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Mark Lyans used to be one of the most steadfast opponents to GM technology. In a striking talk he explains why he has changed his mind, looked into the science behind the issue and decided to come out in support of GM technology.
Check out the video after the break.
The brains of two rats on different continents have been made to act in tandem. When the first, in Brazil, uses its whiskers to choose between two stimuli, an implant records its brain activity and signals to a similar device in the brain of a rat in the United States. The US rat then usually makes the same choice on the same task.
Miguel Nicolelis, a neuroscientist at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, says that this system allows one rat to use the senses of another, incorporating information from its far-away partner into its own representation of the world. “It’s not telepathy. It’s not the Borg,” he says. “But we created a new central nervous system made of two brains.”
Read more at Nature magazine. And check out a video of the rats after the break.
Printing a human ear sounds like a far away application of modern biology, however it is here a lot sooner than we might have thought! Thanks to researchers in the Bonassar lab at Cornell University and utilising 3D printing technology this technology is now a reality. The printers work by layering cells into a complex 3D lattice, where they can grow into a living ear. It can only be a short time before we see other body parts also being created in a similar fashion to this! Check out a video about this work after the break or read more here.
A loggerhead sea turtle found itself in a pretty bad spot when it lost its front legs to a shark. Luckily for it Japanese rescuers have fitted it with two new artificial front legs, allowing it to swim once again! Prosthetics aren’t just for humans anymore. But this lucky turtle isn’t the first prosthetic wielding aquatic animal, Fuji is a dolphin who has been successfully using her $83,000 aritificial tail for years now!
Watch videos of both after the break!
Dr. Rachel Armstrong was recently interviewed on London Real about her visions of the future – you can find the video after the break! Dr. Armstrong is the co-director of AVATAR (Advanced Virtual and Technological Architectural Research) – and has a strong focus on the concept of “living architecture”. She is also a TED fellow, and as an added bonus we’ve embedded her TED talk: “Architecture that repairs itself?” below as well.
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