What If We Could Save Your Brain In the Future - What Would You Put It In, A Space Ship?

It seems scientists are getting somewhat close to being able to preserve a human brain, perhaps the first brain transplant may occur within the next several decades? But perhaps this won't be common, so many complications, ethical issues, and challenges of putting one brain into a different body. But if your own body is caput and your brain is fine, well that's just a real shame to waste a perfectly good brain if we don't have too, and I am certain that individual doesn't want to check out early due to a failing body, an accident, or some other challenge.

Now then if we can save the brain, what should we put it in? Providing of course that the brain can psychologically adapt to having lost its host, let's assume it can, humans seem to be able to adapt to all sorts of things right? Should we just download the brain and put that information and consciousness in the cloud - that would be like a digital heaven in a way I guess? Or should we put it into an incasing to protect it, and to give it mobility? How about mounting it into an exoskeleton-like android robot? We could do that too.

If the brain doesn't have the body to deal with, which is the weak link for so many things, then it could be mounted in a deep see submersible, on a UAV, or perhaps enclosed in a special case in a space ship thus, able to travel the galaxy? Maybe we could mount it inside a little unit low to the ground, something similar to a Romba with a docking port, the brain simple goes back to its docking port folds up the legs or wheels, or four-VTOL-rotorblade system and parks itself at the docking station. In this case it could be sent on the space ship and thus attached to the ship when docked?

Of course it might need an escape pod system in case the space ship crashes. The old fighter bomber aircraft, the F-111 had a neat escape pod system. We could make something like that only much smaller of course, as in a three-foot long system, with folding legs or wheels once it landed on the surface of something?

A couple of years ago I was discussing all this with an overseas acquaintance, and he mentioned that the human brain would need stimulus and desire to have something like its "traditional organic sensors" so that it could interact with its environment, and this would go a long way to helping it maintain a positive psychological displacement. If it was controlling a space ship, you wouldn't want it to get any Jihadist type ideas right?

Yes, huge issue, but before we start hiring a bunch of neuropsychologists to start speculating for some super salaries, let's remember they don't know the answers to these questions, and although I completely agree with you, we just don't know yet. The Chimpanzees seem to adapt when researchers have cut into their skulls and wired them up, although they probably aren't too happy about it, still they adapt.

A human while alive may apt for a new extended life within a space ship, just so it wouldn't die, remember self-preservation is a huge need, just as Maslow. Further, the volunteer for such a mission has to accept these challenges in the name of science. People have volunteered for all sorts of things in the past, for science, so you'd be surprised. Well, I hope you've enjoyed today's topic and future concepts dialogue? Please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Future Concepts. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/

Flight 93: Who Would You Have Called To Say Goodbye?

As I have been following the overflowing descriptions and commentaries to the national tragedy of 9/11, I have asked myself the question: If I had been on Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania, who would I have called to say goodbye? Who are the most important people in my life, and what would I want to tell them before the end came? We have all read about the heroism of the passengers on ill-fated Flight 93 on 9/11. Some of the men on board planned and carried out a counter-attack against the Muslim terrorists (Todd Beamer's phrase "Let's Roll" has become part of our national memory and vocabulary), And we now know that some of the cabin attendants were boiling water which they poured on the terrorists to paralyze them and stop them. All of these plans were heroic, even though the enemy prevailed and they all died.

We also know that many phone calls were made by passengers on Flight 93, final calls to those they loved. Some of these calls included valuable information on what the terrorists were planning and what their Arabic conversations revealed about who they were and where they came from. Some of the conversations were to office-mates, supervisors and bosses, to review projects for the last time. Jeremy Glick, a salesman for an Internet services company, also managed to phone. In a long conversation with his wife, Lyz, Glick said the hijackers had "put on these red headbands. They said they had a bomb...they looked Iranian." The "bomb" was in a red box, he said. The couple told each other how much they loved each other. Glick said, "I don't want to die," and his wife assured him that he would not. She urged him to keep a picture of her and their 11-week-old daughter in his head, to think good thoughts. But by far, the most emotional phone conversations on Flight 93 that day were the ones to spouses and family members. Public relations man Mark Bingham got through to his aunt's home in California. "This is Mark," he began. "I want to let you guys know that I love you, in case I don't see you again." Then, "I'm on United Airlines, Flight 93. It's being hijacked."

We listened in on these and other conversations, as it were, as we read the transcriptions and listened in to their actual words, and our hearts were filled with pain and suffering as we realized that this was the last phone call that they would make: between husbands and wives, parents and their kids, adults and their own parents, lovers and friends. Most said goodbye, and spoke of their love for each other. Some talked about being together one day in Heaven, others shared poignant moments of shared memories. It was hard for me and for you not to cry, as the words and the emotions were so loving, and so raw, as to almost overcome us. They have gone from us, even as someday we will be gone from those we love. Perhaps we should spend more time with our own loved ones before we have to make the "final phone call." When will that time come? No one knows, that is why we must make every moment count.

Find Rabbi Mel Glazer at http://www.yourgriefmatters.com/ and http://www.andgodcreatedhope.com/. After spending over thirty years as a Rabbi and Grief Specialist, Mel Glazer is now a recognized expert in the areas of grief, loss and hope. He is widely published, and his award-winning book "And God Created Hope: Finding Your Way Through Grief With Lessons From Early Biblical Stories," follows in the footsteps of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross in helping grievers journey "from mourning to morning." He has lectured nationally to religious organizations, philanthropic groups and public and private schools to convey to them the importance of accepting the reality of death and loss. Mel lives with his wife Ellen in Colorado Springs, CO, where he is the Rabbi of Temple Shalom and the Board Co-Chair of the Center for Christian-Jewish Dialogue.

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Why I Would Buy a Laptop Rather Than a Netbook

Recently a friend asked me about these new netbooks and whether they should buy one rather than a laptop. As ever the marketing guru's had been working overtime on this new style of computer and they had become the latest gadget to buy.

So what is a netbook?

The name is derived from a small laptop computer the size of a book. They are invariably low powered as they are mainly used to access the internet or use online or cloud based software. The other great advantage of a netbook is the battery life. Because they use lower powered processors and more recently solid state drives they can last around 8 hours if not more. Which should be enough for most people's daily use. As with most things the netbook is a balance between portability, cost and performance. Unfortunately in that order and I have been amazed how recently the price of netbooks seem to be rising while low end laptop prices falling.

Now I am not just blankly saying laptops are better for everyone because if I was a student walking round campus every day I wouldn't want to lug a laptop round with me including a large power supply as you will only get two to three hours work done. However there are a few reasons why I prefer laptops to netbooks. Personally I am always a little disappointed with netbooks. Maybe it's an ego thing like car engine sizes. The idea of an atom processor just doesn't do it for me. It's not just because of the performance difference in the processor or memory but the screen size as well. Netbooks started out being 7" but now seem to have grown to 10" or 12".

The other big difference is the lack of a dvd drive. Although with cloud storage becoming cheaper and the mobile broadband performance improving I can see being a less of worry. Also USB drives seem to be getting cheaper and bigger by the day.

So it does depend on what you need and the work you want to do on a portable PC. Although I have always felt as soon as get something you find something else you want to do with it. In my opinion I always felt short changed by a netbook and for a another £100 I could buy a nice laptop that would last longer before needing to upgrade my laptop.

Churchgate Computer Services offers a computer repair and laptop repair service in Bury St Edmunds and the surrounding Suffolk area.

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