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‘Tantalizing’ hints of room-temperature superconductivity

September 19, 2012

Scanning tunneling microscope image of graphite surface atoms (credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Doped graphite may superconduct at more than 100 ºC (boiling point of water), according to Pablo Esquinazi and his colleagues at the University of Leipzig, Nature News reports.

Superconductors offer huge potential energy savings when used for electrical power transmission lines, for example, but until now have worked only at temperatures lower than about -110 °C. A superconductor can transmit electricity with zero resistance. At high temperatures (room… read more

Topics: Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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New tool gives structural strength to 3D-printed objects

September 19, 2012

3d_printed_banana_model

Researchers at Purdue and Adobe’s Advanced Technology Labs have jointly developed a program that automatically imparts strength to objects before they are printed.

Objects created using 3-D printing have a common flaw: They are fragile and often fall apart or lose their shape.

“I have an entire zoo of broken 3-D printed objects in my office,” said Bedrich Benes, an associate professor of computer graphics at… read more

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Innovation/Entrepreneurship | Nanotech/Materials Science

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A real fMRI high: my ecstasy brain scan

September 19, 2012

5,6-Methylenedioxy-N-methyl-2-aminoindane (credit: Wikipedia)

New Scientist reporter Graham Lawton is taking part in a groundbreaking study on MDMA, the drug commonly known as ecstasy.

The research is run by David Nutt of Imperial College London, a former government adviser and one of the few UK researchers licensed to study class-A drugs. Objectives: discover what MDMA does to the human brain and study MDMA as a… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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This robot could transform manufacturing

A smarter, safer new industrial robot
September 19, 2012

rethink_baxter

Baxter, is six feet tall, 300 pounds, and a robot. It could bring automation to new areas of manual work and help many U.S. manufacturers regain a competitive edge, Technology Review reports.

Almost anyone, literally, can in very short order be shown how to program it,” says Chris Budnick, president of Vanguard Plastics. “It’s a matter of a couple of minutes.”

Baxter is the first of a new… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics

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How stress blocks short-term memory

September 19, 2012

Maze

By watching individual neurons at work, a group of psychologists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has revealed just how stress can addle the mind, as well as how neurons in the brain’s prefrontal cortex help “remember” information in the first place.

Stress has long been pegged as the enemy of attention, disrupting focus and doing substantial damage to working memory — the short-term juggling… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Prosthetic device restores and improves impaired decision-making ability

September 19, 2012

MIMO

Imagine a prosthetic device capable of restoring decision-making in people who have reduced capacity due to brain disease or injury. by simply recording brain signals during correct actions and playing them back.

This may sound like science fiction, but researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, the University of Southern California, and the University of Kentucky have proven for the first time… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Electronics

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Agricultural robots may reduce costs of organic produce

September 20, 2012

blue_river_7

Blue River Technology has announced $3.1 million in funding for its plans to develop agricultural robots that can automatically kill weeds and thin out plants like lettuce that need adequate room to grow, CNET reports.

It could help reduce the cost of organic produce.

The startup’s prototype Lettuce Bot uses a camera to image the plants beneath it. Machine learning algorithms then identify which ones are desirable and… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Environment/Climate | Innovation/Entrepreneurship | Social/Ethical/Legal

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DARPA links brain waves, sensors and algorithms to detect targets

September 20, 2012

darpa-ct2ws-threat-detection-eeg-640x353

DARPA has linked human brainwaves, better sensors, and cognitive algorithms to improve target detection with its Cognitive Technology Threat Warning System (CT2WS).

For warfighters operating in the field, the ability to detect threats from standoff distances can be life-saving. When advanced radar and drone coverage is not available, warfighters typically rely on their own vision to scan their surroundings.… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Survival/Defense

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Human brains share a consistent genetic blueprint and possess enormous biochemical complexity

First extensive analysis of Allen Human Brain Atlas has implications for basic understanding of the human brain and for medicine
September 20, 2012

3D rendering from the Allen Human Brain Atlas

The same basic functional elements are used throughout the cortex and understanding how one area works in detail will uncover fundamentals that apply to the other areas as well, scientists at the Allen Institute for Brain Science reported in the latest issue of the journal Nature.

Human brains share a consistent genetic blueprint, and possess enormous biochemical complexity, they said, based on the first deep and large-scale… read more

Topics: Biotech | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Makerbot Replicator 2 review

September 20, 2012

make_replicator_2

The Makerbot Replicator 2, a second generation of MakerBot’s wildly popular Replicator 3D printer, is now faster, quieter, and more rigid than the original, Make reports.

The Replicator now sports a sleek modern look with an all-black sheet metal frame and PVC side panels that are removable, customizable, and allow for easy cleaning of any excess material.

A larger, more responsive LCD panel on the front… read more

Topics: Innovation/Entrepreneurship | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Google spans entire planet with GPS-powered database

September 20, 2012

599px-The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17

Wired Enterprise reports that Google has published a research paper (open access) detailing Spanner, which Google says is the first database that can quickly store and retrieve information across a worldwide network of data centers while keeping that information “consistent” — meaning all users see the same collection of information at all times.

Spanner borrows techniques from some of the other massive software platforms Google built for its data centers,… read more

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Innovation/Entrepreneurship | Internet/Telecom

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A step towards total autopilot

Will this solve the drone-collision problem?
September 20, 2012

total_autopilot

Will planes someday fly without pilots? Three EPFL laboratories are working on a completely automated aerial collision-avoidance system by developing collision-prediction, avoidance, and real-time vision algorithms.

The project is a formidable technological challenge. It will first be used for small airplanes or drones in non-military applications, such as forest fire surveillance or monitoring access to industrial sites and borders. And it could prove invaluable in missions that are hazardous or simply… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics

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What happens during the brain’s ‘resting state’?

September 20, 2012

fMRI images

Over the past few years, some researchers have been adding a bit of down time to their study protocols, Nature News reports. While subjects are still lying in the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanners, the researchers ask them to try to empty their minds. The aim is to find out what happens when the brain simply idles. And the answer is: quite a lot.

Some circuits… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Self-forming biological scaffolding

A model system that can interpret the role of cross-linking proteins
September 20, 2012

bio_scaffolding

A new model system of the cytoskeleton (cellular skeleton) of living cells is akin to a mini-laboratory designed to explore how the cells’ functional structures assemble.

Physicist Volker Schaller and his colleagues from Technical University in Munich, Germany, presents one hypothesis concerning self-organization. It hinges on the finding that a homogeneous protein network, once subjected to stresses generated by molecular motors, compacts into highly condensed fibers.… read more

Topics: Biotech

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Why your memory is like the telephone game

Each time you recall an event, your brain distorts it
September 21, 2012

(Credit: iStockphoto)

Remember the telephone game where people take turns whispering a message into the ear of the next person in line? By the time the last person speaks it out loud, the message has radically changed. It’s been altered with each retelling.

Turns out your memory is a lot like that, according to a new Northwestern University Medicine study.

Every time you remember an event from the… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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