Daily Archives: October 25, 2004

The Brain Fix

This
very big story broke late last week:

The world’s first brain prosthesis has passed the first stages of live
testing.

The microchip, designed to model a part of the brain called the hippocampus,
has been used successfully to replace a neural circuit in slices of rat brain
tissue kept alive in a dish. The prosthesis will soon be ready for testing
in animals.

The device could ultimately be used to replace damaged brain tissue which
may have been destroyed in an accident, during a stroke, or by neurodegenerative
conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. It is the first attempt to replace
central brain regions dealing with cognitive functions such as learning or
speech.

In addition to treating degenerative conditions, brain prostheses will eventually
be used to enhance learning and skills for everyone. I’m personally looking
forward to the hardware upgrade that will make me able to play the piano or
speak Italian.

What Should Have Been

ScrappleFace is usually pretty amusing, but this piece didn’t strike me as being the least bit funny.

Evocative, yes.

Tragic, possibly.

Eloquent, undeniably.

But not funny. Have a glimpse of a world that should have been:

Remember This Day

July 20, 1969:

A human being sets foot on the surface of the moon, followed shortly by another. The significance of this event cannot be overstated. And it all happened so fast. Even in the fast-forward pace of human history, it had been only a blink of an eye since the invention of the airplane and the first flight.

Via Rand Simberg, an evocative quote from Arthur C. Clarke:

When the Saturn V soars spaceward on nearly four thousand tons of thrust, it signifies more than a triumph of technology. It opens the next chapter of evolution.

No wonder that the drama of a launch engages our emotions so deeply. The rising rocket appeals to instincts older than reason; the gulf it bridges is not only that between world and world — but the deeper chasm between heart and brain.

There are a few folks out there who have not forgotten this day, who have some sense of the weight of it. Let’s be among them, shall we?

Originally published July 20, 2003.

A BHAG for Nanotechnology


Far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered
by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor
suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory, nor
defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt, 1899

New Old Planet

We can file some of our ponderings about this development under the “what might have been” heading. The actual find: a new planet about 8 billion (appropriate Saganesque emphasis applied) years older than the rest of the planets discovered so far outside of the solar system. It’s not only old and huge — about twice the size of Jupiter — it’s apparently seen some action.