Knosha

We are a strange creature, us humans.  Rather than wait around for natural selection to weed out a defective trait, we have learned to use our tool making abilities to fashion some bit of technology that will correct the defect.  Eyes aren’t working well?  No need to let that diminish your fitness, we’ll just make glasses and you’re good as new.  Irregular heartbeat?  We’ll make you a pacemaker and you’re back in business.

Thus far there has been little outcry about the ethical implications of glasses, pacemakers, prosthetics and other restorative technology.  Our species has, however, reached a new threshold.  Through advances in genetic engineering and nano technology, we are entering the territory of not mere human restoration, but human enhancement.  We have moved beyond short circuiting our evolution, and now have begun exploring designing the human of the future.

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From wired.com:

Researchers have produced human embryos containing DNA from three people, a biotechnological proof-of-principle with profound medical and ethical implications.
To accomplish this, chromosomes were taken from one zygote — the single cell formed when sperm and egg fuse — and put into a zygote stripped of its original chromosomes, but left with its original mitochondria, which provide each human cell with energy.
… Mitochondrial swapping might seem less controversial than regular genetic engineering, because it involves metabolism rather than obvious physical traits. “On the other hand, when embryo manipulations for heritable changes start being done, even with the best intentions, we’re on slippery ground,” said Darnovsky.
“I think this strategy for handling mitochondrial disease is fascinating, important and ethical, but it certainly crosses the line of engineering genes,” said Art Caplan, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Bioethics. “It’s a quiet intrusion, but it crosses a line that a lot of people said shouldn’t be crossed.”

Read more at www.wired.com.

Duke University did an interesting study on the effectiveness of subliminal marketing.  What they found was that the result of subliminal marketing appears to be a notable effect not only on ones awareness and interest in a marketed brand, but an influence toward the behavior associated with the brand.  The BBC reported on a similar study and offers interesting insights into theories related to subliminal manipulation.

The Institute For War & Peace Reporting has posted an essay by a former member of al-Qaeda.  The one time insurgent briefly describes his motives for fighting the occupying American forces, his disaffection with al-Qaeda and why he now is not so sure he wants the American troops to leave.

A reported insider account naturally must be taken with a grain of salt, since it is easy to fabricate and difficult to verify.  That said, I am not aware of any indications that the account is fraudulent, nor are any of the claims extraordinary.  If genuine, it is an interesting peek inside a world the American public is well insulated from.

Thanks to Current Intelligence for alerting me to the essay.

Health.com reported that not only does a good night’s sleep help improve ones performance on memory tests, but a short power nap in the afternoon can result in a significant enhancement of ones ability to store and process data.  There is a catch though – you have to dream during your nap.  The reported on study is that of Robert Stickgold, PhD, director of the Center for Sleep and Cognition.  You may not be surprised to learn that Radiolab reported on related research in a 2007 episode titled Memory and Forgetting.

The research reported on by Radiolab and the complimentary research of Robert Stickgold suggest that, during one’s dreams, the brain is recreating the experiences of the day, even mixing and matching data, looking for connections that may have initially gone unnoticed.

Subjects in Sickgold’s research who had a short, dreaming nap demonstrated as much as a ten fold improvement in their ability to navigate a maze they were memorizing.  Those who at first struggled with the test demonstrated the strongest improvement.  It would seem that the initial difficulty of the task signals the brain that this is something it needs to work on while sleeping.  The brain’s processing of the information, manifests itself as a seemingly random series of bizarre dreams.

This is a strong argument for the siesta!  I’ve always suspected there was wisdom in the custom of afternoon naps.

Thanks to Abeo at the Derren Brown blog for alerting me to the Health.com report.

I find myself strangely inoculated to pictures.  It is not that I don’t appreciate pictures.  I have a great fondness for images, but they do not easily transport me to another time or place.  I imagine my condition is not unique to me.  A picture has the handicap of being framed by other sights which remind you that you are only looking at a picture.  We have also, for the most part, become sophisticated enough about pictures that we can see it not merely as a representation of something that exists or existed in space and time, but we evaluate it’s qualities as a picture: the framing, the color balance, the resolution, exposure, etc… which detaches us from the reality of the thing represented.

