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io9A Chemical That Improves Memory (and Cures Loneliness)
Social isolation makes people stressed out and forgetful, but soon a drug could cure this problem. Late last year, scientists isolated a brain enzyme that triggers the “loneliness” feelings during periods of solitude. Replenishing that enzyme in the brain could enhance memory and relieve stress when you’re spending a lot of time by yourself working … Continued
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io9
Brain Scans Reveal That Inflation Gets You Hot
Inflated prices trigger the pleasure centers in your brain more than fair ones. Not only is the idea of buying something expensive more exciting than buying something on sale, but you’ll actually get more genuine pleasure out of something expensive — even if it’s not worth the cost. A group of social scientists at CalTech … Continued
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io9
Regrow Nerves in Your Spine
Getting your spine crushed doesn’t have to mean paralysis. In fact, there is new evidence that nerves in the spine can regrow and be rerouted around damaged areas to connect with the brain. According to Discovery News . . . Experiments conducted on mice at the University of California in Los Angeles showed for the … Continued
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io9
Fully-Functioning Synaesthesia Machine
You’ve probably heard about synaesthesia, the glamorous neurological condition in which people’s senses get swapped so that they smell colors and feel words. Now a group of roboticists and bioengineers have got a working prototype of a little machine that gives you the synaesthetic ability to feel things you see. This tiny device attaches to … Continued
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io9
Science Proves That Drinking Makes You Horny
You probably already guessed this from observation in the real world, but alcohol makes people hornier and more likely to hit on you cluelessly. Now a team of researchers from Penn State have gotten a bunch of fruit flies drunk on a daily basis to prove that mating behavior skyrockets when you’re an alcoholic. And … Continued
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io9
Scientists Use Your Brain to Read Other People’s Minds
Your private thoughts could be used to pry information out of somebody else’s mind. Today a group of neuroscientists announced they used test subjects’ brains to train computers how to “recognize” electrical patterns created by thoughts. Specifically, they trained the computers to recognize thoughts about objects such as hammers and drills. You can imagine how … Continued
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io9
A Performance-Enhancing Drug for Scientists and Professors
Barry Bonds isn’t the only guy trying to better his game with drugs. If you’re trying to compete for the best grants and patents in the cut-throat science industry, you might be taking modafinil (AKA Provigil). Named “professor’s little helper” in a Nature commentary today, modafinil is a stimulant that its users compare to a … Continued
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io9
Hawaii 5-0 Brainwaves Sent to Space, Return Expected in 1,920 Years
Artists these days don’t just use paintbrushes and canvas. Spencer Finch, in fact, uses brainwaves, a popular sixties TV show, microwave signals, and the bluest stars in the night sky. Aptly named “Blue (one second brainwave transmitted to the star Rigel),” this piece is actually an early 1990s neuroscience experiment that won’t yield results for … Continued
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io9
An MRI Machine On Every Desktop
You’ll be taking pictures of your brain while checking email with new, consumer-grade magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines developed by an Israeli company called Aspect Technologies. Yesterday the company announced a six million dollar cash infusion from a secret US investor. Usually getting an MRI is very expensive, and can only be done in a … Continued
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Tech News
Silicon Chip Mimics Brain Cells
The neuroscientists at the University of Southern California have created the first-ever silicon chip that can talk to live brain cells. The chip (which is about a millimeter square in size) functions as if it were an actual body part. The goal is to one day create a machine that could restore people’s memories, particularly … Continued