John Petersen’s professional involvements include long-range strategic and product planning, and helping leadership design new approaches for dealing with the future. He has lead national non-profit organizations; worked in sales; manufacturing; real estate development; and marketing and advertising, mostly for companies he started himself. A graduate electrical engineer, he has also promoted rock concerts; produced conventions; and even worked as a disk jockey_among other things.

Christine Peterson writes, lectures, and briefs the media on coming powerful technologies, especially nanotechnology. She is cofounder and President of Foresight Institute, a nonprofit which educates the public, technical community, and policymakers on nanotechnology and its long-term effects.

She directs the Foresight Conferences on Molecular Nanotechnology, organizes the Foresight Institute Feynman Prizes, and chairs the Foresight Gatherings.

Chris Phoenix, co-inventor of the futuristic Vasculoid nanomedical device and co-moderator of the sci.nanotech newsgroup, is a recognized expert in molecular nanotechnology. In 2002, he co-founded the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology with Mike Treder and is now working full time as CRN’s Director of Research.

Steven Pinker, a native of Montreal, received his BA from McGill University in 1976 and his PhD in psychology from Harvard in 1979. After serving on the faculties of Harvard and Stanford Universities or a year each, he moved to MIT in 1982, where he is currently Peter de Florez Professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and a MacVicar Faculty Fellow.

Giulio Prisco is transhumanism editor for KurzweilAI.

Born in Napoli (Italy) in 1957, he is an Italian information technology and virtual reality consultant as well as a writer, futurist, and transhumanist. He writes and speaks on a wide range of topics, including science, information technology, emerging technologies, virtual worlds, space exploration and futurology.