Elf Sternberg

There is a relation, yes. When I read that chapter of The Risen Empire my reaction was "Ha! We read the same science blogs!" There were a whole bunch of articles (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/03332/244872.stm) on the subject called "Ventricular Assists" about five years ago, and I was most amused to see that Scott had come to the same reaction I had: "No heartbeat and constant blood pressure? How cool! How scifi!"