2000's Decade Recap: Music

Apple Patent Application Hints at a Tablet With Tactile Feedback

Some of Apple's recently revealed patent applications may spoil the surprise over how we'll interact with the Apple tablet. According to Apple Insider's speculations, the patent applications imply that we'll have a multi-touch gadget with tactile feedback.

Apparently this batch of patent applications is for a dynamic surface which can "create physical bumps or dots for the user to feel when it is in keyboard mode." In theory, such a surface would allow you to orient your fingers better on the touchscreen for typing, but never interfere with other actions.

As usual, this is yet another neat tease about the lovely tablet which will fit into my handbag one day. Let's just hope it's soon though, because all the rumors, speculation, and gossip are starting to drive me nuts. [Apple Insider]

Stem Cells Cure Blind Man

Tis the time to be amazed: A 38-year-old man has regained vision in his blind eye thanks to a new stem cell therapy. It won't cure all blind people, but it's a giant leap. Here's how it works.

Englishman Russell Thurnbull got attacked with ammonia 15 years ago during a street fight. As a result, he got an extremely painful condition called Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency, which resulted in blindness in one eye. After much medication, he became a lab rat for all kinds of treatments until a team from Newcastle's North East England Stem Cell Institute got the miraculous cure he was waiting for.

First, the team took a minuscule sample of stem cells from his healthy eye's cornea. This millimeter square of cells was placed on a amniotic membrane, which was placed inside a liquid made from his blood, glucose, insulin, and hydrocortisone. The cells will grow in that solution until taking all over the membrane, which then is used to replace the damaged cornea.

The result: He completely gained eyesight after only eight weeks of the operation. It is not Christopher Reeve walking, but if this is not the future ringing the doorbell, right here, right now, I don't know what it is. [Channel 4]