Brain maps, 50 terabytes of hi-res open source images

This is just a cool resource.

http://brainmaps.org

"Brain Maps offers over 50 terabytes of high-resolution pictures of brains from several different organisms. Perhaps the most impressive feature of the Brain Maps site isn't its elegant interface or its massive database -- it's its liberal use policy. Anyone can use the database for personal or scientific use, no questions asked. Anyone can use screenshots from the site for any use, even commercial uses, as long as the image is credited appropriately." - Cognitive Daily

Projector for you cell phone screen

Ooooh, more toys.

Now that cell phones are becoming the swiss army knife of pocket technology, this is a natural step in its evolution.

"...the Viewmaster-esque Neochroma prototype simply requires users to place their (preferably clamshell) mobile's screen atop the mirror-packed device, and then the internal magic does the rest....the finalized design should measure around 4- x 2- x 1.2-inches, utilize stereoscopic technology, and sport a viewing angle "roughly equal that of a 19-inch monitor at a 30-inch viewing distance."

Since Verizon and Samsung have banded together release a TV phone on March 1, I wonder when people will start projecting movies on their morning train commute, or in the back of the car for the kids, etc.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/28/neochroma-mobile-projector-blows-up-cellphone-screens/

Remote controlled cyborg pigeons

These pigeons have brain implants.

"Scientists with the Robot Engineering Technology Research Center of east China's Shandong University of Science and Technology say they implanted micro electrodes in the brain of a pigeon so they can command it to fly right or left or up or down."

So much for homing pigeons. Now that they come with remote controls, these flying rats could actually be useful. Just think of all the disease you could spread to your enemies! :-P

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/02/cyborg_flying_r.html

Build your own 3d printer!

We are rapidly approaching the Diamond Age, where someday the feed will be readily available to all.

On the right is a Fab@Home 3d printer that you can build for about $2,300 worth of off-the-shelf parts.

"The site also includes construction hints, ideas for applications, notes on the history of 3-D printing and discussion groups. People are invited and encouraged to make improvements, and a sort of cult is slowly forming." -Science Daily.

Open source is wonderful.

Instructions to build the 3d printer on the right are at: http://www.fabathome.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

From Science Daily's article, here's what some people are doing:
"Biologists at Rockefeller University have been using a Fab@Home to deposit slime mold cells in various arrangements to see how the distribution influences their ability to form colony organisms.
The British magazine Auto Express suggests that fabbers could be used to make auto parts, allowing individuals to customize cars in ways that were previously available only to those with large manufacturing facilities.
While the usual expectation is to make solid objects out of epoxy or other quick-hardening plastic, the Fab@Home also can be used with plaster, Play-Doh, silicone, wax (to make forms for casting), low-melting-point metals and a variety of other materials.
Cornell graduate student Dan Periard and Jennifer Yao '08 have been loading commercial frosting into the machine to make cake decorations. It's not frivolous work, Lipson says: Because frosting dissolves in water it can provide temporary support for hollow structures and later be washed away.
A high school student in Kentucky is experimenting with a heated syringe to "fab" with chocolate."

Wii in nursing homes?

Back in college, my friends and I would joke that we all wanted to end up in the same nursing home so we could game together (in those days, it was mostly Shadowrun, or Champions, back in the day of pencil and paper RPGs).

So, when I saw this article about a Wii bowling tournament in a retirement home, I just had to highlight it. A pretty nice way to grow old...
http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/23/nintendos-wii-a-hit-with-the-geriatric-set/

Heat activated 3d paper?

"Chemical origami"

"Physicists in Israel have invented a neat method of making elaborate 3D structures from flat 2D discs. The trick is to pre-treat a gel disc half the size of a beer coaster with a monomer solution "blueprint" that selectively shrinks when heated. The technique, which cleverly demonstrates the link between 2D and 3D geometry, could be used by engineers to create self-assembling prototypes."

They also speculate creating 3d 'printers' that would also use this technique.

Let's just hope the kids don't get a hold of this anytime soon, or you'll never have paper or ink in the home again!

http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/11/2/21

FDA approves ADHD drug Vyvanse

Generic name: lisdexamfetamine
It is a d-amphetamine, like dexedrine.

Key points of this article:

Brought to you by the makers of Adderall XR, this amphetamine based drug is harder to abuse than previous stimulants because it does not activate until it gets to your stomach, and interacts with digestive enzymes. Makes it harder to crush and snort. Adderall XR goes generic in 2009, so Shire, owners of both, are right on schedule to maintain a brand name profit prescence.

This is a known phenomenon with many drug companies, termed by a colleague as a 'product life extender'. When celexa was going generic, lexapro became the new 'hot' drug. (It's just a 'cleaner' form of celexa. All this really means is that to maintain a brand named product and extend their profits, they need to make minor tweaks to a drug so that the new product can earn its own patent, and stay branded for another several years).

Vyvanse is still a schedule II drug, like all the other stimulants medications.

It just got approved today, and I can't even find any dosing information online yet, so I probably won't be prescribing it for at least another several months, since these things take time to sort out. Officially comes out 2nd quarter of this year (2007).