Why skin is cool
So- I burned my wrist the other day while ironing... not really a big deal as I've probably done that about 60 times previously (about half of those in '99 alone) But for some reason I got this one in extra deep and it turned the skin bright white and proceeded to blister over. Then it accidentally got punctured (oops) but the blister repaired itself, and is now back to doing it's thing. So, I'm feeling grateful that my skin is a lot better at knowing what to do during an injury than my supposedly intelligent-life mind is. Which reminds me of how incredible the human body is- and how it's so difficult to reproduce... I actually heard about some research, at CalTech I think, where they had hammered a metal plate into a monkey's brain (poor monkey) but were basically using it to try and record the neurological signals decode them into the corresponding body movements. They about have it so they can know from looking at the data that the monkey is about to raise his right hand right before he raises his right hand. So, I'm wondering about two things-
Giant robots! True to the days of Science Fiction B movies... who needs to develop AI for drones when you can have giant human-controlled mechanical sphinxes take over the world? Well, not to mention first-rate hand and leg prosetheses...
But does this work in reverse? I don't know enough about how the brain works to know if the neuro-stuff could receive a signal and carry it out. But if it could? put a metal plate in my head, and make me dance like a monkey?
It makes you think that maybe there are some things that we were better off not knowing, I think the brain fits into there. Well, speaking of the brain, I had best continue at studying for the GRE- I'm taking it tmw at some god-forsaken hour (okay, 8:30, but in downtown SF) so I've been brushing up on my vocab and kindergarten math skills (okay, not literally, more like 7th/8th grade stuff) But it's immediate gratification (for better or worse) you get your score as you leave the place! wish me luck~
Giant robots! True to the days of Science Fiction B movies... who needs to develop AI for drones when you can have giant human-controlled mechanical sphinxes take over the world? Well, not to mention first-rate hand and leg prosetheses...
But does this work in reverse? I don't know enough about how the brain works to know if the neuro-stuff could receive a signal and carry it out. But if it could? put a metal plate in my head, and make me dance like a monkey?
It makes you think that maybe there are some things that we were better off not knowing, I think the brain fits into there. Well, speaking of the brain, I had best continue at studying for the GRE- I'm taking it tmw at some god-forsaken hour (okay, 8:30, but in downtown SF) so I've been brushing up on my vocab and kindergarten math skills (okay, not literally, more like 7th/8th grade stuff) But it's immediate gratification (for better or worse) you get your score as you leave the place! wish me luck~