Optogenetics is a method of using light to control cells in the brain. It can be used to alter behavior, model diseases, and maybe even one day, deliver drugs right where you need them. And now, it’s wireless! With lasers!

With genetic engineering, we can design cells that respond to light (from lasers or LEDs) by activating or deactivating themselves or otherwise changing their functionality. The appeal of using light to alter cells is that we can turn light on and off at the speed of, you know, light, which allows us to keep up with the speeds at which things happen inside our cells. For example, neurons in the brain send signals to other neurons using electric spikes that occur in just a few milliseconds, but with lasers, it’s possible to very precisely control (or disrupt) these messages, and this is what optogenetics is all about.

So what can optogenetics do for you? Well, in one example, researchers have found that they can use optogenetics to be able to drive neurons responsible for creating dopamine, and mice who had brain lasers (BRAIN LASERS!) tuned to stimulate those neurons started to act like they were on happy drugs. The same sort of technique has also been used to control awakeness in mice with narcolepsy.

Obviously, there’s a lot of potential here, for both research and treatment. But even before we get to the point of giving humans brain lasers (BRAIN LASERS!), researchers have a lot more work to do figuring out just what other effects optogenetics might have on animals like mice. Problem is, when you have to run a bunch of fiber optic cables between your computer and the noggin of your mouse, that mouse tends to understandably not act much like a normal mouse.

As with every technology, wireless is obviously the way to go, and a company called Kendall Research has come up with a completely wireless optogenetic device that weighs only three grams. It’s designed to be plugged into the brain of a mouse and function like a wireless router, taking signals from a computer and routing them to the laser and thence into the mouse neurons. This system doesn’t just communicate wirelessly, it’s also powered wirelessly, using an array of supercapacitors to transmit bursts of power when necessary.

Optogenetics is still a relatively new field, and it’s going to be a while before you can slap a patch on your skull and push a button to solve all your problems (or get high). But this is (at least potentially) the future: instead of relying on therapy or pills, we’ll be able to genetically tweak our cells and use lasers to control our own brains directly.

via: dvice

Sorry a little late posting this but it’s not late from stopping our idiotic sentors/representives from voting yes on this internet killing bill.

Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA.

The Senate will begin voting on January 24th. Please let them know how you feel. Sign this petition urging Congress to vote NO on PIPA and SOPA before it is too late.

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

It’s unfortunate that Internet regulation worldwide tends to be in the hands of people who know very little about the Internet and altogether too much about regulation. At the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin, hackers have come up with a new idea: their very own space-based Internet service.

The idea of launching a DIY satellite Internet network may be fairly crazy, but it’s not as crazy as it would have been just five or ten years ago. Everybody and their kids are sending balloons up to what’s practically now, and with commercial satellite launches poised to get dirt cheap (relatively speaking) within the next decade, a private communications network might actually be feasible.

In the short term, the idea would be to deploy satellites into low orbit, which is the easiest and most practical orbit to reach. The downside of low orbits is that the sats are zooming around the Earth super fast (like, 90 minutes to go all the way around), which means that you’d need a whole heck of a lot of them to ensure that your customers on the ground will be able to maintain a reliable connection. You’d also need a bunch of ground stations to be able to track and communicate with all these satellites, but that’s something that can be crowdsourced through a distributed array of low-cost receivers that should only cost about $125 each.

Nobody is saying that this project is going to be easy, but the idea of an uncensorable Internet in space is getting more and more appealing as governments take it upon themselves to Big Brotherify our existing networks. Think about it: how much would you pay for an Internet service provider that you can trust, independently of the clueless bludgeoning whims of governments and regulators?

Via PCWorld and BBC

Happy birthday, World Wide Web! Hard to believe you’re turning 20 already. It seems like just yesterday we were hearing the pitter patter of little dial-up, delighting at the words “you got mail,” and getting frustrated when calling our friends and receiving that dreaded busy signal. You’re all grown up now, helping people learn how to farm and become overnight pop sensations. What, we wonder, will the next 20 years bring? At the very least, you’ll eventually have to move out of your parents’ basement, get a real job, and settle down. It’s hard to pay attention to that kind of stuff, though, when you’ve got another year of sneaking beers ahead of you. So go ahead, World Wide Web, enjoy yourself tonight — just make sure to be home by midnight.

via: engadget