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Biotech

Harvard Creates Cyborg Tissues 108

MrSeb writes "Bioengineers at Harvard University have created the first examples of cyborg tissue: Neurons, heart cells, muscle, and blood vessels that are interwoven by nanowires and transistors. These cyborg tissues are half living cells, half electronics. As far as the cells are concerned, they're just normal cells that behave normally — but the electronic side actually acts as a sensor network, allowing a computer to interface directly with the cells. In the case of cyborg heart tissue, the researchers have already used the embedded nanowires to measure the contractions (heart rate) of the cells. So far, the researchers have only used the nanoelectric scaffolds to read data from the cells — but according to lead researcher Charles Lieber, the next step is to find a way of talking to the individual cells, to 'wire up tissue and communicate with it in the same way a biological system does.' Suffice it to say, if you can use a digital computer to read and write data to your body's cells, there are some awesome applications."

Comment Aha! (Score 2, Interesting) 327

I called this years ago! There's no way the big boys are going to let this powerful media go uncontrolled. Soon you will need a license to run a server, a web page, everything. Every packet will carry a crypto license from an authority - routers will have hardware to check it - by law! Coming soon!

Comment how 'bout a REAL license (Score 1) 327

Since most of the home computers on the net are operated by ignorant (at best), stupid, and/or delusional people (else why would so many of them be part of 'bot nets and be picking up other malware?), why not a real license, like a European, NOT US, driving license. After all, their lack of competence impacts all of us, just as incompetent driving does.

Demonstrate competence to set up and run a properly secured computer on the 'net, or pay someone else to do it, as a chauffeur or taxi driver. The equivalent of public transportation would be at libraries.

Comment Re:Hands off! (Score 2, Interesting) 853

This move is horribly transparent.

The evident reason is so that, in the event of social dissent or uprising, they can cut off the communication of those dissenting. See: Iran just a month ago.

"Oh, it's been legal for years. Why would anyone care when they started to do it now if they didn't care when the law was passed?"

Surely, though, the Democrats will not abuse this. Surely. We have nothing to worry about.

Comment Re:SO wrong. (Score 1) 420

If all your research involves watching that film you are seriously uninformed.
You just watched a very nice piece of propaganda.
If you are a really a truth seeker read about:
  • The new Education Law
  • The savage beating of journalists
  • The use of toxic and illegal tear gas by the police and national guard on protesters
  • Vote fraud: people with 7 or 8 different identities
  • The Tascon List: if you signed a petition against Chavez you became a second class citizen. Copies of the list where distributed to all state run companies, good luck working or having any kind of business relation with the state if you are on that list
  • The killing of the Altamira's Plaza protester

No my friend, judging Chavez by that film is like judging Hitler by "triumph des wiles".
I live here, I have suffered this last 10 years just because I decided to have an education and work hard, that makes my an Oligarch, along with all the middle class, go figure, Venezuela is the only country in the world with 4 million oligarchs
I have breath tear gas and been shot at while marching. You watched a movie and you have all figured out. You have no idea, along with all your countrymen posting here, of the kind of monster you are breeding with your oil money.

Comment Quantum effects don't necessarily imply weirdness. (Score 1) 259

... in the case of the brain, it's even more explicit. There are mechanisms in place that act to massively amplify signals, specifically geared to utilize quantum effects.

Which doesn't mean that quantum weirdness is mapped into the thought process in any useful way (other than, perhaps, a good random generator).

Doesn't mean it's NOT either, of course. Yet TBD.

Maybe the brain is just made out of high efficiency (and perhaps somewhat noisy) logic devices. Maybe it includes elements that make use of quantum mechanical entanglement and similar effects to aid computation.

Maybe it uses odd quantum mechanical effects to interface to a "soul" (perhaps a dark-matter construct), "ghosts", a "God", "gods", or other "supernatural" beings, or construct additional senses, communication channels, and/or means of manipulating matter and/or energy outside the usually accepted list of capabilities - or even the usually accepted limitations on macroscopic action across time and space. B-)

We could speculate all day. It will be interesting to see what physicists and biologists come up with.

Comment How about negative reviews? (Score 3, Informative) 217

One thing I've noticed at the App Store is that a lot of perfectly fine apps get a lot of 1 star reviews for ridiculous reasons. For instance, a review might state that the app does what it claimed to do flawlessly, that it is useful, and the best app in the category--but the reviewer also wish it had feature X (which no other app has), and the reviewer then gives it just 1 star, apparently for this "missing" feature.

This doesn't appear to be an isolated problem. Nearly every very good app I've downloaded has had a lot of these kind of negative reviews.

I wonder if anyone is purposefully trying to game the store by posting negative reviews on competitors, too?

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