A strain of rice genetically engineered to protect against diarrhoeal disease could offer a cost-effective way to protect children in developing countries, according a study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation yesterday (8 August).
The exoskeleton will support the lower part of the body and enable the paralyzed wearer to walk using wireless electrodes attached to the head that collect brainwaves, which then signal the suit to move.
Yu is a loggerhead turtle that lost her front fins to a shark attack. She is seen earlier this year wearing the latest in artificial flipper technology in Japan. The rubber limbs are attached to a soft vest that simply goes on over her head. "We have worked hard to design the vest in a way that prevents the turtle from taking it off unwittingly," said the aquarium's curator Naoki Kamezaki.
Of all the transhumanist technologies coming in the near future, one stands out that both fascinates and perplexes people. It's called ectogenesis: raising a fetus outside the human body in an artificial womb.
It has the possibility to change one of the most fundamental acts that most humans experience: the way people go about having children. It also has the possibility to change the way we view the female body and the field of reproductive rights.
Naturally, it's a social and political minefield...
The most frequent philosophical issue brought up about ectogenesis is how it might change the way society views women. Will the feminine mystique be lost by such an artificial process replacing what's been long a mainstay of the female domain? My short answer is no; rather, ectogenesis could further unchain women from the home, spare them and extend the age at which women can have children.
South Korean scientists say they have developed the world's first nanorobot that can selectively target and help treat cancer. The robot is guided through the body by genetically engineered bacteria to a tumor where it releases its cargo of cancer fighting drugs.
Via NZ Herald:
The new, 1.55 millimetre-thick contact lens contains an extremely thin, reflective telescope, which is activated by winks.
Released in 2013 and fine-tuned since then, the prototype was unveiled by Eric Tremblay from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in California.
The lenses come with smart glasses that respond to the wearer's winks - but not blinks - so that the user can switch almost effortlessly from normal to magnified vision and back.
The wearer winks with the right eye to activate the telescope, and with the left eye to deactivate it.
