Radar Networks has introduced Twine, a Web 3.0 service that uses semantic Web technology to improve sharing information with friends and coworkers.
Twine is intended to let you suck in email, bookmarks, RSS news feeds, websites, photos, videos, database and any other digital information. Then it tries to make sense of it by extracting and categorizing information automatically.
Individuals can sign up to be invited to the beta… read more
California Institute of Technology scientists have confirmed that the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vPF) area of the brain is involved in the planning stages of movement.
They were able to predict where a target the patient was looking at was located, and also where the patient was going to move his hand. The work currently appears in the online version of Nature Neuroscience.
The work has implications for the… read more
In the controversy of extracting stem cells from human embryos for possible use in the treatment of diseases, researchers must weigh not only the question of when human life begins, but what being alive really means.
Are the following “alive” or not?
A new technology called heat-assisted magnetic recording — blasting the magnetic regions of a disk with heat to make them more stable — should make it possible to record data at densities 50 times greater than will be possible when today’s technologies reach their limits.
Zeno, a humanoid robot with a $300 price tag, is set to be released in 2009.
Moore’s law will likely begin to slow down to a three-year cycle in the next decade and require companies to adopt alternative technologies.
Some say the ability to shrink transistors will start to become problematic by around 2010. Others, such as Intel’s director of technology strategy, Paolo Gargini, paint a more gradual picture. Around 2015, they say, manufacturers will start to move toward hybrid chips, which combine elements of… read more
A computer chip implanted near the eye’s retina is may offer some restored vision to people blinded by eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related degeneration of the eye.
To capture images, an external camera mounted in an eyeglass frame captures the image and converts it into an electrical signal that is then electronically transmitted to a flexible silicon biochip surgically attached near the retina. The chip electronically stimulates… read more
A protein that can function like some proteins in the human body — carry and deliver oxygen — may be a useful step in developing artificial blood and avoiding problems with existing blood substitutes, which can increase the risk of heart attacks in trauma victims, suggest researchers at the University of Pennsylvania.
Neuroscientists have significantly advanced brain-machine interface (BMI) technology.
Severely handicapped people who cannot contract even one leg or arm muscle now can independently compose and send e-mails and operate a TV in their homes, using only their thoughts.
Measuring the elasticity of cells using a new laser technique promises to pinpoint human stem cells in blood and distinguish cancerous cells from benign ones, say researchers.
Bionic limb replacements that look and work exactly like the real thing could be realized within a decade, thanks to fast advances in human-to-machine communication and miniaturization.
Writing in Science, Feb. 8, Rutgers biomedical engineer and inventor William Craelius, whose Dextra artificial hand is the first to let a person use existing nerve pathways to control individual computer-driven mechanical fingers, says “bionic technologies can be adapted for restoring some… read more
MIT researchers have combined nanotechnology with genetically engineered viruses to build batteries that could power hybrid cars and cell phones.
The batteries have the same energy capacity and power performance as state-of-the-art rechargeable batteries being considered to power plug-in hybrid cars and personal electronic devices.
Gregg W. Roman, assistant professor in the Department of Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Houston, has found that melatonin directly inhibits memory formation at night, based on experiments with zebrafish.
The experiments also suggest that the use of melatonin receptor antagonists may allow for retaining the beneficial effects of melatonin’s antioxidant properties without the negative cognitive effects. Such benefits include fighting free radical damage to slow some… read more
Ohio State University scientists have taken a step toward the development of quantum computers by making tiny holes in an egg carton-shaped surface of laser light that could one day cradle atoms.
They’ve been able to form about a billion gaseous rubidium atoms into a pea-sized cloud with magnetic fields. Now they are working to move that cloud into position above a chip supporting an optical lattice formed where… read more
MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) of Richmond, British Columbia is developing a robotic arm that will enable surgeons to perform more precise brain surgery.
The robot will perform a variety of procedures, including placing biopsy needles into the brain and dissecting blood vessel abnormalities during micro-surgery. It consists of two robotic arms and a two cameras, providing 3-D stereoscopic views for the surgeon.
The company is also working with… read more