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Category: cyborgs – Page 6

Fitzgerald says cyborg search and rescue beetles or cockroaches might be able to help in disaster situations by finding and reporting the location of survivors and delivering lifesaving drugs to them before human rescuers can get there.

But first, the Australian researchers must master the ability to direct the movements of the insects, which could take a while. Fitzgerald says that although the work might seem futuristic now, in a few decades, cyborg insects could be saving lives.

He’s not the only roboticist creating robots from living organisms. Academics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), for example, are implanting electronic pacemakers into jellyfish to control their swimming speed. They hope the bionic jellies could help collect data about the ocean far below the surface.

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▶️ Visit https://brilliant.org/NewMind to get a 30-day free trial + 20% off your annual subscription.

This video explores fascinating engineering solutions hiding in plain sight — ingenious designs that solve complex problems through elegant simplicity. From shoes that expand when stretched to windshields with hidden patterns, discover how everyday objects incorporate remarkable engineering innovations.

AUXETICS
These metamaterials that defy conventional physics by getting thicker when stretched. Follow their evolution from theoretical designs in 1978 to modern applications in athletic footwear and medical devices, and discover how precise geometric patterns create extraordinary properties that could revolutionize everything from prosthetics to architecture, despite challenging manufacturing requirements.

WINDSHIELD DOTS
The black dots on car windshields serve a dual purpose that revolutionized the automotive industry in the 1950s. This pattern manages extreme thermal stress during glass tempering while protecting crucial adhesive bonds. The precise ceramic frit application process has evolved to support modern safety systems and sensor integration, making these simple dots essential to modern vehicle design.

CURIE POINT HEATERS
Curie point heaters achieve temperature control through magnetic properties alone, eliminating complex control systems. These heaters maintain precise temperatures by becoming “magnetically invisible” at specific points. Modern implementations use sophisticated alloy combinations and multi-layer designs for unprecedented temperature control in medical sterilization and semiconductor processing.

TRIBOELECTRIC GENERATORS

Continue reading “Strange Engineering Hiding in Plain Sight” | >

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An engineered cardiac patch has been created that incorporates human cells with flexible electronics and a nanocomposite structure to not only replace damaged heart tissue, but also provide remote monitoring, electrical stimulation, and the release of medication on demand. Using electroactive polymers and a combination of biological and engineered parts, the patch contracts and expands just like normal human heart tissue, but regulates those actions with the precision of a finely-tuned machine.

Invented by Professor Tal Dvir and PhD student Ron Feiner of Tel Aviv University (TAU), this new breakthrough medical device is claimed by its creators to have capabilities that surpass those of human tissue alone. As such, this patch may give new hope to people such as those 25 percent on the US national waiting list that may die before a suitable transplant heart becomes available, by effectively offering a way to fix – rather than replace – their own heart.

While a veritable horde of artificial and artificially-grown hearts are on the medical horizon (such as a silicone foam version from Cornell University and Berkeley’s heart grown on a chip), the wait for such things to be fully developed and come to market doesn’t help those facing the prospect of dying in the near future. This is the area where the TAU creation may prove to be the most valuable.

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Researchers have engineered a material that is as soft as skin but remarkably strong.

Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST) team in South Korea has developed an innovative magnetic composite artificial muscle. This new material can adapt its stiffness, transitioning from soft to rigid, and vice versa.

Interestingly, artificial muscle showcases “an impressive ability to withstand loads comparable to those of automobiles.”

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A research team, led by Professor Hoon Eui Jeong from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UNIST has introduced an innovative magnetic composite artificial muscle, showcasing an impressive ability to withstand loads comparable to those of automobiles. This material achieves a stiffness enhancement of more than 2,700 times compared to conventional systems. The study is published in Nature Communications.

Soft artificial muscles, which emulate the fluidity of human muscular motion, have emerged as vital technologies in various fields, including robotics, wearable devices, and . Their inherent flexibility allows for smoother operations; however, traditional materials typically exhibit limitations in rigidity, hindering their ability to lift substantial weights and maintain precise control due to unwanted vibrations.

To overcome these challenges, researchers have employed variable rigid materials that can transition between hard and soft states. Yet, the available range for stiffness modulation has remained constrained, along with inadequate mechanical performance.

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State-of-the-art prosthetic limbs can help people with amputations achieve a natural walking gait, but they don’t give the user full neural control over the limb. Instead, they rely on robotic sensors and controllers that move the limb using predefined gait algorithms.

