From NYRB, Freeman Dyson on Our Biotech Future. From TED, Alan Russell studies regenerative medicine — a breakthrough way of thinking about disease and injury by helping the body to rebuild itself. He shows how engineered tissue that "speaks the body's language" has helped a man regrow his lost fingertip, how stem cells can rebuild damaged heart muscle, and how cell therapy can regenerate the skin of burned soldiers. A review of Devices of the Soul: Battling for Our Selves in An Age of Machines by Steve Talbott. The Bliss We Can't Buy: For better or worse, there are limits to re-engineering the human spirit.
Genetic engineers who don’t just tinker: Forget genetic engineering. The new idea is synthetic biology, an effort to rewire the genetic circuitry of living organisms. Life after Humans: Today, we are modifying and augmenting our bodies and abilities in ways which were not only impossible 100 years ago, but unfathomable. Existence is Wonderful: An article on bioengineering, modification, and motivation. Bathed in soft light and formaldehyde, these grisly exemplars of bone and tissue, skulls, faces and colons, represent one of the most important collections of body parts in all of medical history. They are the still-life models for Grant's Atlas of Anatomy.
How the brain and an iPhone differ: Researchers fine-tuning theories on how short-term memory works. A small coterie of devoted professionals and amateurs are working to make fully articulated, humanoid and even sinuously dancing robots a reality. Children with autism are often described as robotic: They are emotionless. They engage in obsessive, repetitive behavior and have trouble communicating and socializing. Now, a humanoid robot designed to teach autistic children social skills has begun testing in British schools. A review of True to Our Feelings: What Our Emotions Are Really Telling Us by Robert C. Solomon.
Life Beyond Earth: An ocean on Mars. An Earth-like planet light years away. The evidence is mounting, but are astronomers ready to say we're not alone? From The Space Review, a review of Contact with Alien Civilizations: Our Hopes and Fears about Encountering Extraterrestrials by Michael A.G. Michaud; a review of Into That Silent Sea: Trailblazers of the Space Era, 1961–1965 by Francis French and Colin Burgess; a review of Destination Space: How Space Tourism is Making Science Fiction a Reality by Kenny Kemp and The Hazards of Space Travel: A Tourist’s Guide by Neil F. Comins; and a review of Distant Worlds: Milestones in Planetary Exploration by Peter Bond.
