Cool It

by Daniel Pendick New Scientist, 16 Jul 2005 Jonathan is outside, roving the yard at his parents' 6-acre farm in south-east Illinois in an electric golf cart. Small-boned and a little on the short side, Jonathan could be mistaken for a skinny high-school kid. In fact he is 30 years old. Jonathan has learning disabilities which doctors believe are the result of a stroke he suffered at birth. But the biggest limitation on his life is epilepsy. Steven Rothman thinks he may have found a way to liberate people like Jonathan. Rothman's idea is to implant a small chip in the skull that detects the start of a seizure and quickly cools the misfiring cells. If it works, the brain-chilling chip will completely douse an electrical storm before it develops, and the patient won't even know it. Read more