Using a new type of surgical intervention and neuroprosthetic interface, MIT researchers, in collaboration with colleagues from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, have shown that a natural walking gait is achievable using a prosthetic leg fully driven by the body’s own nervous system. The surgical amputation procedure reconnects muscles in the residual limb, which allows patients to receive “proprioceptive” feedback about where their prosthetic limb is in space.

In a study of seven patients who had this surgery, the MIT team found that they were able to walk faster, avoid obstacles, and climb stairs much more naturally than people with a traditional amputation.

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A key challenge in the effort to link brain activity with behavior is that brain activity, measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), for instance, is extraordinarily complex. That complexity can make it difficult to find recurring activity patterns across different people or within individuals.

In a new study, Yale researchers were able to take fMRI data, reduce its complexity, and in doing so, uncover stable patterns of activity shared across more than 300 different people. The findings, researchers say, are a promising step forward in uncovering biomarkers for psychiatric disorders.

The study was published Sept. 24 in the journal PLOS Biology.

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Michael Levin is a Distinguished Professor in the Biology department at Tufts University and associate faculty at the Wyss Institute for Bioinspired Engineering at Harvard University. @drmichaellevin holds the Vannevar Bush endowed Chair and serves as director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts and the Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology. Prior to college, Michael Levin worked as a software engineer and independent contractor in the field of scientific computing. He attended Tufts University, interested in artificial intelligence and unconventional computation. To explore the algorithms by which the biological world implemented complex adaptive behavior, he got dual B.S. degrees, in CS and in Biology and then received a PhD from Harvard University. He did post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical School, where he began to uncover a new bioelectric language by which cells coordinate their activity during embryogenesis. His independent laboratory develops new molecular-genetic and conceptual tools to probe large-scale information processing in regeneration, embryogenesis, and cancer suppression.

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 — Introduction.
1:41 — Creating High-level General Intelligences.
7:00 — Ethical implications of Diverse Intelligence beyond AI & LLMs.
10:30 — Solving the Fundamental Paradox that faces all Species.
15:00 — Evolution creates Problem Solving Agents & the Self is a Dynamical Construct.
23:00 — Mike on Stephen Grossberg.
26:20 — A Formal Definition of Diverse Intelligence (DI)
30:50 — Intimate relationships with AI? Importance of Cognitive Light Cones.
38:00 — Cyborgs, hybrids, chimeras, & a new concept called “Synthbiosis“
45:51 — Importance of the symbiotic relationship between Science & Philosophy.
53:00 — The Space of Possible Minds.
58:30 — Is Mike Playing God?
1:02:45 — A path forward: through the ethics filter for civilization.
1:09:00 — Mike on Daniel Dennett (RIP)
1:14:02 — An Ethical Synthbiosis that goes beyond “are you real or faking it“
1:25:47 — Conclusion.

EPISODE LINKS:
- Mike’s Round 1: https://youtu.be/v6gp-ORTBlU
- Mike’s Round 2: https://youtu.be/kMxTS7eKkNM
- Mike’s Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@drmichaellevin.
- Mike’s Website: https://drmichaellevin.org/
- Blog Website: https://thoughtforms.life.
- Mike’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/drmichaellevin.
- Mike’s Publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=luouyakAAAAJ&hl=en.
- Mike’s NOEMA piece: https://www.noemamag.com/ai-could-be-a-bridge-toward-diverse-intelligence/
- Stephen Grossberg: https://youtu.be/bcV1eSgByzg.
- Mark Solms: https://youtu.be/rkbeaxjAZm4
- VPRO Roundtable: https://youtu.be/RVrnn7QW6Jg?feature=shared.

CONNECT:
- Website: https://tevinnaidu.com.
- Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/drtevinnaidu.
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu.
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drtevinnaidu.
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtevinnaidu.
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu.

Disclaimer: The information provided on this channel is for educational purposes only. The content is shared in the spirit of open discourse and does not constitute, nor does it substitute, professional or medical advice. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred from you acting or not acting as a result of listening/watching any of our contents. You acknowledge that you use the information provided at your own risk. Listeners/viewers are advised to conduct their own research and consult with their own experts in the respective fields.

#MichaelLevin #DiverseIntelligence #AI #Mind

Continue reading “Michael Levin: What is Synthbiosis? Diverse Intelligence Beyond AI & The Space of Possible Minds” | >

Duke University engineers are layering atom-thick lattices of carbon with polymers to create unique materials with a broad range of applications, including artificial muscles.

The lattice, known as graphene, is made of pure carbon and appears under magnification like chicken wire. Because of its unique optical, electrical, and mechanical properties, graphene is used in electronics, energy storage, composite materials, and biomedicine.

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