Projected MultiTouch Screen

Light Blue Optics' interactive projector transforms any flat surface into a multitouch screen, planned to be released to the market in late 2010. When a person's fingers touch the display, infrared sensors detect the motion and allow the same kinds of interactions that are possible on, say, an iPhone. The product is initially being made available to industrial partners for commercial applications such as interactive displays in retail or educational settings.

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Smart clothes...

In the emerging 'Internet of Things', everyday objects are becoming networked. Clothing is no exception. It's still early days for Web-enabled clothes - the best example so far is the Nike+ running shoe, which contains sensors that connect to the user's iPod. But expect to see everything from your shirt to your underwear networked in the not too distant future.

In the following list of ten 'smart clothing' items, we showcase Internet pants, a proximity sensing shirt, a heart sensing bra, biosensor underwear, a "thought helmet", and more!

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Brain Waves Predict Suicide Risk

A new technique might help doctors foresee suicidal thoughts before a patient even has them. Researchers at UCLA are using quantitative EEG (QEEG) to determine how different individuals' brains respond to different antidepressants, trying to find early markers that indicate whether a new therapy will be effective.

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Simultaneous Pen + Touch Direct Input

pCubee: a Perspective-Corrected Handheld Cubic Display

Using own skin cells to repair hearts on horizon

A heart patient's own skin cells soon could be used to repair damaged cardiac tissue thanks to pioneering stem cell research of the University of Houston's newest biomedical scientist, Robert Schwartz.

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A Brain Implant that Uses Light

Researchers at Medtronic are developing a prototype neural implant that uses light to alter the behavior of neurons in the brain. The device is based on the emerging science of optogenetic neuromodulation, in which specific brain cells are genetically engineered to respond to light. The company plans to market the device to neuroscience researchers and use it for in-house research on the effects of DBS.

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Magnesium supplement helps boost brainpower

Neuroscientists at MIT and Tsinghua University in Beijing show that increasing brain magnesium with a new compound enhanced learning abilities, working memory, and short- and long-term memory in rats. The dietary supplement also boosted older rats' ability to perform a variety of learning tests.

Magnesium, an essential element, is found in dark, leafy vegetables such as spinach and in some fruits. Those who get less than 400 milligrams daily are at risk for allergies, asthma and heart disease, among other conditions.

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Made-to-Order Heart Cells

Madison, WI-based Cellular Dynamics International (CDI) began shipping heart cells derived from a person's own stem cells. The cells could be useful to researchers studying everything from the toxicity of new or existing drugs to the electrodynamics of both healthy and diseased cardiac cells.


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How to Train the Aging Brain

Many longheld views, including the one that 40 percent of brain cells are lost, have been overturned.

Memories may not have vanished but have simply been hidden; similarity in sounds can jump-start a brain connection.

Continued brain development and a richer form of learning may require that you "bump up against people and ideas" that are different.

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