A preliminary study by researchers at Case Western Reserve University suggests that depression symptoms may be significantly reduced when 18- to 25-year-olds interact with computerized avatars — virtual 3D images of a healthcare provider like a nurse practitioner or physician — as a way to rehearse office visits ahead of time and learn self-management skills.
At this age, a majority of young people do not… read more
The exascale computing era is almost upon us and computer scientists are already running into difficulties. 1 exaflop is 10^18 floating point operations per second, that’s a thousand petaflops. The current trajectory of computer science should produce this kind of capability by 2018 or so.
How do humans access and make sense of the exascale data sets?
The answer, of course, is to find some way to compress… read more
Billions of years ago, related molecules may have created a rudimentary form of genetic information that eventually led to the evolution of RNA and life itself, the researchers say. Although it’s likely to be difficult, if not impossible, to prove whether similar proto-RNAs were present at the dawn of life, the researchers are working to see if the proto-RNAs can indeed faithfully encode information and evolve… read more
The Department of Defense has released an Android smartphone app to help service members use the therapeutic benefits of biofeedback.
BioZen, a mobile app from the Defense Department’s National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2), uses Bluetooth-coupled sensors to show the user their physical level of relaxation.
It is the first portable, low-cost method for clinicians and patients to use biofeedback in… read more
Recently I got a chance to meet up with Project Holodeck director Nathan Burba, Ben Lang writes at Road to VR.
Not only did we sit down for a detailed interview, but I was also fortunate enough to get a hands-on demo of the system. Project Holodeck is an immersive virtual reality multiplayer platform. …
Project Holodeck, which will actually be using the Oculus… read more
Nanoscribe GmbH, a spin-off of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), has developed the world’s fastest 3D printer of micro- and nanostructures, the German company claims.
With this printer, three-dimensional objects, often smaller than the diameter of a human hair, can be manufactured with minimum time consumption and maximum resolution. The printer is based on a novel laser lithography method.
Nanoscribe systems are… read more
IBM and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center unveiled Friday the first commercially developed Watson-based cognitive computing breakthroughs.
These innovations stand alone to help transform the quality and speed of care delivered to patients through individualized, evidence based medicine, says IBM.
For more than a year, IBM has partnered separately with WellPoint and Memorial Sloan-Kettering to… read more
Two EPFL researchers have designed a device that combines holographic microscopy and computational image processing to observe living biological tissues at the nanoscale.
Going beyond conventional microscopes, they can acquire images of living cells in just a few minutes at a resolution of less than 100 nanometers — without using contrast dyes or fluorescents, to avoid distortion by the presence of foreign substances.
Being… read more
A drug-like molecule called “optovin” has been found to let researchers control movements in mice and fish with flashes of light.
Unlike similar experiments using a light-based technique known as optogenetics, to achieve the neural control, the new method doesn’t require researchers to genetically engineer animals, MIT Technology Review reports.
The techniques is a powerful research tools for understanding the brain, and may one day be… read more
To improve bone healing, researchers at Edinburgh and Southampton universities have used a honeycomb scaffold structure, which allows blood to flow through it, enabling stem cells from the patient’s bone marrow to attach to the material and grow new bone.
Over time, the plastic slowly degrades as the implant is replaced by newly grown bone.
The researchers used a pioneering technique to… read more
Startup Symform thinks it can provide better disaster resilience than even data centers hundreds of miles apart. And, says Bassam Tabbara, Symform cofounder and Chief Technical Officer, it can do that in a way that’s extremely cheap — and in some cases free — to its customers, Tekla Perry writes on IEEE Spectrum.
Tabbara describes Symform’s approach as a “decentralized, distributed, virtual, and crowd-sourced” cloud. .… read more
Suggestion: for better validity, download and try the free iDichotic iOS app first before continuing to read this. I found it very interesting. — Editor
A new study shows that an iOS (iPhone, iPad, etc.) app yields results on a dichotic listening test that are as reliable as laboratory tests.
Two years ago, psychology researcher Josef Bless was listening to music on his phone when… read more
Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a classroom design that gives instructors increased flexibility in how to teach their courses and improves accessibility for students, while slashing administrative costs.
The new flexible approach acknowledges the fact that students are now bringing their own laptops to class. The classrooms also include mobile infrastructure, where whiteboards, desks and tables can be reconfigured according to the… read more
Researchers have discovered a molecule that accumulates with age and inhibits the formation of new neurons. The finding might help scientists design therapies to prevent age-related cognitive decline.
The investigators identified the molecule, called Dickkopf-1 or Dkk1, in the brains of aged mice. By blocking production of Dkk1, “we released a brake on neuronal birth, thereby resetting performance in spatial memory tasks back to levels observed in… read more
Another approach to creating optical quantum networks has been developed by Cal Tech, HP, and University of Washington researchers. (See The quantum internet,)
In an optical quantum network, information is carried between points by photons. It could enable quantum computers that are millions of times faster at solving certain problems than what we are used to today.
This new device, which combines a single… read more