illuminating science

A while back I was talking about Matthew Nagle, the first person to trial the new “BrainGate” technology, that allows direct interface of the brain with a computer through electrodes that are actually implanted into the surface of the brain. Well Wired has an update on his progress, and so far everything seems to be going well. Just by thinking about it,he can play Pong (and well, if you believe the reporter!), he can move a cursor around the screen, and can draw circles with his cursor, something which I have enough trouble doing with a pencil…

The technology aside, there are some really interesting tidbits in the story. One is how Nagle controls the cursor:

“For a while I was thinking about moving the mouse with my hand,” Nagle replied. “Now, I just imagine moving the cursor from place to place.” In other words, Nagle’s brain has assimilated the system. The cursor is as much a part of his self as his arms and legs were.

When they were first experimenting with monkeys, the monkeys eventually learned they didn’t need to physically move a joystick to move the cursor (and receive their juice reward) - they just had to think about it (or at least, produce the same brain patterns.) Here, Nagle has demonstrated that humans are able to do the same thing - a bit like incorporating extra senses through the tongue or relearning how to control a hand that has been reattached but with the nerves in the wrong place. As the article not-so-eloquently puts it, “Nobody really knows how all that electricity and meat make a mind.” A little crude, but it really does highlight what an amazing thing our brain is and how little we understand it. I wonder if there’s any connection between this sort of thing, and riding a bike or juggling becoming “instinctive”? I don’t have to think about juggling any more (though I still do to ride a bike!) when I do it - I don’t have to think about moving my hands here or there, or even these days about keeping the ball in the air. My brain just knows what signals it’s got to send to get my ultimate aim of juggling to work. I’d love to know more about neuroscience!

Unfortunately, this project isn’t purely altruistic in nature. The article says that the US Department of Defense has contributed “more than $25 million in grants from the US Department of Defense, which frankly envisions a future of soldier-controlled killer robots.” To quote the director of Darpa, “Imagine a warrior with the intellect of a human and the immortality of a machine.”

Yes. Let’s imagine.

I realise that military funding is an important source for companies like this, and that research with wide ranging, highly beneficial applications can come from it, but an army of supersoldiers is not really what I’d want to be working towards. Being practical, if armies were made entirely of robots it might limit human casualties, but think about the expense! And ultimately to win a war you’re still going to be bombing buildings, and civilians are going to be the ones to pay.

On a slightly more interesting, albeit slightly disturbing note,

Some scientists have further suggested that implants designed to restore cognitive abilities to Alzheimer’s and stroke victims could enhance the brainpower of healthy people. There’s talk of using BCIs to stifle antisocial tendencies and “program” acceptable behavior.

I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with the idea of “reprogramming” someone using a computer. Psychiatry is a completely different story, and while medicines are perhaps closer in nature, I don’t think that’s the same thing as programming them with a chip. This idea has been bandied around at least since Michael Crichton’s “The Terminal Man” from the 1970’s (though the book itself isn’t that great!)

So, again, I’m forced to ask myself, if I were paralysed, would I be willing to risk my brain to be able to control a computer like that? One the one hand, my brain would be (and is!) my most valuable asset (with full modesty, of course - I’m pretty sure most people would say the same!) On the other, to be hooked up on a ventilator 24/7 and forced to work painstakingly slowly my moving my chin or tongue…it would be very tempting. As for enhancing my current abilities, I think I’ll stick to simpler mental tricks.

I read a headline at Nature News today that got me pretty excited - engineers had devised an invisibility shield - a real one, something that would actually stop objects from reflecting or scattering light. But, when I read on, it turns out it only works for objects of around the same wavelength as light (i.e., less than a micrometer or one millionth of a metre) and it can only really work for monochromatic light, that is, light which contains only one colour like what comes out of a laser. Quite disappointing - but that’s part of selling your research, I guess - you’ve got to make it sound as interesting as you possibly can!

So, it looks like me plan for a Harry Potter-style invisibility cloak will have to be put on hold for the moment. On the other hand, that’s not to say that it’s impossible - there are a few people working on designing exactly that, mainly for military applications. There’s a cool article from a year ago which talked about making invisibility cloaks (another picture here) by making a cloak out of a giant flexible LCD screen. The demo image works simply by a camera recording what’s behind you, then a projector projecting it onto the front of you - it’s just a camera trick. But ultimately, you would build both display LEDs and cameras into the fabric so that the cloak displays what’s behind you on your front - just like the chameleon! Again, though, this might be a while coming. Guess for now I’m just going to have to settle for working on my Jedi mind tricks…

For those of you who just joined us, I live in Australia and if there’s one thing we’ve got a lot of, it’s sunshine (yes, even more than kangaroos!) Therefore, it really makes sense for us to be looking towards solar energy to supply our electricity. Here at UQ, we have groups working on new, innovative innovative solar cells, made out of plastic or even melanin, the skin pigment. Hopefully, these will have higher efficiencies than existing technology, making solar energy more cost effective.

