Presentation of the book “2037. Paraíso neuronal”, by INMA researcher José María de Teresa
The researcher of the Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón, INMA (CSIC – University of Zaragoza), José María de Teresa, presents the novel 2037. Paraíso neuronal (Mira Editores), on 4 November at 18:00, at the Caja Rural de Aragón Foundation (Calle Coso 29, Zaragoza). To attend the event, which will be presented by Rosa Bolea, Vice-Rector for Science Policy at the University of Zaragoza, and Alberto Jiménez Schuhmacher, ARAID researcher at the Aragon Health Institute, it is necessary to register in advance at the following link: https://fundacioncajaruraldearagon.es/reserva-de-entradas/.
The plot of the novel is summarised below:
When Professors Thomson and Ramón y Cajal met in Stockholm in December 1906 to receive the Nobel Prizes in Physics and Medicine respectively, they discussed the possibilities opened up by their fields of work: neuroscience and electronics. At the time, their lucubrations were mere fantasies. But in 2018, two young scientists, Isabelle and Diego, cross paths in Sånga-Säby, a small Swedish town where the Nobel Foundation has organised a scientific meeting. Some time later, they set up a promising innovative company in the field of neurotechnologies called CajalLink in Montreal. However, their ambitious project is jeopardised by the theft of neurodata collected in a small device the size of a grain of rice implanted in the back of Isabelle’s neck. Thanks to the astuteness of Alice, a young CajalLink employee, they are able to detect the threat and neutralise it. CajalLink’s activities are relocated to Singapore, a country with laxer data protection and privacy laws, a “neural paradise”. There they carry out the most critical part of the project, managing to develop the most powerful security tool imaginable. But a series of events will put the technology developed by CajalLink to the test, triggering a major ethical dilemma in which the protagonists will have to take a stand. Their lives will be threatened when the world’s major powers discover the power of this new technology – will Alice be able to unravel the riddles surrounding CajalLink this time?
According to the publishers, José María de Teresa constructs a novel of cross-cutting interest with the skill of someone who knows how to assemble all the pieces, chapter by chapter, microchip by microchip, to form a whole without leaving any loose ends. And it works. The reader only has to connect to navigate hand in hand with the author through the waters of this literary dystopia, speculative fiction, thriller, industrial espionage fable…, and, as a backdrop, the pulse between privacy, control and surveillance, free will, social justice… Where are the limits? Undoubtedly, the journey promises to be a promising one.
According to Alberto Jiménez Schuhmacher, ARAID researcher at the Aragón Health Research Institute, “The next great revolution comes from neuroscience, the development of neurotechnologies and artificial intelligence […]. José María de Teresa invites us to reflect in this well-written and very entertaining novel of intrigue that takes us into the world of the new neurotechnologies and makes us travel, posing different dilemmas and new challenges”.
According to María López Valdés, co-founder and CEO of Bitbrain, “Neurotechnology is not science fiction, it is already a reality. “2037. Neural Paradise” depicts a plausible future. Let’s do like José María de Teresa and imagine new outcomes. Doing so will allow us to be prepared to make the right decisions […]. We are gambling with our future as a species”.
28/10/2021