Sound is quite a different experience for me and I would wager others as well.  Perhaps the most notable reason is that if one closes their eyes and places headphones over their ears, there is considerably less sensory data to alert the mind to the fact that one is not where the ears suggest.

All this to say that the BBC is compiling a “Sound Map”.  They are collecting sound submissions from all over the world and placing them in their respective positions on a global map.  It does not take much imagination to come up with a great many  sure to be rejected submissions.  I am not sure what the filtering process is.  The BBC’s stated objective is not only to provide a way for visitors to experience the world, but also to preserve sounds that are going extinct.  So if you are looking to experiencing a little bit of the world while relaxing on the couch, or if you have some sounds that represent where you are, pay the sound map a visit.

A friend of mine is one of the first kids on the block to be doing 3D scanning in Los Angeles and also partners with a company to do 3D printing, which has allowed me the pleasure of hearing about many of the advances being made in 3D scanning and printing technology.

Previously at Knosha, I posted about a printer that prints functional organs.  Today I would like to share with you another 3D printer that the European Space Agency is rumored to be considering for lunar construction.  The printer would use lunar regolith to construct a moon base.

There are several significant construction advantages a 3D printer presents. Curved structures that would be difficult and costly to make using conventional construction means are produced easily with the printer.  Not only can it produce more complex structures, but it can build four times faster than the normal building process and the building material does not need iron reinforcing.

Printed buildings could spell significant cost savings and environmental benefits, not to mention the fact that we may finally see the end of these miserably unimaginative box structures being propped up all over the place.  Here’s hoping.

For more on the printer, check out the article at Physorg.com.

Bellow is from JR Woodward’s blog:

InterVarsity Press is celebrating Earth Day by giving away Julie Clawson’s recent book – Everyday Justice: The Global Impact of Our Daily Choices.  You can download a free copy for your Kindle or PC – today only!

Here is a description of the book from the Everyday Justice website:  “Where does your chocolate come from?  Does it matter if your coffee is fair trade or not?  It matters – more than you might think.

Julie Clawson takes us on a tour of everyday life and shows how our ordinary lifestyle choices have big implications for justice around the world.  She unpacks how we get our food and clothing and shows us the surprising costs of consumer waste.

How we live can make a difference not only for our own health but also for the well-being of people across the globe.  The more sustainable our lifestyle, the more just our world will be.  Everyday justice is one way of loving our neighbors. We can live more ethnically, through the little and big decisions we make every day.” This book tells you how and you can.  Download it free today only.  HT J. Fowler at SustainableTraditions

A while back Derren Brown hosted a televised séance on the UK’s Channel 4.  Unfortunately for those of us in the US, Channel 4′s content can be hard to come by.  Most of the time we have to hope someone will post the show on YouTube or Google Video.  Lucky for us, someone has done just that.  Derren Brown’s séance is available to view in its entirety on YouTube, so catch it before it is removed.

An outspoken skeptic of all things paranormal, Brown has on more than one occasion recreated miracles and psychic wonders using, “Psychology, misdirection, magic and showmanship.”  Despite stating openly that he was using psychological manipulation, cold reading and other trickery, the séance participants managed to get royally spooked, as did viewers who called into the show testifying to paranormal happenings in their home while watching the séance.

In the tradition of master magician James Randi, Derren Brown uses his skills to demonstrate how the frauds work their wonders, or at least shows that the marvels can be recreated without appear to the supernatural.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Another one of my favorite WBEZ shows is “The Story,” hosted by Dick Gordan.  The content of the show is wide-ranging from stories of a guy who had his bike stolen and caught the thief to a soldier who befriended a bunny while serving in Afghanistan.  Sometimes the show will follow a particular person, checking back in with them periodically.  One of these people is  Al-Ghizzawi who, as of this week is a former Guantanamo detainee.  Yesterday’s was the first segment I head with him and now I want to go back so that I can have a clearer sense of his journey; though what he has experienced, I am sure, I will never truly understand.

“For the last three years, The Story has been following the case of Al-Ghizzawi, a Guantanamo detainee, through his lawyer, Candace Gorman. Al-Ghizzawi was a shopkeeper who was picked up in Afghanistan and turned over to the U.S. for a bounty. Now after eight years in Guantanamo, he is a free man. But as Candace tells Dick Gordon, his trip to freedom in Tbilisi, Georgia was anything but joyous.”