University of California, Davis researchers for the first time have looked inside gallium manganese arsenide, which could open up an entirely new class of faster, smaller devices based on an emerging field known as “spintronics.”
Materials of this type might be used to read and write digital information not by using the electron’s charge, as is the case with today’s electronic devices, but by using… read more
A team of neuroscientists led by Professor Anthony Zador, Ph.D., of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have proposed a revolutionary new way to create a connectivity map (“connectome”) of the whole brain of the mouse at the resolution of single neurons: high-throughput DNA sequencing.
The only current method for obtaining the connectome with high precision relies on laboriously examining individual cell-to-cell contacts (synapses) in electron microscopes, which is slow, expensive… read more
The ability to recognize faces is so important in humans that the brain appears to have an area solely devoted to the task: the fusiform gyrus in the temporal lobe, Science Now reports.
Brain imaging studies consistently find that this region of becomes active when people look at faces. Skeptics have countered, however, that these studies show only a correlation, but not proof, that activity in this… read more
3D printer leader 3D Systems announced today that it plans to provide Singularity University (SU) with several of its 3D printers.
“We are excited to be part of Singularity’s visionary initiative to democratize access to 3D content-to-print solutions that will enable greater entrepreneurialism and inventiveness,” said Abe Reichental, President and CEO of 3D Systems.
“SU has shown a great deal of foresight and leadership in… read more
A technique developed by UCLA researchers and their European colleagues can produce 3D images of breast tissue that are two to three times sharper than those made using current CT scanners at hospitals.
The technique also uses a lower dose of X-ray radiation than a mammogram.
These higher-quality images could allow breast tumors to be detected earlier and with much greater accuracy.
One… read more
Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Medical Research scientists are developing a complete circuit diagram of the brain of the mouse using an electron microscope to make fine extensions of almost every single neuron visible.
Most axons are less than one micron thick, some even smaller than 100 nanometers. “The electron microscope is the only microscope with a high enough resolution to enable individual axons lying next to each other… read more
The BIQ house in Germany features a “bio-adaptive façade” that uses microalgae to generate renewable energy and provide shade, PSFK reports.
Designed for the International Building Exhibition in Hamburg, the zero-energy house will be the first real-life test for the new façade system.
Algae in the bio-reactor façades grow faster in bright sunlight to provide more shade. The bio-reactors power the building by capturing solar thermal… read more
UC Santa Barbara scientists Omar Saleh and Deborah Fygenson have created a dynamic gel made of DNA that mechanically responds to stimuli in much the same way that cells do.
The project has potential applications in smart materials, artificial muscle, understanding cytoskeletal mechanics, research into nonequilibrium physics, and DNA nanotechnology.
“The gel has active mechanical capabilities in that it generates forces independently, leading to… read more
“The world is getting richer, healthier, better educated, more peaceful, and better connected, and people are living longer; yet half the world is potentially unstable,” according to Jerome C. Glenn, CEO of The Millennium Project and co-author of the “2012 State of the Future,” an overview of our global situation, problems, solutions, and prospects for the future.
The 16th Annual Edition includes 145 pages and… read more
Academic researchers have improved wireless bandwidth by ten times — not by adding base stations, tapping more spectrum, or cranking up transmitter wattage, but by using algebra to banish the network-clogging task of resending dropped packets, Technology Review reports.
By providing new ways for mobile devices to solve for missing data, the technology not only eliminates this wasteful process but also can seamlessly weave data streams from… read more
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