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Jan 21, 2016
Great Progress In Treating Multiple Sclerosis With Stem Cell Therapy
Posted by Robert James Powles in category: biotech/medical
A transplantation procedure to treat multiple sclerosis using a patient’s own stem cells has shown impressive results
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex autoimmune disorder in which myelin, the protective sheath around nerve fibres, begins to get degraded. Progressive inflammation and scarring results in permanent nerve damage which can eventually lead to severe disability. While there has been progress in controlling the disease, no cure currently exists.
Jan 21, 2016
Realistic artificial intelligence can make games – or break them
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: entertainment, robotics/AI, virtual reality
Interesting; especially how AI is leveraged for enhancing games which does make perfect sense from a pattern recognition and improvement standpoint.
As Central Florida’s video game community enters the virtual reality era, specialists and artists who can create fantasy worlds will be in higher demand here.
Video games often try to transport players to a virtual world, whether it’s a land of wooden zombies or a virtual representation of the Amway Center.
Continue reading “Realistic artificial intelligence can make games – or break them” »
Jan 21, 2016
Now a robot can serve coffee to your hotel room
Posted by Karen Hurst in category: robotics/AI
The perfect cup of coffee each morning.
Created by Californian company Savioke, Relay has made 11,000 guest deliveries at five hotel brands. Its cargo? Starbucks coffee.
Jan 21, 2016
Memory capacity of brain is 10 times more than previously thought
Posted by Montie Adkins in categories: bioengineering, computing, neuroscience
In a computational reconstruction of brain tissue in the hippocampus, Salk and UT-Austin scientists found the unusual occurrence of two synapses from the axon of one neuron (translucent black strip) forming onto two spines on the same dendrite of a second neuron (yellow). Separate terminals from one neuron’s axon are shown in synaptic contact with two spines (arrows) on the same dendrite of a second neuron in the hippocampus. The spine head volumes, synaptic contact areas (red), neck diameters (gray) and number of presynaptic vesicles (white spheres) of these two synapses are almost identical. (credit: Salk Institute)
Salk researchers and collaborators have achieved critical insight into the size of neural connections, putting the memory capacity of the brain far higher than common estimates. The new work also answers a longstanding question as to how the brain is so energy efficient, and could help engineers build computers that are incredibly powerful but also conserve energy.
Continue reading “Memory capacity of brain is 10 times more than previously thought” »
Jan 21, 2016
Here come the robots: Davos bosses brace for big technology shocks
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: 3D printing, biotech/medical, internet, mobile phones, robotics/AI
Leaders at Davos are bracing for huge technology shocks.
Implantable mobile phones. 3D-printed organs for transplant. Clothes and reading-glasses connected to the Internet.
Jan 21, 2016
Scientist dismisses Stephen Hawking’s doomsday predictions
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: existential risks, robotics/AI
Yuste v. Hawkins — battle of the brains.
Renowned neuroscientist Rafael Yuste on Wednesday dismissed the latest doomsday predictions of Stephen Hawking, saying the British astrophysicist “doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
In a recent lecture in London, Hawking indicated that advances in science and technology will lead to “new ways things can go wrong,” especially in the field of artificial intelligence.
Yuste, a Columbia University neuroscience professor, was less pessimistic. “We don’t have enough knowledge to be able to say such things,” he told Radio Cooperativa in Santiago, Chile.
Jan 21, 2016
Five Couples Tied The Knot at a Chinese Robot Factory
Posted by Karen Hurst in category: robotics/AI
A robot wedding.
Five couples sealed the deal at a robot factory in Shenyang, Liaoning Province of China, in one of the most unique wedding venues in recent news.
On Wednesday, robots of all forms serviced the entire wedding for the couples and guests alike. Some robots were merely appendages, holding candles out along the aisle. Others had a more humanoid form with bright, pixilated smiles. These robots served wine and greeted guests at the door. A few special ones even served as ring-bearers or flower girls.
Jan 21, 2016
Buckingham Palace And Great Barrier Reef Now In VR
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: habitats, virtual reality
I cannot wait until I finally equip my home theater with a VR experience — imagine watching a Terminator Movie “Terminator 3 rise of the machines” — it would be scary.
Google released a couple of virtual reality tour locations for its Expeditions Pioneer Program which are Buckingham Palace and the Great Barrier Reef.
