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3D-printing basic electronic components

Just hit “print” to create an electronic circuit or wireless sensor in the comfort of your own home
July 22, 2015

UC Berkeley engineers created a "smart cap" using 3-D-printed plastic with embedded electronics to wirelessly monitor the freshness of milk. (credit: Photo by Sung-Yueh Wu)

UC Berkeley engineers, in collaboration with colleagues at Taiwan’s National Chiao Tung University, have developed a 3D printing process for creating basic electronic components, such as resistors, inductors, capacitors, and integrated wireless electrical sensing systems.

As a test, they printed a wireless “smart cap” for a milk carton that detected signs of spoilage using embedded sensors.

The findings were published Monday, July 20, in… read more

Topics: Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Common chemicals may act together to increase cancer risk, international study finds

July 22, 2015

Disruptive potential ft

Common environmental chemicals assumed to be safe at low doses may act separately or together to disrupt human tissues in ways that eventually lead to cancer, according to a task force of almost 200 scientists from 28 countries.

In a nearly three-year investigation of the state of knowledge about environmentally influenced cancers, the scientists studied low-dose effects of 85 common chemicals not considered to be carcinogenic to humans.… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity

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Deep Genomics launches, uniting deep learning and genome biology

University of Toronto spinoff aims to transform genetic testing, pharmaceutical development, and personalized medicine
July 22, 2015

“Deep learning” reveals the genetic origins of disease. A computational system mimics the biology of RNA splicing by correlating DNA elements with splicing levels in healthy human tissues. The system can scan DNA and identify damaging genetic variants, including those deep within introns.This procedure has led to insights into the genetics of autism, cancers, and spinal muscular atrophy. (credit: Hui Y. Xiong et al./Science)

Deep Genomics, a University of Toronto spinoff, launched today (July 22), combining deep learning and artificial intelligence with the study of the human genome. The company is building on more than a decade of research and expertise in both fields.

Using deep learning allows Deep Genomics to predict the consequences of genomic alteration on various cell mechanisms to make life-changing decisions, potentially via personalized medicine… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Biotech

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Korean researchers grow wafer-scale graphene on a silicon substrate

A key step toward using graphene in commercial silicon microelectronics
July 21, 2015

Wafer-scale (4 inch in diameter) synthesis of multi-layer graphene using high-temperature carbon ion implantation on nickel / SiO2 /silicon. (credit: J.Kim/Korea University, Korea)

Taking graphene a step closer to realistic commercial applications in silicon microelectronics, Korea University researchers have developed a simple microelectronics-compatible method for growing multi-layer graphene on a high-quality, wafer-scale (four inches in diameter) silicon substrate.

The method is based on the ion implantation technique — a process in which ions are accelerated under an electrical field and smashed into a semiconductor. The impacting ions change the physical, chemical,… read more

Topics: Electronics

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Deep neural network program recognizes sketches more accurately than a human

July 21, 2015

The program could successfully identify a seagull, pigeon, flying bird and standing bird better than humans. (credit: Credit: QMUL, Mathias Eitz, James Hays and Marc Alexa)

The first computer program that can recognize hand-drawn sketches better than humans has been developed by researchers from Queen Mary University of London.

Known as Sketch-a-Net, the program correctly identified the subject of sketches 74.9 per cent of the time compared to humans that only managed a success rate of 73.1 per cent.

As sketching becomes more relevant with the increase in the use of touchscreens, it could… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics

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Metal foams found to excel in shielding X-rays, gamma rays, neutron radiation

May lead to better shielding for nuclear reactors and space travel
July 20, 2015

Research from North Carolina State University shows that lightweight composite metal foams -- like the one pictured here -- are effective at blocking X-rays, gamma rays and neutron radiation, and are capable of absorbing the energy of high impact collisions. The finding means the metal foams hold promise for use in nuclear safety, space exploration and medical technology applications. (credit: Afsaneh Rabiei, North Carolina State University)

North Carolina State University researchers have found that lightweight composite metal foams they had developed are effective at blocking X-rays, gamma rays, and neutron radiation, and are capable of absorbing the energy of high-impact collisions. The finding holds promise for use in nuclear power plants, space exploration, and CT-scanner shielding.

“This work means there’s an opportunity to use composite metal foam… read more

Topics: Nanotech/Materials Science | Space

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Russian billionaire, Hawking announce $100 million search for ET

July 20, 2015

100 meter Green Bank Telescope, the world's largest steerable radio telescope (credit: Geremia/Wikimedia Commons)

Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, Stephen Hawking, Martin Rees, Frank Drake and others announced at The Royal Society today $100 million funding for Breakthrough Listen — the “most powerful, comprehensive, and intensive scientific search ever undertaken for signs of intelligent life beyond Earth.”

They also announced $1 million prize funding for Breakthrough Message, a competition to generate messages representing humanity and planet Earth.

