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Oct 8, 2023

To Heal a Wound

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Skin wounds that don’t heal properly can lead to dangerous, painful infections. Taking care of injured skin can help prevent problems.

Oct 8, 2023

Tesla is building something called ‘Giga Water Loop’

Posted by in category: sustainability

Tesla is planning to build something called “Giga Water Loop” just outside of Gigafactory Texas in Austin.

But we are not sure what it is.

Gigafatory Texas is arguably Tesla’s most ambitious manufacturing project to date, and that’s saying a lot because the company has many ambitious manufacturing projects.

Oct 8, 2023

Brain scans hint that lonely individuals process the world differently

Posted by in category: neuroscience

A study finds that the brains of people who score higher in loneliness react in unique ways when viewing video content.

Oct 8, 2023

Flexible brain implant tested in people for the first time

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Startup Precision Neuroscience has tested its flexible, ultra-thin brain implants in people for the first time.

Oct 8, 2023

AIs accurately predicted path of Hurricane Lee a week out

Posted by in categories: climatology, physics, robotics/AI, supercomputing

To make its weather predictions, it analyzes 60 million daily observations from satellite, aircraft, and ground-based reports, using what we know about atmospheric physics to determine what the weather is likely to be like across the globe over the next 15 days.

This can literally save lives — if people know in advance that hurricanes or winter storms are heading their way, they can take action to prepare — but because the model is so complex, it must be run on a supercomputer over the course of several hours, which also makes it expensive.

The AIs: AI-based weather forecasting models are starting to catch up with traditional ones, like the European Model.

Oct 8, 2023

Reflecting sunlight to cool the planet will cause other global changes

Posted by in category: engineering

MIT researchers find that extratropical storm tracks would change significantly with solar geoengineering efforts.

Oct 8, 2023

Is human uncertainty the key to improving AI?

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

AI systems assume humans are always certain. Teaching them to anticipate and understand uncertainty may be key to limiting human error.

Oct 8, 2023

Brain-computer interfaces could let soldiers control weapons with their thoughts

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, robotics/AI

Imagine that a soldier has a tiny computer device injected into their bloodstream that can be guided with a magnet to specific regions of their brain. With training, the soldier could then control weapon systems thousands of miles away using their thoughts alone. Embedding a similar type of computer in a soldier’s brain could suppress their fear and anxiety, allowing them to carry out combat missions more efficiently. Going one step further, a device equipped with an artificial intelligence system could directly control a soldier’s behavior by predicting what options they would choose in their current situation.

While these examples may sound like science fiction, the science to develop neurotechnologies like these is already in development. Brain-computer interfaces, or BCI, are technologies that decode and transmit brain signals to an external device to carry out a desired action. Basically, a user would only need to think about what they want to do, and a computer would do it for them.

BCIs are currently being tested in people with severe neuromuscular disorders to help them recover everyday functions like communication and mobility. For example, patients can turn on a light switch by visualizing the action and having a BCI decode their brain signals and transmit it to the switch. Likewise, patients can focus on specific letters, words or phrases on a computer screen that a BCI can move a cursor to select.

Oct 8, 2023

Scientists discovered a third kind of brain cell. The implications are “immense.”

Posted by in category: neuroscience

A newly discovered brain cell that appears to be a hybrid of the two other primary types could shake up the world of neuroscience.

Oct 8, 2023

Rare mutation may counteract “Alzheimer’s gene”

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, neuroscience

The challenge: There are very few ways to slow down Alzheimer’s disease or treat its symptoms, and there’s no cure — in 2021, nearly 120,000 Americans died from Alzheimer’s complications, making it one of the top 10 leading causes of death.

One genetic variant in particular — called APOE-e4 — is strongly tied to the brain disease. Having one copy makes a person 2–3 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s, while having two copies (one from each parent) increases the risk by 8–12 times.