Functional MRI scanning has shown that areas of the brain normally involved in vision processing has been reallocated in such individuals.

Coincidentally, I've just finished reading a great book on this very subject: "Crashing Through: A True Story of Risk, Adventure, and the Man Who Dared to See", by Robert Kurdson. He describes Mike May's frustrations with not being able to read or process shadows to determine 3D information after having his sight restored, decades after losing it due to corneal scarring from chemical burns when he was 3 years old. Mike's restored vision - due to stem cell and corneal transplants, gave him better than average vision, but Mike found it extremely hard work to read or extract depth information from shadows. His ability to detect motion was excellent however. Curiously, Mike isn't fooled by optical illusions that take us in.

Unfortunately, depression has been found to be extremely common in people that have had their sight restored after a long period without it - most likely due to the frustrations of not being able to fully use their restored vision.

Mike needed donor stem cells and cornea, whereas this improved technique uses the patients', thus avoiding the risks associated with taking anti-rejection medication for life. Now if only we can find a way to restore brain function! That would be an incredible breakthrough helping far more people than those assisted by this new technique and would hopefully help with the depression risk. There are some interesting references in the above book, which include the article by Oliver Sacks referenced above.

Given Australia's population compared to the world market, we will still come out in front paying for the patent component of hardware made in the USA. Hopefully that means the CSIRO and anyone that benefits from their research and not just a few lawyers. I doubt anyone minds paying a small amount for the benefit of using this patent. If you don't want to pay the patent 'tax', just use network cable - security is better too.

The CSIRO, like many research facilities, has been under increasing pressure over the last decade or so to rely on self funding by generating and patenting IP thus reducing demand on the public purse.

Sorry that should read "Anthropic Principle"

The Anthropomorphic Principle and Information Theory with respect to live haven't had much mention here. The sheer complexity of cellular life is such that we still don't understand how it could have come into existence via evolution. Probability is so much against it that some scientists have proposed life arose elsewhere than Earth and we got infected (doesn't solve the problem, just shifts it outside where we can easily study it). Other scientists have suggested cells arose from another platform such as clay.

Then there is the problem of natural selection which selects for a reduced level of information - it doesn't add information. That has to come from mutations from radiation or stealing genes from other life (which again shifts the problem without solving it).

Slashdot readers have a far better appreciation than most of what it takes to create something that performs a useful function. Given the majority here belief in Evolution, I'm surprised no developers have suggested that they just write one program that will naturally select what the customer wants and let it run on a supercomputer for a while to spit out the solution. Oh, perhaps that's because it requires Intelligent Design to write that program...

A Federal election is likely to be called any time between August and November this year. Both the main party leaders claim their Christian faith is very important to them. (Note however that espousing Christian ideals in Australian politics is far less important to the success of political parties than it is in the USA.)

Queensland is the third largest state by population and has a independent election cycle from the federal elections. The last state election was last year and the next can be called any time - but must be called by 2012.

In Australia, minor parties are becoming increasingly important for the governing parties to get their legislation through the review house where it exists (Queensland doesn't have one). Christian and Green parties are significant minor parties federally and in most states.

Given prop craft are less affected, perhaps it is time to bring back Zeppelins!

Someone has been reading "Wang's Carpets" by Greg Egan

This was indeed a real problem in the late 70's, particularly for DRAM chips and only ceased to be a problem when manufacturers tightened up on the allowable level of impurities in materials near the memory chips, such as the encapsulating plastics and the chip coatings used within ceramic ICs. Many elements have naturally occurring isotopes that are radioactive and DRAM errors are dependent on the concentration of these within materials surrounding the memory chip and the radioactive decay method. Back then of course we had atmospheric atomic testing and straw packing material was a good way to capture atmospheric fallout (and a good way to get fogged photographic film too). When you consider the effect of Moore's Law on the size of the capacitor used within the DRAM over the last 30 years (the bit flip is caused by the radioactive decay particle discharging this capacitor) and the fact we can't make perfectly pure materials at an economic cost, it is surprising that this problem is not more obvious now. I suspect software bugs are more likely to be the cause however.