“It’s time to commit to finding… read more

Topics: Physics/Cosmology

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Brain-inspired algorithms may make for optimized computational networks

Quantifying the rates of synapse pruning in the mammalian neocortex led to new algorithms for constructing adaptive and robust computational networks across several domains
July 19, 2015

Salk and Carnegie Mellon researchers developed a new model for building efficient networks by studying the rate at which the brain prunes back some of its connections during development. In this model, nodes (such as neurons or sensors) make too many connections (left) before pruning back to connections that are most relevant (right). The team applied their synaptic pruning-based algorithm to air flight patterns and found it was able to create routes to allow passengers to reach their destinations efficiently. (credit: Salk Institute and Carnegie Mellon University)

The developing brain prunes (eliminates) unneeded connections between neurons during early childhood. Now researchers from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Carnegie Mellon University have determined the rate at which that happens, and the implications of that finding for computational networks.

Neurons create networks through a process called pruning. At birth and throughout early childhood, the brain’s neurons make a vast number… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Can your phone really know you’re depressed?

July 17, 2015

StudentLife app, sensing and analytics system architecture (credit: Rui Wang et al.)

Northwestern scientists believe an open-access android cell phone app called Purple Robot can detect depression simply by tracking the number of minutes you use the phone and your daily geographical locations.

The more time you spend using your phone, the more likely you are depressed, they found in a small Northwestern Medicine study published yesterday (July 15) in the Journal of Medical Internet… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Internet/Cloud/Telecom

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How to regenerate axons to recover from spinal-cord injury

July 17, 2015

HKUST researchers cut mouse corticospinal tract axons (labeled red). A year later, they deleted the Pten gene in the experimental group (bottom) but not the control group. The Pten gene removal resulted in axon regrowth in seven months, unlike the control group (top). (credit: Kaimeng Du et al./The Journal of Neuroscience)

Researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have found a way to help patients recover from chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) by stimulating the growth of axons.

Chronic SCI prevents a large number of injured axons from crossing a lesion, particularly in the corticospinal tract (CST). Patients inflicted with SCI often suffer a temporary or permanent loss of mobility… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Could this new electrical brain-zap method help you learn muscle skills faster?

Meanwhile, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has significantly improved tinnitus symptoms
July 17, 2015

Three brain-stimulation methods (credit: adapted from Shapour Jaberzadeh et al./PLoS ONE)

Researchers headed by Shapour Jaberzadeh and his group at Monash University have discovered a new noninvasive technique that could rev up your brain to improve your physical performance — for athletes and musicians, for instance — and might also improve treatments for brain-related conditions such as stroke, depression, and chronic pain.

The two neuroelectrical treatment methods currently in use are transcranial direct current simulation (tDCS)… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Electronics

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Gigapixel multicolor microscope is powerful new tool to advance drug research

July 17, 2015

Paralleized multispectral imaging. Each rainbow-colored bar is the fluorescent spectrum from a discrete point in a cell culture. The gigapixel multispectral microscope records nearly a million such spectra every second. (credit: Optica)

A new multispectral microscope capable of processing nearly 17 billion pixels in a single image has been developed by a team of researchers from the United States and Australia — the largest such microscopic image ever created.

This level of multicolor detail is essential for studying the impact of experimental drugs on biological samples and is an important advancement over traditional microscope designs, the researchers say. The goal is… read more

Topics: Biotech | Electronics

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Why ‘white graphene’ structures are cool

July 16, 2015

A 3-D structure of hexagonal boron nitride sheets and boron nitride nanotubes could be a tunable material to control heat in electronics, according to researchers at Rice University. (credit: Shahsavari Group/Rice University)


Three-dimensional structures of boron nitride are a viable candidate as a tunable material to keep electronics cool, according to scientists at Rice University researchers Rouzbeh Shahsavari and Navid Sakhavand.

Their work appears this month in the American Chemical Society journal Applied Materials and Interfaces.

In its two-dimensional form, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), aka white graphene, looks just… read more

Topics: Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Miniature brain organoids made from patient skin cells reveal insights into autism

July 16, 2015

This is a human brain organoid showing complex internal organization, with immature proliferating cells (red) and a surrounding layer of maturing neurons (green) (credit: Jessica Mariani)

Taking a radical research approach to understanding autism, Yale School of Medicine researchers converted skin cells from autism patients into stem cells and then grew them into tiny brains in a dish — revealing unexpected mechanisms of the disease.

The study was published in an open-access paper today (July 16) in the journal Cell.

Most autism research has taken the approach of combing through… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Wireless device delivers drugs to brain and triggers neurons via remote control

July 16, 2015

Tiny, implantable devices are capable of delivering light or drugs to specific areas of the brain, potentially improving drug delivery to targeted regions of the brain and reducing side effects. Eventually, the devices may be used to treat pain, depression, epilepsy and other neurological disorders in people. (credit: Alex David Jerez Roman)

A team of researchers has developed a tiny “wireless optofluidic neural probe” the width of a human hair that can be implanted in the brain and triggered by remote control to deliver drugs and activate targeted populations of brain cells.

The technology, demonstrated for the first time in mice, may one day be used to treat pain, depression, epilepsy, and other neurological disorders in people by targeting therapies to… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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