The SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY News Thread

[SummeryDreams]

Originally Posted by AnimeFan188

Harvard Scientists Have Just Invented Human-Rat Telepathy:

"Humans have long wished to see through the eyes of other animals—like Bran Stark's
Warg ability, say—but so far the best we've achieved is mounting GoPros on them.
One Harvard research team, though, has just brought us a step closer to that goal
with a prototype noninvasive brain-to-brain interface allowing test subjects to control a
rat's tail with nothing more than their thoughts.

The study, which has been published in the journal PLOS One, used an EEG headset
to "read" the human's brain functions, an intermediary computer to interpret and
translate the that data into electronic signals, and a transcranial focused ultrasound
device that activates a specific region of an anesthetized rat's brain, causing the
rodent's tail to twitch. It's essentially a human-rat mind meld using a computer to
translate the respective thoughts. As the research results explain:"

See:

http://gizmodo.com/harvard-scientist...epat-978412932

What if the rat woke up, will it control the human as well? If it is link, then there could be as well a way for the rat to move the man as well.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by SummeryDreams

What if the rat woke up, will it control the human as well? If it is link, then there could be as well a way for the rat to move the man as well.

Then it depends on whose brain is "stronger" and more powerful. It is abit like resistance to interrogation (or rather, sales pitch) minus the physical element of kneeling on gravel.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by SummeryDreams

What if the rat woke up, will it control the human as well? If it is link, then there could be as well a way for the rat to move the man as well.

No, the hardware determines which way the signal flows.

[ganbaru]

Scientists to make mutant forms of new bird flu to assess risk
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...9760WV20130807

For Henrietta Lacks' famous cells, new and unique protection
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...9760YD20130807

[AnimeFan188]

Moore’s Law could stay on track with extreme UV progress:

"Long-awaited improvements in photolithography could pave the way for the continued
shrinking and scaling of microprocessors into the second half of this decade and beyond."

See:

http://arstechnica.com/information-t...e-uv-progress/

[SummeryDreams]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

No, the hardware determines which way the signal flows.

Yea, I was just joking out there though. xD Must have been a good technology though, but I don't see the sense of doing this. Maybe they would want to control someone in the future? I don't know that much.

[SummeryDreams]

Speaking of technology. I have quite this bad feeling about underground scientists creating devastating nuclear warfare. I mean, I'm a nurse, and I know most of how communicable diseases could be devastating in a population, and I'm pretty much sure that given the intelligence of people nowadays, it's not impossible, in fact very likely, that someone could create a sort of virus or bacteria that could annihilate the entire human population. I'm sure some countries are doing something like this for war purposes, so given it's high risk possibility, what do you guys think about this?

[AnimeFan188]

Originally Posted by SummeryDreams

Speaking of technology. I have quite this bad feeling about underground scientists creating devastating nuclear warfare. I mean, I'm a nurse, and I know most of how communicable diseases could be devastating in a population, and I'm pretty much sure that given the intelligence of people nowadays, it's not impossible, in fact very likely, that someone could create a sort of virus or bacteria that could annihilate the entire human population. I'm sure some countries are doing something like this for war purposes, so given it's high risk possibility, what do you guys think about this?

The problem with germ warfare is that, once you turn the germs loose, you can't
control where they end up. They may even spread back to the country that used
them.

There's also the chance of an accidental release of germs from the lab, which
could infect your own population.

This has happened in the FUSSR:

http://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0630/063043.html

and China:

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/05/wo...ted=all&src=pm


Even Al Qaeda got burned this way:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...ms-experiment/


That's why germ warfare is a dangerous fire to play with.

Still, there's always a chance some deranged individual, or another group of fanatics
might try brewing up something like this in the future though.

Remember that the 2001 Anthrax letters case:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_anthrax_attacks

Is still clouded with unknowns.

[AnimeFan188]

Groundbreaking New Particle Could Make Hard Drives 20 Times Smaller:

"Scientists have finally created a long-theorized particle called the skyrmion. The best
way to imagine a skyrmion is to think of a magnetic field that resembles a twisted
vortex of atoms. In a normal particle, the charges of the atoms all line up in the same
direction, but in a skyrmion, they're arranged in these little twister shapes that also
happen to be quite stable. You can move them around and shake them up, but they
won't come untwisted.