But that’s not the only option. Australia is planning to build a giant one-kilometre high Solar Tower that will generate as much power as a small nuclear reactor, but completely renewable and with no waste. A bit like the Parkes Observatory, it will be in the middle of a sheep paddock, and will become the tallest building in the world. It works by heating air in the base which rises, reaching speeds of 50km/hr and turning a turbine. Solar cells store energy during the day so the tower can run 24 hours.

Particularly after seeing the talks on global warming at the recent AIP Congress, I’m amazed (and more than a little scared) at how little governments around the world are doing to explore new energy technologies. It’s great to see Australia taking steps forward, even if the government has so far only offered “support” with no dollars. Apparently, the company involved also has a deal with China, so with any luck these towers will prove to be at least a partial solution to the world’s energy needs. Also, by becoming the tallest building in the world and hopefully a bit of a landmark (or something!) it might promote this and other renewable technologies to other governments and businesses. And, imagine if we could do a Giant Drop off one of those!

Slashdot is reporting on a fascinating article in the Guardian about an autistic savant who is able to explain his unique abilities. Autism is any of a spectrum of disorders - the symptoms and their degrees can vary greatly from person to person. One unusual component is that some people with autism, while having below-average abilities in some areas, have incredible mental abilities in others, such as mathematics, music or art. From the article:

Autistic savants have displayed a wide range of talents, from reciting all nine volumes of Grove’s Dictionary Of Music to measuring exact distances with the naked eye. The blind American savant Leslie Lemke played Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No1, after he heard it for the first time, and he never had so much as a piano lesson. And the British savant Stephen Wiltshire was able to draw a highly accurate map of the London skyline from memory after a single helicopter trip over the city.

The man in the article, Daniel Tammet, can speak 7 languages, including one he designed himself, and perform calculations faster than a calculator. What’s of interest to researchers is that most savants are unable to explain exactly how they’re able to perform their calculations so quickly. Tammet, however, explains that he sees numbers as shapes, sounds and textures, and when he multiplies two numbers, their shapes merge and change into a new shape - which is the answer! I guess the hope is that by studying his techniques, we might learn ways to improve our own thinking, or even better understand how the brain functions.

Great story on Wired about a litterbug who finally gets their come-uppance:

Sweet Justice
A San Francisco man learned the hard way that littering — especially burning objects — is not a good idea. Jonathan Fish was driving across the Bay Bridge on Thursday when he tossed his cigarette out the window. But the cigarette blew back into his $30,000 Ford Expedition, igniting the back seat and filling the SUV with smoke. Fish pulled over and leaped from the flaming vehicle, which kept rolling and crashed into a guardrail. “It was in flames by the time he got out,” said CHP Officer Shawn Chase. “He had some of his hair singed on the back of his head. (The car) burned down to the frame.” Fish likely faces a misdemeanor charge for littering, which carries a fine of up to $1,000.

I really don’t like smoking, but if people are going to do it then it jolly well better not affect anyone else - either through passive smoking or having to put up with cigarette butts everywhere. And this guy was driving a gas-guzzling SUV, so it’s hard to feel too much sympathy for him. That said, though, I hope he had insurance!

Apparently, dogs are getting addicted to cane toad poison - they lick the toad to get just enough of the poison to make them high, then “they get a smile on their face and look like they are going to wander off into the sunset.” So next time Rover is looking awfully happy about himself it might not just be that the little rat stole your dinner off the table…

Right here at UQ, researchers from Physics have developed XeroCoat, a cheap, easily produced anti-reflective coating. Their main aim is to apply it to solar cells - by reducing the amount of light reflected from the surface of the cell, more will reach the processing part. This means higher efficiency, and they’re predicting increases of up to 8% (which is a lot for solar cells!) Using an anti-reflective coating isn’t new, but is normally too expensive to use for general purpose cells. XeroCoat, however, is cheap to produce and easy to apply (no high pressures or temperatures needed!) so can be used for cheaper cells.

