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Friday November 9, 2012 Daily edition   News and Blog Headlines How improved batteries will make electric vehicles competitive Iran warplane fired at US drone in early November New stem-cell-derived cells hold promise for Alzheimer’s, other brain diseases Stronger than a speeding bullet, but lighter Discovery may help nerve regeneration in spinal injury Congenitally blind learn to see and read with soundscapes Latest News How improved batteries will make electric vehicles competitive November 9, 2012   For electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids to compete with gas-powered cars, battery prices need to drop by between 50 and 80 percent, according to recent estimates by the U.S. Department of Energy. Improvements to the lithium-ion batteries that power the current generation of electric vehicles may be enough, MIT Technology Review reports. Electric vehicles cost … more… Iran warplane fired at US drone in early November November 9, 2012   An Iranian warplane opened fire on an unarmed U.S. military drone conducting surveillance near Iranian airspace Nov. 1, the Pentagon said Thursday, the first such incident over the Persian Gulf and one that is all but certain to draw attention to Washington’s use of unmanned aircraft, The Washington Post reports. The MQ-1 Predator drone returned … more… New stem-cell-derived cells hold promise for Alzheimer’s, other brain diseases November 9, 2012   UC Irvine researchers have created a new stem cell-derived cell type with unique promise for treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Dr. Edwin Monuki of UCI’s Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center and colleagues developed these cells — called choroid plexus epithelial cells (CPECs) — from existing mouse and human embryonic stem cell lines. … more… Stronger than a speeding bullet, but lighter November 9, 2012   While traditional shields have been made of bulky materials such as steel, body armor made of lightweight material such as Kevlar has shown that thickness and weight are not necessary for absorbing the energy of impacts. Now, a new study by researchers at MIT and Rice University has shown that even lighter materials may be … more… Discovery may help nerve regeneration in spinal injury November 9, 2012   Scientists at the Universities of Liverpool and Glasgow have discovered a possible new method of enhancing nerve repair in the treatment of spinal cord injuries. It is known that scar tissue, which forms following spinal cord injury, creates an impenetrable barrier to nerve regeneration, leading to the irreversible paralysis associated with spinal injuries. The scientists … more… Congenitally blind learn to see and read with soundscapes November 9, 2012   Congenitally blind people have learned to ”see” and describe objects, and even identify letters and words, by using a visual-to-auditory sensory-substitution algorithm and sensory substitution devices (SSDs), scientists at Hebrew University and in France have found. SSDs are non-invasive sensory aids that provide visual information to the blind via their existing senses. For example, using a visual-to-auditory SSD in … more… New EVENTS   TEDxCaltech Dates: Jan 18, 2013 Location: Pasadena, California more... New VIDEOS   Speech recognition breakthrough for the spoken, translated word   Prized Science | Peter Wolynes: untangling protein folding   Nike | FuelBand Latest Kurzweil Collection posts How to Create a Mind   Source: Barnes & Noble — November 9, 2012 In his visionary bestseller The Singularity Is Near, scientist Ray Kurzweil devoted a single chapter to how reverse engineering the brain could bring us to a point where man and machine are melded into a new entity. In the eight years since that bold futuristic leap, technologies to examine the brain have made to make … more… Read full article here Visit KurzweilAI.net You are currently subscribed to the KurzweilAI.net newsletter as *|EMAIL|* To unsubscribe, please click here. To change your email preferences, please click here. *|LIST:ADDRESS|*.