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Higher dementia risk linked to more use of common drugs

January 27, 2015

(Credit: iStock)

A large study links a significantly increased risk for developing dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, to taking commonly used medications with anticholinergic effects at higher doses or for a longer time.

Many older people take these medications, which include nonprescription diphenhydramine (Benadryl) and related drugs.

JAMA Internal Medicine published the report, called “Cumulative Use of Strong Anticholinergic Medications and Incident Dementia.”

It’s… read more

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Mastering math through movement using Kinect for Windows

January 27, 2015

Carmen Petrick Smith, assistant professor of mathematics education (center), works with undergraduate education majors (left to right) Tegan Garon, Sam Scrivani and Kiersten Barr on movements that are used to help elementary school children learn geometry. (credit: Andy Duback)

University of Vermont assistant professor of mathematics education Carmen Petrick Smith has found in a study that elementary school students who interacted with a Kinect for Windows mathematics program while learning geometry showed significant gains in the understanding of angles and angle measurements.

The Kinect is a motion sensor input device that allows people to interact with computers based on their natural movements. Hmm, imagine what… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

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Giant space telescope could image objects at far higher resolution than Hubble

Could image space objects like black hole “event horizons” or view rabbit-size objects on Earth
January 27, 2015

A new orbiting telescope concept developed at CU-Boulder could allow scientists to image objects in space or on Earth at hundreds of times the resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope. (credit: NASA)

University of Colorado Boulder researchers plan to update NASA officials this week on a revolutionary space telescope concept selected by the agency for study last June that could provide images up to 1,000 times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope.

CU-Boulder Professor Webster Cash said the instrument package would consist of an orbiting space telescope with an opaque disk in front… read more

Topics: Physics/Cosmology | Space

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Targeting specific astrocyte brain-cell receptors found to boost memory in mice

A drug that targets those receptors could improve memory in Alzheimer's disease
January 27, 2015

Astrocytes are stained in red, the A2A receptors in green, the overlap between the two shows as yellow, and the cell nuclei are in blue. (credit: Anna Orr/Gladstone Institutes)

Gladstone Institutes researchers have uncovered a new memory regulator in the brain that may offer a potential treatment to improve memory in Alzheimer’s disease using a drug that targets those receptors.

They found in their research* that decreasing the number of A2A adenosine receptors in astrocyte brain cells improved memory in healthy mice. It also prevented memory impairments in a mouse model of… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Carbon nanotubes found to create blood clots in medical devices

January 26, 2015

Scanning electron micrographs of multiwall-carbon-nanotube-modified PVC prior to (top) and after (bottom) perfusion, showing platelet aggregation (credit: Alan M. Gaffney et al./Nanomedicine)

Scientists in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Trinity College Dublin, have discovered that using carbon nanotubes as biomaterials that come into contact with blood generates blood clots.

The reason: When blood comes into contact with foreign surfaces, the blood’s protective platelets are activated, creating blood clots.

This can be catastrophic in clinical settings where extracorporeal circulation technologies are used, such as during… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Scientists extend telomeres to slow cell aging

A modified RNA that encodes a telomere-extending protein to cultured human cell yielded large numbers of cells for study
January 26, 2015

Human chromosomes (gray) capped by telomeres (white) (credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have developed a new procedure that uses modified messenger RNA to quickly and efficiently increase the length of human telomeres, the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes that are associated with aging and disease.

Treated cells behave as if they are much younger than untreated cells, multiplying with abandon in the laboratory dish rather than stagnating… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Biotech

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Ripping graphene nanoribbon edges converts the material from conductive to semiconducting

January 26, 2015

Graphene nanoribbons can be enticed to form favorable “reconstructed” edges by pulling them apart with the right force and at the right temperature, according to researchers at Rice University. The illustration shows the crack at the edge that begins the formation of five- and seven-atom pair under the right conditions. (credit: ZiAng Zhang/Rice University)

Theoretical physicists at Rice University have figured out how to custom-design graphene nanoribbons by controlling the conditions under which the nanoribbons are pulled apart to get the edges they need for specific mechanical and electrical properties, such as metallic (for chip interconnects, for example) or semiconducting (for chips).

The new research by Rice physicist Boris Yakobson and his colleagues appeared this month in the… read more

Topics: Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Genome-wide search reveals >750 worm genes involved in long-term memory

January 25, 2015

Long-term memory training in worms (left) led to induction of the transcription factor CREB in AIM neurons (shown by arrows in right). CREB-induced genes were shown to be involved in forming long-term memories in worm neurons. (credit: Murphy lab)

A new Princeton University study has identified more than 750 genes involved in long-term memory in the worm — part of research aimed at finding ways to retain cognitive abilities during aging, including compounds.

