MEDICINAL PLANTS, BOATS AND ROBOTICS

The Jardin des Plantes museum opens in Paris. The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN) is the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France.

The museum was formally founded on 10^th June 1793, during the French Revolution. Its origins lie, however, in the Jardin royal des plantes médicinales (Royal Medicinal Plant Garden) created by King Louis XIII in 1635, which was directed and run by the royal physicians. The royal proclamation of the boy-king Louis XV on 31 March 1718, however, removed the medical function, enabling the garden—which became known simply as the Jardin du Roi (King's Garden)—to focus on natural history.

Topolski

On the 10^th June 1829 the first Boat Race between the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge took place. Cambridge took the early lead in number of wins up to 1864 when Oxford took over.  On the 23^rd March 1929, after 65 years, Cambridge finally evened the score at 40 wins each. Cambridge won again on the 12^th April 1930. Since that time they have never been overtaken in number of wins. The score stands at Cambridge 81, Oxford 76. Cambridge have held the overall lead for 82 years. The last time Oxford came close was under the leadership of Dan Topolski when Oxford won 10 races in succession from 1976, followed by one loss in 1986, and then six wins in a row between 1987 and 1992. They came within one win of equaling the total score of 68 to 69

On the 10^th June 2002, the first direct electronic communication experiment between the nervous systems of two humans is carried out by Kevin Warwick in the United Kingdom. Warwick is a British scientist and professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom. He is known for his studies on direct interfaces between computer systems and the human nervous system, and has also done research in the field of robotics.

Probably the most famous piece of research undertaken by Warwick (and the origin of the nickname, "Captain Cyborg", given to him by The Register) is the set of experiments known as Project Cyborg, in which he had a chip implanted into his arm, with the aim of "becoming a cyborg".

Warwick

The first stage of this research, which began on 24 May 1998, involved a simple RFID transmitter being implanted beneath Warwick's skin, and used to control doors, lights, heaters, and other computer-controlled devices based on his proximity. The main purpose of this experiment was said to be to test the limits of what the body would accept, and how easy it would be to receive a meaningful signal from the chip.

The second stage involved a more complex neural interface which was designed and built especially for the experiment by Dr. Mark Gasson and his team at the University of Reading. This device consisted of an internal electrode array, connected to an external "gauntlet" that housed supporting electronics. It was implanted on 14 March 2002, and interfaced directly into Warwick's nervous system. The electrode array inserted contained 100 electrodes, of which 25 could be accessed at any one time, whereas the median nerve which it monitored carries many times that number of signals. The experiment proved successful, and the signal produced was detailed enough that a robot arm developed by Warwick's colleague, Dr Peter Kyberd, was able to mimic the actions of Warwick's own arm.

By means of the implant, Warwick's nervous system was connected onto the internet in Columbia University, New York. From there he was able to control the robot arm in the University of Reading and to obtain feedback from sensors in the finger tips. He also successfully connected ultrasonic sensors on a baseball cap and experienced a form of extra sensory input.

A highly publicised extension to the experiment on the 10^th June 2002, in which a simpler array was implanted into the arm of Warwick's wife—with the aim of creating a form of telepathy or empathy using the Internet to communicate the signal from afar—was also successful, resulting in the first purely electronic communication experiment between the nervous systems of two humans.