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Scientists grow beating heart tissue on spinach leaves

How crossing plant and animal kingdoms may lead to radical new tissue-engineering breakthroughs
March 31, 2017

(credit: Worcester Polytechnic Institute)

A research team headed by Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) scientists* has solved a major tissue engineering problem holding back the regeneration of damaged human tissues and organs: how to grow small, delicate blood vessels, which are beyond the capabilities of 3D printing.**

The researchers used plant leaves as scaffolds (structures) in an attempt to create the branching network of blood vessels — down to the capillary scale — required to… read more

Topics: Biotech | Environment/Climate

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Global night-time lights provide unfiltered data on human activities and socio-economic factors

March 29, 2017

Night-time lights from space correlate to everything from electricity consumption and CO2 emissions, to gross domestic product, population and poverty. (credit: Image courtesy of NASA)

Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) have developed an online tool that incorporates 21 years of night-time lights data to understand and compare changes in human activities in countries around the world.

The research is published in PLOS One.

The tool compares the brightness of a country’s night-time lights with the corresponding electricity… read more

Topics: Social/Ethical/Legal

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Graphene-based neural probe detects brain activity at high resolution and signal quality

Potentially relevant to "neural lace" research
March 29, 2017

16 flexible graphene transistors (inset) integrated into a flexible neural probe enable electrical signals from neurons to be measured at high resolution and signal quality. (credit: ICN2)

Researchers from the European Graphene Flagship* have developed a new microelectrode array neural probe based on graphene field-effect transistors (FETs) for recording brain activity at high resolution while maintaining excellent signal-to-noise ratio (quality).

The new neural probe could lay the foundation for a future generation of in vivo neural recording implants, for patients with epilepsy, for example, and for disorders that affect brain function and motor… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Musk launches company to pursue ‘neural lace’ brain-interface technology

March 27, 2017

image credit | Bloomberg

Elon Musk has launched a California-based company called Neuralink Corp., The Wall Street Journal reported today (Monday, March 27, 2017), citing people familiar with the matter, to pursue “neural lace” brain-interface technology.

Neural lace would help prevent humans from becoming “house cats” to AI, he suggests. “I think one of the solutions that seems maybe the best is to add an AI layer,” Musk… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Electronics

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Travelers to Mars risk leukemia cancer, weakened immune function from radiation, NASA-funded study finds

March 27, 2017

The spleen from a mouse exposed to a mission-relevant dose (20 cGy, 1 GeV/n) of iron ions (bottom) was ~ 30 times the normal volume compared with the spleen (top) from a control mouse. (credit: C Rodman et al./Leukemia)

Radiation encountered in deep space travel may increase the risk of leukemia cancer in humans traveling to Mars, NASA-funded researchers at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and colleagues have found, using mice transplanted with human stem cells.

“Our results are troubling because they show radiation exposure could potentially increase the risk of leukemia,” said Christopher Porada, Ph.D., associate professor of regenerative medicine and… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Biotech | Space

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Scientists reverse aging in mice by repairing damaged DNA

Could lead to an anti-aging drug that counters damage from old age, cancer, and radiation
March 26, 2017

Disarming a rogue agent: When the NAD molecule (red), binds to the DBC1 protein (beige), it prevents DBC1 from attaching to and incapacitating a protein critical for DNA repair. (credit: David Sinclair)

A research team led by Harvard Medical School professor of genetics David Sinclair, PhD, has made a discovery that could lead to a revolutionary new drug that allows cells to repair DNA damaged by aging, cancer, and radiation.

In a paper published in the journal Science on Friday (March 24), the scientists identified a critical step in the molecular process related to DNA damage.… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Biotech

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A printable, sensor-laden ‘skin’ for robots (or an airplane)

March 24, 2017

Illustration of 3D-printed sensory composite (credit: Subramanian Sundaram)

MIT researchers have designed a radical new method of creating flexible, printable electronics that combine sensors and processing circuitry.

Covering a robot — or an airplane or a bridge, for example — with sensors will require a technology that is both flexible and cost-effective to manufacture in bulk. To demonstrate the feasibility of their new method, the researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory have… read more

Topics: Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Mayo Clinic discovers high-intensity aerobic training can reverse aging

March 24, 2017

A Mayo Clinic study found high-intensity aerobic exercise may reverse aging (credit: Flickr user Global Panorama via Creative Commons license)

A Mayo Clinic study says the best training for adults is high-intensity aerobic exercise, which they believe can reverse some cellular aspects of aging.

