Disturbing NYT article on robot soldiers

http://nytimes.com/2005/02/16/technology/16robots.html

The following is a rant.

NYTimes anti-pain drug article

A round up of a bunch of potential analgesics. Not computational or anything, but interesting if you’re into the neurobiology or treatment of pain.

http://nytimes.com/2005/02/15/health/15pain.html

Article on the Avida genetic programming system

Avida is an open-source software laboratory, which uses evolving computer programs to study evolution. Here’s an interesting article called Testing Darwin from Discover magazine, which is about interviews with the Digital Evolution Laboratory at Michigan State University (which develops Avida).

Implantable cranial nerve stimulator approved for depression treatment

Cyberonics produces a vagal nerve stimulator to help patients control epileptic seizures. Now, it looks like stimulating the vagus nerve might also help treat chronic depression. Interestingly, the economics are in favor of the device: According to a NYT article: The cost of the Cyberonics device and implanting it is about $20,000. Cyberonics said insurers had calculated that severe depressions that cannot be treated cost an average of $42,000 a year per patient, mostly from the injuries suffered in attempted suicides and accidents related to the illness.

Tantalizing clues to autism

This NYTimes article gives lots of interesting (and related) facts about the neuroscience of autism, arguing that autism may be some sort of connectivity-related disorder.