io9: Brain-Controlled Devices Work Eerily Well 

Annalee Newitz is writing about how well adapted our brains seems to be wired for computer control. They even grow stronger by it!

Three decades ago, William Gibson’s Neuromancer showed us a future where people “jack into” computers by plugging wires into their brains. Today a new study shows that our brains may be perfectly adapted for Gibson’s world.

It’s almost as if our brains are hardwired to control computer devices. A group of physicists, engineers, physiologists, and neurosurgeons at University of Washington discovered that brains hooked up to computers quickly adapt, and even grow stronger. For the study, published yesterday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers tested what happened to people who learned to harness the electrical signals in their brains to control a computer cursor.

io9: Stargate’s Latest Alien Characters Revealed: A Villain And A Rebel

I can’t wait until Stargate Universe get back in April, and it seems like we will have interesting adds to the cast. Love it!

We’re eagerly waiting to find out more about the Lucian Alliance on Stargate Universe, since they were the bandits that forced the Destiny crew to flee in the first place. And new casting pages reveal a villain and a rebel.

We uncovered two new character sides for the first episode of the show’s second season. As we learned a while a go with SGU, their casting sides aren’t always 100% guaranteed to be the final script for the episode, and are often changed around to protect plot lines. But there are still some clues in each script.

The Speculative Scotsman: The Speculative Spotlight: An Interview With Alex Bell

At long last, it gives me great pleasure introduce you to The Speculative Spotlight, a semi-regular interview feature that with a little luck, you’ll be seeing a great deal more of here on the blog. It’s been an age in the offing, and I’ve already lined up several incredibly exciting candidates for future installments – but let’s not get ahead of ourselves so soon!

Without any further burbling, then, let’s all gather round and make an effort to keep any whispering to hushed tones while The Speculative Spotlight shines on… Alex Bell.

Geek Twins: Low Space Transmissions Ending SETI’s Mission

Really interesting article that can help with explaining we can’t hear anyone out there.

One of the problems with accurately predicting technology of the future is that it doesn’t exist yet. Obviously. So the tendency is to extrapolate based on existing technology. That’s why sci-fi movies and TV shows in the fifties imagined home computers in the year 2000 as being massive refrigerator-sized boxes. Nobody could imagine that computers could one day be made small enough to fit into a cell phone.

Something similar happened when the SETI project was established. It seemed a simple enough project; Earth generated radio signals with powerful ground-based transmitters that reached into deep space. The theory was that every society similar or more advanced than Earth’s would send out similar radio signals. All we needed to do is scan for those radio signals and we’d find proof of extraterrestrial life.

NextRead: Green Review: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)

This book just arrived here, I am really looking forward to read it, so is my son.

Where to start the world building, the myth, the main character, the voice? This has got to be one of the strongest debuts I’ve read for a while.

I tend to lower my expectations and criticisms when reading a debut. It’s generally unfair to pour those kind of things over a novice it only leads to disappointment and frustration but from the from page I was captivated.

See also: A Dribble of Ink: Interview | N.K. Jemisin, author of ‘The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms’

Walker of Worlds: Cover Art | Veteran by Gavin Smith (Gollancz)

He inspired me to order it too, so I am waiting too.

Here we go, the final cover for Veteran by Gavin Smith, coming out in June from Gollancz. Compared to the earlier one that has been about on the internet, I think this is ultimately a better and nicer cover. It’s simple and will appeal to more than just the hardcore sci-fi fans that the other would have. Here’s a sci-fi debut that I have high hopes for this year.

Concerning the new iPad. Got this wonderful video link from publishingtalk on twitter. Its hilarious especially the dance at the end .

A super-quiet, hover-capable aircraft design, NASA’s experimental one-man Puffin could show just how much electric propulsion can transform our ideas of flight. It looks like nothing less than a flying suit or a jet pack with a cockpit.

I think electrical aircrafts definitely are the way to go, even if there is substantial problems with battery technology. This is just a design concept for now, but it is a step in the right direction.

By March, the researchers plan on finishing a one third–size, hover-capable Puffin demonstrator, and in the three months following that they will begin investigating how well it transitions from cruise to hover flight. They are already looking past the Puffin, however. The next-generation of this design might incorporate more than just two pairs of prop rotors, so that if one was struck by, say, a bird or gunfire, the aircraft could survive on redundant systems. “We could make it so there’s no single point of failure—that’s the cool next step,” Moore says.

What do you think?

Source: ScientificAmerican.com

We might not be as far from BrainPals (Brain embedded computers in John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War novels). Boffins have already tested this thought-to-speech machine on humans. We live in interesting times… 

(PhysOrg.com) — The results of our study show that a brain-machine interface (BMI) user can control sound output directly, rather than having to use a (relatively slow) typing process …

By implanting an electrode into the brain of a person with locked-in syndrome, scientists have demonstrated how to wirelessly transmit neural signals to a speech synthesizer. The “thought-to-speech” process takes about 50 milliseconds – the same amount of time for a non-paralyzed, neurologically intact person to speak their thoughts. The study marks the first successful demonstration of a permanently installed, wireless implant for real-time control of an external device.

I am impressed and also a little scared, this might help a lot of people communicate better, but it could also be used for other things. Imagine having Microsoft windows running in your brain, that’s scary. What do you think?

Mag+ by Bonnier as shown on Vimeo.

From Bonniers:

This conceptual video is a corporate collaborative research project
initiated by Bonnier R&D into the experience of reading magazines on
handheld digital devices. It illustrates one possible vision for
digital magazines in the near future, presented by our design partners
at BERG.

The concept aims to capture the essence of magazine reading, which
people have been enjoying for decades: an engaging and unique reading
experience in which high-quality writing and stunning imagery build up
immersive stories.

The concept uses the power of digital media to create a rich and
meaningful experience, while maintaining the relaxed and curated
features of printed magazines. It has been designed for a world in
which interactivity, abundant information and unlimited options could
be perceived as intrusive and overwhelming.

The purpose of publishing this concept video is first and foremost to
spark a discussion around the digital reading experience in general,
and digital reading platforms in particular. Thus, we would be more
than happy to hear what you have to say regarding the concept and
ideas expressed in the video: the magazine reading experience, digital
browsing, text versus images, as well as hear about your own digital
reading experiences and thoughts. We are all ears.

Follow the discussion in the Bonnier R&D Beta Lab:
bonnier.com/en/content/digital-magazines-bonnier-mag-prototype

Engadget writes that this beautiful gadget might become reality as soon as this summer. Me want!

US are developing a Tricorder like device that can monitor a person’s medical condition from 10 meters away according to the Registry.

Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) Science and Technology Directorate intents to start testing the notebook like device with US paramedics this autumn.

It’s not as advanced as the Star Trek tricorder though, it can’t diagnose unknown diseases and such. But it will use laser Doppler vibrometry and a camera to measure pulse, body temperature and muscle movement such as breathing.

The boys and girls at DHS’s S&T seem to be in to all kind of science fiction stuff. They are also developing a Puke Ray (Really?) and a Handheld Lobster X-Ray scanner (who name these things?)

Related to this is Future Trek-nology we can live withouton AMC written by author John Scalizi and To Boldly go on Waiter Rant.

Personally i wouldn’t mind faster than light travel and flying cars. But are society ready?

What do you think?