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Optogenetic approaches are widely used to manipulate neural activity and assess the consequences for brain function. Here, a technique is outlined that upon in vivo expression of the optical activator Channelrhodopsin, allows for ex vivo analysis of synaptic properties of specific long range and local neural connections in fear-related circuits.

Scientist or not, we’re all familiar with X-ray imaging and perhaps its 3D cousin, computed tomography (CT), as well. These platforms are great for looking at bone and dense tissue—to see if there’s a fracture, or maybe a mass in the lung where it shouldn’t be—whereas molecular resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasonography are the go-to modalities for interrogating softer tissue, like muscle. And for knowing what is happening in the body—as opposed to just where something is—nuclear tracer technologies like positron emission tomography (PET), and to a lesser extent its cousin single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), are the way to go.

These self-same modalities can be found in more diminutive instrumentation for pre-clinical imaging—often equipped with heated beds or chambers, anesthesia and oxygen supplies, and other modifications—specifically designed for small animals. If you also consider instruments capable of optical modalities of fluorescence, bioluminescence and their derivatives—which generally don’t easily translate to the clinic—you find yourself awash in possibilities for in vivo imaging.

Nanoprobes were microscopic robotic devices used by the Borg for the primary purpose of assimilation, as well as to help maintenance and even repair their mechanical and biological components on a microscopic level. Injected into a target’s bloodstream via assimilation tubules, the nanoprobes immediately began to take over the host cells’ functions. Nanoprobes could also be modified for a variety of medical and technical tasks.

A police board meeting escalated when Detroit cops tackled a police commissioner to the ground and arrested him at a heated hearing where protesters demonstrated against the city’s controversial facial recognition scheme.

Commissioner Willie Burton was annoyed that the Board of Police Commissioners had held secret, closed door meetings that he and the public were not allowed to attend during which an expansion of the facial recognition scheme was planned, Metro Times reports.