More than one Way to Reskin a Cat

More than one Way to Reskin a Cat

More than one Way to Reskin a Cat

But you comprehend the result ? Man’s complete triumph over disease by this process of dissolution and rehabilitation

A Witch City Mystery Frederick van Rensselaer Dey, 1901

Manuel and Sandra are talking about the following article: The futuristic processes that are making medicine better today

In this post :
    1. Chermiti Mohamed from Pexels

In this post the dialogue is realised by an interaction of virtual characters, for more information please check the page “Virtual characters

Manuel

Hi Sandra, I need some advice on medical technology! 😊

Today 11:41   

Sandra

Hi Manuel, hopefully not for yourself …?                                               

Today 11:42   

Manuel

No, thank goodness, for a piece I’m writing. 😊

Today 11:43   

Sandra

Oh, ok, always glad to help. 😊                                                                

Today 11:44   

Manuel

OK, rapid fire questions about science or sci-fi! Ready!

Today 11:46  

Sandra

I sure hope so: ready!                                                                                

Today 11:47   

Manuel

Artificial wombs?

Today 11:48  

Sandra

There’s some in the animal testing stage, but just for premature births, not right from conception: Artificial Womb

Today 11:49   

Manuel

OK. Tricorders

Today 11:50   

Sandra

Tricorders? 🤔                                                                                            

Today 11:51   

Manuel

It’s a term from Star Trek: a handheld device that can provide a quick diagnosis

Today 11:52   

Sandra

Oh, well, those exist or are in development for some specific cases, not an overall diagnosis: Medical Tricorders

Today 11:53   

Manuel

Great! Last one is an open question: what is the most sci-fi-like real development?

Today 11:53   

Sandra

Where do I begin! There’s so much going on in medical technology nowadays …

Today 11:54   

Manuel

Prosthetics and Exoskeletons?

Today 11:54   

Sandra

Maybe, but I’m more exited by biological breakthroughs involving living tissue

Today 11:55   

Manuel

Tell me all about it!

Today 11:56   

Sandra

There’s been some serious advances in regenerative medicine, for example for the skin

Today 11:57   

Sandra

you can just spray on a thin layer of healthy cells from the patient, instead of using grafts: Advances in Skin Tissue

Today 11:57   

Manuel

Wow that does sound like sci-fi to me!

Today 11:58   

Sandra

Lucky for us it isn’t: it’s science!  😉                                                        

Today 11:59   

… Continue reading our conversations that are posted every Saturday …

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Sketchy AI

Sketchy AI

“Young man, you don’t think I’m encountering constructive symbolism for the first time, do you? “Unplug”: free yourself from physicality, from the vulgar earthbound physicality, from the evils of civilization, from electricity, nerves, and so on. Isn’t that what this is? The association is crystal clear, I’d be tempted to say, perhaps even too obvious” (Kishon 1987)

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AI see, AI do

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You young badgers imagine that it would be enough to smear a pound of paint on the canvas and you’re already a modern painter. I would be willing to accept this abomination for a bad joke, if there was even the slightest humor behind it. But this here is an abracadabra! A nothing!

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Sketchy AI

Sketchy AI

“Young man, you don’t think I’m encountering constructive symbolism for the first time, do you? “Unplug”: free yourself from physicality, from the vulgar earthbound physicality, from the evils of civilization, from electricity, nerves, and so on. Isn’t that what this is? The association is crystal clear, I’d be tempted to say, perhaps even too obvious” (Kishon 1987)

read more
AI see, AI do

AI see, AI do

You young badgers imagine that it would be enough to smear a pound of paint on the canvas and you’re already a modern painter. I would be willing to accept this abomination for a bad joke, if there was even the slightest humor behind it. But this here is an abracadabra! A nothing!

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Insert Coin to Pray

Insert Coin to Pray

Insert Coin to Pray

There is no great invention, from fire to flying, which has not been hailed as an insult to some god

J. B. S. Haldane 1924
“Daedalus; or, Science and the Future”

Julia and John are talking about the following article:
Old World, High Tech

In this post the images comes from:

  1. Cottonbro from Pexels
  2. Maria Pop from Pexels

In this post the dialogue is realised by an interaction of virtual characters, for more information please check the page “Virtual characters

Julia

Hi John! Cho told me you were working on something interesting … 😊                                                                                

Today 17:07

John

Hi Julia, yes, that’s right, on the link between science and sci-fi

Today 17:08   

Julia

Perhaps I can be of assistance …? I’ve taken a class of history of literature specializing in sci-fi

Today 17:08

John

Sounds interesting, we might be able to use that 😏

Today 17:09   

Julia

Yes, I was thinking, perhaps it makes sense to look at predictions that already have come true?

