Study shows what makes locusts swarm

A brain chemical that lifts people out of depression can transform solitary grasshoppers into swarming desert locusts, a finding that could one day help prevent the devastating plagues, University of Cambridge researchers said.

Increases of serotonin, the nerve-signalling chemical targeted by many antidepressants, appears to spark the behaviour changes needed to turn the normally harmless insects into bugs that gang up to munch crops, they said.

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The Glucose-Monitoring Tattoo

Scientists at Draper Laboratory, in Cambridge, MA, are developing a nanosensor that could be injected into the skin, much like tattoo dye, to monitor an individual's blood-sugar level. As the glucose level increases, the "tattoo" would fluoresce under an infrared light, telling a diabetic whether or not she needs an insulin shot following a meal. The researchers will soon begin animal tests of the glucose-specific sensor.

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Top Technology Breakthroughs of 2008

Here's list of innovations in 2008 from Wired.com:

10. Flexible Displays
9. Edible Chips
8. Speedo LZR
7. Flash Memory (FDD)
6. GPS
5. The Memristor
4. Video-Capable SLRs
3. USB 3.0
2. Android
1. Apple's App Store

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Scientists develop software that can map dreams

Researchers at the ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories succeeded in processing and displaying images directly from the human brain, they said in a study unveiled ahead of publication in the US magazine Neuron.

While the team for now has managed to reproduce only simple images from the brain, they said the technique could eventually be used to figure out dreams and other secrets inside people's minds.

"It was the first time in the world that it was possible to visualize what people see directly from the brain activity," the private institute said in a statement.

"By applying this technology, it may become possible to record and replay subjective images that people perceive like dreams."

When people look at an object, the eye's retina recognises an image that is converted into electrical signals which go into the brain's visual cortex. The team, led by chief researcher Yukiyasu Kamitani, succeeded in catching the signals and then reconstructing what people see.

In their experiment, the researchers showed people the six letters in the word "neuron" and then succeeded in reconstructing the letters on a computer screen by measuring their brain activity.

[ more ] [ also ]

IBM seeks to simulate brain

IBM Research and five universities have partnered to create low-power-consumption and compact-sized computing systems that they expect will simulate and emulate the brain’s abilities for sensation, perception, action, interaction, and cognition.


IBM’s proposal, “Cognitive computing via synaptronics and supercomputing,” (C2S2) outlines research to be conducted over the next nine months in areas including synaptronics, material science, neuromorphic circuitry, supercomputing simulations, and virtual environments.

Encouraging the effort, IBM and its collaborators have been awarded $4.9 million in funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the first phase of DARPA’s Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) initiative.

Initial C2S2 research will focus on demonstrating nanoscale, low-power synapse-like devices and on "uncovering the functional microcircuits of the brain," IBM said, noting that the long-term mission of C2S2 is to demonstrate low-power, compact cognitive computers that approach mammalian-scale intelligence.

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First superconducting transistor promises PC revolution

The world's first superconducting transistor, a long-standing goal for applied physicists, could lead to dramatically faster microchips. Andrea Caviglia and his colleagues at the University of Geneva in Switzerland grew a single crystal containing two metal oxides, strontium titanate and lanthanum aluminate, as separate segments. At the interface of these materials, the team found a layer of free electrons called an electron gas (Science, vol 317, p 1196). At 0.3 kelvin - just above absolute zero - these electrons flow without resistance and so create a superconductor. Now the same group says it can switch this superconductivity on and off by applying a voltage to the interface. The result is a superconducting version of the field effect transistor (FET) - a mainstay of digital electronics.

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Tracking Flu from Search Engine Query Data

Google released an experimental tool that tracks the intensity and movement of influenza virus across United States by comparing the usage search keywords related to flu. The tool, known as Google Flu Trends, makes use of the fact that, before they go to the doctor's office, many people will search for information about what ails them. Researchers from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) found a strong link between these searches and reports from doctors of flu outbreaks a week to 10 days later.

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Direct Brain-to-Muscle Electric Circuit

An external electrical circuit connecting the brain directly to a muscle allowed paralyzed monkeys to move their arms, an advance that could lead to neuroprosthetics for humans with spinal cord injuries.

Brain-machine interfaces have previously been used to control robotic arms and computer cursors, but they required researchers to identify entire populations of neurons already associated with movement. By contrast, researchers recently identified neurons not previously associated with motion, then used them to stimulate individual muscles rather than a robotic device.

[ more ] [ nature ]

Stem Cells without Side Effects

Researchers have created healthy stem cells from adult cells--no embryo required.

Last year, researchers announced one of the most promising methods yet for creating ethically neutral stem cells: reprogramming adult human cells to act like embryonic stem cells. That process involved using a retrovirus, but now scientists have found a way to effect the same reprogramming without using a harmful virus--a method that paves the way for tissue transplants made from a patient's own cells.

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Project 10 to the 100th

Project 10¹⁰⁰ (pronounced "Project 10 to the 100th") is a call for ideas to change the world by helping as many people as possible. Organized by Google, anyone can submit an idea that can change the world by October 20, 2008. After the voting period, 5 ideas will be selected and a total of 10 million is committed by Google to jump start these ideas.

www.project10tothe100.com