Toggle light / dark theme

Autism has diverse genetic causes, most of which are still unknown. About 1 percent of people with autism are missing a gene called Shank3, which is critical for brain development. Without this gene, individuals develop typical autism symptoms including repetitive behavior and avoidance of social interactions.

In a study of mice, MIT researchers have now shown that they can reverse some of those behavioral symptoms by turning the gene back on later in life, allowing the brain to properly rewire itself.

“This suggests that even in the adult brain we have profound plasticity to some degree,” says Guoping Feng, an MIT professor of brain and cognitive sciences. “There is more and more evidence showing that some of the defects are indeed reversible, giving hope that we can develop treatment for autistic patients in the future.”

Read more

TED curator Chris Anderson just announced the world’s biggest speaking fee — a $4.5m (£3.1m) cheque to be awarded to a speaker at the 2020 TED conference. There’s just one catch: the speaker must be an artificial intelligence, which convinces the audience that it has mastered the art of the 18-minute TED talk.

The IBM Watson AI X Prize, announced on Wednesday at the TED conference in Vancouver, will offer $4.5 million to the team that develops an artificial intelligence showing “how humans can collaborate with powerful cognitive technologies to tackle some of the world’s grand challenges”.

Peter Diamandis, chairman of the X Prize Foundation, said the winner would be chosen by the TED audience in 2020, when three finalists — either AIs or AI human partnerships — “come on stage to deliver jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring TED talks”.

Read more

Well, US is failing on building a competitive waiter to go up against China’s version.


America is getting crushed by China. Not in trade or weapons or any of those things that don’t matter. We’re losing the war of the Roseys. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the new robot above, serving up deliciousness at a farmhouse restaurant in Sanmenxia, China.

Or look at this December photo of Tete, a robot in Qingdao, China. Tete can communicate over 200 words and has no trouble delivering dishes.

Read more

And, who said Transformers were only in movies — think again.


A shape-shifting robot could work alongside human troops to bring military capabilities to the next level. The unmanned ground vehicle developed by Estonian defence company Milrem has an adaptable build, so components can be swapped out to suit the needs of different missions

A shape-shifting robot could work alongside human troops to bring military capabilities to the next level. The unmanned ground vehicle developed by Estonian defence company Milrem has an adaptable build, so components can be swapped out to suit the needs of different missions.

Meet the Nikkei Magic Man.


On the 10th day of every month, Junsuke Senoguchi has just one thing on his mind: the closing level of the Nikkei average.

That is because Senoguchi, an unassuming man in his late 40s, has built a machine that has been predicting the direction of Japanese shares, and once a month he gets a progress report on its success. The model makes a simple call — whether the equity index will be higher or lower after 30 days — and over almost four years it has been right 68 percent of the time.

“I’m so happy” when it works, said Senoguchi, a senior equity strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. in Tokyo. “It’s because I feel I can predict the future.”

Read more