European scientists have built the first atlas of white-matter microstructure in the human brain in a project called CONNECT (Consortium of neuroimagers for the non-invasive exploration of brain connectivity and tracts).
The new atlas combines 3D images from the MRI scans of 100 brains of volunteers. To achieve this, the scientists developed advanced diffusion… read more
Scientists have learned how to discover what you are dreaming about while you sleep, Nature News reports.
Researchers led by Yukiyasu Kamitani of the ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan used functional neuroimaging to scan the brains of three people as they slept, simultaneously recording their brain waves using electroencephalography (EEG).
The researchers woke the participants whenever they detected the pattern… read more
An international research group has demonstrated integrated arrays of emitters of “optical vortex beams” on a silicon chip.
Light in such beams does not propagate in straight rays. Instead, it travels in a spiral fashion in a hollow conical beam shape.
In quantum mechanics, this feature is associated with the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of photons.
When such light interacts with matter, it asserts a… read more
The MITRE Corporation hired two University of Virginia engineeering students to build an unmanned aerial vehicle, using 3D printing technology, part of a Department of the Army project to study the feasibility of using such planes.
The result was a plane with a 6.5-foot wingspan, made from assembled “printed” parts. It achieved a cruising speed of 45 mph and is only the third 3D-printed plane known to… read more
Cosmo Wenman is a California artist who has just reminded us not to limit our imaginations when it comes to what can be made, MakerBot Blog reports.
The horse head and human bust you see here were made entirely of MakerBot PLA Filament (White) on the original MakerBot Replicator.
“We believe so strongly in the potential of the… read more
With its Kinect for Windows program, Microsoft wants to make it common to wave your arms at or speak to a computer, Technology Review reports.
“We’re trying to encourage [software] developers to create a whole new class of app controlled by gesture and voice,” says Peter Zatloukal, head of engineering for the Kinect for Windows program.
Zatloukal says the result will be on a par with other… read more
Cold viruses generally get a bad rap — which they’ve certainly earned — but new findings by a team of scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies suggest that these viruses might also be a valuable ally in the fight against cancer.
Adenovirus, a type of cold virus, has developed molecular tools — proteins — that allow it to hijack a cell’s molecular machinery,… read more
Researchers at the University of Leeds have identified a crucial stage in the life cycle of simple viruses like polio and the common cold that could open a new front in the war on viral disease.
The team is the first to observe at a single-molecule level how the genetic material (genome) that forms the core of a single-strand RNA virus particle packs itself into… read more
Scientists in the Texas Medical Center believe that there may be a way to use mental images to help some of the estimated 39 million people worldwide who are blind.
Scientists in the laboratories of Michael Beauchamp, Ph.D., an associate professor of neurobiology and anatomy at the The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School, and Daniel Yoshor, M.D., an associate… read more
The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) has published the report of the Whole Genome Analysis (WGA) Working Group of the AMP Clinical Practice Committee in the November 2012 issue of The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics (JMD).
Titled Opportunities and Challenges Associated with Clinical Diagnostic Genome Sequencing, the open-access report provides an overview of the landscape of next generation sequencing (NGS) technology, its clinical relevance, and its… read more
Scientists from Aalto University in Finland and the University of Washington have demonstrated how to create complex 3D structures at nanoscale by combining ion processing and nanolithography.
The fabrication of many objects, machines, and devices rely on the controlled deformation of metals by industrial processes such as bending, shearing, and stamping. Is this technology transferrable to nanoscale? Can we build similarly complex devices and machines with… read more
In new research from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), researchers have invented self-assembled, multifunctional, near-infrared-light-responsive nanoparticles to treat cancer.
The nanoparticles can deliver a chemotherapy drug specifically targeted to cancer cells and selectively release the drug in response to an external beam of light. They can also create heat for synergistic thermo-chemo-mediated anti-tumor effects.
Excitement around the potential for targeted nanoparticles (NPs) that can be controlled… read more
In a key step toward creating a working quantum computer, Princeton University researchers have developed a method that may allow for quick, reliable transfer of quantum information throughout a computing device.
The finding, by a team led by Princeton physicist Jason Petta, could eventually allow engineers to build quantum computers consisting of millions of quantum bits, or qubits. So far, quantum researchers have only been able to… read more
Twitter has become a new literary format that is improving student learning, according to Christine Greenhow, assistant professor of education at Michigan State University, who found that college students who tweet as part of their instruction are more engaged with the course content and with the teacher and other students, and also have higher grades.
Twitter use among U.S. teens has doubled in less… read more