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By strategically straining materials that are as thin as a single layer of atoms, University of Rochester scientists have developed a new form of computing memory that is at once fast, dense, and low-power. The researchers outline their new hybrid resistive switches in a study published in Nature Electronics.

Developed in the lab of Stephen M. Wu, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and of physics, the approach marries the best qualities of two existing forms of resistive switches used for memory: memristors and phase-change materials. Both forms have been explored for their advantages over today’s most prevalent forms of memory, including dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and flash memory, but they have their drawbacks.

Wu says that memristors, which apply voltage to a thin filament between two electrodes, tend to suffer from a relative lack of reliability compared to other forms of memory. Meanwhile, phase-change materials, which involve selectively melting a material into either an amorphous state or a crystalline state, require too much power.

Summary: Researchers used AI to select and generate images for studying brain’s visual processing. Functional MRI (fMRI) recorded heightened brain activity in response to these images, surpassing control images.

The approach enabled tuning visual models to individual responses, enhancing the study of brain’s reaction to visual stimuli. This method, offering an unbiased, systematic view of visual processing, could revolutionize neuroscience and therapeutic approaches.

Consciousness is probably the most perplexing mystery in all of science, and right now there is no consensus among neuroscientists about how the brain produc…

Shared with Dropbox.

Shared with Dropbox.

A recent study published in Nature discusses the confirmation of an exoplanetary system based on data collected in 2020. The system, known as HD 110,067, possesses six planets whose orbits are in resonance with each other, or “in sync”, meaning which could offer profound insights into the formation and evolution of planetary systems throughout the cosmos. All the planets exhibit sizes between Earth and Neptune, also known as sub-Neptunes, and was conducted by an international team of researchers using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the European Space Agency’s CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (Cheops).

Artist illustration of the planets within the HD 110,067 system exhibiting orbital resonances with the colored lines depicting their resonances with each other. (Credit: CC BY-NC-SA, Thibaut Roger/NCCR PlanetS)

“This discovery is going to become a benchmark system to study how sub-Neptunes, the most common type of planets outside of the solar system, form, evolve, what are they made of, and if they possess the right conditions to support the existence of liquid water in their surfaces,” said Dr. Rafael Luque, who is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago and lead author of the study.

Are robots made from frog cells (Xenopus laevis).

Scientists have developed tiny robots made of human cells that are able to repair damaged neural tissue¹. The ‘anthrobots’ were made using human tracheal cells and might, in future, be used in personalized medicine.

Developmental biologist Michael Levin at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, and his colleagues had previously developed tiny robots using clumps of embryonic frog cells. But the medical applications of these ‘xenobots’ were limited, because they weren’t derived from human cells and because they had to be manually carved into the desired shape. The researchers have now developed self-assembling anthrobots and are investigating their therapeutic potential using human tissue grown in the laboratory. They published their findings in Advanced Science.

Continue reading “Tiny robots made from human cells heal damaged tissue” »

The new contest aims to spur innovation into longer ‘healthspans’ with treatments that can actually reverse age-related degradation in body, mind and immune system.

How many fundamental forces are there in our universe? For particle physicists, answering this question can be tricky.

Of course, there’s the force of gravity, which keeps us from floating out of our seats. There’s also the strong nuclear force, which glues the nuclei of our atoms together. Then there’s the electromagnetic force, which is where we get electric currents and magnetic fields. And there’s the weak nuclear force, which mediates radioactive decay.

We’re up to four forces, right?