My Recent Web Travels Roundup III

Sorry for the delay to anyone who has been reading this blog. I've been unemployed and looking for work for the last little while and its had to take precedence over my need to shoot up on info.


Over at Geekologie there is this article about surgeons implanting retinal chips for the blind. Seems like this technology has gone through the 'promise dip' and is now emerging into more mainstream use

Along the same lines, Slate has an article about the US Armed forces declaration that they will actively pursue regenerative medicine under the AFRIM program. Regenerative medicine as in "Grow your arm back". This could be good and bad, but I wonder if you could get an extra arm?

Researchers from the University of Bristol have reported a breakthrough in the understanding of how visual memory works at a chemical level. They've discovered that by interfering with certain molecular mechanisms involved in synaptic plasticity, experimental rats were unable to act on visual memories. This research presages a molecular understanding of all memory, and furthers research towards reverse engineering the brain.

Another interesting article via Boing Boing about a speech by Clay Shirky at the Web 2.0 conference April 23, 2008. The speech deals with the implication of free time available due to technology, and how this time had previously been mostly used up watching TV. He then posits that with the advent of easy content creation ( via the Web, Reprap, Ponoko or other means) that this free time will be finally utilized in ways that are productive instead of squandering our time on mostly useless endeavors ( though I would argue that some time spent socially bonding is necessary .