Lifeboat Foundation

Many investors are jumping to inject money into the startup.

Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos-backed foundations (Gates Frontier and Bezos Expeditions) have joined other companies in investing $75 million in Synchron, the endovascular brain-computer interface (BCI) company, according to a press release by the organization published on Thursday. This is a Series C financing round led by ARCH Venture Partners that brings the total amount raised since inception to $145 million.

Many investors on board.

Continue reading “Gates and Bezos back Neuralink-competitor Synchron in a new funding” »

Powered by Linux, this will be an open-source initiative.

PressureUA/iStock.

Other tech companies, such as Microsoft as well as Apple, have attempted to break this dominance but have fallen exceedingly short of user expectations. Even though Google Maps are not 100 percent accurate, it is the best available product out there, and now major technology companies want to take on the beast together.

Water becomes conductive within one trillionth of a second.

Researchers have developed a water-based switch that becomes conductive thousands of times faster than current state-of-art semiconductor-based switches. Such switches are used in computers, smartphones, and wireless communications.

Essentially, a short but powerful laser pulse converts the water into a conductive state within less than a trillionth of a second (10^-12 seconds), during which time it behaves almost like a metal.

Companies are working to avoid a “quantum winter” that could stall progress and freeze startup investments.

Computational modelling of the brain requires accurate representation of the tissues concerned. Mechanical testing has numerous challenges, in particular for low strain rates, like neurosurgery, where redistribution of fluid is biomechanically important. A finite-element (FE) model was generated in FEBio, incorporating a spring element/fluid–structure interaction representation of the pia–arachnoid complex (PAC). The model was loaded to represent gravity in prone and supine positions. Material parameter identification and sensitivity analysis were performed using statistical software, comparing the FE results to human in vivo measurements. Results for the brain Ogden parameters µ, α and k yielded values of 670 Pa, −19 and 148 kPa, supporting values reported in the literature. Values of the order of 1.2 MPa and 7.7 kPa were obtained for stiffness of the pia mater and out-of-plane tensile stiffness of the PAC, respectively. Positional brain shift was found to be non-rigid and largely driven by redistribution of fluid within the tissue. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study using in vivo human data and gravitational loading in order to estimate the material properties of intracranial tissues. This model could now be applied to reduce the impact of positional brain shift in stereotactic neurosurgery.

Finite-element (FE)-based computational models of the human brain are an increasingly common research tool, with applications ranging from head impact to neurosurgery. Studies considering head impacts are generally concerned with traumatic brain injury (TBI), where a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms is essential for the development of prevention measures [1]. Within neurosurgery, efforts are primarily focused on tumour resection, where loss of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and tissue resection are responsible for much of the deformation [2]. Movement and deformation of the intact brain, known as brain shift, is clinically significant in stereotactic neurosurgical procedures such as deep brain stimulation where electrode placement accuracy correlates with patient outcomes [3].

After announcing that it had implanted its brain-computer interface in its first U.S. | After announcing that it had implanted its brain-computer interface in its first U.S. paralysis patient earlier this year, Synchron has raised $75 million to take its mind-reading tech to the next level.

Researchers have developed a new all-optical method for driving multiple highly dense nanolaser arrays. The approach could enable chip-based optical communication links that process and move data faster than today’s electronic-based devices.

“The development of optical interconnects equipped with high-density nanolasers would improve information processing in the data centers that move information across the internet,” said research team leader Myung-Ki Kim from Korea University.

“This could allow streaming of ultra-high-definition movies, enable larger-scale interactive online encounters and games, accelerate the expansion of the Internet of Things and provide the fast connectivity needed for big data analytics.”

The speed record for data transmission using a single light source and optical chip has been shattered once again. Engineers have transmitted data at a blistering rate of 1.84 petabits per second (Pbit/s), almost twice the global internet traffic per second.

It’s hard to overstate just how fast 1.84 Pbit/s really is. Your home internet is probably getting a few hundred megabits per second, or if you’re really lucky, you might be on a 1-gigabit or even 10-gigabit connection – but 1 petabit is a million gigabits. It’s more than 20 times faster than ESnet6, the upcoming upgrade to the scientific network used by the likes of NASA.

Even more impressive is the fact this new speed record was set using a single light source and a single optical chip. An infrared laser is beamed into a chip called a frequency comb that splits the light into hundreds of different frequencies, or colors. Data can then be encoded into the light by modulating the amplitude, phase and polarization of each of these frequencies, before recombining them into one beam and transmitting it through optical fiber.

Devices such as cellphones, laptops and smartwatches are constant companions for most people, spending days and nights in their pocket, on their wrist, or otherwise close at hand.

But when these technologies break down or a newer model hits stores, many people are quick to toss out or replace their device without a second thought. This disposability leads to rising levels of electronic waste—the fastest-growing category of waste, with 40 million tons generated each year.

Continue reading “Scientists create living smartwatch powered by slime mold” »