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Category: cyborgs – Page 52

Bionic eyes: How tech is replacing lost vision

This technology has to translate images into something the human brain can understand. Click the numbers in the interactive image below to find read about how this works.

There are a whole range of conditions, some which are picked up due to the aging process and others which may be inherited, that can cause sight deterioration.

Bionic eyes work by ‘filling in the blanks’ between what the retina perceives and how it is processed in the brain’s visual cortex, that breakdown occurs in conditions which impact the retina. It is largely these conditions which bionic eyes could help treat.

Posthuman Mimesis, Keynote I: Cyborg Experiments (Kevin Warwick)

http://www.homomimeticus.eu/
Part of the ERC-funded project Homo Mimeticus, the Posthuman Mimesis conference (KU Leuven, May 2021) promoted a mimetic turn in posthuman studies. In the first keynote Lecture, Prof. Kevin Warwick (U of Coventry) argued that our future will be as cyborgs – part human, part technology. Kevin’s own experiments will be used to explain how implant and electrode technology can be employed to create cyborgs: biological brains for robots, to enable human enhancement and to diminish the effects of neural illnesses. In all cases the end result is to increase the abilities of the recipients. An indication is given of a number of areas in which such technology has already had a profound effect, a key element being the need for an interface linking a biological brain directly with computer technology. A look will be taken at future concepts of being, for posthumans this possibly involving a click and play body philosophy. New, much more powerful, forms of communication will also be considered.

HOM Videos is part of an ERC-funded project titled Homo Mimeticus: Theory and Criticism, which has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement n°716181)
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Formlabs Launches Glass Filled Nylon 12 for SLS 3D Printing

Not long ago, Formlabs launched a new ESD Resin specifically for applications that need to keep parts safe from electrostatic discharge (ESD). Now, the double unicorn has announced the latest member of its selective laser sintering (SLS) range of materials—the new high-performance Nylon 12 GF Powder. Good for 3D printing engineering and manufacturing functional prototypes and end-use parts that require thermal stability and structural rigidity, the newly launched material offers excellent stiffness and is the latest meant for use with the Formlabs Fuse 1 industrial SLS 3D printer, which was released last year.

Formlabs’ Nylon 12 GF powder makes it possible to 3D print parts that are thermally stable, and can maintain their dimensional accuracy under load. In the past, glass-filled Nylon materials have been used for a variety of applications, such as 3D printing a scale model, a prosthetic drum stick, a bike rack, loudspeakers, and even a bar! This particular material—one of many Formlabs is planning to introduce for its industrial Fuse 1 3D printer—is said to be a good choice for printing threads and sockets, strong jigs and fixtures, parts subjected to high temperatures and sustained loading, functional prototypes for compsite parts, and replacement parts.

Bionic Pacemaker Reverses Heart Failure

A revolutionary pacemaker that re-establishes the heart’s naturally irregular beat is set to be trialed in New Zealand heart patients this year, following successful animal trials.

“Currently, all pacemakers pace the heart metronomically, which means a very steady, even pace. But when you record heart rate in a healthy individual, you see it is constantly on the move,” says Professor Julian Paton, a lead researcher and director of Manaaki Manawa, the Centre for Heart Research at the University of Auckland.

Manaaki Manawa has led the research and the results have just been published in the leading journal Basic Research in Cardiology.

Scientists develop an ‘android child’ that can convey six facial expressions

A team of researchers from Japan’s RIKEN Guardian Robot Project has created an android child called Nikola capable of successfully displaying six basic emotions: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust.

While the android child is definitely not at the Ex Machina level, the project, led by Wataru Sato from RIKEN, is significant since it’s the first time the quality of these six android-expressed emotions has been examined and validated.

How does it work?

The humanoid robot is equipped with 29 pneumatic actuators that control the movements of artificial muscles within its face. It also uses six extra actuators to move its head and eyeballs, making it even more life-like.

Stretchable Mesh Nanoelectronics for 3D Single‐Cell Chronic Electrophysiology from Developing Brain Organoids

There is a cyborg organoid platform developed by integrating “tissue-like” stretchable mesh nanoelectronics with 2D stem cell sheets. Leveraging the 2D-to-3D reconfiguration during organoid development, 2D stem cell sheets fold and embed stretchable mesh nanoelectronics with electrodes throughout the entire 3D organoid. The embedded electronics can then enable continuous electrical recording.

Scientists design stretchable mesh nanoelectronics, mimicking the mechanical and structural properties of brain organoids to build cyborg human brain organoids.

Using the 3D embedded stretchable electrodes, achieved reliable long-term electrical recording of the same hiPSC-derived neural tissue at single-cell, millisecond spatiotemporal resolution for 6 months, revealing the evolution of the tissue-wide single-cell electrophysiology over hiPSC-derived neuron development. Applying this technology to brain organoids at early developmental stages, they traced the gradually emerging single-cell action potentials and network activities.

#biomimicry #meshelectronics #hiPSC #neurallace #neuroscience

Building cyborg brain organoids through the integration of stretchable mesh nanoelectronics with human induced pluripotent stem cell derived progenitors and neurons through organogenesis is reported…

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