A paralyzed woman flies a fighter jet with her mind Back in February of 2012, a paralyzed 55 year old mother Mrs. Jan Schuermaan participated in an experiment led by a team of researchers at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine. The team of researchers implanted electrode grids with tiny contact points originally meant to control her arm and hand movements. With a simple computer algorithm, signals gathered from individual neurons were grouped into patterns. “Within a week of the surgery, Ms. After 2 years since the surgical implants of the electrode grids, Mrs. The project of DARPA was to control a Multirole fighter called F-35 (picture below) in a simulator purely by her mind. Surprisingly, Mrs.
Minute machines dive inside a living creature for first time — RT News Published time: January 23, 2015 16:10 Reuters / Phil Noble Researchers at the University of California have managed to implant acid-powered, self-destructing micromotors inside a living animal for the first time. It's hoped the tiny devices could help tackle maladies such as peptic ulcers in the future. The tiny machines just 20 micrometers long and roughly a human hair's width, managed to deliver nano-particles to the stomach of a mouse without any side effects. The self-propelled devices, made of polymer tubes and coated in zinc, self-destruct without leaving any traces of harmful chemicals. “The body of the motors gradually dissolves in the gastric acid, autonomously releasing their payloads, leaving nothing toxic behind,” Professors Liangfang Zhang and Joseph Wang, who lead the research, wrote in the journal ACS Nano. While the machines dissolve, they deliver their vital contents into the stomach tissue.
Functional 3D Brain Tissue Successfully Grown From Stem Cells The ultimate goal of stem cell research is to create functional replica tissues and organs for use as replacements in times of injury or disease, or for use in the development of drugs and other therapeutic techniques. Getting tissues to grow in the lab in three dimensions has been challenging across the board, but this is especially problematic for structures in the nervous system. Beyond getting the neurons to grow at all, they must be connected in a very particular manner in order to function. A major step forward has been taken on this front by a team from RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Japan, who state in Cell Reports that they have successfully grown 3D functional brain tissue that has even grown with proper patterning. The brain tissues were grown from human embryonic stem cells, and growth factors were added in series throughout development. Read this next: Richard Dawkins Reads Hate Mail From “Fans”
Scientists learn to selectively erase and restore memories in brain Published time: June 04, 2014 23:41 Edited time: June 06, 2014 23:19 Reuters / STR Wiping out memories at a press of a button – just like with a ‘neuralizer’ from the Men in Black movie – may soon become a reality. Researchers have managed to erase and then restore lost memory in genetically modified rats with a flash of light. The study by researchers from University of California in San Diego, published in Nature journal , is the first cause-and-effect evidence that strengthening or weakening connections between neurons in the brain can influence particular memories. “We can form a memory, erase that memory and we can reactivate it, at will, by applying a stimulus that selectively strengthens or weakens synaptic connections,” study senior researcher Dr. The neuroscientists’ findings may hold big potential for the treatment of such diseases as Alzheimer's and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). AFP Photo / Marco Longari
Artificial Neurons Can Communicate in the Same Way as Human Neurons Synopsis This artificial neuron contain no ‘living’ parts, but is capable of mimicking the function of a human nerve cell and communicate in the same way as our own neurons do. Summary To date, the primary technique for neuronal stimulation in human cells is based on electrical stimulation. Worm ‘Brain’ Uploaded Into Lego Robot Worm ‘Brain’ Uploaded Into Lego Robot Can a digitally simulated brain on a computer perform tasks just like the real thing? For simple commands, the answer, it would seem, is yes it can. While there are already similarly capable robots using traditional software, the research shows a digitally simulated brain can behave like its biological analog, and the demonstration has implications for big brain projects. The BRAIN Initiative in the US and the Human Brain Project in Europe aim to map the human brain’s connections and, one day, to simulate the brain digitally. But when it comes to simulating brains in silica—it’s sensible to start simple. C. elegans. C. elegans is an eminently humble creature, and for that reason, an extensively researched one. The worm’s brain contains 302 neurons and 7,000 synapses. The robot, as you can see in the video, moves a little like a Roomba, with one critical distinction—the Roomba’s collision avoidance mechanism was written in by programmers.