Today 17:09

John

Not exactly what we are looking for, but it might be good to have as supplementary materials

Today 17:10   

Julia

OK, so, you sometimes see Frankenstein as the first sci-fi book, but actually sci-fi is much older …

Today 17:11

John

Indeed, I’ve seen that claim a lot in the materials I’ve been looking at

Today 17:11  

Julia

Well, it might depend on how you define and classify things, but     

Today 17:12

Julia

there’s already androids and empires at war in space in ancient greek literature

Today 17:12

Julia

flying machines and mechanical birds in India, entire mechanical cities and a robot horse in Arabia

Today 17:12

John

Whoa, hold your horses! That is a lot! 🤗 Yes, I get why you thought this was relevant

Today 17:13   

Julia

Great! These aren’t exactly futuristic predictions however …             

Today 17:14

John

Indeed, so that makes it a bit harder to take up in this piece … but …

Today 17:14   

Julia

But?  🤔                                                                                                       

Today 17:15

John

maybe send me something on ancient science fiction and we’ll see about a supplementary article

Today 17:15   

Julia

Wow, thank you! I will certainly do that!  😊                                         

Today 17:16

John

It would be really great if you can link it up with actual science somehow …😊

Today 17:17   

Julia

I’ll try to do that. Actually there’s quite a few ancient books on mechanical devices and programmable automata

Today 17:18

Julia

They even had something like an animatronic theater and … vending machine

Today 17:18

John

Now that is cool! 😊 That’s the type of things we’re looking for: anticipations of recent technology

Today 17:18 

Julia

I’ll get to work then!😊                                                                              

Today 17:20

John

Thanks for contacting me, I look forward to your article.

Today 17:21

… Continue reading our conversations that are posted every Saturday …

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (4 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5)
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Sketchy AI

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“Young man, you don’t think I’m encountering constructive symbolism for the first time, do you? “Unplug”: free yourself from physicality, from the vulgar earthbound physicality, from the evils of civilization, from electricity, nerves, and so on. Isn’t that what this is? The association is crystal clear, I’d be tempted to say, perhaps even too obvious” (Kishon 1987)

read more
AI see, AI do

AI see, AI do

You young badgers imagine that it would be enough to smear a pound of paint on the canvas and you’re already a modern painter. I would be willing to accept this abomination for a bad joke, if there was even the slightest humor behind it. But this here is an abracadabra! A nothing!

read more

These are not the Robots you are looking for

These are not the Robots you are looking for

These are not the Robots you are looking for

 These are novel living machines. They’re neither a traditional robot nor a known species of animal. It’s a new class of artifact:
a living, programmable organism.

Joshua Bongard

Manuel and Sam are talking about the following video:
The electrical blueprints that orchestrate life

In this post the images comes from:

      1. Lennart Wittstock from Pexels
      2. Pete Linforth from Pixabay

In this post the dialogue is realised by an interaction of virtual characters, for more information please check the page “Virtual characters

Manuel

Hi Sam, do you have a minute?

Today 11:38   

Sam

Hi Manuel, sure, you want to talk about robots again?  😊                     

Today 11:39  

Manuel

You guessed right! 😄

Today 11:39  

Sam

Ha! I love talking about robots 👾, so what can I do for you?                  

Today 11:40  

Manuel

I’m collaborating with a science writer, John, on a piece about the connections between science and Sci-Fi

Today 11:41   

Sam

I can see why you want to talk about robots then!                              

Today 11:42   

Manuel

Indeed! Actually, though, this is more about the history of robots …

Today 11:42   

Sam

OK, I do know some of that … and I’ve read and watched a lot of Sci-Fi! 😁

Today 11:43

Manuel

I guessed as much, but I’m not sure about these …

Today 11:44  

Sam

Oldies like Daleks and Cylons or something from Japanese anime?

Today 11:44  

Manuel

Nope: the original ones from “Rossum’s Universal Robots” by Karel Čapek

Today 11:45   

Sam

Wow, that play is 100 years old! But yeah,

I do know it actually … 😅                                                                         

Today 11:46   

Manuel

Then you know that his robots aren’t machines, but organic.

Today 11:47  

Sam

Indeed, quite surprisingly: organic robots “assembled ” in a factory

Today 11:47   

Manuel

And ultimately they develop feelings and become indistinguishable from humans

Today 11:48   

Sam

Yes, this was a very different cautionary tale from the Golem or Frankenstein

Today 11:48   

Manuel

My question is: is this feasible nowadays, with synthetic biology?

Today 11:49   

Sam

Well, not exactly no, we can’t assemble a whole adult human all at once from parts

Today 11:50   

Manuel

But?

