Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Will Scientists Learn How To Fine-Tune Autism?
In his 2000 novel A Deepness in the Sky, Vernor Vinge writes about a treatment called Focusing:
"We can improve the attention-focusing aspects of consciousness: we can take humans and turn them into analytical engines."
Researchers have announced this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) that genetically altered mice "with a loss-of-function mutation in the murine NLGN4 ortholog Nlgn4, which encodes the synaptic cell adhesion protein Neuroligin-4, exhibit highly selective deficits in reciprocal social interactions and communication that are reminiscent of ASCs (autism spectrum conditions) in humans."
Last summer, it was announced that inhibiting an enzyme called PAK can stop mice from exhibiting signs of hyperactivity and repetitive movement.
If scientists learn a bit more, it is not outside the realm of possibility that it might be possible to induce autism-like behaviors and then remove them. Autism and genius are increasingly seen as being related; some forms of mild autism may provide a shortcut to increased concentration for particular individuals.
An ideal study pill - which can be reversed in time for you to enjoy being with friends on the weekend? Don't be surprised if someday students are asked to pee in a cup or give a blood sample after taking an important test like the LSAT or GRE.
Other barriers are already being broken in the race to cheat on tests:
Via the nifty new site io9; science links here and here. Also, read more about the idea of how autism may relate to brilliance in this well-done article about a musical savant diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder and this set of links on autism, creativity and genius.
Focusing ennobles. It is the key to Emergent success, and a much more subtle thing than you can imagine. It's not just that we've created a psychoactive microbe....
(Read more about focusing)
Professional athletes aren't the only ones who turn to drugs to enhance their performance. People who work mostly with their minds are also looking for that vital edge.
Students around the world are experimenting with prescription pharmaceuticals to get an edge on their classmates.
Best of all, if you still did poorly on the test, you could always take something to forget your painful feelings of failure.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/30/2008)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 4 )
Related News Stories - (" Medical ")
Health Kiosk Has No Human Doctor
'The electronic body analyzer had been developed...' - Michael Crichton, 1969.
NEO Brain Computer Interface (BCI)
'The remains of the lace took on the rough shape of a brain...' - Iain Banks, 2010.
MIT Computerized Bionic Leg Is Part Of The User
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain, through the mediation of the electronic brain in the leg.' - Charles Recour, 1949.
Bone-Building Drug Evenity Approved
'Compounds devised by the biochemists for the rapid building of bone...' - Edmond Hamilton, 1932.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Health Kiosk Has No Human Doctor
'The electronic body analyzer had been developed...'
Meta's Horizon Studio's Unique Avatars From Text Prompts
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
VaMEx Biomimetic Mars Robot Inspired By Skink
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'
NEO Brain Computer Interface (BCI)
'The remains of the lace took on the rough shape of a brain...'
Did Frank Herbert Predict E-Ink Displays?
'A broken circle with arrows pointing to a right-hand flow appeared in the chalf.'
Monolith One Giant Industrial Metal 3D-printer
'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
'Mooncrete' Lunar Regolith Concrete (LRC)
'And here they began to build...'
China's 'Magpie Drone' Ornithopter
'Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows.'
MAI-Voice-2 Microsoft Text-To-Speech
'I made disks of my own voice to the number of five hundred very carefully chosen words.'
Tumblin' Tumbleweed Rovers To Eplore Mars
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...'
Tentacled Robot Captures Space Debris
Preventing annoying space debris build-up.
Prufrock-MB2 Ready In Nashville
'It sounds to me as though you had invented a kind of metal earthworm.'
DIY Robotic Content Farming
'The chief wheeled to the master machine and pressed a button.'
Reflect Orbital Sunlight On Demand
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors that circulate around the satellite, making it habitable.'
The Amazing Lightfoot Electric Scooter With Solar Assist
'The steel tortoise gave MacKinnon a feeling of Crusoe- like independence.'
Fully Electric, Fully Automated Vegetable‑growing Agribots
'...then back to their work, though little enough it was on these automatic cultivators.'
