EUTHANASIA COASTER

 A roller coaster that would take you to the extremes of life. You'll be exuberant & ebullient at the onset of this bizarre, outrageous journey but the end is going to leave jaws dropping. So, fasten your seat belts because you are taking off to the most treacherous trip of your esprit.

Adrian is an insane scientist, distressed about the population burst across the entire world. He had made numerous efforts to either invent a machine that would be the cliff-hanger in the beginning but would prove lethal at the end. 

He had been working on this strange project for more than 10 years! Denied of Nobel Prize twice due to the insane and inhumane projects proposed by him for the betterment of the world (according to Adrian), had left him more frustrated. I mean just think about junior Hitler, who would accept his malignant ideas in this world? 

One day he got a way out of this problem too. He designed a captivating yet pernicious roller coaster. Euthanasia Coaster as a death machine is engineered to humanely take the life of a human being! 

It starts with a long, slow climb before a 500m drop, which leads into a series of loops that are designed to create intense centrifugal force, so that you won't be able to breathe, and finally die from lack of oxygen.

Pleased by his own invention, he decided to launch it in a mega exhibition of innovations. The roller coaster was grabbing the desired attention, but nobody tried it. A kid came to him and told him that he wants to ride this roller coaster. 

He agreed, and the boy was running out of oxygen after going into a few loops. This threatening view horrified everyone. The kid on the Euthanasia Coaster has died. The police came, arrested him, and now he is trying to invent yet another device to slam the walls of the prison and break free. 

What do you think, would he fulfill the insane impulses born out vengeance?

Neural Implant : Hacking The Human Brain

“It’s like a Fitbit in your skull with tiny wires.”

He stated this phrase while he announced his latest endeavor on 28th August 2020. Of course, we are talking about the founder of the company “Neuralink,” Mr. Elon Musk. According to Musk, his company has built a self-contained neural implant that can wirelessly transmit detailed brain activity without any external hardware aid. 

Syncing the human brain with AI making humans capable of controlling computers, prosthetic body parts, and other gadgets through brain activity without uttering any single word; his objective is phenomenal.

I switched on my internet, googled, and read about all these things, about the technology and its details, and here are what I found out:

A neural implant is a device that interacts with the neurons when placed inside our bodies. Neurons are the cells that communicate in the language of electricity. The implant happens to be an electrode typically while coming in contact with the tissues, tries to communicate with the neurons. 

This device helps record the neural activity of a human, which further provides patterns to research over the functioning of normal healthy neurons. Along with that, this implant can be extremely useful in overriding a particular native pattern allowing neurons to communicate differently.

In brief, the implant allows us to hack into a human’s nervous system to develop new treatments following the healthy neural activity. It can cure abnormalities overriding the pulses of neurons.

The small, wireless, battery-powered implant Neuralink has been developing intends to read and write human thoughts from millions of neurons and convert them into computer commands and vice versa, and that too unseen from outside the body.

Neuralink's implant consists of all the essentials like a battery, processing chip, Bluetooth radio, and thousands of electrode contacts all on board. Each electrode records the activity between zero to four neurons, and thus thousands of them can record enormous brain activity. This device is also capable of transmitting data safely over the long term.

While mentioning his breakthrough, Musk demonstrated the device with live pigs, and Gertrude was the one with the implant in its brain. A monitor streamed the electrical brain activity being registered with the device. But the decoding and interpretation of brainwave data are yet to come. However, the company’s data is to be vetted by the research community since the transmission of that much amount of information is not demonstrated with humans.

Talking about the technology with the Spectrum before the live demonstration, president of Neuralink, Max Hodak said,

“Neuralink achieved the advance by experimenting with different materials, upgrading the antennae and wirelessly transmitting only heavily compressed embeddings of neural data from the implant, along with other optimizations made possible through a fast feedback cycle. One of the company’s latest prototypes is made of monolithically cast forms of glass that are laser welded together and hermetically sealed. The device so far has lasted safely in pigs for two months.”

According to an article published on IEEE Spectrum, researches and experiments over this surgically implanted BCI system have been going on for over 15 years. Since 2003, fewer than 20 people in the U.S. have received a BCI implant, all for restorative, medical purposes on a research basis. Most of these systems involve hardware protruding from the head, providing power and data transmission. The Braingate consortium and other organizations have enabled people with neurological diseases and paralysis to operate tablets, type eight words per minute, and control prosthetic limbs using only their thoughts.

As a matter of fact, it is not the first time that a neural implant is being invented. Still, it is used in fewer treatments for humans. One of the most established clinical use is DBS i.e., Deep Brain Stimulation. This is a surgical procedure in which electrodes are placed in some brain areas. These electrodes, or leads, generate electrical impulses that control abnormal brain activity. The electrical impulses can also adjust for the chemical imbalances within the brain that cause various conditions. The stimulation of brain areas is controlled by a programmable generator placed under the upper chest's skin.

FDA first approved the use of DBS in 1997 for essential tremors. Since then, with other organizations, it has been approved for incurable disorders like Parkinson’s diseases, dystonia, tinnitus, epilepsy, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and neuropathic pain. It is also under research for Tourette Syndrome and Depression.

The vagus nerve inside our body connects most of our organs to the brain stem. The scientists and researchers are working as hard as they can in manipulating this nerve to treat heart failure, stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy, type 2 diabetes, obesity, depression, migraine, and other ailments.

