by Aaron Saenz on March 17th, 2010
Mark Roth gave a great talk at TED describing how hydrogen sulfide may be the key to putting humans into suspended animation.
As anyone who reads science fiction will tell you, suspended animation is where your body is put into a state of preservation, not really living, but not dead either. It’s like a chemically induced version of hibernation, and it could help you stay alive on the way to a hospital after getting seriously hurt. Mark Roth was part of a larger DARPA initiative to extend soldier survivability after injury on the battlefield. From that research, Roth discovered that hydrogen sulfide (H2S), in small quantities, would put mammals in what was essentially a state of suspended animation. Hydrogen sulfide is toxic (it was used in chemical warfare in WWI) but in the right doses it can actively bond to oxygen receptors in your body. Replacing the need for oxygen allows mammals to lower their metabolic rates to absurdly low levels, but once the H2S is removed animals recover without any nasty side effects. Roth has found then what seems to be the perfect formula for keeping people alive after trauma. His newly formed company, Ikaria, is currently in phase II clinical trials for a liquid hydrogen sulfide product. In just a few years, suspended animation may be a common tool in hospitals and trauma centers all over the world. It almost sounds too incredible to believe. Watch Roth give an enthusiastic and really enjoyable talk at TED 2010 in the video below that explains his work and its amazing potential.
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by Aaron Saenz on March 17th, 2010
Inside this fMRI machine a test subject in Kyoto is having his mind read to determine which image he sees.
If you had to nominate one modern technology as a mind reading device, the fMRI looks like a good bet. By measuring blood flow fMRI can track activity in your brain, and this opens the window to your mind – it may even allow us to figure out what your eyes are seeing at any given moment. The ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan is able to show a geometric pattern to a test subject and then have a computer program recreate that image by analyzing brain activity gathered by fMRI (NIPS 2009). Scientists at UC Berkeley have used fMRI to study the visual cortex to encode images as brain activity and decode brain activity into images. In other words, for a given image they know how your brain will react, and for a given brain reaction they know the image that would cause it. Researchers at UCB have even managed to do the same with video – their decoding system can create a rough facsimile of what a subject was watching at the time. This is incredible! I had a chance to talk with Jack Gallant of UC Berkeley about these attempts to see what the brain sees. While this technology is still in its very early stages, the work already finished is truly astounding. Check out a video discussing ATR, and pics of research from UCB after the break.
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by Michael Bennett Cohn on March 17th, 2010
QR Stuff makes it easy to place a matrix code where anyone can scan it: on your chest.
Matrix codes are like bar codes on steroids. To the naked eye, they look deceptively like a series of dots in a rectangular pattern. They’re being used by Japanese companies to identify buildings, by zany German engineers to greet the world via Google Earth using crop circles, and in augmented reality, to tell the viewing device how to create the imaginary object in the user’s field of vision. But one of the most exciting applications is individual users’ ability to encode URLs or other information of their own choosing into articles of clothing. QR Stuff, for example, allows the user to generate a code indicating a personal URL (say, a blog, or a Facebook profile), and print it on a t-shirt. When a code-savvy stranger recognizes that you’re wearing a matrix code, they can take a picture of it with their phone and translate it into the related URL with a free app like NeoReader. You could have a whole wardrobe of augmented clothing; some days you wear a shirt that indicates your Facebook profile, and some days it’s your Twitter page. The services are (mostly) free, and the code is (mostly) in the public domain. The only thing you have to pay for is the shirt.
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by Aaron Saenz on March 16th, 2010
Justin Bieber rose quickly from YouTube to world wide fame due to the strength of his talent and accelerating media. Others are sure to follow faster and faster.
Two years ago almost no one knew who he was, now he’s had an ongoing run of Top 40 hits, a platinum album, and a throng of adoring teenage fans. Justin Bieber is the 16 year old poster-child for the modern version of a meteoric rise to fame. He was discovered from his videos on YouTube, and his managers helped him build a rabid radio, internet, and video following. His first album went on sale in November 2009 and went platinum just two months later. By Christmas, he was singing for the Obamas at the White House on national television. The thing is, Bieber’s story may be remarkable now, but it won’t be for long. Besides his considerable talent, the pop star was the beneficiary of some powerful trends: the viral nature of YouTube videos, the ability for memes to spread rapidly through social networking, and the self-referencing and amplifying attention of the major media. We’ve seen rises to fame before but the speed at which they happen are accelerating. The forces that turn an unknown into a celebrity have strengthened in the past decade, and will continue to swell in the years ahead. Other performers that can tap into these powers will experience the same sort of exponential rise in fame. In other words, ladies and gentleman, the Biebers are coming.
