Comments on: TED | 2012 Intel Science Talent Search grand prize winner Jack Andraka and his detection method for pancreatic cancer

By: Max Lent

Max Lent — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 04:45:43 +0000

I would like to know more about “Peaker Entertainments” could you provide a link to more info?

By: Steve Waclo

Steve Waclo — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 20:30:31 +0000

Excellent!

Unintended consequences?

That’s why it has not been brought to market…yet.

Best wishes and sincere thanks to young Jack!

By: Vin

Vin — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 18:51:47 +0000

Maybe swap “force” with “clarify options for”. But I don’t know if that is the same thing.

By: WLGJR

WLGJR — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 13:57:15 +0000

The kid was not particularly smart/knowledgeable either… he said he did not even know he had a “pancrea” before he looked up on the Net.
We can all be like him if we take advantage of the Internet in the right way.

By: GatorALLin

GatorALLin — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 12:40:34 +0000

Loved the video and brought back good memories of doing science fair projects from middle school through high school. Loved the idea he came up with and how the idea of measuring it later was used also to calculate if a treatment was working (how fast, or by how much and if you could drop the 10 level he was using as the set level. Sounds great at 3cents each. Also that you could measure for other cancers or other bio-markers. My only remaining question was how many different types of cancers could you look for on the same test? Could you in theory test for EVERY known cancer or problem that you built it for (or does having different ‘cut off levels’ for each different cancer or bio-marker require a different test?).

…Keep up the great work…. we need more kids excited about science to help change and fix the world the rest of us either broke or could not fix yet.

By: WLGJR

WLGJR — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 09:40:51 +0000

Corrections:
“* instantly* Counting visual data”
“… *while* the biology-only mental capacities(yes, deep down I am a vitalist) are exploited. ”
Thanks.

By: WLGJR

WLGJR — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 09:33:15 +0000

I remember a news about Professor Allan Snyder’s experiments on shutting down people’s brain left hemispheres, lefting their right hemisphere working which results in “savant” abilities, such as counting visual data and recognizing prime number (the latter is really incredible to me)

I imagine some kind of sessile cyobrgs (in other words, biological supercomputers) that work 24/7, essentially cyborg slave-laborers, with the biology-only mental capacity(yes, deep down I am a vitalist) are exploited.

That would be unethical in real life, but I believe there is a way to circumvent the *ethics* problem (e.g. vat-grown or 3D printed biological tissues).

By: WLGJR

WLGJR — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 07:53:25 +0000

Because people waste their time watching sports/dramas (what Prof deGaris called “Peaker entertainments”) plus all kinds of other time wasters, when they should spend those time on DIY science/biopunking.

By: Patti

Patti — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 06:54:41 +0000

Why is it taking so long to get this to market????

By: Editor

Editor — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 05:36:10 +0000

“Can we ‘force’ people to work?” — We already do, in a sense. But we seem to be creating a future in which work will be irrelevant, done by AIs, robots, automated 3D printing, etc. If so, the biggest problem we’ll have might be how to use the time. Maybe we need to fund imaginative people to think about that — like the people who comment here!

By: SmartAndSober

SmartAndSober — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 04:21:25 +0000

Before the researchers create the first AGI, the only “General Intelligence” available on Earth is human beings.
All human beings capable to learning, doing mathematics etc should contribute.
Question: can we “force” people to work (through law or other method)? (This perhaps sound too strong or inhumane, but the rewards will surely outweigh the sacrifices.)

By: Vin

Vin — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 01:44:30 +0000

I agree, but generally teenagers are a really wasted resource. But the information explosion and access is liberating them and the rest of us at last. About time! Dividends from the fresh view of playful lateral thinking. Somehow we got to curtail the pernicious aspects of society that usurp this playfulness into narrow channels for the sake of profit and private interest. I don’t know if that’s a naive comment, but what this kid has done is awesomely elegant.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 17:29:28 +0000

Man…I wish I was that driven when I was 15. I’m fairly certain it’s not that I wasn’t “smart” enough, but I really just coasted along during high school without much care or interest…

By: WLGJR

WLGJR — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 16:18:41 +0000

Great news. We need more smart youth like him.
Everyone should educate themselves on science and contribute to the world via the wonderful Internet.
http://www.singularityweblog.com/jack-andraka-on-singularity-1-on-1/