XeroCoat also has applications beyond solar cells - it also stops surface from fogging up. Think about glasses, goggles, windscreens, (camera LCDs?), even bathroom mirrors - the list goes on! Of course, it’s not full developed yet, but with applications anywhere where you don’t want reflections or fog messing up your image, it looks like a winner.

Interesting story over at Physical Review Focus on new superconducting wires that are light weight, incredibly strong and, being superconductors, carry current with no resistance.

There are two points of interest in this article. First, is the practical aspect. These wires can carry incredibly large currents, which in turn are capable of producing very high magnetic fields. They are also incredibly strong, potentially “stronger than steel”. This means if you want a superconducting device you can build it entirely from these wires, and you don’t need a heavy steel frame as well. Why is all this of interest? Among the probably many reasons is thatthese are all conditions that are needed “in several futuristic spacecraft propulsion systems”, i.e., being light and strong but capable of producing high magnetic fields. I’m not sure what these systems involve, though - have to get back to you on that one!

The second main point is of theoretical interest, namely, what makes materials superconduct? Superconductivity in simple materials, such as lead, is well understood. Materials have resistance because when electrons try and flow through the material, they collide with other atoms and lose energy (just like trying to run through a crowded room - you keep hitting people and having to start again.) When cooled to almost absolute zero, however, electrons in certain metals pair together in what’s known as Cooper pairs. These pairs of electrons are then able to move through the metal while dodging all the other atoms. There’s no good analogy for this, really - it’s a quantum mechanical effect and most of our usual intuition doesn’t apply. Just be impressed that this is quantum mechanics on the macro scale - working in every day life!

What we don’t understand is high temperature superconductors, which superconduct at around 100 degrees above aboslute zero (-173 degrees Celcius, give or take.) According to the original theory, the comparitively high temperatures would destroy the superconductivity. We don’t have a good theory yet to explain what’s going on, and many groups, including ours at the University of Queensland, are working to understand it. The material these wires are made out of is similar to these high-T superconductors (it can’t be explained by the original supercondtivity theory) but the material issimpler, which might mean researchers can use it to understand what’s going on in all the materials. A successful theory might mean we could build better and cheaper superconductors, perhaps even ones capable of working at room temperature!

For more info on superconductors, check out superconductors.org for a good general overview, or for a slightly more advanced treatment, there’s the ever-faithful Wikipedia. And, of course, Google searches turn up many links!

Kudos to Slashdot for alerting me to this one, those fabulous little guys the Mars Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have found yet more evidence that there used to be a lot of water on Mars. Perhaps not earthshaking (marsshaking?) in itself, but it’s amazing that these guys have gone for twice as long as anyone expected, are still going strong, and are still producing valuable data. Pretty neat!

Sorry it’s been a couple of days since I posted - I go overseas Friday, and things are pretty crazy at the moment!
New Scientist is running a story which comments on the politics of nuclear fusion. Research is very much alive with several countries working towards building the first sustainable (and hopefully profitable!) nuclear fusion reactor, called ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor). Unfortunately, the countries involved are still arguing about were the reactor is to be built!

Nuclear fusion refers the process by which the sun generates energy. Protons are fused together to create helium, in the process releasing huge amounts of energy. This is very different to nuclear fission where large atoms (uranium, etc) are split apart. This also releases energy, but has the downside of creating dangerous nuclear waste.

Why don’t we all use fusion? The problem is that to get it working, you basically need to build a star - huge pressures and very high temperatures. This is very hard to do. Cold fusion, where we can produce fusion at room temperature, has been much sought after by science fiction writers, but isn’t generally thought to be obtainable. But you never know…

To host a viable nuclear fusion reactor would give you a clean, renewable energy source, so both Japan and France are very keen to have it. One can only hope that the group can come to a decision, and finally build it. We could sure use some clean energy about now.

Update: More at Physics Today.

Interesting article from the Christian Science Monitor on space ownership laws. With more and more people trying to sell land on the moon or at least letting you name a star, space law is becoming a hot issue. Should we encourage private land holdings on Mars to spark space exploration? Or should a UN like body govern the cosmos? Should it be free for all, or a free for all?

Thanks to Slashdot for the tip off.

Interesting article on PhysicsWeb about differences found in matter and antimatter. It’s the most significant observation to date of the different properties of matter and antimatter, the so called “charge-parity” (CP) violation. This refers to experiments where changing the sign of the electric charge on a particle and taking the mirror image produces different experimental results. This was originally unexpected, but has since been verified by several experiments.

It’s good to keep in mind, though, that while this experiment is impressive, it’s not revolutionary in terms of new physics. A good summary of the experiment and theory can be found here, also from PhysicsWeb.