A new study shows that a recently discovered system that flushes waste from the brain is primarily active during sleep, giving fresh meaning to the old adage that a good night’s sleep clears the mind.
This revelation could transform scientists’ understanding of the biological purpose of sleep and point to new ways to treat neurological disorders.
“This study shows that the brain has different functional states… read more
Cardiff University researchers have created a peptide (a small piece of protein), linked to a light-responsive dye, capable of switching “on” death pathways in cancer cells. The peptide remains inactive until exposed to external light pulses, which convert it into a cell death signal.
Complex mechanisms in healthy cells normally protect us from developing cancer. However, when the finely balanced networks of interactions between proteins… read more
Researchers have found the first solid evidence that a specific brain region is activated in everyday conversation when people use numbers (or even imprecise quantitative terms, such as “more than”), according to a study by Stanford University School of Medicine scientists.
That brain region was previously found to be activated when people are asked to perform mathematical calculations, but only in a limited, unnatural experimental setting.
Those… read more
University at Buffalo researchers are developing a deep-sea Internet that could lead to improvements in tsunami detection, offshore oil and natural gas exploration, surveillance, pollution monitoring, and other activities.
“A submerged wireless network will give us an unprecedented ability to collect and analyze data from our oceans in real time,” said Tommaso Melodia, UB associate professor of electrical engineering and the project’s lead researcher.… read more
An international team of researchers led by scientists from the University of Copenhagen has successfully developed an innovative 3D method to grow a miniature pancreas model from progenitor cells.
The goal is to use this model to help in the fight against diabetes.
Using cell material from mice, Professor Anne Grapin-Botton and her team at the Danish Stem Cell Centre… read more
Remember the much-debated “biobots” (remotely controlled cockroaches — see How to remotely control cockroach cyborgs and Kinect tracks bionic rescue roaches) created by researchers from North Carolina State University?
Well, here’s an update: they have now developed software that allows for mapping unknown environments — such as collapsed buildings — based on the movement of a swarm of the insect cyborgs.… read more
A small holographic projection system with a lensless zoom function has been created by researchers from Japan and Poland.
Imagine giving an important presentation when suddenly the projector fails. You whip out your smartphone, beam your PowerPoint presentation onto the conference-room screen, and are back in business within seconds.
When fully developed, the system should be cheaper and smaller than other projection systems, which typically require expensive,… read more
The European Space Agency (ESA)and the EU, together with industrial and educational partners, are developing the first large-scale production methods to 3D-print complex 3D-printed parts made of metal that can withstand temperatures at 1000°C — fit for space and the most demanding applications on Earth.
3D printers are expected to revolutionize the way we live but until recently they could work with only plastic, which… read more
Researchers at Michigan Technological University and a Mayo Clinic scientist are working on a microprocessor-controlled ankle-foot prosthesis that comes close to achieving the innate range of motion of this highly complex joint.
It has pressure-sensitive sensors on the bottom of the foot that detect how an amputee is walking. The sensors instantaneously send signals to a microprocessor, which in turn adjusts the prosthesis to make walking more… read more
It depends. Older and younger people have varying preferences about what they would want a personal robot to look like, and they change their minds based on what the robot is supposed to do, a new study from the Georgia Institute of Technology has found.
Participants were shown a series of photos portraying either robotic, human, or mixed human-robot faces and were asked to select… read more
Penn State scientists have developed a powerful new tool for exploring the three-dimensional structure of small objects.
Using a nanosecond-pulse laser, then-student Benjamin Hall developed a method* to slice 11 identically spaced root samples per second.
“Then I had to take the samples all the way across campus to the root lab to have them analyzed,” Hall says.
“It was easier to buy… read more
If you buy several Internet-connected home gadgets — say, a “smart” thermostat, “smart” door lock, and “smart” window blinds — you’ll likely have to control each one with a separate app, meaning it exists in its own little silo.
That’s not how Elier Ramirez does it. In his home, an iPad app controls his lights, ceiling fans, and TV and stereo. Pressing a single button within… read more
Governments and established financial institutions are likely to launch a campaign to quash the decentralized digital currency Bitcoin, according to a leading economist and academic. Simon Johnson, a professor of entrepreneurship at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, expects Bitcoin to face political pressure and aggressive lobbying from big banks because of its disruptive nature, MIT Technology Review reports.
The code that supports and… read more
New research at the University of Chicago is laying the groundwork for touch-sensitive prosthetic limbs that one day could convey real-time sensory information to amputees via a direct interface with the brain.
The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (open access) marks an important step toward new technology that, if implemented successfully, would increase the dexterity and clinical viability of… read more
The National Security Agency is harvesting hundreds of millions of contact lists from personal e-mail and instant messaging accounts around the world, many of them belonging to Americans, according to senior intelligence officials and top-secret documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, The Washington Post reports.