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by Peniel M. Dimberu on March 16th, 2010
Professor Ross King with robot scientist Adam. Although the cost and large size of the robot makes it impractical to have one in every laboratory, both factors should decrease over time. Remember how the very first computers could fill an entire room?
When it comes to being a scientist, Adam is quite the standout. No, he is not a Nobel Prize Laureate or even a prodigy. He’s more like a prototype – the first robot to design, perform, and interpret a series of scientific experiments leading to a new discovery. As anyone who has taken a high school science class can confirm, taking detailed notes is an integral part of doing science. Unfortunately, this is one area where even the most dedicated scientists can fall short. Unless of course that scientist is a robot that can record the experiments as they are being performed. As if the development of an autonomous robot with a knack for science wasn’t impressive enough, Adam quickly wowed his creators by solving a yeast genetics puzzle that had baffled researchers for decades! And it’s not difficult to imagine the advantages of a robot scientist in the laboratory. Adam and his counterparts will significantly increase the rates at which important advancements are made, inching us closer to the time when robots are more our colleagues than our tools. Check out the video below to see Adam carrying out a typical experiment.
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by Steven Wasick on March 16th, 2010
It looks like a Star Wars torture device, but the DaVinci is a world class surgical robot.
Robotic surgery is experiencing explosive growth in America’s operating rooms, and the unquestioned industry leader in this field is the DaVinci robot, made by Intuitive Surgical. How pervasive has this robot become? Put it this way, only 14% of prostate surgeries in the US last year took place not using the DaVinci. It has grown from 210 systems seven years ago to 1,395 today. Although typically used for smaller surgeries like prostate removal and hysterectomies, it was recently used for a kidney transplant, and more complicated procedures are expected in the future. The DaVinci is really just the first wave of robotic surgery as technology continues to push clumsy human hands out of the operating room.
Although the business end bears a disquieting resemblance to the torture probe in Star Wars, robot surgery is pretty amazing to watch. There’s a TED talk about the DaVinci from a year ago; it’s worth looking at again (after the jump).
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by Aaron Saenz on March 15th, 2010
Worth1000's robot animal Photoshop contest gives new meaning to "iron horse".
The Internet loves animals, and it loves photoshop. Worth1000.com decided to harness that double love and start a Photoshop contest to see who could create the coolest robotic animals on the web. Artists took pictures of real animals and filled them with images of gears, wires, and electronic gizmos. The results look pretty amazing. There are cybernetic reptiles, android mammals, and even a robot chicken. Take a good look at some of these cool robot-animal pics below; we’ve got tons and there are many more on the Worth1000 website.
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by Aaron Saenz on March 15th, 2010
Hans Keirstead is the scientists behind the first embryonic stem cell clinical trial in the US. He explains the hurdles that research faces to becoming a viable medical therapy.
Hans Keirstead used embryonic stem cells to help paralyzed rats walk again. His research is the basis for the first FDA approved clinical trial for the use of embryonic stem cells (ESC) - currently underway by Geron and aimed at treating spinal cord injuries. After years of controversy in the first part of the decade, ESC trials have finally started on the path that may let them deliver on the vast promises of stem cell enabled medicine. Yet we have already seen how autologous stem cell therapies (those which use a patient’s own cells) are becoming available in the U.S and all over the world. Why the hold up on ESC treatments? Autologous therapies are part of the medical practice of individual doctors, given to their individual patients. Geron’s clinical trials hope to usher in a new wave of globally used drugs and procedures. The rigorous science needed to obtain FDA approval for such widespread treatments is not easily achieved, but many still lament the slow process. To all of us wondering why ESCs are not yet available in every hospital across the world, Hans Keirstead has an explanation. He doesn’t make an impassioned plea, or take a rhetorically defensive stance. In just 5 minutes Keirstead walks us through the fundamental hurdles that scientists face as they try to bring ESC therapies to fruition. Everyone who wants an intellectual and scientific explanation of stem cell research should watch the video below.
