English

MACHINE MOTHER: The human factory is coming, which means it’s great that I’m old

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2023.05.06.

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Kalapis Rókus

embergyár, gépanya / human factory, machine-mother

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Olvasási idő: 4 perc

The topic of the human factory has been popping up in the media for some time now, but no one is really taking it seriously. I myself came across a piece of news stating that the first baby conceived with the help of robots has been born. Overture Life, the startup developing the robots involved in the process, hopes that this could be the first step towards automating artificial insemination. Last spring, a sperm injection robot was launched from Barcelona to the New Hope Fertility Center clinic in New York, where an engineer used a Sony PlayStation 5 controller to set the robot’s needle and fertilize an „unprotected” egg.

They created two baby girls

They used the robot to fertilize a total of ten eggs, and according to a report by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), the result was healthy embryos and the birth of two baby girls.

The idea is that this automated process would be significantly cheaper than the current method, which involves highly trained experts and large laboratories performing the procedure manually.

Csecsemőinkubátor az embergyárban az EctiLife filmje szerint (Forrás: Twitter)

This is not particularly terrible, in fact, it’s humane, as it allows childless couples who could not afford it before to have access to artificial insemination.

For those who may not know, because they’ve been living in a fully comfortable cave for the last 30-40 years, an artificially fertilized egg is placed back into the mother’s womb, and if all goes well, the baby develops naturally from that point on.

However, this is still far from the human factory, where these artificially fertilized eggs are placed in an artificial womb and grown there until the baby is „born.”

WTF is the human factory?

In 2022, a Berlin-based molecular biologist and showman, Hashem Al-Ghaili, and his company EctoLife, announced this with great fanfare, albeit still only at the level of a clever movie.

The human factory, which would refute the Black Mirror series, could produce 30,000 newborns per year. But Al-Ghalili also suggests that he can offer a premium package to the public, allowing them to choose the sex, eye color, hair color, skin color of their child, and even make them stronger and smarter through gene editing.

If someone is really filthy rich, they can buy their own private artificial womb and „expand their family” as they see fit when the time is right. So, the EctoLife case seems more like a scam than a serious matter – they deceive the more naive investors, then quietly go bankrupt and disappear with the money.

However, although not yet on an industrial scale, artificial wombs already exist in some places, such as Israel, the United States, the Netherlands, China, and who knows where else, as such things can be hidden very nicely anywhere, even in the middle of a big city without the need for Area 51.

And now, there is no need for human donors, as seen with eggs and sperm. Israeli researchers announced in 2021 that they were able to create fully developed mouse embryos with the help of stem cells and artificial wombs.

What about Europe?

According to publicly available sources, the EU project led by Eindhoven University of Technology has made the most progress: Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands) – EU funding: 792,500 EUR, University Hospital Aachen (Germany) – EU funding: 831,943 EUR, Lifetec Group BV (Netherlands) – EU funding: 451,875 EUR, Politecnico di Milano (Italy) – EU funding: 400,000 EUR, Nemo Healthcare BV (Netherlands) – EU funding: 399,812.50 EUR.

Majdnem olyan, mint az igazi, csak nem kell levinni , robotkutya az Eindhoveni Műszaki Egyetemen (Forrás: TU/e)

According to scientists, the goal of the project is to help extremely premature babies survive the critical 24-28 week period. Every day that the fetus spends in the artificial womb until the 24th week increases its chances of survival.

If doctor-scientists can extend the fetal development of these babies in the artificial womb to 28 weeks with the help of the „machine mother,” they can reduce the risk of early mortality to 15%.

For understandable reasons, we do not know where the French army stands with the development of „super soldiers” announced in winter 2020.

Do we need this?

We don’t think so, because its impact on society is unpredictable and unforeseeable.

Kiruccanás Jezeróra — és odáig hány az óra?

This issue has been explored several times by science fiction writers, from Huxley to The Matrix, and of course, there is the aforementioned Black Mirror series, and in none of these cases is the picture painted completely happy.

Will there be a human factory? Of course, there will be, no matter how much we protest against it.

If we are lucky, we will open a program to settle the galaxy in the meantime, and then all of this will not be so terrible because we cannot present enough settlers naturally.

Not to mention that the human factory will come in handy if the galaxy is not a particularly peaceful place, and we will need to open up a way with weapons. In any case, I am very happy that I probably will not live to see it.

English

Dodik travels to Moscow, yet receives money from the European Union

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2023.06.05.

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Márton András

Dodik pénzt kap az EU-tól / Dodik travels to Moscow and receives money from the EU

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Olvasási idő: 5 perc

The European Commission has lifted the suspension it imposed last year on the disbursement of EU funds intended for the Bosnian Serb Republic. Milorad Dodik, the president of the Bosnian Serb entity, expressed his gratitude to his coalition partners for their support in this matter, while the entity he leads is experiencing worsening economic conditions. The upcoming repayment of bonds issued on the Vienna Stock Exchange this year may force Dodik to take on additional significant loans. It is possible that he will seek assistance in Hungary as well.

In Brussels, they loosened their grip

Milorad Dodik, the president of the Bosnian Serb Republic, achieved a significant result on Friday, as the EU revoked the suspension of EU-funded development projects in the Serbian entity.

The disbursement of EU funds intended for the Bosnian Serb Republic had been suspended since February last year, as the EU Commission sought to exert pressure on Dodik’s Independent Social Democrats Alliance (Savez Nezavisnih Socijaldemokrata, SNSD) due to their secessionist tendencies.

