GLIMPSES OF THE
FUTURE |
Computer Control Via Your ThoughtsIf you've ever dreamt of operating your PC or your games console just by thinking about it, a new headset from Emotiv Systems is about to allow you to do just that. Priced at $300 the new mind-machine interface goes on sale later this year. The sensors in the new headset are designed to detect conscious thoughts and expressions as well as 'non-conscious emotions' by reading electrical signals around the brain, says the company, which demonstrated the wireless gadget at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco earlier this month. The company, which unveiled a prototype last year, claims the headset can detect emotions such as anger, excitement and tension, as well as facial expressions and cognitive actions like pushing and pulling objects. New Alzheimer's Treatment Completes First Phase Of TestingA synthetic molecule designed at Purdue University, Indiana, USA, intended to stop the debilitating symptoms of Alzheimer's disease has been shown in its first phase of clinical trials to be safe and to reduce biomarkers for the disease. The molecule, called a beta-secretase inhibitor, prevents the first step in a chain of events that leads to amyloid plaque formation in the brain. This plaque formation creates fibrous clumps of toxic proteins that are believed to cause the devastating symptoms of Alzheimer's. The study of 48 healthy volunteers showed dose-related reduction in plasma amyloid beta, a protein believed to be a key biomarker of Alzheimer's. Results showed a single dose of the drug produced a greater than 60 percent reduction of the biomarker. Subjects received one of six different doses or a placebo, and the study measured levels of the therapeutic drug and levels of the biomarker in the bloodstream. Another 'Breakthrough' In Computer Memory Storage Intel has announced a research advance that doubles the storage capacity of a single phase-change memory cell. This new approach is also implemented in the chip via algorithms so that it won't add cost to the existing phase-change memory fabrication process. Over the past decade, flash memory has changed the electronics landscape, giving us robust storage in tiny devices such as iPods and cell phones. But as chip sizes shrink engineers know there will be limits to flash performance, and they have been eyeing phase-change memory as a possible replacement technology. Phase-change memory differs from other solid-state memory technologies such as flash and random-access memory because it doesn't use electrons to store data. Instead, it relies on the material's own arrangement of atoms, known as its physical state. Previously, phase-change memory was designed to take advantage of only two states: one in which atoms are loosely organized (amorphous), and another where they are rigidly structured (crystalline). But in a paper presented recently at the International Solid State Circuits Conference in San Francisco, researchers illustrated that there are two more distinct states that fall between amorphous and crystalline, and that these states can be used to store data. To make their memory cells, Intel and partner ST Microelectronics used a material called GST, a type of glass that has physical states responsive to heat. A tiny heater, controlled by algorithms in the chip, changes the state of the GST by heating a memory cell until it reaches one of four distinct states. The Impact Of Mobile Phones on The Economy Of Niger - The World's Poorest Country In theory, the increasing use of mobile phones should have improved distribution efficiency and hence lower the variations in prices around the country. The study set out to see if that was the case. With an estimated 85 percent of the local population living on less than $2 per day, Niger is the lowest-ranked country according to the United Nations' Human Development Index. The majority of the population consists of rural subsistence farmers, who depend upon rainfed agriculture as their main source of income. Grains (primarily millet and sorghum) are dietary staples, accounting for over 75 percent of food consumption. These commodities are transported from farmers to consumers through an extensive system of markets that run the length of the country. To test the predictions of the theoretical model, the researchers use a unique market and trader dataset from Niger that combines data on prices, transport costs, rainfall and grain production with cell phone access and trader behaviour. They first exploited the quasi-experimental nature of cell phone coverage to estimate the impact of the staggered introduction of information technology on market performance. The results provide evidence that cell phones reduce grain price dispersion across markets by a minimum of 6.4 percent and reduce intra-annual price variation by 10 percent. Cell phones have a greater impact on price dispersion for market pairs that are farther away, and for those with lower road quality.
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Finnish Patient Gets New Jaw Grown From Stem CellsScientists in Finland have replaced a 65-year-old patient's upper jaw with a bone transplant cultivated from stem cells isolated from his own fatty tissue and grown inside his abdomen. Researchers said the breakthrough opened up new ways to treat severe tissue damage and made the prospect of custom-made living spare parts for humans a step closer to reality. Stem cells are the body's master cells and they can be found throughout the blood and tissues. Researchers have recently found that fat contains stem cells which can be directed to form a variety of different tissues. Using a patient's own stem cells provides a tailor-made transplant that the body should not reject. And More On Stem Cells The UK Stem Cell Foundation, the Medical Research Council and Scottish Enterprise, in partnership with Scotland's Chief Scientist’s Office, are funding a £1.4 million project to further theraputic bone-marrow stem cell research at the University of Edinburgh with a view to setting up a clinical trial within two years. The initiative could have a major impact on treating conditions such as osteoarthritis as well as treating trauma victims whose bones have been shattered beyond repair. The research involves using a 'bioactive scaffold' made to protect the stem cells and simulate their growth into bone or cartilage once they are placed in the affected area. The scaffold consists of a fairly rigid mesh structure, coated or impregnated with a drug that affects the patients cells. Researchers will work with clinicians with a view to eventually translating their findings into treatments for patients. As well as using cells derived from bone marrow, the scientists will work in collaboration with the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service to culture bone-forming cells derived from blood. The advantage of these blood-sourced cells is that they can be extracted without the need for surgery. The use of a patient’s own stem cells means that they are also unlikely to be rejected. 10 Times More Energy Efficient Microprocessor Promises Longer Battery Life Researchers at MIT and Texas Instruments have unveiled a new chip design for portable electronics that can be up to 10 times more energy-efficient than present technology. The design could lead to cell phones, implantable medical devices and sensors that last far longer when running from a battery. The key to the improvement in energy efficiency was to find ways of making the circuits on the chip work at a voltage level much lower than usual. While most current chips operate at around one volt, the new design works at just 0.3 volts. Plastic Web Pulses To Support Heart A pulsing fibrous web to wrap around diseased hearts is being developed by UK researchers. The approach is less invasive than existing techniques for heart assistance, which involve surgically plumbing a pump directly into the heart, the researchers say. The new device is made from the same polyethylene material used to make artificial heart valves. Fitted tightly over the heart's surface, it has three constricting belts woven through its fabric, which are powered by small electric motors. The motors control the belts in a pulsing rhythm that draws in and releases the elastic web. Force sensors can coordinate the motors with the heart's rhythm by sensing its movements. This supports the action of the ventricle, the lower part of the heart that does most of the work to push blood around the body. The development team is testing the device by fitting it onto a mechanical model of the heart, which is connected to a computer simulation of the circulatory system. Results so far show that the web can help the heart to pump blood effectively and expend less energy. Breath Analyser Can Scan For Disease America's National Institute of Standards and Technology has demonstrated an optical technique for identifying tiny amounts of a broad range of molecules in human breath, potentially enabling a fast, low-cost screening tool for disease. In this approach, NIST researchers analyse human breath with 'frequency combs', which are generated by a laser specially designed to produce a series of very short, equally spaced pulses of light. Each pulse may be only a few millionth billionths of a second long. The laser generates light as a series of very narrow frequency peaks equally spaced, like the teeth of a comb, across a broad spectrum. The non-invasive technique is in early phase of development but it holds out the promise of identifying cancers and other diseases in their early stages. The technology will require clinical trials before it could become generally available. Back issues of 'Glimpses' are archived here. |