The Biohacker Summit
On September 23rd I headed out to Helsinki to attend the 2nd Annual Biohacker Summit. I chose the VIP option which included an upgraded dinner the evening before the event. After a very early start in Glasgow I flew to Helsinki via Amsterdam and arrived with a couple of hours to spare before the Upgraded Dinner.
The upgraded dinner was held at the 'upgraded food lab', Flavour Studio @ Teurastamo (The Butchery). About 50 people had booked to attend and it entailed us splitting into small groups, donning our aprons and cooking the dinner together. Our master chef was Sami Tallberg - who's speciality is wild food. A small group of attendees had gone out foraging with him that morning and collected al lot of the ingredients for that evenings meal. Here's the menu
Rhodiola birch sap with blueberries
Raw wild salad with kelp and sea buckthorn
Fermented veggies
Wild mushrooms with herbs and licorice
Pike with nettle
Chia pudding with lingonberries and bee pollen
Raw white criollo chocolate
Chaga elixir
Iced wild herbal tea
We spent a couple of fun hours preparing and cooking the meal as well as learning about the many wild foods available. The flavours of the meal were amazing and the Chaga elixir/mushroom tea was really fantastic. It left me inspired to forage for wild food back home in Scotland. I'll definitely be collecting wild salad. Not sure how my kids would like fried nettle leaves, I guess if I tell them Bear Grylls eats them they'll give them a go!
The next day started at 8.00am at Cable Factory with mushroom coffee served by Four Sigma foods. I opted for the Chaga tea. The Biohacker Summit was attended by over 450 people from 20 countries. They had a main presentation room and a tech/ exhibit space. The programme included presentations on Lifelogging, Nanomachines, Biohacking, Wearable tech, Mediation - here's the programme
08:00 – Coffee, Networking and Upgraded Exhibition
Medicinal mushroom coffee and teas served by Four Sigma Foods
09:00 – Opening Remarks: Welcome to Better, Faster and Stronger
Teemu Arina, Curator of Biohacker Summit
Mikko Orasuo, MC of Biohacker Summit
09:15 – Natural Living vs. Biohacking: How To Strike The Ideal Balance
Ben Greenfield (USA), Human Performance Author and Consultant at BenGreenFieldFitness.com
10:15 – Nanomachines and Internal Computing
Nell Watson (BEL), Faculty of Singularity University – AI & Robotics and Founder & CEO of Poikos
11:00 – Lifelogging: New Era of Personal Data
Dr. Cathal Gurrin (IRL), School of Computing at Dublin City University
11:45 – Future of Wearables for Health & Wellness
Chair: Timo Ahopelto, Health Tech Investor at Lifeline Ventures
Simon Wegerif (UK), Biomedical Engineer, Inventor and Founder at HRV Fit (iThlete)
Niina Venho, Electronics Manufacturing Professional and CEO at Moodmetric
Petteri Lahtela, Serial Entrepreneur and CEO at Ōura
12:30 – Meditation and Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction
Leena Pennanen, Mindfulness Pioneer and Founder of Center for Mindfulness Finland
13:00 – Mind and Time Management in the Age of “No Time”
Maria Lorenz (CHE), Transformational Leadership for Excellence Institute
13:40 – Less Doing, More Living: Make Everything in Life Easier
Ari Meisel (USA), Efficiency Consultant and Author, LessDoing.com
14:30 – Biohacker’s Handbook Presents: Hacking Immunity
Teemu Arina, Serial Entrepreneur and co-founder of Quantified Self & Biohacking Finland
Jaakko Halmetoja, Nutrition Specialist and Independent Wellness Coach
MD Olli Sovijärvi, Licensed General Practitioner at Helsinki Antioxidant Clinic
15:30 – Cheaper, Faster, Better: Incorporating Scientific Findings Into Technological Products
Bob Schafer, Product Scientist, Lumos Labs (USA)
16:00 – Practical and Moral Implications of Artificial Intelligence
Kaj Sotala, Research Associate and Recipient of Future of Life Institute grant for AI Safety Research
16:30 – Transcending What It Means to Be Human: Discussion With the Audience
Dr. Max More (USA), Philosopher, Futurist and CEO at Alcor Life Extension Foundation
17:25 – Closing Keynotes & Implant Installation (in cooperation with NDBS)
Amal Graafstra (USA), Technologist, Author and Double RFID Implantee
Teemu Arina, Serial Entrepreneur and co-founder of Quantified Self & Biohacking Finland
Pekko Vehviläinen, CEO of Digital Health Solutions
After Teemu welcomed everyone it was time for the Key Speaker Ben Greenfield. Ben Greenfield has a successful podcast and is definitely a Biohacker he's the author of several books one being Beyond Training. He opened up with getting everyone to stand up and took us through a breathing exercise. Which consisted of breathing in sharply and breathing out shallow multiple times. This oxygenated the blood. I have to admit to feeling pretty dizzy by the end of it but really felt alert throughout his presentation.
Attending the Bio Hackers Summit was really inspiring. What was really great was the option to wear head phones so that we could still listen to the speakers while walking around the tech hall exhibits. I bought a DNA test and a human charger. The Human Charger uses blue light in the ears. Studies have show a significant reduction of jetlag symptons. (I've since used it many times when flying trans Atlantic).
If you're interested in finding our about Bio Hacking be sure to book your spot for Helsinki link here