in the shell

The high bonding capacity of carbon nanotubes for uranium and other heavy metals may suggest using them for the removal of heavy metals from waters.

Scientists Worry Machines May Outsmart Man
New York Times (07/25/09) Markoff, John

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have spurred a group of computer scientists to consider whether research that might lead to a loss of human control over computer-based systems that encompass an expanding portion of society's workload should be limited. They are worried that further innovation could have serious, negative repercussions, such as making a widening spectrum of jobs obsolete and forcing people to learn to live with machines that increasingly mimic human behavior. A conference organized by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) was especially focused on the potential that AI systems could be exploited by criminals as soon as they were created. AAAI president Eric Horvitz stressed that computer scientists must respond to the possibility of AI systems spinning out of control. "Something new has taken place in the past five to eight years," he said. "Technologists are replacing religion, and their ideas are resonating in some ways with the same idea of the Rapture." The AAAI will furnish a report that will attempt to evaluate the potential of "the loss of human control of computer-based intelligences," and also deal with socioeconomic, ethical, and legal ramifications along with the likely shifts in human-computer relationships. Horvitz said the panel was seeking ways to direct research so that technology enhances society instead of steering it toward disaster. "My sense was that sooner or later we would have to make some sort of statement or assessment, given the rising voice of the technorati and people very concerned about the rise of intelligent machines," he said.

Artificial Brain '10 Years Away'
BBC News (07/22/09) Fildes, Jonathan

Reverse-engineering the mammalian brain from lab data so that an artificial brain can be created is the goal of the Blue Brain Project led by scientist Henry Markram, who predicts that a synthetic human brain can be constructed within the next decade. Markram's team has built a digital simulation of the neocortical column in rats' brains, using a software model of "tens of thousands of neurons." To bring the simulation to life, the team feeds the models and several algorithms into a 10,000-processor IBM Blue Gene supercomputer. The researchers have discovered that although each neuron is distinctive, there are common circuitry patterns in different brains. "Even though your brain may be smaller, bigger, may have different morphologies of neurons--we do actually share the same fabric," Markram says. He told the TED Global conference in Oxford that an artificial brain could be especially useful in finding new treatments for mental illnesses. The Blue Brain Project also could be applied to the construction of animal models by pooling the entire global corpus of neuroscientific data on animals.

FOR seven decades Colin Hughes has been struggling to keep up with conversations swirling around him.

Born with narrow eustachian tubes unable to drain fluid from his middle ear, the retiree from Mudgee has never been able to hear properly.

He has endured seven bouts of surgery, and is unable to wear conventional hearing aids, which sit inside the ear canals, for more than a few hours because they cause inflammation. A lifetime on antibiotics has left him resistant to all but the most powerful, and depression plagues his days because he cannot participate fully in family life.

But within a few weeks Mr Hughes will become one of the first Australians to use new bone-anchored hearing aids designed to adjust to noisy environments, quiet conversations or the complex varying rhythms and pitch of music.

On Friday Mr Hughes had tiny titanium screws drilled into bone behind each ear during a 90-minute operation under general anaesthetic. Once the wounds heal and the screws have fused with bone, abutments will be screwed into the implants, and the processors, about the size of a postage stamp, are clicked into place.

Older-style hearing aids amplify all sounds, making it almost impossible for wearers to hear conversations in noisy environments. They also interfere with frequencies used by mobile and fixed phones and often emit high-pitched whistling sounds. But the newer processors, costing about $6000 each, shut out background noise, giving users up to 25 per cent better hearing, and can be attached directly to MP3 music players or wireless headsets for talking on the phone, Cochlear's territory manager, Katrina Martin, said.

They were useful for people with congenitally blocked middle ears, chronic infections that had eaten away tiny bones in the middle ear used for sound conduction, or babies born with closed ear canals, she said.

The processors must be removed for showers or swimming but can last up to 15 years.

''For Colin this represents a quantum leap in his ability to hear,'' Phillip Chang, a surgeon, said. ''He has one of the most advanced cases of chronic ear disease I've ever seen, and it's impossible to reconstruct the damaged bones in his inner ears, so this sort of device is perfect for him. To date patients like Colin have been frustrated because there was no solution for them.''

Dr Chang, who performs the procedure at St Vincent's Hospital and Norwest Private Hospital, has implanted more than 400 in the past four years, but said recent improvements in sound quality had sent their popularity soaring.

For Mr Hughes it will be a long wait until the processors are attached in about three weeks.

''My sister says that when I first came home from hospital as a baby in 1939 I had an ear infection. They haven't stopped since, so it's exciting to think I will be able to hear properly again. It's been 70 years now. so it's been a long haul.''