Panthusiasm

I just published my first novel as an eBook on Amazon. Living Outside is a humorous and optimistic slice of life story set in the "not too distant" future when full immersion virtual reality is commonplace. It explores the types of worlds people will make, the games they'll play, and the social mechanics that make interactions safe and consensual while preserving the radical freedom afforded by mature transhumanist technology.

Federal Government Launches Criminal Probe Of North Carolina Agency After Coal Ash Spill

This was the largest coal ash spill in U.S. history. Duke energy should have to pay for the entire cleanup, plus a super hefty fine. The state tried to fine them less than $100,000 for this massive disaster, and they wouldn't have had to pay anything extra for the cleanup. Governor McCory had previously worked for Duke energy for 28 years. Duke Energy had given more than $1 million dollars to McCory's campaign over the years, so this fine would have been less than 10% of that. Shameful.

February 13, 2014

Signal-processing chip for a future middle-ear cochlear implant (credit: M. Yip et al.)

A new low-power signal-processing chip that could lead to a cochlear implant that does not require external devices has been developed by researchers at MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratory (MTL), together with physicians from Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI).

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Design of existing cochlear implant (credit: Bruce Blaus/Wikimedia Commons)

The chip uses the natural microphone of the middle ear rather than a skull-mounted microphone. The implant would be wirelessly recharged and would run for about eight hours on each charge.

Existing cochlear implants require patients to have a disk-shaped transmitter about an inch in diameter  affixed to their skull. That device inductively links with a matching device implanted under the skin, which attaches to wire that connects to the cochlea.

There’s also a microphone/power source that looks like an oversized hearing aid mounted around the patient’s ear.