This is where they come in handy for data storage. Information is burned onto a hard
disk by turning the magnetic north poles of normal clusters of atoms up or down to
denote a "one" or a "zero," a digital bit. But if you push these particles too closely
together, the magnetic fields begin to interfere with each other and scramble the data.
This doesn't happen with skyrmions. Because of that unique vortex shape, you can
squeeze the particles super close together, and the magnetic state of each bit will
remain stable."

See:

http://gizmodo.com/groundbreaking-ne...0-t-1070784514

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by SummeryDreams

Speaking of technology. I have quite this bad feeling about underground scientists creating devastating nuclear warfare. I mean, I'm a nurse, and I know most of how communicable diseases could be devastating in a population, and I'm pretty much sure that given the intelligence of people nowadays, it's not impossible, in fact very likely, that someone could create a sort of virus or bacteria that could annihilate the entire human population. I'm sure some countries are doing something like this for war purposes, so given it's high risk possibility, what do you guys think about this?

- That's biological, not nuclear.
- Even with that, kill all of us would be difficult. Almost all of us, OTOH...
- Why do you say that like scientists are going to be the sole perpetrators? The military would have to pitch it, the politicians would have to authorize and fund it. All three sets would have to be completely crazy. There's no circumstance in which "killing everyone" is the proper course.

[Dhomochevsky]

I think SummeryDreams is talking about private 'hobby' scientists. ('underground' != official right?)
And there is truth in that.
Genetic and biological engineering is becoming more accessible for private enthusiasts rapidly.
At the current rate, it is not unlikely that someone, somewhere will create something devastating. Not an institution, or country. Just a normal person trying something out, using state of the art technology.
The knowledge is available, the costs for enigneering are coming down hard and a little effort can have a great effect.

[Hooves]

So you're basically saying someone (underground or not) will create something very diabolical for the sake of experimentation. Then a country somewhere takes note of this and abuses it for their own sake? Or are we talking about one person alone being mad enough to create something just for the sake of throwing it at people? Or perhaps an accidental epidemic that will likely be outrageously executed?

[ganbaru]

Florence tomb opened in search for identity of Mona Lisa
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...9780TX20130809

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by SummeryDreams

it's not impossible, in fact very likely, that someone could create a sort of virus or bacteria that could annihilate the entire human population.

It is both unlikely and impossible. Ignoring the fact that society would respond to the threat by isolating it and attempting to come up with countermeasures, there are quite a few factors that make this impossible. First, genetic variation among the population means that some individuals will have resistance - if not complete immunity - to the pathogen.

Second, it has been observed in nature that highly destructive pathogens tend to lose their destructive properties with time. I don't remember the term for this, if there is one, but the case study involved rabbits and the myxoma virus: the virus was introduced in an effort to kill off the rabbit population in Australia, but eventually a less lethal form of the virus emerged and became more prevalent, while the highly lethal form fell out of the population (because it killed its hosts too quickly).

Third, if you've engaged in genetic engineering with viruses and bacteria before you'd know that it doesn't matter how smart you are: these are technically challenging experiments to perform, and at the present time we're largely limited to mixing in genes found in one organism into another organism. Even if you do it properly, there's no guarantee that the organism will behave as you expect and desire (and usually, it doesn't).

[SummeryDreams]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

It is both unlikely and impossible. Ignoring the fact that society would respond to the threat by isolating it and attempting to come up with countermeasures, there are quite a few factors that make this impossible. First, genetic variation among the population means that some individuals will have resistance - if not complete immunity - to the pathogen.

Second, it has been observed in nature that highly destructive pathogens tend to lose their destructive properties with time. I don't remember the term for this, if there is one, but the case study involved rabbits and the myxoma virus: the virus was introduced in an effort to kill off the rabbit population in Australia, but eventually a less lethal form of the virus emerged and became more prevalent, while the highly lethal form fell out of the population (because it killed its hosts too quickly).

Third, if you've engaged in genetic engineering with viruses and bacteria before you'd know that it doesn't matter how smart you are: these are technically challenging experiments to perform, and at the present time we're largely limited to mixing in genes found in one organism into another organism. Even if you do it properly, there's no guarantee that the organism will behave as you expect and desire (and usually, it doesn't).

