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An easy-to-read two-page short story

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You can also listen to the audio recording of True Love by I.Asimov

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You can also listen to the audio recording of True Love by I.Asimov

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How London's super rich are trying to buy immortality

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How London's super rich are trying to buy immortality

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The latest lifestyle, fashion and travel trends

You've got the Lamborghini and the Learjet, the houses and quite possibly the palaces; Erdem designs your dresses and you've got heaps of diamonds. What next? Well, adornment can only take you so far: what good is that Lech heli-skiing pad when your knees are shot? What's the point in building a multibillion-pound business when you're unwittingly courting a heart attack? As technology evolves ever more rapidly, ultra high net worth individuals are turning their attention inward, investigating how to stall the ageing process, and spending serious money to load their dice against death.

Across the road from Harrods sits Omniya clinic, a calm, contemporary white space amid the hustle of Knightsbridge. At street level it is a luxuriously reimagined pharmacy, whose curated selection includes recent launches from Hollywood's favourite 'cosmeceutical' brands Zo Skin Health and Dr Levy. 'I wanted to create a place that brings the newest advancements in medical and regenerative health to London,' says co-founder Danyal Kader, a former lawyer, radiant with bien-être. He was so depressed by the difficulty of finding the best medical treatment for his father, who suffers from a heart condition, that he decided to create his own one-stop conduit to wellness. 'We optimise the lives our clients can lead, body, mind and soul.' To this end, he has brought together a team of leading specialists who analyse the health of their clients in the most minute and sophisticated detail - a kind of space-age human MOT.

One of these is cellular ageing specialist Dr Mark Bonar. As his title suggests, Bonar is passionate about the very specific degradations that happen in the cells of the body as we age - and still more excited about the new ways he can use to slow such deterioration. Consider, for example, telomeres. 'Telomeres are the caps on the ends of our DNA,' Bonar explains. 'A bit like the plastic on the end of a shoe lace, they prevent the ends from fraying. By measuring their length in the lab we can determine how well the body is ageing' - for instance, if at 30, you show the wear and tear you'd expect in a 40-year-old. 'The length can also inform you about your risk of various kinds of disease such as breast or bowel cancer.'

More dramatically, Bonar continues, a product has been patented - it has been around in the States since 2011 - called TA-65, which can rebuild your telomeres, pausing this process central to ageing. In fact, by making the telomere length longer, you can actually make cells 'younger', he argues. In one study, fruit flies given TA-65 doubled their life expectancy, while another study on rats discovered that the risk of them developing certain cancers fell by some 30 per cent. And yes, Bonar can prescribe it for you, in a capsule or a cream.

Telomeres are, however, only one part of the therapy. If you suffer from low energy, Bonar might look to the functioning of your mitochondria - the cell powerhouses that produce energy; or glycation, typically the result of sugar molecules bonding to protein, which makes your blood more 'gloopy' and your cells more brittle and liable to break down. He might also consider using artificial means, such as the Human Growth Hormone (HGH), to stimulate cell reproduction. HGH usually peaks in our twenties and then declines; as well as making you feel like you've only just turned 21, it will also give you better hair, skin, nails and tremendous energy. HGH can be administered via a drip, but it is of course better to encourage the body to make its own, which is where Bonar's work overlaps with another Omniya specialist, nutritionist Peter Cox.

Nutrition might sound low-tech amid such futuristic methodology. Not at all, argues Cox. He claims the sophistication of his analysis, via an incisive and wide-ranging consultation, which leads to an array of blood tests, enables him to work alongside Bonar to mitigate issues such as glycation and a whole spectrum of current or potential disorders. 'Most people have difficulty getting enough nutrition,' says Cox. 'Even if you're eating a good diet, it may be that your gut isn't functioning optimally and you are unable to absorb the vitamins and minerals you need.' This balance of nutrients is crucial. Imagine you are a sought-after female singer, on tour. 'If sustained stress is causing levels of cortisol to spike, there will not be enough resources left over for the body to produce other key hormones. This can lead to all sorts of issues: the depletion of energy; menstrual irregularities and the risk of infertility; a lowered sex drive; even depression.'

