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Solving the ‘cocktail party problem’: how we can focus on one speaker in noisy crowds

March 11, 2013

This is a cartoon illustrating the idea that at a cocktail party the brain activity synchronizes to that of an attended speaker, effectively putting them ‘on the same wavelength’ (credit: Zion-Golumbic et al./Neuron)

Researchers have demonstrated how the brain hones in on one speaker to solve the “cocktail party problem.”

Researchers discovered that the brain can selectively track the sound patterns from the speaker of interest and at the same time exclude competing sounds from other speakers.

The findings could have important implications for helping individuals with a range of deficits such as those associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Plasmonic nanoparticles increase solar-cell output for near-infrared region

March 11, 2013

New solar cell plasmonic-excitonic design using gold nanoshells achieves a 35% enhancement in photocurrent in the performance-limiting near-infrared spectral region (credit: Daniel Paz-Soldan et al./NANO Letters)

A new technique developed by University of Toronto Engineering Professor Ted Sargent and his research group could lead to significantly more efficient solar cells by improving efficiency in colloidal quantum dot photovoltaics, a technology which already promises inexpensive, more efficient solar cell technology.

Quantum-dot photovoltaics offers the potential for low-cost, large-area solar power. However, these devices are not yet highly efficient in the infrared portion… read more

Topics: Energy | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Nanoparticles loaded with bee venom kill HIV

March 11, 2013

Nanoparticles (purple) carrying melittin (green) fuse with HIV (small circles with spiked outer ring), destroying the virus’s protective envelope. Molecular bumpers (small red ovals) prevent the nanoparticles from harming the body’s normal cells, which are much larger in size. (Credit:

Nanoparticles carrying a toxin found in bee venom can destroy human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) while leaving surrounding cells unharmed, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown.

The finding is an important step toward developing a vaginal gel that may prevent the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.“Our hope is that in places where HIV is running rampant, people… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Nanotech/Materials Science

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At an annual tech show, it’s hardware’s turn in the spotlight

March 11, 2013

leap_motion

At this year’s South by Southwest, the most talked-about start-ups this year include the maker of a camera that automatically takes a photo every 30 seconds, a new game console, and a gadget that lets people control their computers and devices by waving their hands, The New York Times reports.

At least two dozen panels, talks and presentations involve some… read more

Topics: Electronics | Entertainment/New Media | Innovation/Entrepreneurship

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White House petition proposes space solar power as national energy and space goal

Would task the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
March 10, 2013

spsalpha

A petition to the White House to task the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to examine space solar power (SSP) as a new energy and space goal for the U.S. has been posted on the White House WE the PEOPLE website, with a goal of 100,000 signatures by April 3, 2013.

The petition, initiated by SSP pioneer John C. Mankins,… read more

Topics: Energy | Innovation/Entrepreneurship | Space

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MIT ‘cheetah’ robot rivals running animals in efficiency

March 9, 2013

cheetah-robot-mit

A 70-pound “cheetah” robot designed by MIT researchers may soon outpace its animal counterparts in running efficiency.

In treadmill tests, the researchers have found that the robot — about the size and weight of an actual cheetah — wastes very little energy as it trots continuously for up to an hour and a half at 5 mph.

The key to the robot’s streamlined stride:… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics

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Green tea extract blocks formation of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease

March 8, 2013

green_tea_alzheimer

Researchers at the University of Michigan have found a new potential benefit of a molecule in green tea: preventing the misfolding of specific proteins in the brain.

U-M Life Sciences Institute faculty member Mi Hee Lim and an interdisciplinary team of researchers used green tea extract to control the generation of metal-associated amyloid-β aggregates associated with Alzheimer’s disease in the lab.

The specific molecule… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Flip of a single molecular switch makes an old brain young

March 8, 2013

A cultured neuron with projecting dendrites studded with sites of communication between neurons, known as dendritic spines (Yale University)

The flip of a single molecular switch helps create the mature neuronal connections that allow the brain to bridge the gap between adolescent impressionability and adult stability.