I know this, but still we aren't sure if our very much updated knowledge still lies to this one. I mean, you know that new technologies and discoveries will just bump up of nowhere, so I was thinking of what if some really super devastating weapon that can wipe out our race, be it biological or nuclear. My curiousity lies into something like, why do they develop such devastating weapon then? I mean, why would they create something that will end our race? Right?

[ChainLegacy]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

Second, it has been observed in nature that highly destructive pathogens tend to lose their destructive properties with time. I don't remember the term for this, if there is one, but the case study involved rabbits and the myxoma virus: the virus was introduced in an effort to kill off the rabbit population in Australia, but eventually a less lethal form of the virus emerged and became more prevalent, while the highly lethal form fell out of the population (because it killed its hosts too quickly).

Which is pretty fascinating; from a Darwinian perspective, a pathogen is far better off if it does not eradicate its carrier species. One would predict that over time, less lethal mutations will be much better suited for survival, and they would usurp the highly lethal variety.

Originally Posted by SummeryDreams

I know this, but still we aren't sure if our very much updated knowledge still lies to this one. I mean, you know that new technologies and discoveries will just bump up of nowhere, so I was thinking of what if some really super devastating weapon that can wipe out our race, be it biological or nuclear. My curiousity lies into something like, why do they develop such devastating weapon then? I mean, why would they create something that will end our race? Right?

There is something called the "Fermi paradox" which asks why humanity has found no signs of intelligent life in the universe. The thinking goes that the universe is so vast and ancient, there are bound to be other intelligent life forms out there, and one assumes at least one of them might have unlocked the ability to colonize other solar systems or even galaxies. Now, personally, it's a bit hard for me to wrap my head around that, but I can certainly see how the sheer immensity of our universe makes this seem very much possible.

Assuming you go along with this line of thinking, the question becomes, why have we not made contact? There are several explanations, some propose that these beings would be on a level of existence beyond our understanding or may not have any need or desire to interact with us, etc.

To your question, though, there's also the theory that intelligent life will eventually reach a point where its destructive power is so great that it becomes probable that by some cause, be it accidental or the work of a deranged individual, will completely wipe out the species.

Another intriguing theory is that civilization reaches a point where the technological ability to stimulate our sense of pleasure, fulfillment, etc, is so immense that we simply retreat into a virtual reality of infinite bliss. This outcome is perhaps equally scary as the self-destruction one, or more...

I wish I had the answers, but it's certainly very interesting to consider...

[SummeryDreams]

Originally Posted by ChainLegacy

Which is pretty fascinating; from a Darwinian perspective, a pathogen is far better off if it does not eradicate its carrier species. One would predict that over time, less lethal mutations will be much better suited for survival, and they would usurp the highly lethal variety.

Though we should consider as well that this not so lethal pathogens will not get immunized against our antipathogenic agents. If so, even the less lethal would be lethal. To start with, the less lethal variety were the ones that are kind of likely to survive longer.

[ChainLegacy]

Originally Posted by SummeryDreams

Though we should consider as well that this not so lethal pathogens will not get immunized against our antipathogenic agents. If so, even the less lethal would be lethal. To start with, the less lethal variety were the ones that are kind of likely to survive longer.

It's entirely possible and IMO likely we'll see another plague at some point, man-made or otherwise. There will always be survivors to such events, however, due to the aforementioned reasons in addition to people with natural immunity.

[SummeryDreams]

Originally Posted by ChainLegacy

It's entirely possible and IMO likely we'll see another plague at some point, man-made or otherwise. There will always be survivors to such events, however, due to the aforementioned reasons in addition to people with natural immunity.

It's sad that there are some cases in a pandemic crisis wherein we still need to wait for someone who's immune before we can make something to counter the disease. To start with, I guess the war against pathogen will never end. There will always be man vs pathogens forever, I guess.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by SummeryDreams

It's sad that there are some cases in a pandemic crisis wherein we still need to wait for someone who's immune before we can make something to counter the disease. To start with, I guess the war against pathogen will never end. There will always be man vs pathogens forever, I guess.

That is Mother Nature's way of population control.