SCIENCE

Yesterday I went to a science talk about ampakines (yes, I go to science talks in my spare time. I am that cool), and it was really interesting in an intensely creepy sort of way. See ampakines are smart drugs, that is, drugs that make you smarter. They gave them to a rat and it was able to learn patterns in half the time it would take a normal rat. They then gave the rat some more and were able to teach it things that it is not possible to teach a rat. Yes, they created a super intelligent (and almost certainly evil) rat.

After that they ran human trials and found that people's performance in memory tests also improved. And I found myself thinking, yes, I would like some ampakines now, where can I get the pills that give me terrifying new brain powers? I think it is pretty excellent that we are approaching a point where we can take a pill that makes us maybe more than human.. but also utterly terrifying in a fantastic science fiction sort of way. It's sort of creepy, but yes, if the pills were available I think I'd give them a go.

Of course they still haven't fully explored the possible side effects - I'm assuming they will include the awakening of uncontrollable psychokinetic powers. Here's hoping.