Omniya might treat such a client with artificial hormones such as HGH to balance this depletion, then add a hit of the minerals and vitamins required by the body to start synthesising its own hormones, also via a drip. After that, Cox will design a plan to ensure that over time the body is brought into balance. 'When we have chosen the appropriate treatment, we put in behavioural support - you might need a psychologist, a life coach, a fitness trainer and so forth. I would think about adding appropriate nutrients to the client's diet - with this sort of individual I would plan it with their chef.'

Alongside Bonar and Cox sit a facialist and two aesthetic doctors, to match the internally focused therapies with anything from peels and massage to platelet-rich plasma treatment, in which some of your extracted blood is spun in a centrifuge to retrieve platelets (which encourage tissue regeneration) and injected into wrinkly parts of your face. An annual plan might cost anywhere from £10,000 upwards.

As I leave, my head whirling with the possibilities of protecting one's telomeres or slicing the risk of heart disease, I pass Bonar. He is on his way to meet members of a foreign royal family that he treats. 'They are proactive. They say, "I am running my empire - your job is to keep me healthy."'

Across town, just off Harley Street, is Viavi, a 'private client health management service' with similar designs on longevity. Clients range from children to 92-year-olds, and include the chef Marcus Wareing and Princess Alia Al Tabbaa of Jordan, all of whom pay the £12,000 annual fees. Says co-founder Dr Sabine Donnai, 'We have a retention rate of nearly 90 per cent year on year. Wealthy people aren't stupid. The fact that they're staying on at Viavi is due to the fact they believe in what we do.'

As at Omniya, treatment at Viavi begins with analysis. This might include ultrasounds, MRI scans, arterial elasticity or even complete DNA sequencing. 'We'd watch, for example, for inherited mistakes in the DNA: if, by accident, you match a certain environment to certain mistakes, that will be expressed in illness - anything from gallstones to heart disease: it's like playing cards, there is an element of luck as to whether you win, but your chances are higher if you can look at your hand.'

Then again, Viavi might monitor sleep: even if a client is sleeping a full night, if the stresses of the day - or their late-night use of screens - are such that they do not slip into deep REM sleep, healing processes such as the rebalancing of hormone levels will not take place. Sleep is one of the areas that relates to cognitive functioning, so Viavi carries out tests looking at memory and concentration, and can map the relative electrical activity in the left- and right-hand sides of the brain. 'We can find out if your brain is working optimally or not. If not, your risk of Alzheimer's increases significantly.' Ways to manage this might include nutrition, exercise and meditation.

'Viavi's strategy is to try to catch imbalances before illnesses occur,' Donnai continues, citing cardiovascular disease as a widespread but preventable problem. 'Certain age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's put the fear of God in us; we design a highly personal strategy, involving whichever doctors and therapists are needed, to optimise your emotional, mental and physical health.' Such consultations are included in members' subscriptions.

They say, "I am running my empire - your job is to keep me healthy."'

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Round the corner on Harley Street, PHI Clinic founder Dr Tapan Patel is pioneering a more aesthetic MOT. He has brought MD Codes to the UK: a service in which the contours of each part of the face are analysed in relation to each other, according to a system of 'codes' (or principles of where to inject filler, of what thickness, and how much of it), designed by the Brazilian expert Dr Mauricio de Maio. 'Too many aestheticians treat for the before and after photograph,' Patel tells me. 'This not only fails to take into account what happens when the face animates into a smile, a frown or so forth, but it doesn't look forwards. MD codes allow the doctor to treat in a very technical and strategic way to look after a face over time.'

Using the codes as a basis, Patel works with three different viscosities of filler to treat early fine lines and prevent them from deepening. 'It is very much preventative, working to restore lost scaffolding, volume and elasticity. Previously, it would have been hard to treat the lines that people get running from the corner of the mouth to the lower ear, because if you fill it directly the face appears puffy.' These fillers are made from hyaluronic acid akin to that which the body itself produces - a substance that brings moisture, plumpness, firmness and suppleness back to the skin, quite literally conditioning it - ensuring that the treatment is more than cosmetic, having longer-term anti-ageing properties, too. Patel will devise a plan to accompany MD codes with other treatments, such as ultherapy - a micro-focused ultrasound treatment that tightens the muscles in the deep tissues of the face - and Excel V laser treatment, which encourages the body's own collagen production. The annual cost might be upwards of £7,000. 'Often women don't want to look dramatically different, they just want to continue looking the way they do now.'

