Nano Nano

Health is going ultra-small.

A group of researchers in France and Italy have published a paper that carbon nanotubes can act as neural workarounds in the brain, forming tight contacts with the already-existing nerve cells and conducting electricity between them exactly the way neurons do with each other.

The new carbon nanotube-based interface technology discovered together with state of the art simulations of brain-machine interfaces is the key to developing all types of neuroprosthetics — sight, sound, smell, motion, vetoing epileptic attacks, spinal bypasses, as well as repairing and even enhancing cognitive functions.

If we use technologies like this to cure Alzheimer's patients, we may wind up with a generation of hyper-intelligent seniors ready to invent the next brain-boosting technology. Or at least one's that know they crapped themselves. Next, that fowl mouth of yours.

Using a polishing technique previously employed in the semiconductor industry, it's possible to make a tooth too slick to have bacteria stick to. Roughness left on the tooth after the polishing is just a few nanometers, which is one-billionth of a meter or about 100,000 times smaller than a grain of sand. "Bad" bacteria cannot stick to the surface, which is great, since it's the type of bacteria that cause dental bills. Easier than with brushing, or else this thing isn't really an advance at all. And hey, soon those elderly could have their original choppers.