Alive

A timely examination of a wide range of projects exploring the boundaries of our existence.

How can a drone smell? Is a silicone jellyfish with a rat's heart "alive"? Things that once seemed impossible are now becoming not only possible but mainstream. In the coming years, nearly all realms of our existence, will involve experiments with human and non-human living tissue impacting the worlds of medicine, art, and design as well as our everyday lives, so it's about time we got to grips with what these new lifeforms can do.

Alive examines the concepts and ideas behind the knotty intersection where robotics, AI, biology, and art collide through nearly 150 fascinating projects. From the cutting edge of technological innovation and scientific discovery, Schwartzman speculates on what "life" is, and how humankind will (or will not) fit into a new order of hybrid species. The engaging result is a sort of sci-fi guidebook to lab-built creatures that will have readers excited about what might come next.