The Future Is Here Today...Robots, Genetics, AI, Longevity, Singularity

fMRI Reads the Images in Your Brain – We Know What You’re Looking At

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by Aaron Saenz on March 17th, 2010
fmri-reads-your-brain

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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DASH Robot Can Fall Off 28m Building, Keep Running (Video)

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by Aaron Saenz on October 16th, 2009
The DASH robot is fast and robust, just like a roach.

Like a cockroach, DASH is fast and robust.

Have you ever tried to catch a running cockroach? They’re fast little suckers, and resilient too, which is why scientists at the University of California Berkeley modeled their latest robot after them. DASH or Dynamic Autonomous Sprawled Hexapod is a six legged robot made from cardboard and polymer. It’s the size of your open hand, weighs just 16 grams, can run up to 1.5 m/s, and survives falls of 28 meters without damage! This cockroach bot is really something to behold. Check out the IEEE Spectrum video after the break and watch how DASH survives the fall from the top of a building and keeps running.

As robotic systems become increasingly complex, they are able to mimic real world creatures. There are toys like the hexbugs, and more advanced robots like StickyBot that exhibit animal skills and/or behavior. The reverse is also true, we’ve seen robotics used to help explain developments in evolution. This interplay between the sciences is important stuff. When the advances in one field are applied in another the rate of new discoveries increases. Feedback loops between biology and robots may be one of the means by which we develop the next generation of genetically engineered machines and life-like automatons.
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CellScope: Your Cell Phone Just Got a Microscope

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by Aaron Saenz on September 3rd, 2009

The CellScope will combine micrscopes with cell phones to help diagnose diseases in remote locations. This is a low magnification prototype.

The CellScope combines micrscopes with cell phones to help diagnose diseases in remote locations. Seen here is a low magnification prototype.

I think we need to stop calling them cell phones, because our hand held devices are starting to have more capabilities than Batman’s utility belt. Controlling robots, projecting images, depositing checks, augmented reality, not to mention internet, GPS, and cameras… and now we can add microscopes to the list. Prof. Dan Flectcher and his team out of UC Berkeley are developing the CellScope, a microscope assembly that will easily attach to a standard cell phone and allow you to take up close images of skin and blood samples. While that sounds like just another cool iPhone trick, it has huge implications for fighting diseases in the Third World. Check out Fletcher’s explanation video from Popular Science after the break.

Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria kill millions each year and infect hundreds of millions more. Most of those infected are miles from a doctor and even farther from reliable medical equipment. This means that many go untreated, and many more may be misdiagnosed. A portable method for sampling blood in the field could literally save millions of lives. CellScope has the potential to do just that. Field personnel with little experience can take a blood sample, image it, then send the photo to a qualified medical professional miles away. Diagnosis by phone might be just what the doctor ordered.

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