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Comment Amazing. (Score 3, Interesting) 93

Imagine the implications for people with cerebral palsy or paralysis of similar nature. I would always cringe when I watched someone who had been severely limited in their motor functions and could not speak, but with the help of an unconventional system, could communicate. They would stare at letters on a placard, and would spell out (at a rate worse than texting!) each word letter by letter. Or they would attach a rod to the forehead of the person and have them peck at a screen, again, typing out each word letter by letter. I get frustrated enough texting with one hand--these people have amazing patience.

There is a movie, based on a book based on a true story, called the Diving Bell and the Butterfly where this man gets into an accident and was thought to be in a vegetative state, but actually was fully conscious and aware of everything around him. This is called locked-in syndrome and it is scary to even imagine. He ended up being able to communicate with the outside world by BLINKING. And even blinking was difficult for him, since he only had control of one eyelid. The nurse would slowly speak out letters in order of the most frequently used (in this case, he was French, so the letters were in order of the frequency of letters in French words) and he would blink to indicate that this was the correct letter. Needless to say, this was a very long and tedious process. But, as a testament to the perseverance of the human spirit, he actually wrote a book sharing his experiences of being in this state.

Imagine the freedom he would have experienced at being able to talk again.

I really hope this becomes a reality.

Comment Re:Sadly, the article makes no sense (Score 2, Interesting) 235

I have very little background in this area. But I'm curious. If skin cancer is caused by exposure to the sun, then it must be different for each patient? Because it's cause isn't inherited it seems to me that each patient with skin cancer has a unique and individual genetic cause to their skin cancer. Something akin to snow flakes. Perhaps once they find the absolute minimum change within the genes of an otherwise healthy human to having skin cancer, headlines can claim that scientists "crack entire genetic code of cancer."

Comment Re:proofreading for the college graduate? (Score 1) 836

I agree with acidfast.

Furthermore, Mr. Spiegel, you are keen to use cliche phrases without even putting in the effort to understand their meaning, or know their correct spelling. This helps you come across as a pompous idiot.

For example: "Queue awkward silence."

The correct spelling is "cue awkward silence." It comes from stage and movie production, where the producer will "cue" actors, lights, or special effects. How does one "queue" awkward silence?

If it weren't for the first mistake dealing with the misuse of the word quite, I would've attributed his phrasing to a clever pun.

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