Selective attention

The human brain is excellent at eliminating background information which allows us to focus on the task at hand. We blank out white noise so that we can hold conversations. We block registration of background scents so that we can enjoy the smell of dinner cooking. This was demonstrated brilliantly by Chabris and Simons in 1999. Watch the video to find out more...

Scent Bomb

Have you ever walked past Lush? That's the shop you can smell 200 meters away that makes smelly bathroom products. It has been around for a long time and everyone knows it as the shop that smells. Well it is not the only one. Lots of businesses are starting to develop their own scent brand - the view is that it helps make a distinct emotional connection with the consumer. Is this a new fad or something for the long term? Is this ethical? How much work goes on behind the scenes to get the right scent? Is it a form of air pollution? The questions go on...

In a recent article in Business Week, the latest ambition is to plant a scent bomb into a low income housing development in New York in an attempt to make the residents happier. Smell does affect mood - we don't need scientists to tell us that. So the concept is sound. And if there are ways of helping people then lets do it. I just hope it is used responsibly and does not turn our high streets into an overwhelming and unpleasant experience. There is something nice and comforting with consistency - even if it is the consistent smell of background pollution.

Currency of community

I have talked previously about the currency of favours (see here). Recently, the Mosaic Church in Coventry announced the launch of its Grout system - essentially a currency that can be acquired and spent within a community. Grouts are transacted for giving time or something more tangible. This is a true community currency and slightly different to the principle I mentioned which relies on the trading of actions without the need for a transactional, quantifiable currency. Nonetheless, as schemes like these appear and evolve (and they are excellent), I hope to see them move away from the reliance on a currency with guaranteed returns and mature to one that relies on passive confidence that acts of good will be reciprocated as I describe here.

Genetically modified crops, nanotechnology and synthetic biology

I have talked previously about fashion issues - issues which are at the front of society's mind then fade away as the next issue takes centre stage (see here). One of the issues I mentioned was genetically modified crops. If you go back a decade, there was a global outcry at the prospect of breeding GM crops for human consumption. Monsanto pulled out of the UK market and research grants for plant science declined. This was largely due to negative public sentiment - governments had to respond. The science was sound but the companies who were pioneering the research did an awful job of explaining the science and bringing comfort to the public. Fortunately, research did continue and Europe continues to invest in and mature the science. However, a variety of maize that has been banned by the EU, was accidentally sown in Germany (see here). This is a mistake. The interesting thing is that this never made front page news and the public seem uninterested. Greenpeace made a statement and the German government is taking action to remove the planted seed before it flowers. However, research continues, government have policy and EU member states have ageed to two GM varieties which can be grown commercially. This is progress. And I believe it is partly possible because the populace are not interested... Just another fashion issue.

Remember nanotechnology and grey goo, made popular by Prince Charles in 2004? The scientists learned from the GM crop problems and played a fantastic game of PR - offering seminars, co-chaired with government officials, wooing the media. The public were not interested and any controversy related to nanotechnology was quietly retired.

Synthetic biology is the latest controversy (see here for a definition). Perhaps the name is a little contentious as it does sound a bit like 'playing god'. However, it is more like experiments in engineering than creating Eve from Adam's rib. Recently, for example, a synthetic cell was made from generating DNA fragments artificially and transplanting it into another cell which was able to reproduce (see here). The bits required to propagate the cell lineage existed already in the recipient cell although the DNA was made artificially. So it is more about augmentation than creation. The production of non-native proteins in cells has been happening for decades so Synthetic Biology, in this case, is only a step forward to offer a new method for producing desired proteins in a 'foreign' bacterium.

Franken-cell? Should we really be so afraid? The answer is in the application and we have seen this all before. Providing the science is responsible, a set of ethical standards are developed and adhered to within the research community (public and private sector) and governments take an early interest...not to mention some good PR...the benefits to humanity should be clear for all to see.

Watch Idiocracy streaming

A great movie from 2006. It's all too true. What are we doing as a species? How is it that we have failed to value intelligence, knowledge and wisdom? It is our responsibility to safeguard the future of the planet and this starts with valuing and preserving the basics.

Buying without buying

In a recent study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, it was demonstrated that purchasing behaviour is predictable and not dependent upon the level of attention paid to specific products (see here). This is an important piece of scientific research to support Fred Dretske's research around epistemology, specifically Perception without Awareness.

Here is a video where Dretske describes his work. Fascinating.

Brain scans as lie detectors

I have talked about the use of technology that reads brain patterns - and the applications that we are starting to see (see here). This technology is new and experimental. As in all cases, the robustness of the theory is yet to be fully corroborated through rigorous field testing. While the potential uses are unquestionable, the reliability of the application will take time to validate. This week, experts warned that measures are needed to stop brain scans being misused by courts, insurers and employers (see here) as evidence of people lying.

Clearly the technology, in this case imaging technology (not EEG), is courting attention - a welcome indicator of the sign of things to come. But anticipate this boom in commercialising bioscience, with neuromarketing being another application, to be enveloped in ethical debate and government policy.