What will it mean to be human in 2050? Environmentalists speculate that by then, the climate in central North Carolina may feel like Central Florida today. A better understanding of genetics could lead to cures for deadly diseases and new technologies could put sensors in our bodies to monitor vital signs and administer personalized doses of medicines.

The Human Being 2050—how advances in science will create a human experience more wonderful and more terrifying than we can imagine—will be the focus of the Fall 2006 installment of Carolina’s What’s the Big Idea? lecture series. The series is presented each March and October to share with the community new scientific research being conducted by scholars at Carolina. It brings together experts representing a wide range of disciplines to discuss an important contemporary issue.

RENCI is one of the co-sponsors of the upcoming What’s the Big Idea?, along with the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development and Endeavors magazine. RENCI Director Dan Reed will present one of the lectures in the series, Techno Being 2050: Blurring the Line Between Human and Machine, on Thursday, Oct. 12, beginning at 7 p.m.

All talks will be held at the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education on Thursdays in October from 7 – 9 p.m. Other topics will be stem cell research, genetic medicine and addiction and all four speakers will join an interdisciplinary panel discussion and dinner that will culminate the series on Nov. 2.

All lectures are free and the panel discussion and dinner costs $35. For more information, including registration information, see the What’s the Big Idea?