Once realized these breakthroughs will accomplish in short hours what present day techniques couldn't do in months. Amazing capabilities. Hope they stick with it and not let the money hungry gain control.

Interesting information from Popular Mechanics--thanks for the post, and ditto Daiwa.

it is not necessary to be too sad.

Wish I could, StevenAus.... and thanks, bluesky2012.

As it will always be.  My dad died of heart disease @ 54 in 1971, when interventional cardiology was still in its infancy & available, crude as it was at the time, in only a few academic centers, and long before dozens of pharmocologic advances we now take for granted.  He was born a decade too early.  Many of my patients have had their lives extended by 25-30 years thanks to those advances in treatment; how things have changed in a single generation and what life might have been like with him here into his 80's.

Agreed.  However when viewed on a money-spent vs. positive outcomes basis, some countries get better scores than others.  Australia is not perfect by any means, but it has some things (like subsidization of certain medicines and treatments, via the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme) that are very good for a country to have for its citizens.  Unfortunately, the US has some of the lowest positive outcomes results on a national scale based on the amount that is spent on healthcare (some would say that the general system in the West is better named as "sickcare").

Best regards,
Steven.

I wasn't talking about healthcare vs. sickcare just in the US - I meant all Western countries, who tend to treat you when you're sick rather than try to prevent you getting sick.  And yes, I take it that there are many variables in those type of "score" comparisons, with various results.  I just know that I wouldn't be able to afford decent healthcare in the US (plus I wouldn't have the support I do from the Australian government).

Best regards,
Steven.

Thinking more about it, there are some serious Ethical Issues involved here. Especially when they can now take away a creatures free will and control it's brain via computer. Don't believe that? It's true. Watch the end of the video above. They've done it with insects and even a rat. They're calling it a "Robo-Rat" and they're also calling it a "Organic Robot". The experiment they talk about with the monkey controlling a robotic arm is pretty insane. This research is leading us to electronics we'll soon be able to control with our thoughts alone. The monkey they talk about became the First Creature on Earth to have 3 fully controllable arms. The last one being a robotic arm of course, but it was still controlling it with it's brain just like it's two real arms.

Then there's the Eel Brain, a Living Eel Brain, inside a microchip. It's a fully living brain they've managed to keep alive to use in the chip. If they're doing crazy stuff like this now with animals, how long will it be until they start human experiments? Then there's the Worlds First artificially created cell. That "cell" was the First Artificial Creature ever created. It doesn't have living "parents". It's parents were a computer. So, we have LIFE created in a lab with chemical DNA. Artificial Life....the ramifications of this are MIND BOGGLING to say the least.

Seriously, watch the video I posted above. It's nuts, scary, and brings up the distinct ethical problems we need to be thinking about now as a society.

Indeed, completely agreed. I've also used that saying that WebGizmo uses as well.

I think people are missing the most obvious thing here when he's talking about life being "Created" artificially. That proves that organic life can be created with chemicals, peptides and mitochondrial dna, in nature. If it can be done in nature, and done artificially by us, then shouldn't that be all the proof that's needed to disprove that we were created by "God"?

While it doesn't prove or disprove the existence of god, it does at least prove that it's highly possible that life came into existence spontaneously in nature through the random convergence of chemicals in nature, such as the chemicals found in undersea smoking vents at incredibly deep depths.

Thanks Doc, I appreciate that my friend. Unfortunately the health department is still screwing me over. Every time I've called or went down there for the last 5 weeks I've gotten the same run-around. They say "I'm sorry sir, your account is still updating or in limbo. We've called and emailed the account company and that's what they tell us. If anything changes you'll know right away"....my ass I'll know right away. Honestly, I think who ever is in charge of signing off on things like this saw that they were going to have to pay for another CAT Scan and then 2 more surgeries and decided not to. In another 2 and a half months my time on the card will run out, then I'll have to re-apply, hope I get approved, and hope they'll ACTUALLY Do Something about it and get me in to get this stuff done before I die. The only thing I got going for me right now is my family doctor has taken pity on me and upped my pain meds, but, he's getting fed up waiting on the county to help me too and I know if I don't make some kind of head-way on this stuff soon he'll cut me off.

I agree with the Doc.  Raven, kick up a big stink if you have to.  We don't want to lose you!

Best regards,
Steven.

I wonder, I know that man will never ve immortal nor medicine free, but can the free market be then trusted with peoples' health and lives, like almost everything else it takes care of?

I really like the idea of posting a Youtube video and then emailing it to your Congressperson and Senator. You might also consider sending a letter to your local newspaper and radio station.

Even big news chains/networks pick up on these vids, RavenX. Emailing CBS, NBC, CNN, etc. couldn't hurt... if you can't get any traction with your congressperson.