Remarkable as they are, all these developments are just the beginning. With Google running Calico (the California Life Company), focusing on health, wellbeing and longevity, and hedge funder Joon Yun offering $1 million to anyone who can 'hack the code of life' ('restore the homeostatic capacity of an ageing reference mammal to that of a young adult' - ie, stop us from getting old), the fountain of youth might soon start flowing for real.

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How London's super-rich are trying to buy immortality

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You've got the Lamborghini and the Learjet, the houses and quite possibly the palaces; Erdem designs your dresses and you've got heaps of diamonds. What next? Well, adornment can only take you so far: what good is that Lech heli-skiing pad when your knees are shot?

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Americans feel enhanced humans will worsen inequality

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Americans feel enhanced humans will worsen inequality

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The 2016 film "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" raises questions about how superhumans coexist with society. Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures Americans have long celebrated fictional superheroes with extraordinary powers such as flight, superhuman strength and incredible speed. In real life, a survey shows Americans seem wary of technologies leading to enhanced humans with better brainpower or greater athletic abilities. Many Americans worry that biomedical technologies such as gene editing, brain chip implants, and synthetic blood will increase the wealth inequality that already exists between "haves" and "have nots," according to the report by the Pew Research Center. A majority of U.S. adults said they would be worried about technologies such as gene editing, brain chip implants, and synthetic blood. A majority also said they would not want to become enhanced humans. But most also believe that such technologies will become available before they have been fully tested or understood. During related focus group sessions, some Americans even expressed fears of "superhumans" that would not be out of place in a Marvel or DC superhero film.

"[M]any said they fear how human enhancement technologies in the wrong hands could be used for the purpose of eugenics, to create "superhumans" who might impose their will on others. One man thinking about the synthetic blood scenario put it this way: It could be "used to make supermen ... almost like super-physical men." Another added that those who got the enhancements "could probably get away with anything and nobody could stop [them]."

The Powers of Enhanced Humans

None of the biomedical technologies considered by the Pew Research Center report would turn ordinary people into the equivalent of Superman. But they could each confer undeniable advantages to certain individuals. For example, gene editing technology could "give a healthy baby a much reduced risk of serious diseases and conditions over their lifetime." This is already fast becoming a reality: Chinese researchers have already experimented with making human embryos resistant to the HIV virus and modifying genes linked to a blood disease. Researchers and bioethics experts have spent years debating how such technology could not only improve general health but also lead to "designer babies" with enhanced human capabilities. But the Pew Research Center focused on gene editing mainly as a tool for reducing the dangers of disease.

A Pew Research Center report finds half or more of public says they would not want these enhancements. Credit: Pew Research Center Brain chip implants already exist for the purpose of helping people with clinical depression and even allowing paralyzed patients to recover some use of their limbs. The Pew Research Center report took a step farther beyond these real cases of brain implants helping people with medical issues. It envisioned future versions of such "computer chip in the brain" technology creating enhanced humans by giving "a healthy person a much improved ability to concentrate and process information." Synthetic blood substitutes are currently being developed to ease shortages of blood donations needed for life-saving transfusions. Pew Research Center asked its survey respondents to consider future versions of synthetic blood technology that could boost oxygen levels in the bloodstream and help improve physical speed, strength and stamina. Such advantages could prove a boon for both Olympic athletes and people going about their everyday activities. More Americans seemed skeptical of such technologies rather than optimistic, especially in the cases of brain chip implants and synthetic blood. But they were split almost evenly on the question of using gene editing to prevent diseases in their babies. In addition, 36 percent of Americans said gene editing would have more benefits than downsides for society, whereas 28 percent said it would have more downsides than benefits.

