Canadian Neurobiology Undergrad
Now I'm back at university in the US, finishing up my last year of my undergrad degree in biology (neurobiology concentration). I've also revived my food blog, which will likely be my primary blog now (see http://cdnfoodie.tumblr.com/) but I may post here from time to time if I find cool news article, science things, pictures, etc.
Using the BrainGate neural interface system, a woman paralyzed by a brainstem stroke serves herself coffee for the first time in 15 years. Read this blog post by Elizabeth Armstrong Moore on Cutting Edge.
Very cool! This seems similar to what the Northwestern researchers were developing. Here researchers use the BrainGate neural interface system to take the woman’s brain signals to control robotic arms. At Northwestern, researchers were working to control the monkey’s own limbs which were paralyzed temporarily. All very promising for developing better prosthetics and rehabilitating stroke/paralysis patients!
Let’s make Summer 2012 go down in the history books. Visit 2Self
Graduation ceremonies tomorrow, home for a few weeks, South America for 6 weeks with good friends, then off to grad school! I’m excited for what the summer has in store =) Less excited about having to pack up my entire apartment right now =P
While it’s a little odd to think that Harvard, of all schools, can’t afford something, it certainly raises important points about the rising costs of publishing and journal access.
holy shit what
…Wibbly.
A) Holy cow, what?
B) Karma sucks ;)
Manila is one of the world’s five dirtiest cities, but graffiti? That’s not a problem. It’s not that people don’t paint on the walls in the hyper-polluted Philippines capital, because they do. But they do it with a paint that actually eats smog out of the air. The catalytic paint, called Boysen KNOxOUT, reacts with light and water vapor to filter out nitrogen oxides. An environmental scientist interviewed in this BBC video says it can scrub out 20 percent of polluting nitrogen. Manila is deploying the paint in the form of massive murals, which are both beautiful and, because of their size, effective. Eleven square feet of paint-covered surface can absorb as much pollution as a full-grown tree, and these murals are close to 11 THOUSAND square feet. If we could get this stuff into the hands of street artists and taggers, it would be like having an army of energetic teenagers planting trees all over the city all day, every day. (via Super-polluted city tries to clean itself with smog-eating paint | Grist)
(via scinerds)
I want to be like her when I grow up =P This woman is the “oldest living and the longest-lived Nobel laureate in history,” having won the Nobel prize in 1986 with Stanley Cohen for their work in discovering the neurotrophin NGF. She went to medical school despite objections from her father who feared it would interfere with her “future duties of wife and mother,” and during WWII, she set up a makeshift laboratory to study nerve fiber growth in her bedroom because of policies put in place by Mussolini which prevented her from being able to work in an academic setting.
Northwestern researchers have created an implant that receives signals from neurons in the brain, and sends the signals to a computer which translates them into a hand movement.
While current prostheses try and rely on movements/signals from the stump, this development would more closely mimic natural/normal conditions.
Gunshot victim undergoes ‘most extensive’ face transplant ever
Surgeons have detailed what they claim is the world’s most comprehensive face transplant — allowing a 37-year-old man to emerge from behind a mask 15 years after a gun accident almost killed him.
Richard Norris of Hillsville, Virginia, was shot in the face in 1997 and lost his nose, lips and most movement in his mouth. Since then, he has had multiple life-saving and reconstructive surgeries but none could repair him to the extent where he felt he could return to society. He wore a prosthetic nose and a mask even when entering hospital for the transplant. (University of Maryland Medical Center/Reuters)
Autonomous Robots + James Bond = Music Video Heaven
I’m thrilled to be experiencing TED 2012 this week at a TEDx event. In addition to us local speakers (I’m talking about the philosophy behind this blog tomorrow), we are treated to the live simulcast of TED 2012 from Long Beach.
It’s been a true treat for the mind, and there will be much to come from the inspiring minds I’ve heard from this week (even though half of them have already graced these pages).
This post is one of those treats. Today, we heard from the team behind this viral video of autonomous flying robots. And we were left with what you are about to watch, this stunning example of creativity combining with technology: A music video performed solely by autonomous flying quadrotors.
Enjoy.
(by UnivPennsylvania)
*I put this up late because I couldn’t wait. Share, and share away. I’m amazed by the marvel and brainpower of this project. Seeing this is easily one of my top 5 internet moments of the past year.
Very cool!
The City of Samba, Lovely Tilt-Shift Video of Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro
(via Laughing Squid)
The beginning shots of Rio de Janeiro are beautiful. I can’t wait to visit the city this summer!