Now Yale School of Medicine researchers have reversed the process, recreating a youthful brain that facilitated both learning and healing in the adult mouse.

Scientists have long known that the young and old brains are very different.… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Biotech | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Human brain treats prosthetic devices as part of the body

People with spinal cord injuries treat wheelchairs as part of their body, not as an extension of immobile limbs
March 8, 2013

wheelchair

The human brain can learn to treat relevant prosthetics as a substitute for a non-working body part, according to research published March 6 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Mariella Pazzaglia and colleagues from Sapienza University and IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia of Rome in Italy, supported by the International Foundation for Research in Paraplegie.

The researchers found that wheelchair-bound study participants with spinal cord injuries perceived their… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Human Enhancement

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Human Connectome Project releases major data set on brain connectivity

March 8, 2013

Areas of interest for the Human Connectome Project’s brain-mapping efforts include functional connectivity, which is a system of networks that become active in the brain when a subject is at rest. Regions in yellow and red are functionally connected to the “seed” location (black circle, arrow), while regions in green and blue are weakly connected or not connected at all. (Credit: M.F. Glasser and S.M. Smith)

The Human Connectome Project, a five-year endeavor to link brain connectivity to human behavior, has released a set of high-quality imaging and behavioral data to the scientific community.

The project has two major goals: to collect vast amounts of data using advanced brain imaging methods on a large population of healthy adults, and to make the data freely available so that scientists worldwide can make… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Nontoxic, traceable nanoparticles may be the next weapon in cancer treatment

March 8, 2013

Theranostic NPs (hydrophobic segments are visual-<br /> ized in green and hydrophilic segments in blue)

Swedish scientists have developed “theranostic” (having both a therapeutic and diagnostic function) nanoparticles that can carry cancer drugs to tumor cells without toxicity and are biodegradable and traceable (can be seen in MRI images).

The nanoparticles were developed by a team including KTH Royal Institute of Technology Professor Eva Malmström-Jonsson, from the School of Chemical Science and researchers at Sweden’s Chalmer’s University and the Karolinska… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Biotech | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Support cells found in human brain make mice smarter

March 8, 2013

brain_mice_human_astrocytes

Glial cells — a family of cells found in the human central nervous system and, until recently, considered mere “housekeepers” — now appear to be essential to the unique complexity of the human brain.

Scientists reached this conclusion after demonstrating that when transplanted into mice, these human cells could influence communication within the brain, allowing the animals to learn more rapidly.

The study suggests that the… read more

Topics: Biotech | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Will anyone create a killer app for Google Glass?

March 7, 2013

Google's Glass Foundary

Google is creating high expectations that Google Glass will become a mass-market device, MIT Technology Review reports.

A new company, Augmedix, is making a Google Glass app for doctors, not for their patients. Founder Ian Shakil says his company is already testing it with medical facilities using the Vuzix M100, another smart glasses gadget coming out this year.

Google said there were more than 80… read more

Topics: VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

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How tiny cameras have become big business

March 7, 2013

pivothead

If you are a fan of action sports you have probably already noticed that putting tiny cameras on people’s heads — and in other unlikely locations — has become big business, BBC News reports.

Pivothead is putting superior technology into sunglasses worn by highway patrol officers in places like Austin, Texas. The glasses are able to capture the details of a driver’s face in high-definition… read more

Topics: Electronics | VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

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Europa’s ocean may closely resemble Earth’s

March 7, 2013

europa_ocean

Cal tech and NASA JPL researchers have found the strongest evidence yet that salty water from the vast liquid ocean beneath Europa’s frozen exterior actually makes its way to the surface.

The finding, based on some of the best data of its kind since NASA’s Galileo mission (1989 to 2003) to study Jupiter and its moons, suggests there is a chemical exchange between the ocean and surface,… read more

Topics: Biotech | Space

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