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October 11, 2008

Computer Simulation Uncovers Evidence of Biological Evolution

Two researchers at Florida State University simulated the activity of an enzyme known as IMPDH and observed that the enzyme followed two different pathways for delivering catalytic agents to biological cells.  "Why would an enzyme have two pathways dedicated to the same task? Yang and his colleagues believe that the slower pathway is an evolutionary vestige left over from an ancient enzyme that evolved over eons into modern-day IMPDH."

Posted by Robert at 9:51 PM | Comments (0)
category: Miscellaneous

August 30, 2008

Quotation Day at Automating Invention

A tool is but the extension of a man's hand, and a machine is but a complex tool. And he that invents a machine augments the power of a man and the well-being of mankind.
-- Henry Ward Beecher

Our inventions mirror our secret wishes.
-- Charles H. Duell

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought.
-- Jonathan Swift

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.

-- Thomas A. Edison

Posted by Robert at 12:04 AM | Comments (0)
category: Miscellaneous

February 6, 2006

Computer Thought Control

Nikkei Weekly reports that researchers at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research have developed software that allows a user to move an on-screen cursor using thought alone (see summary here). The software receives signals from an electroencephalograph, which monitors brain waves read by electrodes attached to the user's head.

Posted by Robert at 1:52 PM | Comments (0)
category: Miscellaneous

July 20, 2005

Isaac Asimov on Science, Technology, and the Future

Isaac Asimov, one of the "big three" science fiction authors (along with Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein), also had a lot to say about science and society generally. His Wikipedia entry attributes the following quotes, among others, to him:

• A subtle thought that is in error may yet give rise to fruitful inquiry that can establish truths of great value.
• Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know — and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use it to destroy ourselves? Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance.
• The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...'
• The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.
• I do not fear computers. I fear lack of them.
• Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.
• Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today — but the core of science fiction, its essence has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all.
• It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.
• Science fiction writers foresee the inevitable, and although problems and catastrophes may be inevitable, solutions are not.

Posted by Robert at 8:39 AM | Comments (2)
category: Miscellaneous