Surprisingly, the answer is ‘yes’. Research at
Binghamton University in the US found that
every person has a unique pattern of brain
activity when shown a series of images.
In the study, a computer measured the
brainwaves of 45 volunteers and was able
to determine the identity of each person with
100 per cent accuracy. This means that your
‘brain print’ could be a very effective way to
enable secure login to computer systems,
including Facebook. The only problem
remaining is how to measure your brainwaves
in an easy way – right now, you need to wear
a special hat full of sensors and wires. PBWill we ever be
able to log onto
Facebook with
our minds?
First proposed over a century ago by the Russian astronautical
pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the space elevator offers
a whole new way of getting into orbit. Instead of using rockets,
electric lifts travel up a cable anchored at the Earth’s equator
and extending up to an orbiting counterweight whose motion
keeps the cable taut. But, while simple in concept,
the practicalities are immense. Chief among them is the need
for a cable material that’s capable of withstanding the colossal
tension. It’s long been thought that carbon nanotubes would
be up to the job, but new research by a team at Hong Kong
Polytechnic University has shown that a single misplaced atom
in the cable could radically undermine its strength.
With no real prospect of creating a defect-free cable,
the search is now on for more robust materials. RM
Will it ever be
possible to
build a space
elevator?
ISTOCK,SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY15 April 2017 April 2017^9