Today 11:51   

Sam

We can clone organisms of course, and maybe within a decade even grow them in an artificial womb

Today 11:52   

Sam

but that is certainly not my area of expertise! And I don’t think we can pre-program an entire human brain … 😅

Today 11:52   

Manuel

So these are indeed very different robots. Thanks this was very useful! 😄

Today 11:53   

… Continue reading our conversations that are posted every Saturday …
Next week John will talk with Julia our student and mind passionate

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (4 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5)
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Sketchy AI

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“Young man, you don’t think I’m encountering constructive symbolism for the first time, do you? “Unplug”: free yourself from physicality, from the vulgar earthbound physicality, from the evils of civilization, from electricity, nerves, and so on. Isn’t that what this is? The association is crystal clear, I’d be tempted to say, perhaps even too obvious” (Kishon 1987)

read more
AI see, AI do

AI see, AI do

You young badgers imagine that it would be enough to smear a pound of paint on the canvas and you’re already a modern painter. I would be willing to accept this abomination for a bad joke, if there was even the slightest humor behind it. But this here is an abracadabra! A nothing!

read more

The Computer and The Brain… they like to Sing a Song

The Computer and The Brain… they like to Sing a Song

The Computer and The Brain… they like to Sing a Song

Do not touch the machine

Anton Des Roubles: I am dead – my body is dead – but I still live.
I am this machine.
These racks of apparatus are my brain, which is thinking even as yours is..

John Campbell “The Infinite Brain” 1930

Cho and John are talking about the following article:
Brain Computer Interfaces: The reciprocal role of science fiction and reality

In this page the images comes from:

      1. Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
      2. Pete Linforth from Pixabay

In this post the dialogue is realised by an interaction of virtual characters, for more information please check the page “Virtual characters

John

Hi Cho, can I ask you some questions about brain implants?

Today 15:43

Cho

Hi John, sure, ask away 😉                                                                       

Today 15:43

John

I’m collaborating with a journalist, Manuel, on a piece about the connections between science and Sci-Fi

Today 15:43

Cho

Interesting, there’s a lot of hype an misinformation out there, this sounds useful. 🙂

Today 15:44

John

Indeed! Specifically, I’d like to go over one example of an implant from a book

Today 15:44   

Cho

OK, I’ve read a lot of sci-fi as a student, I hope I know it … 😄           

Today 15:45

John

It’s called “The Turing Option” by Harry Harrison and Marvin Minsky

Today 15:45   

Cho

I know Minsky of course!, he founded MIT’s AI laboratory!                 

Today 15:46

John

Good! So they co-wrote this book about a brain implant that can help heal brain damage

Today 15:46   

Cho

Cool, I don’t know the book, but I wish we had such a thing. How would this device work?

Today 15:47

John

Basically they implant a tiny supercomputer in the damaged area, which would reconnect severed neurons

Today 15:48   

Cho

That does sound like sci-fi indeed: the question is how?. 😏             

Today 15:48

John

They use something called “PNEP film chips—programmable neural electron pathway devices

Today 15:49   

John

these are “coated with living embryonic human nerve cells”, first attached to an external computer, later to the implant

Today 15:49  

Cho

This actually starts to sound realistic, Minsky knew what he was doing.

Today 15:50

John

So this checks out? We can do something like this nowadays?

Today 15:51   

Cho

Yes and no. Forget about the scale of the problem, we can’t deal with millions of neurons yet

Today 15:52

Cho

and even a supercomputer can’t keep up with the brain, let alone an implantable one!

Today 15:53

John

OK the problems of scale, but in principle? Repairing the brain?

Today 15:53   

Cho

Maybe. We can inject stem-cells and these would indeed reform connections in a damaged area,

Today 15:54

Cho

and we can implant a chip in the brain to receive and send impulses, “read and write” if you like.

Today 15:55

Cho

The trick would be to link those: guiding regrowth with AI.                
In principle, that should be possible.                         

Today 15:56

John

Great! Thank you so much!

Today 15:57   

… Continue reading our conversations that are posted every Saturday
Next week John will talk with

Sam our Computer Scientist and AI Expert

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (4 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5)
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Related post

Sketchy AI

Sketchy AI

“Young man, you don’t think I’m encountering constructive symbolism for the first time, do you? “Unplug”: free yourself from physicality, from the vulgar earthbound physicality, from the evils of civilization, from electricity, nerves, and so on. Isn’t that what this is? The association is crystal clear, I’d be tempted to say, perhaps even too obvious” (Kishon 1987)

read more
AI see, AI do

AI see, AI do

You young badgers imagine that it would be enough to smear a pound of paint on the canvas and you’re already a modern painter. I would be willing to accept this abomination for a bad joke, if there was even the slightest humor behind it. But this here is an abracadabra! A nothing!

read more