Living | Things

Here we can imagine the bringing-to-life of a Thing. As a hard science fiction we can explore this thought both as narrative, and from several perspectives in term of the science.

- Ode to Things

To think of **living things** is to consider the threshold between matter and life, between inert form and animated being. In science fiction, this is often imagined as the moment when a statue stirs, when stone takes on breath and gesture. Such stories draw from ancient myths of sculptors and golems yet place them into speculative futures where technology and artifice blur the line between lifeless matter and living presence.

First we can imagine the bringing-to-life of a statue:

Modern bust of Kleisthenes, known as "the father of Athenian democracy", on view at the Ohio Statehouse, Columbus, Ohio wikimedia

How would you bring Kleisthenes to life?

- Animating Statues

Next we can explore how the biological sciences are exploring the: - Abiogenesis and the Origins of Life - Printing of Cells and the - De-Extinction of Extinct Species

And finally we can imagine, how Artifical Intelligence might be used to bring the past to life, is being used by the funeral industry, and may in the future be used to create Immortal Beings.

From a scientific perspective, the concept of bringing things to life spans multiple frontiers. Research into the origins of life examines how chemical systems first organized into self-replicating organisms.

Advances in biotechnology allow the printing of cells to build tissues or even organs, while projects in genetics pursue the de-extinction of extinct species, raising questions about responsibility, ecology, and ethics. Together, these approaches frame living things not only as natural but as increasingly shaped by human imagination and intervention.

And finally we can imagine how artificial intelligence might be used to bring the past to life. Already AI systems can reconstruct voices, faces, and even personalities from fragments of data, allowing people to interact with simulations of historical figures or deceased loved ones.