Of course the memorable event of today was our seeing the 6th Harry Potter movie, a film that although it may not seem so at first glance, this is a movie that has a lot to do with the scientific and artistic concepts that we so often discuss.
A striking fictional element within the film that could potentially be turned into an innovation of the future is the ability to capture and store memories of different people. Right now this concept may seem as though it can never really be substantiated into reality, I believe that nanotechnology in particular can accomplish the task of reading the mind and capturing its secrets.
The capture of memories is an art and a science that is inherent to all human beings- something that requires a certain degree of precision and an unlimited amount of imagination. If in the future we can learn more about the neurology of the brain, we can understand how to transfer the its stored data into any form that we wish.
This would certainly be one of the more exciting applications nanoscience. However, as we have discussed in previous days, the ethical boundary in this particular case would be very blurry. While capturing the brain’s contents can alleviate many problems including those involving dementia related illnesses such as Alzheimer’s. However, there is also a flip side- the very same technology can be used for harm and manipulation. What if the government gets ahold of this technology and uses it to try people, in order to get any information it wants or even worse- erase people’s recollections when they are inconvenient.
http://www.simonsingh.net/The_Science_of_Harry_Potter.html
http://www.physorg.com/news156084067.html
http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-06/mind-reading-tech-way