The pet cloning industry, where pet owners can pay $35-50,000 to have their favorite pet cloned, is slowly maturing but critics charge that it is wasteful and inhumane.
Georgia Tech researchers have created a hybrid mechanical/biological robot controlled by the neural activity of rat brain cells grown in a dish. The neural signals are analyzed by a computer that looks for patterns emitted by the brain cells and then translates those patterns into robotic movement, providing real-world feedback to the neuron.
Advances in neuroscience and computer engineering have made it possible to develop implanted circuits that mimic neural activities, possibly helping to cure amnesia patients.
Using principles of quantum theory to manipulate light is the stuff of rarefied research, not the factory floor. But quantum theory may turn out to have surprisingly practical applications in manufacturing faster computer chips.
In many spots in the United States and abroad, scientists have created computer programs that can change and refine their own software through successive generations; the process continues until the software does what needs to be done with no help whatsoever from the pesky humans who initiated it.