3-D printed human organs; Rejecting free internet in India? ; Mobile West Africa 2015; Snap pictures non-stop;

Hello buddies, it  has been another eventful week, thank God for the gift of life and the gift of science and technology!

3-D printed human organs

Do you remember this piece on  3-D printing? Well, although scientists have been 3-D printing human tissues for a while, see here also, lately there has been a buzz about the team at Cornell University printing a human ear (which is an organ; tissues make up organs).
Although, there has been a series of continual developments in this field (organ bio printing) see here & here, and science followers will agree with me that organ printing has been expected for a while now; it is quite exciting to finally some organs being printed. Before, the thinking has been around growing organs in the lab, but now printing is providing an alternative approach.



Lawrence Bonassar, a professor Cornell University, showing an artificial ear made via 3-D printing  molds

Image: Cornell University

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What this emphasises is the way science is cross-linked (or isn't cross-linked because science is one to begin with). So, essentially, you see developments in engineering making a profound impact in medicine, and advanced in computing making an impact in innumerous areas. In fact, these classification were later days innovations that resulted from specialisations. We are also excited about the prospects of printing human organs that are vital such as kidneys, livers, and hearts. This will undoubtedly have profound impact on modern medicine.

Rejecting free internet in India?

Moving on to something equally radical, Facebook! Not the social networking site this time, but the company. Here's  the background, Facebook was apparently appalled by the fact that two-third of the world is not connected to the internet, so they launched an initiative, internet.org. Similar to other efforts by other tech companies e.g. Google loon (competition *wink). So, internet.org includes an app.
The effort is a collaboration between Facebook and local network operators. Users are expected to download the internet.org app in order to access a collection of websites and services for free. The cost is absorbed by the telecom operator or shifted elsewhere, cool idea, right? Well, it has launched successfully in Ghana, Tanzania and other countries, but not so in India and for germane reasons. There is a principle known as net neutrality which says that all data on the internet should be treated equally and not discriminated or charged differently by user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or mode of communication. Apparently, Indians are of the opinion that this contravenes the principle, especially after network operators are offering to allow app developers and website owners bear the cost of internet access to their apps and website by end users. Boycotts and protests have ensued and Zuckerberg has since replied.

My take: Facebook is a business, not a charity. It would be naïve to think that this effort by Facebook is solely for charity, there is definitely going to be a well thought out business case behind it for Facebook, which I believe includes controlling people's access to the internet; it's just like the Google's search engine. Google.com is the dominant portal through which people access the internet and they have a huge advantage as a result of that. This is not to say that I am against the protesters, in fact I appreciate them. What I will like to see is a compromise to ensure that this effort by Facebook is not killed. I believe it will spark off a competition which may eventually see internet access prices falling in the long run.  

Mobile West Africa 2015

If you can find your way to Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in Lagos between 21-23 April 2015 and you have like two hundred grand to spare, then I strongly suggest you attend the Mobile West Africa 2015 event holding there and then. For me, I meet all the conditions except the two hundred grand part, any help will be appreciated :-D  The list of speakers is IMPRESSIVE!!! In the meantime, I'll refer you to TechLoy to see a list of the top start-ups listed for the competition. Innovative apps, I must confess.

Snap Pictures Non-stop

I know the ladies will love this. Scientists at Columbia University have invented a camera that can theoretically take pictures forever. Read here.

Thank you.