May 2013
28 posts
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Teen's invention could charge your phone in 20... →
Waiting hours for a cellphone to charge may become a thing of the past, thanks to an 18-year-old high-school student’s invention.
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Researchers successfully convert human skin cells... →
Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University and the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) have successfully reprogrammed human skin cells to become embryonic stem cells capable of transforming into any other cell type in the body. It is believed that stem cell therapies hold the promise of replacing cells damaged through injury or illness. Diseases or conditions that might be...
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New NASA base shapes the future of green building... →
The new NASA Sustainability Base was designed by William McDonough + Partners to embody the spirit of NASA while fostering collaboration, supporting health and well-being, and exceed the requirements of LEED® Platinum with systems that will eventually use only renewable energy and closed-loop water maintenance facilities. An exoskeleton approach provides for structural stability during seismic...
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Silver nanoparticles provide clean water for $2 a... →
An aluminium water filter embedded with silver nanoparticles is being tested in India in the hope of reducing waterborne diseases.
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The brain as a model for future supercomputers →
A Sandia National Laboratories-supported workshop in Albuquerque called NICE, for Neuro-Inspired Computational Elements workshop, discussed ways to use the brain’s superior ability to send electrical signals along massively parallel channels, with multiple intersections at downstream nodes, to handle rapidly changing, high-volume information.
The hope is that rather than using the limited...
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Come on, get happy, and crank up the music, say... →
You really can convince yourself to be happier, especially if you’re listening to an upbeat song while doing so.
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3D printed ear binds biology with electronics →
Using 3D printing tools, scientists have created a functional ear that can “hear” radio frequencies far beyond the range of normal human capability.
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Scientists develop drug that slows Alzheimer's in... →
A drug developed by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, known as J147, reverses memory deficits and slows Alzheimer’s disease in aged mice following short-term treatment. The findings, published May 14 in the journal Alzheimer’s Research and Therapy, may pave the way to a new treatment.
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New closed-captioning glasses help deaf go to the... →
This is a big moment for the deaf, many of whom haven’t been to the movies in a long time. The new glasses display closed captions just for the wearer, and they’re headed for 6,000 theaters across the country.
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What does it mean to be posthuman? →
Bioscience and medical technology are propelling us beyond the old human limits. Are Extremes and The Posthuman good guides to this frontier?
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Engineering the $325,000 in-vitro burger →
A researcher in the Netherlands wants to show the world — including potential donors — that in-vitro meat is a reality.
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Woman stuns researchers by overcoming cancer with... →
While expensive cancer drugs linked to premature death and mega-tumors are pushed by many mainstream doctors as the only option outside of chemotherapy, a growing number of informed individuals are consistently opting to instead utilize natural methods that are known to conquer cancer cells and effectively negate the disease — without harsh side effects. One such person, Vicky Stewart of Britain,...
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Man finds out his runny nose was actually a leaky... →
A man who experienced a nearly constant runny nose was actually leaking brain fluid through his nostrils, according to Fox 10 News.
Joe Nagy of Arizona had suffered from a seemingly endless runny nose. Doctors figured it was just a bad case of allergies, but Nagy’s symptoms were unaffected by medications.
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So much win: People are now printing their own... →
3D Printed Robohand creates a functioning prosthetic at an affordable price.
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Seeds of dementia: What do Alzheimer's,... →
A chain reaction of toxic proteins may help explain Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other killers—an insight that could lead to desperately needed new treatment options
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New sleep mask can effortlessly induce lucid... →
Instead of spending months learning how to lucid dream, take advantage of this great way to start dreaming consciously.
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Mind-blowing ad has a secret anti-abuse message... →
In an effort to provide abused children with a safe way to reach out for help, a Spanish organization called the Aid to Children and Adolescents at Risk Foundation, or ANAR for short, created an ad that displays a different message for adults and children at the same time.
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Human brain cells developed in lab, grow in mice →
A key type of human brain cell developed in the laboratory grows seamlessly when transplanted into the brains of mice, researchers have discovered, raising hope that these cells might one day be used to treat people with Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, and possibly even Alzheimer’s disease, as well as and complications of spinal cord injury such as chronic pain and spasticity.
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Gray hair and vitiligo amazingly reversed at the... →
Hair dye manufacturers are on notice: The cure for gray hair is coming. That’s right, the need to cover up one of the classic signs of aging with chemical pigments will be a thing of the past thanks to a team of European researchers. In a new research report published online in The FASEB Journal people who are going gray develop massive oxidative stress via accumulation of hydrogen...
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5 viral videos that will inspire you to a greater... →
My favorite clips to share, like the pinnacle of any art form, inspire their audience to a greater vision of life — a vision of what’s possible that they might not have had before.
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Physical by smartphone becoming real possibility →
It’s not a ‘Star Trek’ tricorder, but by hooking a variety of gadgets onto a smartphone you could almost get a complete physical - without the paper gown or even a visit to the doctor’s office.