Today's Technologies for Enhanced Humans

The Pew Research Center report did not just focus on futuristic versions of enhanced human technologies. For comparison, it also asked people about existing enhancement procedures such as electric cosmetic surgery, laser eye surgery, skin or lip injections, cosmetic dental procedures, hair replacement surgery, or vasectomy/tubal ligation procedures as birth control. The results showed some intriguing differences in people's responses depending on levels of education and income. Overall, most Americans said these existing enhancement procedures were an "appropriate use of technology." Even in the most controversial case of skin or lip injections, a 53 percent majority still said it was appropriate versus 43 percent that deemed it inappropriate. By comparison, technologies such as laser eye surgery and cosmetic dental procedures for smile were deemed appropriate by large majorities of 89 percent and 86 percent, respectively.

Marvel superheroes from the 2016 film "Captain America: Civil War." Credit: Marvel Entertainment But responses differed more greatly when the survey took respondents' level of education and income into account. The Americans with higher levels of education and income tended to favor use of modern technologies as appropriate. On the other side, Americans with lower levels of education and income tended to look down on such enhancement procedures-perhaps because many lack access to such technologies. It's possible that a similar split in attitudes between the "haves" and "have nots" could also arise when futuristic versions of brain chip implants and synthetic blood become a reality.

Looking to the Future of Inequality

Surprisingly, the current survey found that most Americans have similar attitudes toward the question of inequality and futuristic technologies regardless of education or income levels. Overall, Americans also generally see future social inequality being related to unequal access to enhanced human technologies. Americans may worry about science and technology creating greater societal rifts due to social inequality, but they still seem mostly positive toward science and technology. The survey shows that 67 percent see science as a net positive for society versus 27 percent that see it as equally positive and negative. Just four percent say science has had mostly negative effects on society. People seemed less overwhelmingly positive in their views on technology, but a slight majority of 52 percent still said they view technology as a net positive. Another 38 percent see technology as equally positive and negative. And eight percent see technology as mostly negative. There is much more to consider in the full Pew Research Center report, so check it out if you have the time. But even if you don't read the full report, you might want to start thinking about your own views on enhanced humans the next time you catch a superhero film that features "metahumans" such as "Captain America: Civil War," "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," or "Suicide Squad."

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Americans Fear Enhanced Humans Will Worsen Inequality

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The 2016 film "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" raises questions about how superhumans coexist with society. Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures Americans have long celebrated fictional superheroes with extraordinary powers such as flight, superhuman strength and incredible speed. In real life, a survey shows Americans seem wary of technologies leading to enhanced humans with better brainpower or greater athletic abilities.

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Interstellar - Trailer - Official Warner Bros. UK

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The Martian | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX

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Altered Carbon Season 1 Trailer | Rotten Tomatoes TV

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PHILLIP K. DICK'S ELECTRIC DREAMS Official Trailer (HD) Amazon Exclusive Series

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Very recent review of the latest released books on SF

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Very recent review of the latest released books on SF

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Carole Stivers's first novel was originally slated for British publication in May, but postponed because of the lockdown. The Mother Code (Hodder & Stoughton, £20.99) was written well before the current pandemic and yet couldn't be more timely. After a botched mission by the US military to defeat terrorists with bioweapons, the world is ravaged by an inexorable viral plague. In a bid to save the human race, scientists develop genetically altered children immune to the virus and nurtured by robot AIs known as Mothers. The novel shuttles back and forth in time between the story of the scientists racing against the clock to develop the AIs while the plague devastates civilisation, and the children who are programmed with the Mother Code - a self-awareness with far-reaching and poignant consequences. After some early info-dumping, and characters relaying what they already know for the benefit of the reader, Stivers delivers a gripping techno-thriller which offers hope despite its bleak premise.

Carole Stivers's first novel was originally slated for British publication in May, but postponed because of the lockdown. The Mother Code (Hodder & Stoughton, £20.99) was written well before the current pandemic and yet couldn't be more timely. After a botched mission by the US military to defeat terrorists with bioweapons, the world is ravaged by an inexorable viral plague. In a bid to save the human race, scientists develop genetically altered children immune to the virus and nurtured by robot AIs known as Mothers. The novel shuttles back and forth in time between the story of the scientists racing against the clock to develop the AIs while the plague devastates civilisation, and the children who are programmed with the Mother Code - a self-awareness with far-reaching and poignant consequences. After some early info-dumping, and characters relaying what they already know for the benefit of the reader, Stivers delivers a gripping techno-thriller which offers hope despite its bleak premise.

