Link dump: 2009.07.03

From the four corners of the web:

• New Scientist: Brain could adapt well to cyborg enhancements: The brain maintains a physical map of the body, with different areas in charge of different body parts. Researchers have suggested that when we use tools, our brains incorporate them into this map.
• IEET: The Difficult Questions of 'Personhood': Every human is a person, right? And anyone we call a person must be a human, correct? Well, no, not necessarily.
• Re-Public special issue on Transhumanism
• Forbes: The AI Report
• NYT: Building a Better Biosphere: Human influence on the atmosphere takes many forms, but the most dramatic is the recent build-up of carbon dioxide, produced mostly by burning fossil fuels.
  
• Tricycle: Documentary on Stephen Batchelor: A 30-minute documentary on Stephen Batchelor's life and work aired on Dutch television in April of last year.
• Revenge of the Nerds: Four Reasons Women Dig Geeks: "I've always loved bespectacled men and wondered recently where this particular fetish surfaced. As I dug through my internal rolodex of boyfriends past searching for an answer, it suddenly hit me: it's not just the glasses. I love the nerdy men that wear them. And I think it's about time someone came to their defense in the great, misunderstood world of relationships."