Adding more to the lists, some science fiction elements, scientists have also successfully enhanced memory capability for specific tasks. Quadriplegic individuals with brain implants have operated computers and typed sentences using only their thoughts.

The neural implant is indeed a revolutionary technology that has prodigious competence like in medical science. Though the prototype released is not yet launched. Still, according to the latest sources, the company is not far away from performing human trials. As the world moves forward with these astounding developments, the challenges leading to negative consequences also lie. But as a rational being, it is our responsibility to drive it towards a positive direction to enhance our existence and make the world a better place.

Now answer me this,

“DARPA announced its interest in developing “cyborg insects” to transmit data from sensors implanted into the insect during the pupal stage. Which is the first cyborg insect?”

Want to take a guess? Go for it. We will be waiting for your answers in the comments section. And do not forget to like and share this blog with your friends and tech-enthusiasts.

Here are some internet sources for references:

1. https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/devices/elon-musk-neuralink-advance-brains-ai

2. https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/devices/what-is-neural-implant-neuromodulation-brain-implants-electroceuticals-neuralink-definition-examples

3.https://news.mit.edu/2018/neural-implants-modulate-brain-microstructures-with-pinpoint-accuracy-0628

4.https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/07/19/238809/nathan-copeland-man-with-brain-implant-on-elon-musk-neuralink-brain-computer-interface/

James Webb Space Telescope

"T-6,5,4,3,2,1 and lift off of the Space Shuttle Discovery with the Hubble Space Telescope, Our window on the Universe." 

On April 24th, 1990, Scientists and People (from their home) looking at the launch would have never imagined that this telescope will make a paradigm shift in astronomy. Before its launch, we didn't know how old the Universe was. We had never seen a planet outside of our Solar System. We didn't even know about Dark Matter and Energy. Hubble taught us a lot, but it can only see so far and in so much detail.

To see farther, all the way back to the formation of the very first stars and galaxies (what's known as the Universe's First Light) we're going to need a bigger telescope, and that is what started the largest, most expensive, and most challenging space engineering project humans have ever attempted: James Webb Space Telescope.

Named after James E. Webb, who made significant contributions in the Apollo Program, the Webb is a multi-purpose observatory that will observe everything from the planets in our solar system all the way to the most distant objects we can see and everything in between.

But what's so important about the Universe's First Light? Basically, scientists want to find out how galaxies were formed to understand the situation from which they arose, their evolution, the forces at work and to get a better picture of the Early Universe. It will help them to predict the future of our galaxies and stars.

So in order to do all this, Webb will be equipped with a lot of instruments and one of them is the largest primary mirror ever to be flown in space, with a diameter of 6.5 meters which is more than 6 times the size of Hubble's primary mirror. 

Resembling a Honeycomb, it consists of 18 sections made with beryllium (which retains its shape at low cryogenic temperatures) and coated with 100 nm thick layer of gold. Such a coating best reflects infrared radiation. A secondary mirror receives light from the main mirror and directs it to instruments at the rear of the telescope.

But what's the point of using infrared light to see back in time?

 
The image you saw is the deepest image of the Universe ever taken. It's called the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Now if you look closely at this picture you can see some tiny red blips. Those are the most distant galaxies because the expansion of the Universe shifted their light towards the red part of the spectrum. That's why Webb is sensitive to infrared so that it can pick up where Hubble left off.
 
But there's a problem-The sun also emits infrared. Don't Worry Webb is also equipped with a Sunshield, which is about the size of a tennis court. It's composed of five very thin layers of Kapton polyamide film that protects the mirror and instruments from Sunlight.

 
The third main part of the telescope is the central computer which controls the operations of the observatory in the orbit.

Still, more scientific instruments will be onboard the telescope.

NIRCam (Near Infrared Camera), which is actually the main set of eyes of the telescope, which will allow us to peer into distant galaxies. A Near-Infrared Spectrograph will collect both the physical and chemical properties of an object. Next in line is a Mid Infrared Instrument which will allow us to see stars being born. Then we have a Near-Infrared Imager and Sleepless Spectrograph or NIR ISS camera that is aimed at finding Exoplanets and the first light of distant objects. And last but not least the FGS or Fine Guidance Sensor, that will help accurately point the telescope for higher quality image and control the operation of the steering and main mirrors.

And unlike other telescopes, Webb will not be orbiting the Earth. It's going to a point 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth, called the second Lagrange Point or L2. When you go out to L2, you don't have the Earth and the sun filling half your sky. So, all Webb sees is the dark of space and be able to do its mission.

The James Webb Space Telescope was first scheduled to be launched in 2007 and was budgeted at 500 million dollars. But as construction progressed and testing began, that launch date and budget have changed a lot. As per the latest updates from NASA, the launch date is now shifted to 25th December 2021.
 
Now answer this: Telescopes work on a lot of frequencies like Gamma Ray, X-Ray, Visible, etc. Right now, which type of telescope (in terms of  frequency) has the highest number in our orbit?

Webb is truly an engineering marvel that will change our understanding about the Universe's formation, expansion, and evolution.

References:

• https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/webb/main/index.html

•  https://www.space.com/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-worth-wait.html

• https://sci.esa.int/web/jwst

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/interactive/2021/webb-space-telescope-launch/