They Can Do What?

Technology is constantly evolving and finding new ways to improve, or at least change, our lives.  I'd like to bring your attention to a few articles I've seen that show just a few of the things that people are working on to bring us new technology or new uses for old stuff.

A baby was born in the UK that was screened for a breast cancer gene.  The parents went to a fertility doctor and he looked at sets of fertilized embryos and picked one out that didn't have the gene that carries an %80 chance of breast cancer with it and put it in the mother.  Ever seen Gattaca?  Go see it if you haven't.  While that film does paint qa frightening picture, at the preliminary stages of this process I think it is really cool that science is trying to save lives.  We should place heavy limits on what scientists can screen for though.  Otherwise Uma Therman and Ethan Hawke will have to do a sequel.

Clothing may soon change color in sunlight.  A certain string of algae changes color in different light settings because of something to do with how it stores energy.  Scientists are trying to integrate the algae into textiles and make suits that have real flair.

The guy that made items cloaked from microwaves is developing a cloak of invisibility.  It has something to do with using heat to bend light.  They are a long way from anything seen in Harry Potter, but they sure are trying.

High schools aren't giving out snow days anymore.  Sure the building is closed and the busses aren't running, but the students aren't getting a free pass from learning even for a day.  Something familiar to me in the college environment was a classroom management system, like WebCT.  Now they are using it in high schools.  It'd be nice if they would use electronic lerning aides even when school is in session not just when they are closed for bad weather.

Isn't it cool that even in this economic environment people are still trying out weird stuff?