Human Machine Integration
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By Allan Hall UPDATED: 15:48 GMT, 16 May 2011 A team of scientists has assembled in Switzerland and Germany to pursue a unique goal - the building of a computer model of a human brain. Called the Human Brain Project - but perhaps inevitably dubbed 'Team Frankenstein' in the media - it is in discussion with the EU for a £1billion grant. Scientists claim success may lead to cures for various diseases like Parkinson's. Hope: Henry Markram, director of the Human Brain Project in Switzerland, leads of a team of scientist in a project that could lead to cures for various diseases
'Team Frankenstein' launch bid to build a human brain within a decade
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) has developed a computer chip inspired by the human brain that may predict tsunamis and highlight risks in financial markets. The technology, called cognitive computing, is programmed to recognize patterns, make predictions and learn from mistakes, human-like capabilities not possible using today’s best computers. It’s a sharp departure from traditional chip design concepts, IBM said in a statement today. Enlarge image
IBM Chip ‘Senses’ Events to React Like Brain
20 May 2010 Last updated at 22:51 GMT By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC News The synthetic cell looks identical to the 'wild type' Scientists in the US have succeeded in developing the first living cell to be controlled entirely by synthetic DNA. The researchers constructed a bacterium's "genetic software" and transplanted it into a host cell. The resulting microbe then looked and behaved like the species "dictated" by the synthetic DNA. The advance, published in Science, has been hailed as a scientific landmark, but critics say there are dangers posed by synthetic organisms.
'Artificial life' breakthrough announced by scientists
Craig Venter creates synthetic life form | Science
Genetic entrepreneur Craig Venter explains how his team of researchers created a new life form – and what happens next. Video: Science Link to video: Craig Venter: How to make a new life form Scientists have created the world's first synthetic life form in a landmark experiment that paves the way for designer organisms that are built rather than evolved. The controversial feat, which has occupied 20 scientists for more than 10 years at an estimated cost of $40m, was described by one researcher as "a defining moment in biology ". Craig Venter , the pioneering US geneticist behind the experiment, said the achievement heralds the dawn of a new era in which new life is made to benefit humanity, starting with bacteria that churn out biofuels, soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and even manufacture vaccines.Read full article Continue reading page | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 Automated genetic tinkering is just the start – this machine could be used to rewrite the language of life and create new species of humans IT IS a strange combination of clumsiness and beauty. Sitting on a cheap-looking worktop is a motley ensemble of flasks, trays and tubes squeezed onto a home-made frame. Arrays of empty pipette tips wait expectantly.
Evolution machine: Genetic engineering on fast forward - life - 27 June 2011
Illustration by David Simonds THE great hope of transplant surgeons is that they will, one day, be able to order replacement body parts on demand. At the moment, a patient may wait months, sometimes years, for an organ from a suitable donor.
Printing body parts: Making a bit of me
Lab-Grown Lungs - The 50 Best Inventions of 2010
Growing new body parts has always been more science fiction than science reality, but that balance may quickly be shifting, at least in the lab. Relying on more sophisticated biosimulators that can better mimic body conditions, researchers have re-created the delicate architecture of a rat lung accurately enough for it to assume 95% of a normal lung's inhaling and exhaling functions. The key to their respiratory success was starting with a skeletal rat-lung template, including a matrix of blood vessels and collagen and other connective tissue, then seeding it with stem cells and nutrients to generate lifelike tissue that exchanged oxygen and carbon dioxide just like normal lung tissue. The ultimate goal is to replicate the feat on a larger scale: to replace enough human lung tissue to aid patients with emphysema or lung cancer.Artificial blood vessels created on a 3D printer
16 September 2011 Last updated at 10:49 GMT By Katia Moskvitch Technology reporter, BBC News Artificial blood vessels could help those in urgent need of an organ transplant Artificial blood vessels made on a 3D printer may soon be used for transplants of lab-created organs. Until now, the stumbling block in tissue engineering has been supplying artificial tissue with nutrients that have to arrive via capillary vessels.
DNA circuits used to make neural network, store memories
Even as some scientists and engineers develop improved versions of current computing technology, others are looking into drastically different approaches. DNA computing offers the potential of massively parallel calculations with low power consumption and at small sizes. Research in this area has been limited to relatively small systems, but a group from Caltech recently constructed DNA logic gates using over 130 different molecules and used the system to calculate the square roots of numbers. Now, the same group published a paper in Nature that shows an artificial neural network, consisting of four neurons, created using the same DNA circuits.
<img class="size-large wp-image-71439" title="IMG_2835" src="http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/gadgetlab/2011/07/IMG_2835-660x989.jpg" alt="" width="660" height="989" /> Bioengineering doctoral student Kate Balaconis shines the iPhone reader against her tattooless arm. Maybe tattoos aren’t just for Harley riders or rebellious teens after all. In a few years, diabetics might get inked up with digital tats that communicate with an iPhone to monitor their blood.
Digital Tattoo Gets Under Your Skin to Monitor Blood | Gadget Lab
September 12, 2003 by Matt Brennan The Dominion - http://www.dominionpaper.ca Yes, you read the headline correctly, and no, I can't believe it either, but apparently scientists have invented a brain machine that dramatically enhances musical performance, thus paving the way for a new race of highly skilled super-musicians. According to the BBC, "the system - called neurofeedback - trains musicians to clear their minds and produce more creative brain waves.