Lifeboat Foundation

Brain computer interfaces (BCIs) promise to allow communication between brains and computer devices. The “Brain Talker” is a new model that looks set to make the technology go mainstream.

Atomic BECs were first achieved in 1995. Although it has become easier to realize atomic BECs since their discovery, they still require very low temperatures for operation. For most purposes, this is too expensive and impractical. Alternatively, negatively charged quatrons are quasi-particles composed of a hole and three electrons which form a stable BEC when coupled to light in triple quantum layer structures in semiconductor microcavities. This allows for both the greater experimental control found in quantum optics, and the benefits of matter wave systems, such as superconductivity and coherence. Moreover, due to the extremely small effective mass of the quasi-particles, quatrons can be used to achieve superconducting BECs at room temperature.

The Create the Future Design Contest was launched in 2002 by the publishers of NASA Tech Briefs magazine to help stimulate and reward engineering innovation. The annual event has attracted more than 8,000 product design ideas from engineers, entrepreneurs, and students worldwide.

Yoga and meditation isn’t just good for your mind and body, it’s good for your DNA, too!

By Sam Wong

Carbon nanotubes have turned up in the lungs of children living in Paris – the first time they have been detected in humans.

Incredibly strong, light and conductive, nanotubes have shown great potential in areas such as computing, clothing and healthcare technology. Nevertheless, there has been some concern over their use after mouse studies showed that injected nanotubes can cause immune reactions similar to those produced by asbestos.

Continue reading “Carbon nanotubes found in children’s lungs for the first time” »

When Elon Musk and DARPA both hop aboard the cyborg hypetrain, you know brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) are about to achieve the impossible.

BMIs, already the stuff of science fiction, facilitate crosstalk between biological wetware with external computers, turning human users into literal cyborgs. Yet mind-controlled robotic arms, microelectrode “nerve patches”, or “memory Band-AIDS” are still purely experimental medical treatments for those with nervous system impairments.

With the Next-Generation Nonsurgical Neurotechnology (N3) program, DARPA is looking to expand BMIs to the military. This month, the project tapped six academic teams to engineer radically different BMIs to hook up machines to the brains of able-bodied soldiers. The goal is to ditch surgery altogether—while minimizing any biological interventions—to link up brain and machine.

Continue reading “DARPA’s New Project Is Investing Millions in Brain-Machine Interface Tech” »

(ECNS) — The Chinese team that constructed the world’s first ear in a lab and grafted it onto a patient last year has made new progress by developing injectable cartilage that can be used in human tissue repair and plastic surgery.

The regeneration technique involves taking a small part of cartilage tissue from behind the ear of a patient, culturing seed cells in the lab and reproducing cells in a sufficient amount to fill a biodegradable mould made by 3D-printing.

Professor Cao Yilin, director of National Tissue Engineering Research Center, said it marks a breakthrough from previous technology as the cultured cells can be injected into a patient’s body parts like the nose and chin where they continue to develop into normal tissue, a minimally invasive treatment similar to natural growth.

Continue reading “Chinese scientists make breakthrough in injectable cartilage” »

Sorry, Planet McPlanetface: Asteroids, moons and other celestial bodies go through a strict set of international naming guidelines.

A nanotechnology treatment derived from bone marrow stem cells has reversed multiple sclerosis symptoms in mice and could eventually be used to help humans, according to a new study led by University of California, Irvine researchers.

The development of new cancer immunotherapies including checkpoint blockade and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy has revolutionized cancer treatment. CAR T cells have shown tremendous success in certain B cell malignancies, resulting in U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of this approach for certain types of leukemia and lymphoma. However, response rates against solid cancer have been less successful to date. Approaches to modulate the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment including targeting checkpoint pathways, modulating metabolic pathways, and generating cytokine-producing T cells have led to considerable enhancement of adoptive T cell immunotherapy, first in preclinical models and now in patients.