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When I first saw this article (see below), my reaction was outrage, and anger. The first thing that went off in my mind was, “This is an abomination. This fellow must be stopped!”; and there was quite a lot I wanted to say to condemn this scientist. The reason was simply, “Today Birds. Tomorrow Primates. Then Humans.” The only things in my mind were negative and I did not think there would be anything worthwhile coming from this research. |
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I even posted my indignation up to a forum… and some of the responses were quite interesting, and one was just simply hilarious. This really takes the cake:
“Maybe it only works on bird brains!”
On a more serious note, there were also comments that this research may have some positive applications, for e.g. for patients suffering from Alzheimer’s; and whether the research is good or bad depends on the people controlling it and its application.
Take for example, explosives are used to demolish buildings and blowing apart mountains for road building, but they are also used as bombs to kill people. The person who brought up this example asked if Nobel should be stopped since explosives are used to kill people.
Either way, it is a little too early to say if this research has any meaning, or whether it is good or bad. Whatever the case is, just like it is with explosives, human society will develop a way to harness the positive effects of this technology and control the bad.
| Feb 27, 12:34 AM EST
Chinese scientists tell pigeon to fly by remote control BEIJING (AP) – Chinese scientists have succeeded in implanting electrodes in the brain of a pigeon to remotely control the bird’s flight, state media said. Xinhua News Agency said the scientists at the Robot Engineering Technology Research Center at Shandong University of Science and Technology in eastern China used the micro electrodes to command the bird to fly right or left, and up or down. The implants stimulated different areas of the pigeon’s brain according to electronic signals sent by the scientists via computer, mirroring natural signals generated by the brain, Xinhua quoted chief scientist Su Xuecheng as saying. It was the first such successful experiment on a pigeon in the world, said Su, who conducted a similar successful experiment on mice in 2005. |