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Tech NewsThis Is What Really Happens to Your Brain When You’re Tripping on LSD
For the first time ever, researchers have peered into the brains of people tripping out on LSD. The groundbreaking scans reveal the dramatic extent to which the psychedelic drug affects normal brain function, while pointing towards therapies for similar psychological disorders. In a new paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a … Continued
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io9The Secrets To Handling Passive-Aggressive People
Dealing with people who exhibit passive-aggressive behavior is easily one of the most challenging aspects of our social lives. Here’s what you need to know about this annoying personality quirk and how you can handle people who express their hostility in indirect and backhanded ways. Interacting with passive-aggressive (PA) people is something many of us … Continued
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Tech NewsArtificial Intelligence
Everything You Know About Artificial Intelligence is Wrong
It was hailed as the most significant test of machine intelligence since Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov in chess nearly 20 years ago. Google’s AlphaGo has won two of the first three games against grandmaster Lee Sedol in a Go tournament, showing the dramatic extent to which AI has improved over the years. That fateful … Continued
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Tech News
Monkey Brains Reveal How We Know Which Way Is Up
These are some of the 500 images recently shown to rhesus monkeys while their brains were being monitored. None are meant to correspond to any real-world physical object, but the experimental results revealed certain cells in the object area of the brain that let us recognize up and down, and to grasp that those directions … Continued
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Tech News
Cyborg Rats Solve Mazes Better and Faster Than Normal Rats
Chinese scientists have created “cyborgized” rats that perform better on maze tests than normal rats and a computer algorithm. It’s an exciting proof-of-concept that heralds the potential for “cyborg intelligence.” The details have just been published in PLOS One. Digital computers and biological brains are capable of remarkable feats, but their competencies don’t always overlap. … Continued
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Tech News
This Monkey is Controlling a Wheelchair With its Mind
Researchers have developed a wireless brain interface that allows monkeys to control the movements of a robotic wheelchair using their thoughts alone. The breakthrough suggests that similar interfaces could allow severely paralyzed individuals to navigate all sorts of robotic devices with their minds. Prior to this study, researchers used brain-machine-interfaces (BMIs) to help primates control … Continued
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Tech NewsNo, Scientists Have Not Created a Matrix-Like Interface That Instantly Uploads Data to Your Brain
Remember that mind-blowing scene in The Matrix when Neo had jiu-jitsu and kung fu uploaded directly into his brain? Researchers from HRL Laboratories are now saying they’ve developed a similar device that “teaches” pilots new skills. Too bad it’s bullshit. Sadly, this is a classic case of scientists doing reasonably good work, but then having … Continued
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Tech NewsScientists Use Light to Alter Memories of Cokehead Mice
Researchers from the University of Oxford have rewritten positive memories associated with cocaine in mice. The achievement could expand our understanding of memory, while demonstrating that it’s possible to neurologically reverse ingrained bad behavior, such as drug addiction. Neuroscientists Stéphanie Trouche and David Dupret from Oxford’s MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit trained mice to prefer … Continued
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Tech NewsBrain Implant Will Let Amputees Move Individual Fingers on Prosthetics With Thoughts Alone
For the first time ever, researchers have successfully demonstrated a system that enables a person to move the individual fingers of a prosthetic hand using just their thoughts. To test the device, scientists at Johns Hopkins University recruited the help of an epilepsy patient who was preparing for surgery to pinpoint the source of his … Continued
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Tech News
New ‘Mini-Brains’ Could Put Thousands of Lab Animals Out of Work
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have produced tiny brains made of human neurons and cells. These mini-brains could radically change how drugs are tested, replacing the many animals currently being used for neurological scientific research. These mini-brains may be small—about the size of a common housefly—but they still exhibit characteristics typical … Continued
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Tech NewsHow ‘Memory Hacking’ Is Becoming a Reality
Movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Inception suggest it may eventually be possible to erase, modify, or even implant memories into your brain. An upcoming episode of NOVA introduces viewers to this futuristic possibility and the scientists who are trying to make it happen. Memory formation is still a poorly understood process, … Continued
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Tech News
Brain Preservation Breakthrough Could Usher in a New Era in Cryonics
Researchers from 21st Century Medicine have developed a new technique to allow long term storage of a near-perfect mammalian brain. It’s a breakthrough that could have serious implications for cryonics, and the futuristic prospect of bringing the frozen dead back to life. By using a chemical compound to turn a rabbit’s brain into a near … Continued
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Tech News
Scientists Found a Way to Control Machines With Your Mind, No Brain Surgery Required
The US military is looking for ways to insert microscopic devices into human brains to help folks communicate with machines, like prosthetic limbs, with their minds. And now, DARPA’s saying scientists have found a way to do just that—without ripping open patients’ skulls. In the DARPA-funded study, researchers at the University of Melbourne have developed … Continued
By Bryan Lufkin -
Tech News
What Siri Can Learn from Your Brain About Tuning Out Noise in a Crowded Room
Walk into a roomful of people, and your first impression is just noise. Within seconds, you start to pick out words, phrases, and fragments of conversations. Soon you’ll be merrily chatting with friends, oblivious to the din around you. But most of us never stop to think about exactly how our brain manages to pick … Continued
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Tech NewsWhy Are So Many Newborns Still Being Denied Pain Relief?
In 1985, a premature baby was born in Maryland who needed surgery to tie off a dangerous blood vessel near his heart. The newborn, Jeffrey, died weeks after the procedure. His family learned afterwards that none of the procedures had been performed with analgesics; the only drug administered was a muscle relaxant. The press ran … Continued
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SciencePhysics & Chemistry3D-Printed Gel Folds Almost Exactly Like a Real Baby Human Brain
Fetal brains begin to fold around the midpoint of the third trimester, but little is known about the actual process. A new model, in which a hunk of gel was made to swell in a liquid bath, shows how it happens in surprisingly accurate detail. Very few animals have brains that feature these troughs and … Continued
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Tech News
New Technique Allows Scientists to Read Minds at Nearly the Speed of Thought
An experiment by University of Washington researchers is setting the stage for advances in mind reading technology. Using brain implants and sophisticated software, researchers can now predict what their subjects are seeing with startling speed and accuracy. The ability to view a two-dimensional image on a page or computer screen, and then transform that image … Continued
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Tech News
Scientists Have Finally Found a Biological Process Behind Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a complex disease with elusive origins, but the mystery became much clearer today, when a landmark new study based on genetic analysis of nearly 65,000 individuals pinpointed a specific gene and biological process behind it. The discovery injects new hope into the century-old quest to treat— and perhaps even cure—the debilitating psychiatric disorder. … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Tech NewsOur Brains Can Store 10 Times More Information Than We Thought
New research shows the brain’s memory capacity is ten times greater than previous estimates. That means it’s in the petabyte range—which puts it close to World Wide Web territory. The human brain is often compared to a computer. One aspect in particular that lends itself well to these sorts of comparisons is memory. When computer … Continued
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Tech NewsScientists Claim to Perform Head Transplant on Monkey, Experts Say Prove It
An international team of neuroscientists claims to have successfully carried out a head transplant on a monkey, along with other related experiments. But because the details haven’t been published, experts remain skeptical. Warning: Graphic image to follow. As New Scientist reports, the procedure was led by Sergio Canavero, a neuroscientist who works for the Turin … Continued