The study takes a different approach than the recent ENIGMA study, which  identified genetic mutations in humans related to brain aging.

The new study, published in the journal Neuron,… read more

Topics: Biotech | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Global ENIGMA consortium cracks brain’s genetic codes for aging

Finds 8 common gene mutations leading to brain aging in over 30,000 brain scans that may one day unlock mysteries of Alzheimer’s, autism, and other neurological disorders
January 23, 2015

(credit: ENIGMA)

In the largest collaborative study of the brain to date, about 300 researchers in a global consortium of 190 institutions identified eight common genetic mutations that appear to age the brain an average of three years.

The discovery could lead to targeted therapies and interventions for Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and other neurological conditions.

Led by the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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‘Cobots’ enhance robotic manufacturing

But how do you integrate them with humans in a manufacturing plant (and overcome negative Hollywood stereotypes)?
January 23, 2015

Baxter, introduced in 2012 by the company Rethink Robotics, is a two-armed robot with a tablet-like panel for its "eyes." (Credit: Rethink Robotics, Inc.)

Manufacturers have begun experimenting with a new generation of “cobots” (collaborative robots) designed to work side-by-side with humans.

To determine best practices for effectively integrating human-robot teams within manufacturing environments, a University of Wisconsin-Madison team headed by Bilge Mutlu, an assistant professor of computer sciences, is working with an MIT team headed by Julie A. Shah, an assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics.… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics

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Could we travel to other parts of our galaxy — or other galaxies — via a giant wormhole?

January 23, 2015

The (hypothetical) wormhole proposed by Kuefettig, Salucci et al connecting the center with a very far position of our Galaxy when one passes through its throat. (credit: SISSA (Salucci))

There could be a space-time tunnel (wormhole) in our galaxy, as dramatized by the film Interstellar, that would allow us to travel to a distant location in the galaxy, and the tunnel could even be the size of our entire galaxy.

That’s what astrophysicist/dark-matter expert Paolo Salucci of the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) and colleagues suggest in a paper published in Annals of Physics (open-access… read more

Topics: Physics/Cosmology

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Laser may replace copper in computer chips for high-speed, low-energy data transmission

January 22, 2015

Schematic structure of the germanium-tin (GeSn) laser, applied directly onto the silicon wafer (blue) by using an intermediate layer of pure germanium (orange). (Credit: Forschungszentrum Jülich)

An international team of scientists has constructed the first germanium-tin* semiconductor laser for CMOS silicon chips. By replacing copper wires with optical transmission, the new device promises higher-speed data transmission on computer chips at a fraction of the energy.

The results by scientists from Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland in cooperation with international partners were published in the journal Nature Photonics.… read more

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Electronics

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MIT scientists question effectiveness of sequestration of carbon dioxide

January 22, 2015

Credit: Christine Daniloff/MIT

As KurzweilAI recently reported, carbon sequestration promises to address greenhouse-gas emissions by capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and injecting it deep below the Earth’s surface, where it would permanently solidify into rock.

The EPA estimates that current carbon-sequestration technologies may eliminate up to 90 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants.

However, while such technologies may successfully remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere,… read more

Topics: Environment/Climate

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NASA-Microsoft augmented-reality system allows scientists to ‘work on Mars’

January 22, 2015

A screen view from OnSight, a software tool developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in collaboration with Microsoft. OnSight uses real rover data to create a 3-D simulation of the Martian environment where mission scientists can "meet" to discuss rover operations. (credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Microsoft have developed software called OnSight that will enable scientists to work virtually on Mars with Mars Curiosity rover, using wearable technology called Microsoft HoloLens.

“OnSight gives our rover scientists the ability to walk around and explore Mars right from their offices,” said Dave Lavery, program executive for the Mars… read more

Topics: Space | VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

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Microsoft announces HoloLens augmented-reality display

January 22, 2015

Hololens

Microsoft introduced Tuesday (Jan. 21) HoloLens, an immersive, augmented-reality device based on the forthcoming Windows 10 operating system, also announced. No release date or price is available.

HoloLens allows users to interact with 3D objects, which are displayed as floating images, emulating holographic projections. A built-in CPU, graphics core, and “Holographic Processing Unit” (HPU) replaces the need for a phone or external computer. HoloLens recognizes gestures, gaze,… read more

Topics: Internet/Cloud/Telecom | VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

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