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Fascinating link discovered between poor sense of... →
Losing the sense of smell might be the first indication of dementia.
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Scientists invent particles that let you live... →
This may seem like something out of a science fiction movie: researchers have designed microparticles that can be injected directly into the bloodstream to quickly oxygenate your body, even if you can’t breathe anymore. It’s one of the best medical breakthroughs in recent years, and one that could save millions of lives every year.
April 2013
32 posts
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The neuroscientific wonder of the mind at rest →
Neuroscientists are trying to work out why the brain does so much when it seems to be doing nothing at all.
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3D printer makes tiniest human liver ever →
Lab-grown livers have come a step closer to reality thanks to a 3D printer loaded with cells (see video). Created by Organovo in San Diego, California, future versions of the system could produce chunks of liver for transplant.
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Study finds Google can be used to predict stock... →
Anxious Google searches precede market declines.
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How Ray Kurzweil will help Google make the... →
On Tuesday, Kurzweil moderated a live Google hangout tied to a release of the upcoming Will Smith film, “After Earth,” presumably tying the film’s futuristic concept to actual futurists. The discussion touched on the necessity of space travel and the imminent resolution of the world’s energy problems with solar power. After the hangout, Kurzweil got on the phone with me to explore a few issues in...
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Bringing people back from the dead →
A doctor says people can be revived several hours after they have seemingly died. Should this change the way we think about death?
“Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that...”
– Virginia Woolf
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Researchers use Moore's Law to calculate that life... →
Geneticists Richard Gordon of the Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory in Florida and Alexei Sharov of the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore have proposed, in a paper uploaded to the preprint server arXiv, that if the evolution of life follows Moore’s Law, then it predates the existence of planet Earth.
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Your odds of becoming an astronaut are going up →
When asked what they want to be when they grow up, many little girls and boys say ‘Astronaut.’ Probably a few adults would say the same. Wired wanted to take a look at the many new ways that you can try your hand at becoming one of the lucky adventurers in space and try calculating your chances of becoming an astronaut with each one.
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Team finds antibody that transforms bone marrow... →
In a serendipitous discovery, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found a way to turn bone marrow stem cells directly into brain cells.
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3 awesome and inspiring inventions from the White... →
The nation’s premier young brainiacs were honored today at the annual White House Science Fair. Every spring, the White House invites children to show off life-changing innovations that have mostly been constructed in MacGyver-like fashion from commercially available materials. Even though I cover this story every year, it’s hard not to be inspired by brilliant young kids motivated to tackle the...
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Why traveling abroad makes us more creative →
This pair of studies suggests that even minimal cues of psychological distance can make us more creative. Although the geographical origin of the various tasks was completely irrelevant – it shouldn’t have mattered where the questions came from – simply telling subjects that they came from somewhere far away led to more creative thoughts.
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Need a job? Invent it →
Finding a job is so 20th century. That is why young people today need to be more “innovation ready” than “college ready.”
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Extroverts and introverts, make way for the... →
A new study shows that personality isn’t a two-party act and never has been.
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Ordinary skin cells morphed into functional brain... →
Researchers at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine have discovered a technique that directly converts skin cells to the type of brain cells destroyed in patients with multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and other so-called myelin disorders.
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Lost your keys? Your cat? The brain can rapidly... →
A contact lens on the bathroom floor, an escaped hamster in the backyard, a car key in a bed of gravel: How are we able to focus so sharply to find that proverbial needle in a haystack? Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have discovered that when we embark on a targeted search, various visual and non-visual regions of the brain mobilize to track down a person, animal or thing.
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Stem cell transplant restores memory, learning in... →
For the first time, human embryonic stem cells have been transformed into nerve cells that helped mice regain the ability to learn and remember.
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News is bad for you; inhibits creativity and deep... →
News is bad for you. It leads to fear and aggression. It hinders your creativity and makes you sick. We should stop consuming it, says Rolf Dobelli, who’s abstained for years.
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The human body as you know it is over
Here is what happens.
Humans invent technology.
Then technology re-invents humans.
According to NewScientist, most humans were pretty lousy at using hand tools when they were first invented 1.7 million years ago.
The reason: primitive wrists that were “good for hanging from branches, but too weak to grasp and handle small objects with much force.”
But by 800,000 years ago,...
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3 new planets could host life, scientists say
In the midst of chaos here on Earth, scientists are finding hope for life on other planets.
Scientists announced Thursday the discovery of three planets that are some of the best candidates so far for habitable worlds outside our own solar system — and they’re very far away.
NASA’s Kepler satellite, which is keeping an eye on more than 150,000 stars in hopes of identifying...
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Common pain med Tylenol found to reduce anxiety...
Researchers at the University of British Columbia say they’ve discovered yet another use for Tylenol besides breaking a fever and relieving pain: Reducing anxiety associated with “thoughts of existential uncertainty and death.”
Published in the journal Psychological Science, the research involved a double-blind study in which several groups of participants were given either...