Mayo researchers compared 12 weeks of high-intensity interval training (workouts in which you alternate periods of high-intensity exercise with low-intensity recovery periods), resistance training, and combined training. While all three enhanced insulin sensitivity and lean mass, only high-intensity interval training and combined training improved aerobic capacity and… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity

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Infrared-light-based Wi-Fi network is 100 times faster

March 22, 2017

Schematic of a beam of white light being dispersed by a prism into different wavelengths (the TU/e system is actually based on near-infrared light, which is invisible) (credit: Lucas V. Barbosa/CC)

A new infrared-light WiFi network can provide more than 40 gigabits per second (Gbps) for each user* — about 100 times faster than current WiFi systems — say researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands.

The TU/e WiFi design was inspired by experimental systems using ceiling LED lights (such as Oregon State University’s experimental WiFiFO, or WiFi Free space Optic, system), which… read more

Topics: Electronics | Internet/Cloud/Telecom

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Do-it-yourself robotics kit gives science, tech, engineering, math students tools to automate biology and chemistry experiments

March 22, 2017

liquid-handling robot

Stanford bioengineers have developed liquid-handling robots to allow students to modify and create their own robotic systems that can transfer precise amounts of fluids between flasks, test tubes, and experimental dishes.

The bioengineers combined a Lego Mindstorms robotics kit with a cheap and easy-to-find plastic syringe to create robots that approach the performance of the far more costly automation systems found at universities and biotech labs.

Step-by-step DIY… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Biotech

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Graphene sheets allow for very-low-cost diagnostic devices

March 20, 2017

Mild heating of graphene oxide sheets makes it possible to bond particular compounds to the sheets’ surface, a new study shows. These compounds in turn select and bond with specific molecules of interest, including DNA and proteins, or even whole cells. In this image the treated graphene oxide on the right is nearly twice as efficient at capturing cells as the untreated material on the left. (credit: Courtesy of the researchers)

A new method developed at MIT and National Chiao Tung University, based on specially treated sheets of graphene oxide, could make it possible to capture and analyze individual cells from a small sample of blood. It could potentially lead to very-low-cost diagnostic devices (less than $5 a piece) that are mass-producible and could be used almost anywhere for point-of-care testing, especially in resource-constrained settings.

A… read more

Topics: Biotech

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Deep-brain imaging using minimally invasive surgical needle and laser light

March 20, 2017

This is an image of cells taken inside the mouse brain using a new method developed by University of Utah electrical and computer engineering associate professor Rajesh Menon and his team. (credit: Rajesh Menon)

Using just a simple inexpensive micro-thin glass surgical needle and laser light, University of Utah engineers have developed an inexpensive way to take high-resolution pictures of a mouse brain, minimizing tissue damage — a process they believe could lead to a much less invasive method for humans.

Typically, researchers must either surgically take a sample of the animal’s brain to examine the cells under a microscope or use… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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This low-power chip could make speech recognition practical for tiny devices

March 17, 2017

MIT automated speech recognizer ft

MIT researchers have built a low-power chip specialized for automatic speech recognition. A cellphone running speech-recognition software might require about 1 watt of power; the new chip requires 100 times less power (between 0.2 and 10 milliwatts, depending on the number of words it has to recognize).

That could translate to a power savings of 90 to 99 percent, making voice control practical for wearables (especially watches,… read more

Topics: Electronics

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Space X plans global space internet

March 17, 2017

(credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX has applied to the FCC to launch 11,943 satellites into low-Earth orbit, providing “ubiquitous high-bandwidth (up to 1Gbps per user, once fully deployed) broadband services for consumers and businesses in the U.S. and globally,” according to FCC applications.

Recent meetings with the FCC suggest that the plan now looks like “an increasingly feasible reality — particularly with 5G technologies just a few years away, promising new devices and new… read more

Topics: Electronics | Internet/Cloud/Telecom

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Whole-body vibration may be as effective as regular exercise

March 16, 2017

Hate treadmills? The Tranquility Pod uses “pleasant sound, gentle vibration, and soothing light to transport the body, mind, and spirit to a tranquil state of relaxation” --- and maybe lose weight (and $30,000). (credit: Hammacher Schlemmer)

If you’re overweight and find it challenging to exercise regularly, now there’s good news: A less strenuous form of exercise known as whole-body vibration (WBV) can mimic the muscle and bone health benefits of regular exercise — at least in mice — according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s journal Endocrinology.

Lack of exercise is contributing to the obesity and diabetes epidemics, according to the researchers. These… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity

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