beginning to go open-source and non-centralized by a trend very similar to the way the software and internet industry has in the last 10 – 15 years.   The means of bio-engineering are now reaching a level of accessibility and automation that will allow for research, innovation, and applications to go well beyond the traditional scientific and corporate institutions–and into private laboratories, and even into the kitchens of people’s homes.

Can you imagine the potentials of 100,000s of independent, networked, and open-source scientists and technologists focusing on issues such as Cancer and HIV in their own homes in the same way that, say, Linux, Wikipedia, and FireFox have been developed?  This same kind of collective intelligence can also go towards innovations in bio-fuels and other green technologies.  And that’s just the very tip of the synthetic iceberg …

The implications are profound and staggering!

“Andrew Hessel reasons that Synthetic Biology will be the next big IT industry.  In his remarkable talk Andrew talks about the parallels between IT and biology.”

video link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S23owdOuLjc

blog page link: http://blog.michaelgaio.com/2010/06/18/the-internet-of-living-things/

Check this link: http://michaelgaio.com/photos/secondlife

After about three months in conceptual planning, and a few weeks of production, we are in the final run before hosting the “Bee-In Social” event, and the launch of the Pollen Nation (www.pollennation.org).

This event was inspired by the apparent plight of the honey bees … and a great impetus to co-create a hyper-creative social networking event, at a very cool venue (www.gracecathedral.org). It’s a nearly perfect opportunity to generate social art under such an essential and beautful metaphore.

Here is the official invitation:

This is an invitation to Bee All You Can Bee …Many of us are aware of the current plight of the honey bees.  In response, we have launched the Pollen Nation (www.pollennation.org) — a network of people and organizations who are hosting the Bee-In Social: an event to celebrate the lives of the bees, and take conscious action to promote pollinator’s lives and the lives they touch.Held in one of San Francisco’s most historical, architectural, and spiritually significant venues, the Bee-In Social will include interactive arts performance, music, visual projections, storytelling, and talks with experts in the field of pollination and the bee crisis.

The Bee-In Social

Friday, May 25

Grace Cathedral, San Francisco

7 – 9:30pm, (doors open at 6:30)

$5 – $20 at the door.  

More information about the event is available here: http://www.pollennation.org/event.html

100% of post-production proceeds will be donated to the Hive Relief Fund: http://www.pollennation.org/sponsors.html

It would be great if you would like to bee involved and here’s how:

~ Join the Central Hive!  The honey bees can inspire us now to accentuate our pollinator-like human-bee-ingness. Simply help promote the Bee-In Social by sending invitations out to your personal and/or organizational lists, and telling your friends.  Let us know you want to support the bees, share the buzz, and join the human hive!  http://www.pollennation.org/join.html

~ Sing in the Social Prophet Choir!  Pollen Nation’s choir will debut at the event singing Troy Lush’s song “Now is the Time”.  Everyone is invited to harmonize in the human hive.  http://www.pollennation.org/choir.html

~ Wear a Bee-Shirt!  A variety of Pollen Nation bee-shirts are now available (including organic cotton) from our on-line store: https://www.goodstorm.com/stores/metapoetic  (proceeds go toward the Hive Relief Fund)

~ Sponsor the Bee-In Social!  Contribute directly to the Hive Relief Fund. http://www.pollennation.org/sponsors.html

Bee All You Can Bee -  Join the Pollen Nation! Blessings to you and all those you touch every day …

~ Michael Gaio

See a Flash-based map that presents comprehensive information on the importance of biodiversity to human health.  This was a joint project with Harvard University’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, the Buckminster Fuller Institute, Free Range Graphics, and myself as the Flash interface designer and programmer.

See the Biodiversity map: www.earthscope.com/chge

And crack the “(Bio) DaVersity Code”, a great related Flash cartoon based on the “Davinci Code” movie: www.daversitycode.com

So interesting that we just happened to launch this on National Polar Bear day!

Also be sure to see the Species Alliance film preview.

This Flash RIA (Rich Internet Application) was based on a mapping engine I developed in 2003, officially implemented on EarthDance, and then repurposed as the “Global Network Map“, a downloadable Flash application.