“The really important kind of freedom
involves attention and awareness and discipline… That is real freedom. That is
being educated, and understanding how to think. The alternative is
unconsciousness, the default setting, the rat race, the constant gnawing sense
of having had, and lost, some infinite thing.” — David Foster Wallace
Mapping terra incognita? “A team of researchers have marshaled a
huge amount of brain scan data to create a new, precise brain map, published in
Nature today. Today’s maps
are not so comfortingly simple. The new map, created by scientists at
Washington University in St. Louis and others, draws in part on the brain’s
internal web of connections: how neurons light up together in response to
certain stimuli. Based on those areas of co-activity, the map divides the
cortex, the layer of tissue on the brain’s exterior, into 360 distinct sections
(180 on each hemisphere). Wherever
neuroscientists settle on this debate, the new map is a stab at imposing some
semblance of order on terra incognita. Researchers working off of it can
populate it with features, dispute borders, subdivide regions—and, little by
little, change the landscape of what science knows about the brain.” [more]
Hyperrealism and mediated experience. “The future of human consciousness
will be a hybrid affair. We will live and work in a ubiquitous computing
environment, where physical reality and a pervasive digital layer mix
seamlessly according to the logic of software and the richness of highly
contextual data. This is mixed reality (MR) — and it will soon simply be
reality.” [more]
Is there is such a thing as being too
connected? “Nokia wants
to make this physically impossible by patenting an electronic tattoo that would
vibrate, on your body, whenever someone calls. It would work like a body-based
caller ID system, vibrating in a specific pattern according to the caller or
the type of message.” [more]
Is Elon Musk the futurist we need? And
more importantly is he our Tony Stark?
Musk revealed his new master plan for Tesla yesterday in a blog post published
on Tesla’s website: here
Will designer children with decrease
cost of healthcare and make for smoother social relations? “Human reproduction is about to undergo
a radical shift. Embryo selection, in connection with in-vitro fertilization
(IVF), will help our species eliminate many genetic diseases, extend healthy
lifespans, and enhance people’s overall well-being. Within 20 years, I predict
that it will supplant sex as the way large numbers of us conceive of our
children. Over time, many genetic diseases will come to be seen as preventable
parental lifestyle choices rather than bad luck.” [more]
Nanotech “smart” stiches? “A team of researchers from Tufts
University in the US have successfully tested a “smart stitching” prototype
thread using nanotechnology, which allows medical sutures to diagnose
infections and then communicate the information to doctors in real time.”
[more]
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