Alive

LOST 1972. A plane has crashed in the Andes mountains. The passengers are hopelessly lost in one of the most isolated places on earth. ABANDONED Almost three months later, two of the survivors, emaciated and frozen, reach the authorities and lead a rescue team to the remaining fourteen passengers. ALIVE The rescue team are shocked when they reach the crash-site. Food supplies have long gone, and the remains of the dead lie scattered among the fuselage. It is only too clear how these passengers have managed to stay alive ...

LOST 1972. A plane has crashed in the Andes mountains. The passengers are hopelessly lost in one of the most isolated places on earth. ABANDONED Almost three months later, two of the survivors, emaciated and frozen, reach the authorities and lead a rescue team to the remaining fourteen passengers. ALIVE The rescue team are shocked when they reach the crash-site. Food supplies have long gone, and the remains of the dead lie scattered among the fuselage. It is only too clear how these passengers have managed to stay alive ...

A profound and provocative journey through the human body. ‘Gripping…bold, humane’ Guardian ‘Sings from the page’ Rachel Clarke For Gabriel Weston, there was always something missing from the anatomy she was taught at medical school. As she became a surgeon, a mother and then a patient herself, she grew increasingly fascinated by the gap between the body she understood as a doctor and the messy reality of living in one. Alive is a captivating investigation into our organs and the role they play in the stories of our lives. In Weston’s hands, a fuller and more human picture of our bodies emerges – more fragile, frightening and miraculous than we could ever have imagined. ‘An exceptional, absorbing tour of human life and bodies’ Chris van Tulleken ‘Filled with fascinating facts’ Daily Telegraph ‘A pitch-perfect book’ Christie Watson ‘A book of wonder’ Sarah Moss

A profound and provocative journey through the human body. ‘Gripping…bold, humane’ Guardian ‘Sings from the page’ Rachel Clarke For Gabriel Weston, there was always something missing from the anatomy she was taught at medical school. As she became a surgeon, a mother and then a patient herself, she grew increasingly fascinated by the gap between the body she understood as a doctor and the messy reality of living in one. Alive is a captivating investigation into our organs and the role they play in the stories of our lives. In Weston’s hands, a fuller and more human picture of our bodies emerges – more fragile, frightening and miraculous than we could ever have imagined. ‘An exceptional, absorbing tour of human life and bodies’ Chris van Tulleken ‘Filled with fascinating facts’ Daily Telegraph ‘A pitch-perfect book’ Christie Watson ‘A book of wonder’ Sarah Moss

A timely examination of a wide range of projects exploring the boundaries of what it means to be alive, speculating on what 'life' is, and how humankind will (or will not) fit into a new order of hybrid species: a sort of sci-fi guidebook to lab-built humans. A silicone jellyfish with a rat’s heart, a drone that smells using the antenna of a moth, wearables made from cultured human skin, an AI-populated digital snack bar in the metaverse. These projects and many more offer a mind-bending, head-turning vision of the future that Madeline Schwartzman demonstrates is just around the corner. Curated from new developments in synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, robotics, engineering, biology and art, this broad-ranging survey demonstrates the myriad ways in which our perception of what it means to be alive has dramatically changed. Where do we draw the new lines? Are there any boundaries we should not cross? And what if… ? By examining these new ‘beings’, Alive maps out a vision of new partnerships, uncanny hybrids and collaborative intelligences, as science fiction rapidly becomes science fact.

A timely examination of a wide range of projects exploring the boundaries of what it means to be alive, speculating on what 'life' is, and how humankind will (or will not) fit into a new order of hybrid species: a sort of sci-fi guidebook to lab-built humans. A silicone jellyfish with a rat’s heart, a drone that smells using the antenna of a moth, wearables made from cultured human skin, an AI-populated digital snack bar in the metaverse. These projects and many more offer a mind-bending, head-turning vision of the future that Madeline Schwartzman demonstrates is just around the corner. Curated from new developments in synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, robotics, engineering, biology and art, this broad-ranging survey demonstrates the myriad ways in which our perception of what it means to be alive has dramatically changed. Where do we draw the new lines? Are there any boundaries we should not cross? And what if… ? By examining these new ‘beings’, Alive maps out a vision of new partnerships, uncanny hybrids and collaborative intelligences, as science fiction rapidly becomes science fact.