Nydia Hetherington's magical realist debut, A Girl Made of Air (Quercus, £14.99), recounts the life story of Mouse, the greatest funambulist who ever lived. Interviewed by a journalist towards the end of her life, Mouse reviews her secrets and regrets. Born into a famous circus family, she grew up unloved and neglected in postwar Britain, a pathologically shy introvert skulking around the cages and caravans of a travelling circus until tightrope walker Serendipity Wilson takes charge and teaches her the tricks of the trade, lighting her life and imbuing her existence with meaning. In a narrative interspersed with newspaper reports, diary entries and chapters recounting Isle of Man folklore and legends, we follow Mouse from England to Coney Island as she leaves the circus in search of Serendipity's lost daughter, Bunny. Mouse is a heartbreakingly melancholic character, and her journey is by turns uplifting and tragic as she recounts, and comes to terms with, the often tragic events of her past. A Girl Made of Air is an immensely assured first novel.

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The Phoenix Empire, a string of islands sprawling across the Endless Sea, is the evocative Asian-influenced setting of Andrea Stewart's debut grimdark fantasy, The Bone Shard Daughter (Orbit, £12.99). Par for the course in such epics, the emperor is draconian: he demands from the empire's children a singular tithe: a sliver of their skulls from which he creates monstrous constructs that assist him in governing his domain. However, unrest and revolution are in the air. Stewart peoples the leisurely narrative with characters including Lin, the emperor's daughter, who works to subvert her father's rule through mastery of bone shard magic - the ability to control the constructs which hold the empire in thrall. Well-drawn subsidiary characters include a smuggler, a lesbian couple and an amnesiac prisoner on an outlying island. As the narrative gains pace and change sweeps the islands, Stewart skilfully orchestrates her diverse cast towards a satisfyingly gripping climax. The Bone Shard Daughter is the opening volume in the the Drowning Empire trilogy.

Billed as a novel for young adults, Garth Nix's latest novel The Left-Handed Booksellers of London (Gollancz, £18.99) is sure to be enjoyed by readers of any age with a craving for fast-paced, page-turning fantasy. The setting is an alternative 1980s London where punk sensibility and the ever-present spectre of Margaret Thatcher rub shoulders with supernatural creatures from nether dimensions. Eighteen-year-old art student Susan Arkshaw arrives to begin her studies while attempting to trace her long-lost father. She soon becomes embroiled with the young, gender-fluid Merlin, one of the eponymous Left-Handed Booksellers, a society of arcane individuals whose duty is to deal with creatures that seep into this reality from ancient myth. What follows, as Susan attempts to find her father, and Merlin tracks down the supernatural being responsible for the killing of his mother, is a madcap chase that is sure to win Nix new fans.

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Set in an unnamed city in an unspecified classical age, SE Lister's powerful third novel Augury (Old Street, £12.99) tells of upheaval and uncertainty in a time of plenty. Following an earthquake, the Augur, an ancient priestess who was once close to the ruling emperor, prophesies imminent doom for the city and its hedonistic inhabitants, though few are willing to listen. Opposing the priestess is the merciless Athraxus of the Dark Temple, who has the favour of the emperor and will stop at nothing to ensure the Augur's downfall. The novel charts the period leading up to the impending catastrophe, seen through the eyes of a large cast of well-drawn characters, as the priestess attempts to save the city and its citizens. Lister excels at depicting the complexity and consequences of deadly court politics and the misuse of power.

* Eric Brown's latest novel is The Martian Menace (Titan).
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The best recent science fiction and fantasy - review roundup

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Carole Stivers's first novel was originally slated for British publication in May, but postponed because of the lockdown. The Mother Code (Hodder & Stoughton, £20.99) was written well before the current pandemic and yet couldn't be more timely. After a botched mission by the US military to defeat terrorists with bioweapons, the world is ravaged by an inexorable viral plague.

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A very interesting article about the differences between the film I,Robot and the original collection of short stories by I.Asimov

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A very interesting article about the differences between the film I,Robot and the original collection of short stories by I.Asimov

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press article I,Robot (comparison film -novel)

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A passage from the novel in which a man meets a Martian.

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passage from Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles

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alternative FINAL TASk SF Oral Presentation