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AM news: Jaws, brain-machine interfaces, goodbye
Jaws: Say you're a pair of small-time crooks who decide to hold up banks in grocery stores. It's not glamorous work, and the take is kind of mediocre — one of you can't even afford to fix his teeth. So it's pretty darn cool when officials start calling you The 007 Bandits.
Jaws II: CalTech scientists are working on implanting sensors in sharks' brains to control their actions. Mechanical engineer Joel Burdick tells the Pasadena Star-News that the sharks could be guided to unfamiliar waters to detect "radioactivity, poisons or who knows whatever else there is." He also said, with no trace of an evil laugh or handrubbing, "We see it as part of our overall larger effort in brain-machine interfaces."
What if you could have a brain-machine interface with your adolescent daughter? At the LA Times, a journalist mom, whose "biggest worry" for her 13-year-old daughter is the threat of online predators, lets her kid join MySpace as long as she can watch. If she stays away from the department of homeland security, we think she'll be OK. That is, if her mom stops stalking her.
And goodbye: The Downtown News remembers architect Albert C. Martin Jr, who helped design downtown's earliest skyscrapers; he died March 30 at the age of 92. Buildings by AC Martin Partners include the DWP Building, the Union Bank Building (which gave this LAist contributor a view into the stands of Dodger Stadium), and ... the mistake in the sky, 1100 Wilshire (via Franklin Avenue).
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Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
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