# Summary of #hplusroadmap IRC Discussion (January 9, 2012)

* A petition for funding life extension research was shared (https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/%21/petition/fund-life-extension-research/1C3lny5M), prompting a discussion about the effectiveness of petitions versus active biohacking work.

* Participants debated the philosophical differences between "grinders" (body modification enthusiasts) and DIY transhumanists, with some arguing that true transhumanists focus on functional augmentation rather than implanting technology merely for aesthetic purposes.

* A significant discussion emerged about technological risk mitigation, with several participants arguing that space colonization should be a top priority to ensure humanity's survival against existential threats like nuclear weapons or engineered pathogens.

* Participants discussed Craig Venter's claim that our capacity to do good scales better with technology than our capacity to do evil, with some arguing that defensive technologies tend to follow offensive ones throughout history.

* An interesting debate occurred about network theory and security, suggesting that "evil acts" may have higher relative power in poorly-networked systems, while good-networking tends to synergize more effectively than evil-networking.

* MakerBot announced a new 3D printer called "The Replicator" (http://makerbot.com/blog/2012/01/09/introducing-the-makerbot-replicator/), and Thingiverse (a 3D printing community) launched a new UI and API.

* A free book on phylogenetics was shared (http://www.rjr-productions.org/Networks/index.html) as a potentially useful resource for the community.