Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) scientists have for the first time documented the actual formation of newly learned concepts inside the brain.
Thanks to recent advances in brain imaging technology at CMU and elsewhere, it is now known how specific concrete objects are coded in the brain — neuroscientists can identify which object, such as a house or a banana, someone is thinking about from its… read more
Sergiu Pasca, M.D., of Stanford University and colleagues have developed “human cortical spheroids” — miniature cultured 3-D structures that grow and function much like the cortex of the brain of the person from whom they were derived.
These “organoids” (3-D complexes of cells that function like an organ) buzz with neuronal network activity. Cells talk with each other in circuits, much as they do in our brains.… read more
Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology have developed a “no-ink” color printing process using nanomaterials, with features visible only with the aid of a high-powered electron microscope.
The researchers describe their printing method in an open-access article in the latest issue of Nature Publishing Group’s Scientific Reports and illustrate their technique by reproducing the Missouri S&T athletic logo on a nanometer-scale surface.… read more
University of Cincinnati and university and industry partners have developed a technology for tunable window tinting that dynamically adapts for brightness, color temperatures (such as blueish or yellowish light), and opacity (to provide for privacy while allowing 90 percent or more of the light in), adjustable by the user.
According to the researchers, these “smart windows” are would be simple to manufacture, making them affordable for business… read more
Cornell University engineers have created a functional, synthetic immune organoid (a lab-grown ball of cells with some of the features of a normal organ) that produces antibodies. The engineered organ has implications for everything from rapid production of immune therapies to new frontiers in cancer or infectious disease research.
The first-of-its-kind immune organoid was created in the lab of Ankur Singh, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, who applies… read more
A team of IBM researchers in Zurich, Switzerland with support from colleagues in Yorktown Heights, New York has developed a relatively simple, robust and versatile process for growing crystals made from compound semiconductor materials. The new method will allow the materials to be integrated onto silicon wafers — an important step toward making future computer chips that will allow integrated circuits to continue shrinking in size and cost,… read more
Researchers from Lehigh University, Japan, and Canada have advanced a step closer to the dream of all-optical data transmission by building and demonstrating what they call the “world’s first fully functioning single-crystal waveguide in glass.”
In an open-access article published in Scientific Reports, a Nature publication, the group said it had employed ultrafast femtosecond lasers to produce a three-dimensional single crystal capable of guiding light waves through… read more
In a world first, U.S. and Chinese scientists have developed a method to inject microelectronic devices such as wires and transistors directly into the brain (or other body parts) to measure or stimulate neural activity. The new method could lead to sophisticated new ways to treat conditions ranging from neurodegenerative disorders to paralysis.
Developed by researchers in Charles Lieber’s lab at Harvard University and the National Center for… read more
Jurassic World, the fourth installment in the successful film series, in theaters June 12, will take viewers back to a world in which dinosaurs have been revived.
It’s not just be a movie, says Andrew Torrance, professor at the University of Kansas School of Law. We are close to “de-extinction” — reviving extinct creatures, he suggests.
While dinosaur fossils are too old and… read more
In a clinical study, Spanish researchers have used a Microsoft Kinect to help stroke patients increase their ability to use a paralyzed arm.
Stroke patients with “hemiparesis” —- reduced muscle strength on one side of the body — often under-use their affected limbs even though they still have some motor function. A long period of non-use of the affected “paretic” limb can lead to further loss of… read more
New technology called called VirScan developed by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers makes it possible to test for current and past infections with any known human virus by analyzing a single drop of a person’s blood.
With VirScan, scientists can run a single test to determine which viruses have infected an individual, rather than limiting their analysis to particular viruses. That unbiased approach could uncover unexpected… read more
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered an new process for assembling DNA nanostructures in a water-free solvent, which may allow for fabricating more complex nanoscale structures — especially, nanoelectronic chips based on DNA.
Scientists have been using DNA to construct sophisticated new structures from nanoparticles (such as a recent development at Brookhaven National Labs reported by KurzweilAI May 26), but the use… read more
First place in the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals this past weekend in Pomona, California went to Team Kaist of South Korea for its DRC-Hubo robot, winning $2 million in prize money.
Team IHMC Robotics of Pensacola, Fla., with its Running Man (Atlas) robot came in at second place ($1 million prize), followed by Tartan Rescue of Pittsburgh with its CHIMP robot ($500,000 prize).… read more
Soft matter encompasses a broad swath of materials, including liquids, polymers, gels, foam and — most importantly — biomolecules. At the heart of soft materials, governing their overall properties and capabilities, are the interactions of nano-sized components.
Observing the dynamics behind these interactions is critical to understanding key biological processes, such as protein crystallization and metabolism, and could help accelerate the development of important new technologies, such as artificial… read more
Researchers at three universities have developed a new way of making tough — but soft and wet — biocompatible hydrogel materials into complex and intricately patterned shapes. The process might lead to scaffolds for repair or replacement of load-bearing tissues, such as cartilage. It could also allow for tough but flexible actuators for future robots, the researchers say.
The new process is described in a paper in the… read more