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by Aaron Saenz on March 15th, 2010
The W PhoneWatch has all your mobile needs in a tiny wrist mounted package. Not very practical, but completely awesome looking.
I geeked out this past summer when I saw LG’s cool watch phone. Sadly, it was only available in the UK. Well someone at Kempler & Strauss must have heard my jealous pleas, because they’re selling their own watch phone here in the US and around the world. The W PhoneWatch has a 1.5 inch touchscreen with a respectable 128×128 resolution, a camera with MPEG4 video capabilities (128×104), built-in MP3 player, and a modest price tag: $199. Best of all, it’s GSM unlocked, so you can take a chip from another phone, plug it in, and you’re good to go. It comes with a BlueTooth headset that can double as a stylus, and despite the claims of K&S that the W PhoneWatch is fingertip friendly, at 1.5 inches that stylus will be a necessity. I know watch phones are impractical, but just looking at this thing makes me want to go all Dick Tracey and get one. Judge for yourself by watching the promo video from K&S below.
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by Aaron Saenz on March 14th, 2010
A Willow Garage telepresence robot promoted careers in robotics at a local elementary school.
Wouldn’t you have loved to be the kid who brought a real life working robot to school for show and tell? Willow Garage delighted students at a Cupertino, California elementary school for their “Discovery Day” – an opportunity for children to learn about local careers – by sending one of their new telepresence robots (the Texai) to make a presentation. Among the firefighters, doctors, and business executives mingled two WG engineers: Rob Wheeler in person, and Dallas Goecker remotely controlling a Texai from Indiana. Talking with a robot that’s being operated from half a continent away is a pretty cool way to convince kids that open source robotics engineer is the coolest job ever. Check out more pics after the break.
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by Aaron Saenz on March 13th, 2010
Navibot has great features to make it better than the Roomba, but the Neato XV-11 could kick its ass.
Samsung’s newest robot vacuum, the Navibot, looks and acts like an improved Roomba. It sports the same round shape but has special whip-like brushes to throw dirt into the path of its vacuum. Navibot’s best innovation over the Roomba, however, is it’s “Visionary Mapping System”. According to the AP, Navibot uses an upwards facing camera to capture images of the ceiling at 30 frames per second. Along with 30+ IR sensors around its periphery, Navibot uses the camera video to map out the room and plan an efficient path for cleaning. The vacuum will even return to its charging station if it’s running low on power. Other features include a drop-sensor so it won’t fall down stairs, a remote control which can vary vacuuming modes, and optional IR fences (Virtual Guards) that can seal off a room into sections. All these capabilities may put Navibot ahead of the Roomba, but it’s still a ways behind Neato’s XV-11. Samsung is launching the Navibot in Europe this year (UK in April) for €399 with one Virtual Guard or €499 with a touchscreen and two Virtual Guards. Check out the promo video from Samsung Europe below.
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by Aaron Saenz on March 12th, 2010
Scientists at the University College of London, Harvard University, and elsewhere have discovered that not only is the part of your brain responsible for recognizing faces different than the part that recognizes words or art, it is highly effected by your genes. Dr. Brad Duchaine (UCL) and colleagues studied nearly 300 twins (identical and fraternal) by giving them a series of recognition tests. On the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT), identical twins had scores that correlated very well – 0.7, while non-identical twins had a much lower correlation – 0.29. Similar tests for word and abstract art recognition did not show such high correlations. According to their paper published in PNAS, researchers think facial recognition is an unusual phenomenon, a “highly specific cognitive ability that is highly heritable.” This research could lead to a search for those facial recognition genes, possibly in pursuit of a treatment for prosopagnosia and related conditions. Just as importantly, it sheds light on how our genes shape our brain mechanisms, and how we might be able to alter/improve those mechanisms through genetic manipulation.
Which of the faces on the right match the one on the left? Questions like this helped researchers determine that you inherit your ability to accuractely recognize faces.
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