Giulio Prisco on September 2nd, 2016.
Visionary and sometimes controversial entrepreneur Elon Musk hinted at advances in next-generation brain hacking. Recent research results promise future “neural lace” technology that could enhance our brains and connect them to the cloud.
Lester Coleman on October 9th, 2015.
For all of man’s scientific and technological advances, the human brain largely remains a mystery. A new Vimeo video, “Master/Mind,” examines the state of research on the human mind and the questions that scientists, ethicists, futurists and others are asking in light of what we’re learning about the mind. The video, a...
Giulio Prisco on September 24th, 2015.
University of Washington researchers used a direct brain-to-brain connection to enable pairs of participants to play a question-and-answer game by transmitting signals from one brain to the other over the Internet. The experiment is thought to be the first to show that two brains can be directly linked to allow one person to guess what’s...
Giulio Prisco on August 19th, 2015.
Researchers at Ohio State University have grown a nearly complete human brain in a dish that equals the brain maturity of a 5-week-old fetus. The lab-grown brain, about the size of a pencil eraser, has an identifiable structure and contains 99 percent of the genes present in the human fetal brain. The research was presented at the 2015...
Giulio Prisco on August 18th, 2015.
IBM scientists are advancing toward “neuromorphic” computing – digital systems that process information like the brain – and launching a complete ecosystem for brain-like computing, with important near-term applications and visionary long-term prospects.
Giulio Prisco on August 10th, 2015.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) website reports that two of DARPA’s Young Faculty Award (YFA) recipients have developed nanoscale electronic switches with reprogrammable features, similar to those at play in inter-neuron communication in the brain, which could find uses in next-generation reconfigurable electronic...
Giulio Prisco on August 3rd, 2015.
Neuroscientists at Stanford University have developed a technique that continuously corrects brain readings, resulting in a more precise way to type using a thought-controlled cursor. The researchers found that their technique is nearly as good as one-finger typing. Promising results have been obtained with monkeys, and a pilot clinical...
Giulio Prisco on July 31st, 2015.
Researchers at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the Boston University School of Medicine, used a new brain imaging technology to look inside the brain of an adult mouse at a scale previously unachievable, generating images at a nanoscale resolution.
Giulio Prisco on July 17th, 2015.
Neuroscientists funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have developed an ultra-thin, minimally invasive device for controlling brain cells with drugs and light, and demonstrated that the device allows for wireless brain control by remotely drugging and controlling mice.
Giulio Prisco on July 15th, 2015.
Neuroscientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have tracked nerve cells firing in the brains of rats as they plan where to go next, and obtained new insights on how the brain reconstructs memories. The study suggests that memories are more like separate but connected “snapshots” in the brain than uninterrupted video...
Giulio Prisco on July 9th, 2015.
Neuroscientists at Duke University have linked the brains of groups of monkey and rats in networks, and demonstrated how the linked brains of two or more animals can work together to complete simple tasks.
Giulio Prisco on July 8th, 2015.
Neuroscientists have for the first time mapped the sensory and motor systems in the brains of dolphins, and shown that at least two areas of the dolphin brain are associated with the auditory system, unlike most mammals that primarily process sound in a single area.
Giulio Prisco on July 2nd, 2015.
Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg is persuaded that we will become telepathic species. The technology of social networks like Facebook will, someday, become so advanced that people will be able to exchange thoughts directly, brain to brain, just like we exchange pictures of cats today.
Giulio Prisco on June 29th, 2015.
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a cockroach-inspired robot that uses body streamlining to negotiate obstacles. Postdoctoral Fellow Chen Li built cockroach-like robots with rounded, streamlined carapaces that can slip through gaps thanks to their streamlined shape, outperforming typical box-like...
Giulio Prisco on June 26th, 2015.
Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have built a fully functional neuron by using organic bioelectronics. 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.
Giulio Prisco on June 25th, 2015.
Researchers at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) have developed a revolutionary brain-machine interface to restore a sense of independence to the disabled. The research, which shows that it’s now possible to remotely control a robot from home with one’s thoughts, produced excellent results in both human and...
Giulio Prisco on January 12th, 2015.
A new study from Lund University in Sweden indicates that inherited viruses that are millions of years old play an important role in building up the complex networks that characterize the human brain.
Clay Michael Gillespie on January 10th, 2015.
In a recent poll, Bloomberg showed that half of American’s don’t want their children playing football. Even United States President Barack Obama was quoted saying if he had sons, he wouldn’t want them playing football; a sport so prone to concussions. The NFL’s new concussion rules may be strict on keeping the players safe, but players...
Alex Gorale on January 9th, 2015.
A neuroprosthetic implant developed by EPFL scientists can be applied directly to the spinal cord without causing damage and inflammation. The soft cybernetic implant, which fuses electronics with biology, extracted cortical states in freely behaving animals for brain-machine interface and delivered electrochemical spinal neuromodulation...
Alex Gorale on December 26th, 2014.
In five years, the world is moving toward an average of 10 devices per household. By 2020, predictions account for 20 billion devices globally. Connectivity is becoming a way of life. The mobile healthcare market, for example, is expected to grow to $60 billion in 2015. Concepts such as “Continuous Healthcare” would use...