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Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age |
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| Topic: Science |
10:53 pm EST, Apr 1, 2003 |
From the bestselling author of The End of Nature comes a passionate plea to limit the technologies that could change the very definition of who we are. Reporting from the frontiers of genetic research, nanotechnology and robotics, he explores that subtle moral and spiritual boundary that he calls the "enough point." Presenting an overview of what is or may soon be possible, McKibben contends that there is no boundary to human ambition or desire or to what our very inventions may make possible. "We need to do an unlikely thing: We need to survey the world we now inhabit and proclaim it good. Good enough." Publishers Weekly writes, "This is a brilliant book that deserves a wide readership." Echoes of Bill Joy ... Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age |
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New Scientist | Spider silk delivers finest optical fibres |
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| Topic: Science |
12:32 am EST, Mar 26, 2003 |
Delicate threads of spider's silk are about to solve a major problem in photonics: how to make hollow optical fibres narrow enough to carry light beams around the fastest nanoscale optical circuits. To make the fibres, Yushan Yan and a team of engineers from the University of California at Riverside give the silk thread a glassy coating, and then extract the silk by baking. They soon expect to be able to make hollow fibres with cores just two nanometres wide - or 50,000 times thinner than a human hair. New Scientist | Spider silk delivers finest optical fibres |
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The Scientist :: Can Science Make Cigarettes Safer?, Mar. 24, 2003 |
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| Topic: Science |
1:35 am EST, Mar 25, 2003 |
] With another product, Accord, users insert special
] cigarettes into a small electronic device. The unit's
] microprocessor ignites the cigarette when the smoker
] puffs, and it also sucks up secondhand smoke. Warner
] wonders about its future success. "You have to be pretty
] desperate to go around smoking a pager," he speculates. heh...this guy must not be a smoker The Scientist :: Can Science Make Cigarettes Safer?, Mar. 24, 2003 |
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| Topic: Science |
10:02 am EST, Mar 17, 2003 |
Move your mouse over any element in the table to learn more about it. The Haiku field will have either a 'Y' or an 'N' to indicate if that element has a haiku associated with it. Click on the element to open a pop-up window and read the haiku.
For ease of use, a "flattened" table of all elements is below the periodic Table. You can click on an element name there to view the haiku associated with it there as well. Additionally, there is a link for browsers that do not support javascript for the pop-up window [This is just rad - Nano] Haiku Periodic Table |
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RE: The Miami Herald | 03/13/2003 | Flies versus ants |
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| Topic: Science |
10:57 pm EST, Mar 16, 2003 |
Thrynn wrote:
] ] a South American fly that divebombs ants, decapitates
] ] them and eats the contents of their heads.
]
] Alright. Maybe I'm the only person who never knew such a
] beastly insect existed but this is just too awesome to pass
] up. Ahhh....Biology is so ruthless sometimes.:) RE: The Miami Herald | 03/13/2003 | Flies versus ants |
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Creative Loafing Atlanta | COVER | THE BRAIN OF THE FUTURE |
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| Topic: Science |
1:21 am EST, Mar 16, 2003 |
] An Atlanta neuroscientist has wired the human brain to a
] computer. The results are fascinating and frightening. Whoa...cybernetics! Creative Loafing Atlanta | COVER | THE BRAIN OF THE FUTURE |
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New Scientist: An artificial hippocampus |
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| Topic: Science |
2:10 pm EST, Mar 13, 2003 |
] The job of the hippocampus appears to be to "encode"
] experiences so they can be stored as long-term memories
] elsewhere in the brain. "If you lose your hippocampus you
] only lose the ability to store new memories," says
] Berger. That offers a relatively simple and safe way to
] test the device: if someone with the prosthesis regains
] the ability to store new memories, then it's safe to
] assume it works. This is amazing stuff. [This is freakin rad - Nano] New Scientist: An artificial hippocampus |
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| Topic: Science |
5:07 pm EST, Mar 3, 2003 |
Interesting application of PCR. real time PCR |
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Stupidity should be cured, says DNA discoverer - New Scientist |
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| Topic: Science |
6:49 pm EST, Mar 2, 2003 |
Fifty years to the day from the discovery of the structure of DNA, one of its co-discoverers has caused a storm by suggesting that stupidity is a genetic disease that should be cured. Watson of "Watson and Crick" provides undeniable proof that intelligence cannot be measured on a single graduated scale. [wow....well, for one, Watson always likes to stir things up. And he definitly will succeed with this statement. To assume that low IQ is a disease that can be cured is a bit wacky though. If people started to believe that, they would never try to learn something new, and they could goof off in school, because whats the point when their IQ is "out of their control". It is pretty amusing that he said this though...I tend to think that he is just kind of joking around, especially since he added the statement about genetically engineering all girls to be pretty. In rebuttle, Watson, what about making all the guys hot, huh?!?:) - Nano] Stupidity should be cured, says DNA discoverer - New Scientist |
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| Topic: Science |
4:09 pm EST, Feb 25, 2003 |
] In the coming decades, a radical upgrading of our body's
] physical and mental systems, already underway, will use
] nanobots to augment and ultimately replace our organs. We
] already know how to prevent most degenerative disease
] through nutrition and supplementation; this will be a
] bridge to the emerging biotechnology revolution, which in
] turn will be a bridge to the nanotechnology revolution.
] By 2030, reverse-engineering of the human brain will have
] been completed and nonbiological intelligence will merge
] with our biological brains. KurzweilAI.net |
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