Tiny Scallop-Like Robots Designed To Deliver Drugs Through The Bloodstream To Treat Diseases - Futurism Synopsis Researchers in Germany have developed a "scallop-inspired" tiny robot small enough to travel through the bloodstream, and it doesn't require an engine or batteries Summary The idea for the new robot was inspired by the scallop, which moves around by opening and closing a pair of shells. The robot moves through a non-Newtonian fluid by performing what looks like horizontal jumping jacksThe tiny bots can be printed on a 3D printer, and many of them could be directed at once with a single magnetThe team doesn’t have any particular applications in mind for their robots, but it’s clear that they could be used to send medication to single spot, such as to kill tumors
Researchers Connect Animal Brains To Share Thoughts and Solve Challenging Problems - Futurism | Futurism Successful experiments have shown that it is possible to link brains to make an "organic computer" that can synchronize thoughts and communicate between minds. Organic Computing Brains consistently beat computers in tests of reasoning, offering a creativity and logic that computers are only picking up now through deep-learning. Two Brains are Better than One At this point, you may be wondering: how exactly do they connect the brains? Another experiment created a brainet out of multiple rats, this time using their brains as a communication mechanism. A Future with Telepathy Although Nicolelis’ study produced significant results through brain linking, there are moral and practical issues that arise from the brainet procedure. Still, Nicolelis’ experiments have a ways to go before mind reading becomes reality. “I can imagine surgeons coordinating surgery together or mathematicians visualizing the solution to a problem together.
Scientists 'reactivate' Alzheimer's patients' memories Scientists in America are hopeful of a breakthrough in curing Alzheimer's, following a study that shows a way of bringing back the lost memories of dementia patients. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have erased and successfully reactivated memories in rats, offering hope that the same can be achieved with humans. The study, published next month, is the first to show the ability to selectively remove a memory and then reactivate it. This is done by stimulating nerves in the brain at frequencies that are known to weaken and strengthen the connections between nerve cells, called synapses. Roberto Malinow, a professor of neurosciences and senior author of the study, said: "We can form a memory, erase that memory and we can reactivate it, at will, by applying a stimulus that selectively strengthens or weakens synaptic connections. Photo / Thinkstock - Independent
Researchers Restore Hearing in Deaf Mice - Futurism | Futurism Page 1 of 24012345...102030...»Last » Can DNA Nanobots Successfully Treat Cancer Patients? First Human Trial Soon Can DNA Nanobots Successfully Treat Cancer Patients? First Human Trial Soon “No, no it’s not science fiction; it’s already happening,” said Ido Bachelet to a somewhat incredulous audience member at a London event late last year. Bachelet, previously of Harvard’s Wyss Institute and faculty member at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, is a leading figure in the field of DNA nanotechnology. In a brief talk, Bachelet said DNA nanobots will soon be tried in a critically ill leukemia patient. According to Bachelet, his team have successfully tested their method in cell cultures and animals and written two papers on the subject, one in Science and one in Nature. Contemporary cancer therapies involving invasive surgery and blasts of drugs can be as painful and damaging to the body as the disease itself. Bachelet envisions a day when it won’t just be the critically ill receiving nanobot injections. You might forgive the audience their incredulous (if excited) reaction. The best part?
Animal Brains Networked Into Organic Computer ‘Brainet’ - Singularity HUB Imagine a future where computers no longer run on silicon chips. The replacement? Brains. Thanks to two separate studies recently published in Scientific Reports, we may be edging towards that future. “Scientifically and technically, this is brilliantly done,” says Dr. The team, led by Dr. The new cutting-edge eschews arms—robotic or virtual—altogether, and goes directly brain-to-brain. In 2013, Nicolelis and colleagues transferred information between two rat brains with the aid of a brain chip. Next, the team used the recordings to stimulate the corresponding brain regions of a second rat that wasn’t trained on the task. Given that wiring multiple processors in parallel speeds up digital computers, the team wondered if forming a Brainet might likewise give biological computers a speed boost. In the first study, the team implanted arrays of microelectrodes that both record signals and stimulate neurons into the brains of four rats. (Watch a video of the monkey Brainet in action below.
Smart Insulin Patch a “Game Changer” for Diabetic Medicine Current Hassles of Self-Treating Nearly 30 million people in America suffer from diabetes. Currently, daily monitoring for those with diabetes involves routine finger pricking with a needle and giving themselves a shot of insulin. If they make a mistake calculating the level of insulin they need, the outcome could be as drastic as coma or death. The Smart Patch Researchers have designed a “smart insulin patch” that uses hundreds of incredibly small micro-needles able to deploy insulin based on built in glucose sensing-enzymes. Game-Changing Technology Though not ready to be put on diabetic patients just yet, co-senior author John Buse, Director of Diabetes Care Center at UNC and a former president of the American Diabetes Association says the patch is a “a game changer” for diabetic medicine. Sources: Medical News Today, Centers for Disease Control and PreventionImage: Medical Xpress