New Scientist has reported on a technology is being developed that may eventually allow your dreams and thoughts to be recorded and played back.

Yukiyasu Kamitani at ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan is leading the development team. They use a scanner to record brain activity when a subject is shown a group of 10x10 dots. Software "learns" to associate different patterns of brain activity with different patterns.

In a paper published in the journal Neuron, Kamitani showed that by pooling the results from various volunteers it is possible to recreate the word "neuron" from the scans.

Kamitani says that higher quality images should be possible with improved brain scanners. He wants to find out if it is possible to create record images people are imagining rather than seeing.

It may eventually be possible to record dreams. This leads to all kinds of privacy and legal questions. Could such technology be used to eavesdrop on a person’s thoughts? Could your dreams become cause for divorce?

Big Brother is not only watching you, he is reading your mind ad well.

LASIK is an acronym of Laser-ASsisted In situ Keratomileusis. It is a type of refractive laser eye surgery for correcting myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism.

The standard LASIK procedure involves three steps.

• Creation of a flap of corneal tissue, which is then folded back.
• Remodelling of the cornea underneath the flap with the laser.
• Repositioning of the flap.

A modern form LASIK, known as the iLASIK™ Procedure, uses two lasers instead of one. The replacement of the hand held microkeratome blade used in older forms of LASIK increases safety. The iLASIK™ Procedure has the following steps

• Wave-front technology maps the unique characteristics of the individual’s eyes.
• Ultrafast, computer-guided laser creates a corneal flap.
• The wave-front mapping data guides a second laser for vision correction.
• Repositioning of the flap.

The combination of these advanced laser technologies creates a custom-fit procedure clinically proven to provide excellent safety and visual results.

In an evaluation of modern LASIK was carried out by the US military, of 100 personnel 95 achieved 20/20 vision or better. All of the naval aviators involved would recommend the procedure to their comrades.

Both NASA and the U.S. Department of Defence (DOD) now use the technology to improve the performance of mission-critical personnel. Steven Schallhorn, M.D., is a retired U.S. Navy captain and leader of clinical research and studies done for the DOD regarding the use of LASIK. "The DOD and NASA have validated the fact that today’s LASIK exceeds all established standards of safety and effectiveness," says Schallhorn.

Meet Mr Green Genes, under normal light - ginger tabby cat. Switch off the light and turn on the infrared and Mr Green Genes glows green.

The six-month old cat has been genetically engineered by scientists at the Audubon Centre for Research of Endangered Species in New Orleans. They have taken a section of jelly fish DNA and inserted it into the cat’s genetic material or genome. Having DNA from another species in his genome makes Mr Green Genes a transgenic cat.

The DNA sequence or gene, which encodes the green fluorescent protein (GFP) was first isolated from a jellyfish (Aequorea victoria) in 1962 by Osamu Shimomura. Shimomura shared this year’s Nobel Prize for chemistry with Martin Chalfie, Roger Tsien and for work relating to GFP.

The reason a cat was used in this experiment was that feline genome is similar to the human one. The green glow in itself is not important, but when the GFP gene is linked with other genes, researchers can tell if the linked gene has been integrated into the target genome by looking for the green glow. Hopefully, Mr Green Genes is a step on the path to developing cures for diseases caused by genetic defects such as cystic fibrosis.

Image by ynse

Sharon Doty, an assistant professor of forest resources at Washington University, presented a paper to the US National Academy of Sciences detailing the creation of GM poplar plants. These plants have the ability to break down several known cancer causing pollutants, a process known as phytoremediation.