A bionic eyeball, the cures for Cancer & HIV, and then a review of Inception.
Tonight’s episode of Jupiter@Nite takes a look at some of the absolutely amazing developments in modern medicine there may just be a matter of a few short years away.
MEDICINE
Telescopic Eye Implant approved by FDA:
https://www.engadget.com/2010/07/08/telescopic-eye-implant-approved-by-the-fda/
○ Invented to combat macular degeneration
○ Made by a CO named: VisionCare
○ Not as cool as it sounds: $15,000 to go from “complete impairment” to “moderate impairment”.
○ Only works about 75% of the time.
○ VisionCare says it expects the F.D.A. to give its O.K. later this year.
○ After implantation, extensive therapy is crucial, to learn to deal with the different abilities of the eyes.
Advances toward HIV vaccine:
https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703609004575355072271264394.html
○ U.S. government scientists say they have discovered three powerful antibodies, the strongest of which neutralizes 91% of HIV strains.
○ Previous attempts at a vaccine, like a recent one in Thailand, reduced the chances of infection only by about 30%
○ The HIV antibodies were discovered in the cells of a 60-year-old African-American man.
○ Vaccines are preventative only – don’t work as a cure. However, vaccines for polio and smallpox have almost completely eliminated their spread in developed countries.
Cancer is immortal, but not for long!
○ Cancer cells are capable of reproducing forever (read first couple paragraphs?)
○ Researchers at Washington State University!
○ Wait, wait… Cancer cells are immortal? Can we adapt this to live forever?
■ Substory: What causes cancer?
https://io9.com/5576960/cancer-caused-by-dna-repair-gone-haywire
■ Mutations during copy & repair of damaged DNA (caused by carcinogens)
■ Usually due to interruptions. Compare to computers attempting to repair lost/damaged data from a backup drive with bad wiring.
Human sperm cells have not changedin 600 million years:
https://io9.com/5584575/human-sperm-gene-hasnt-changed-at-all-in-600-million-years?skyline=true&s=i
○ A universal gene known as “Boule” is found in all species’ reproductive, uhm… juice.
○ Scientists are talking about targeting this gene (somehow?) to kill off parasites and such.
— Or, yknow, THE ENTIRE WORLD MAYBE.
MOVIE REVIEW: ((SPOILER ALERT!))
INCEPTION
Premise: High tech military scientists discover a way to induce shared dreaming, using a fancy breathing suitcase. Black market criminals get their hands on it and use it to steal “secrets” from peoples’ dreams. Leonardo DiCaprio leads a team that is really good at this. So good that he’s eventually hired instead to place an idea within someone’s mind — an infinitely more difficult task than stealing one.
The rest of the film is a combination of a psychological thriller, and a heist film. It turns out that Leo is carrying some serious baggage that is interfering with other peoples’ dreams when he joins their subconscious. He wins by confronting his past.
* The movie is attempting to act like it’s a lot smarter than it really is. Using high-brow pseudo-scientific terms and psychological mumbo-jumbo, it tries to pull the wool over your eyes and make itself seem a lot more epic than it is. It’s really about on par with a comic book.
* I like the concept, but hate the execution. Bad science.
– Dreams are extremely convoluted and charged with raw unchecked emotions and sudden shifts of mood. These dreams are somehow stabled and as unbending as reality.
– Conscious and subconscious can rarely co-exist. By realizing that you are dreaming, you attempt to force confinement and structure into an experience that is otherwise interpretive.
– “Being John Malcovich” had more convincing dream sequences.
* Leo is a boring actor. He always seems to play the same role.
* Some of the special effects are outstanding (the no-gravity sequences and the dream cityscapes stand out).