Although the European Union did not impose sanctions on Bosnian Serb political leaders at that time, the Commission ordered the freezing of all projects receiving EU support.

It was already known at the time of the halt in investments, mostly related to infrastructure development, that the Serbian entity, burdened by significant debt due to bonds issued on international stock exchanges, would not be able to compensate for the resulting shortfall from its own budget.

In May of this year, several Bosnian newspapers reported that the leadership of the Bosnian Serb Republic could be in trouble if they do not find new external funding to finance their accumulated external debt.

While the risk of technical bankruptcy is not discussed in Banja Luka, it can be assumed that the EU, in plain terms, „didn’t let Dodik off the hook” and resumed the disbursement of previously frozen financial assets.

According to experts knowledgeable in the Bosnian financial sector, the EU’s restart of programs has provided a lifeline to the otherwise grim state of the Bosnian Serb economy.

However, experts agreed that the influx of EU funds alone will not be sufficient to ensure the necessary growth for financing external debt. This is because its impact does not generate enough additional GDP growth in the Bosnian Serb Republic to break free from the debt spiral.

One may ask, why did Brussels yield?

The answer, according to many, is that this step was a significant gesture towards the Bosnian Serb region on the brink of international isolation and economic collapse.

Dodik, in turn, has only earned this by fulfilling the coalition agreement he made with the Croatian Democratic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica Bosne i Hercegovine, HDZ BiH) and the left-wing Bosnian party alliance known as the „troika” until now.

Troubles within the coalition arise

The importance of restarting EU programs is also reflected in Dodik himself expressing gratitude, in front of the press, to Elmedin Konaković, the Bosnian Minister of Foreign Affairs, for consistently keeping the issue of restarting frozen projects in the Serbian entity on the agenda during his visits to Brussels this year.

On the right, Elmedin Konaković, the Bosnian Minister of Foreign Affairs, plays the role of a helpful lobbyist, while on the left, Milorad Dodik, the president of the Bosnian Serb Republic, needs to be connected to a financial infusion

Simultaneously with the announcement of the financial good news, Denis Bečirović, the Bosnian member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency, also held negotiations with members of the Western Balkans Working Group of the European Parliament in Brussels.

Bečirović’s participation in the meeting caused significant disruption within the communication machinery of the Bosnian government coalition. This was because the member of the presidency asked the present EU representatives to impose further sanctions against Dodik, and he described the continuation of the disbursement of EU financial assets as a „terribly bad step.”

Regarding Bečirović’s stance against Dodik, it is worth noting that in previous years, he has repeatedly accused the top Bosnian Serb leader of separatist tendencies and violating the principles of the Dayton Agreement.

His recent actions were particularly uncomfortable for his own party, the Social Democratic Party (Socijaldemokratska Stranka, SDP), as this position completely contradicted the coalition government’s stance, including that of his own party, regarding EU funds.

Although there haven’t been similar levels of communication discord among some players within the five-party government coalition in the past, and the government seemingly continued its work uninterrupted, strong figures within the coalition parties often make comments that indicate underlying tension.

When it comes to separate communication, the SDP takes the lead, as several prominent members sharply criticize the work of the coalition partners organized on the basis of two ethnicities, the Bosnian Serb SNSD and the Croatian HDZ BiH.

The ‘unique word scattering’ observed in the communication of the SDP can be traced back to the fact that the Yugoslav state party’s successor organization in Bosnia, in addition to its traditional center-left orientation, has sought to broaden its support among progressive and neo-Marxist youth groups. These groups find it difficult to accept that the SDP, which represents a multiethnic and atheist approach they support, formed an alliance with the Bosnian Serb and Croatian conservative political forces that were continuously criticized in the previous cycle.

Dodik needs to pay (or should pay)

Regardless of the opening of EU funds, the economic situation of the Bosnian Serb Republic is difficult to assess positively.

The maturity dates of entity bonds issued on the London and Vienna stock exchanges are approaching, and their repayment will pose a significant burden on the budget of the Serb entity.

The numbers speak for themselves.

This year, the Serb entity has a bond-based debt obligation of approximately 1,099 million BAM (convertible mark), which amounts to 208 billion Hungarian forints. In addition, the government of the Bosnian Serb Republic has to pay an additional 900 million BAM (170 billion Hungarian forints) this year based on other commitments.

A significant portion of these obligations is related to certain infrastructure investments. From this year’s upcoming debt pile, a portion of the Bosnian Serb bonds issued on the Vienna Stock Exchange in previous years will mature in June. After this, the Serb entity will have to pay approximately 400 million BAM (75 billion Hungarian forints).

Dodik nyakló nélkül veszi fel a hiteleket

To ensure the financing of the mentioned debt, the Bosnian Serb Republic received a loan of 180 million BAM (34 billion Hungarian forints) from Hungary.

We have previously reported in detail about this transaction and the support program provided by the Hungarian government to Bosnian Serb agricultural entrepreneurs.

According to news reports in the Bosnian press, in order to continue rolling over the high external debt, Dodik may be preparing, or rather, be forced to take on another loan of approximately 2 billion BAM (380 billion Hungarian forints) in the near future.

Most analysts link this future transaction, which has so far been only speculation, to the Chinese development funds that are still leading in the Western Balkans region, due to the drying up of Russian resources. However, it is also possible that Dodik may once again knock on Budapest’s door for a little injection of funds.

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