Odd Little Bird

As promised, I will point out the hopeful and cool. While tooling around Huffington Post, I came across an interview with Michio Kaku , the guy who is developing a wheelchair controlled by the users thoughts. It is a really good interview, even if it did run on Fox News. Engadget has another neat clip about the technology.

This is just so damn cool. Aside from being so incredibly science-fiction-come-to-life, the applications blow the mind. Imagine parapalegics able to get around on their own, maybe with a thought-controlled robot in their houses to assist them with personal grooming and simple tasks. Or all sorts of people with disabilities able to safely control vehicles. I have a friend who has trouble using her hands, and actually feels unsafe driving because of it. This would be an incredibile boon to people like her. Or to the countless veterans who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan missing limbs. I remember seeing a picture of a young man with no hands saluting. It broke my heart. Anything that could make things easier for them would be great.

On the flip side, I keep hearing about the “high tech army of the future” and how war is getting roboticized and automated. As this technology is perfected, I wonder how it will be applied to the war machines of various countries. Not “if” it will be, how. As Alfred Nobel learned with dynamite, no matter how altruistic the intentions of the inventor are, if something can be turned to the cause of death and destruction, it will be.

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