A computer that can 'read' your mind
This article is about a research conducted by Tom Mitchell, a computer scientist, and Marcel Just, a cognitive neuroscientist, which is about 'reading' a person's mind with the help of modern technology.
The technology used in this research is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which is capable of detecting and locating brain activity when a person is thinking of a certain word. Thus, the researchers are able to develop a computational model that enables a computer to correctly predict what word is the person being tested thinking of by analysing the brain scan data with the help of the research results. They are now planning to expand this technology to the extend of predicting the brain patterns when the person is being associated with concrete nouns or things that he experiences with his own senses.
This technology could eventually lead to the use of brain scan data to identify thoughts and have useful applications in the studies of health problems that is either directly or indirectly related to the brain.
National Science Foundation. (2008, May 30). A computer that can 'read' your mind. Retrieved March 1, 2009, from http:/www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111641&org=olpa&from=news
Ethics and mapping the brain
This article mainly talks about the effects that the research of studying brain activity patterns may bring and some of the ethical issues which arises with this study. The main concern of this article is whether or not this technology should be used if the research is successful and if it should be used, who should they used it on.
The article also talks about setting some rules and standards should this brain scanning technology is used in the society. Some of the standards include which part of the technology is ready to be used in the market and which is not, if we should have every one's brain scan data and who would run it and the issue of using this test on the children. Hence, most of these standards are related to ethical issues.
Marano, L. (2003, June 3). Ethics and mapping the brain(An abridged version of the original in The Washington Times). Retrieved March 1, 2009, from the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics Web site: http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/neuro/brain_mapping_ethics.htm
The benefits that the research of brain scanning brings may be useful in today's society. For example, as mentioned in the first article, it can help predict what word a person is thinking of by studying the brain activity patterns. This can be applied in helping us to understand those people who are unable to speak due to illness. Hence, we can extend our aid to these people in much more ways as compared to the past. It can also help in identifying potential threats such as terrorists or murder cases that have yet to happen. Thus, making our society a safer place.
However, there are problems with the use of such technology. For example, in the second article, even though the person does not have any motive when taking the test, she was fired due to the results of her brain scan which shows that she has surprising familarity with assult rifle. Also, there are issues of privacy especially since it can tell what word a person is thinking of and how he reacts to it.
Lastly, the 5 vocaburary words.
Neuroscientist: an individual who studies the scientific field of neuroscience
Computational model: a mathematical model in computational science that requires extensive computational resources to study the behavior of a complex system by computer simulation
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI): a type of scan that measures the haemodynamic response related to activity in the brain
Ethical issues: issues that concerns about proper conduct of society
Schizophrenia: a diagnosis that describes a mental disorder characterized by abnormalities in the perception or expression of reality
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The Global Warming lecture
On the 30 January, most of us have attended the lecture on global warming which is being presented by three different lecturers. While each lecturer has his own style of presentation, their main concerns are the same, that is the effects of global warming and how people, regardless of organisations or as individuals, can help to reduce the effects of it.
The first part of the lecture is presented by Prof. Andrew Palmer whereby he shares with us some of the possible solutions that can help to reduce the problem of global warming. One such solution would be to capture and store carbon dioxide to places like under the depth of the oceans, which is possible with modern technology. Switching to alternative sources of energy such as solar power, wind and biomass fuels is also an option to solving the problem. He had also talked about how we should response to climate change like accepting the world as it is and to focus on actions that could be taken now such as applying existing technology.
Dr. Benjamin K. Sovacool is the second lecturer and he mainly focuses on using the Science and Technology System to help analyse the problems and suggest why certain solutions do not work even though they are considered to be good. For example, renewable power and electric vehicles can reduce the effects of global warming and yet they were not used for the past few years. This is due to other factors such as political, social and economical reasons. Hence, he said that technology can succeed technically but fail socially.
The third lecturer, Prof. Rajasekhar Bala, gave a presentation on climate change and its mitigation. He talked about the greenhouse effect gasses which contribute to global warming and some evidences on global warming like the rise in average global surface temperature and rise in sea level. He mentioned about the potential consequences of global warming, mitigation and the difficulty of carrying out the solutions. He had also talked about basic approaches that we can take and how government can reduce the threat of the climate change.
After attending the lecture, what I found interesting is the technology of capturing and storing carbon dioxide as this solution can only be possible with repeated research and development and today's technology. Furthermore, this idea of storing CO2 under the ocean is quite interesting in itself as we know CO2 is a gas and to store it, it would have to be liquefied and pumped onto the sea bed via pipe lines. Thus, I believe that with today's technology we can overcome most of the problems which includes global warming as long as each of us help to reduce the effects of global warming by doing whatever we can and hope that in the near future global warming will no longer be a threat to us.
The first part of the lecture is presented by Prof. Andrew Palmer whereby he shares with us some of the possible solutions that can help to reduce the problem of global warming. One such solution would be to capture and store carbon dioxide to places like under the depth of the oceans, which is possible with modern technology. Switching to alternative sources of energy such as solar power, wind and biomass fuels is also an option to solving the problem. He had also talked about how we should response to climate change like accepting the world as it is and to focus on actions that could be taken now such as applying existing technology.
Dr. Benjamin K. Sovacool is the second lecturer and he mainly focuses on using the Science and Technology System to help analyse the problems and suggest why certain solutions do not work even though they are considered to be good. For example, renewable power and electric vehicles can reduce the effects of global warming and yet they were not used for the past few years. This is due to other factors such as political, social and economical reasons. Hence, he said that technology can succeed technically but fail socially.
The third lecturer, Prof. Rajasekhar Bala, gave a presentation on climate change and its mitigation. He talked about the greenhouse effect gasses which contribute to global warming and some evidences on global warming like the rise in average global surface temperature and rise in sea level. He mentioned about the potential consequences of global warming, mitigation and the difficulty of carrying out the solutions. He had also talked about basic approaches that we can take and how government can reduce the threat of the climate change.
After attending the lecture, what I found interesting is the technology of capturing and storing carbon dioxide as this solution can only be possible with repeated research and development and today's technology. Furthermore, this idea of storing CO2 under the ocean is quite interesting in itself as we know CO2 is a gas and to store it, it would have to be liquefied and pumped onto the sea bed via pipe lines. Thus, I believe that with today's technology we can overcome most of the problems which includes global warming as long as each of us help to reduce the effects of global warming by doing whatever we can and hope that in the near future global warming will no longer be a threat to us.
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