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Mind-operated robot arm helps paralyzed woman have her cup o' joe (video)

Steve Dent — Thu, 17 May 2012 10:32:00 EST

Researchers at the Braingate2 consortium have made a breakthrough that allows people with spinal cord or stroke injuries to control robotic limbs with their minds. The original project allowed subjects with motor cortex-implanted chips to move cursors on a screen with their minds, but they can now command DEKA and DLR mechanical arms to grasp foam balls and sip coffee. Researchers noted that dropped objects and missed drinks were frequent, but improved brain sensors and more practice by subjects should help. To see the power of the mind move perhaps not mountains, but good ol' java, jump to the video below.

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Mind-operated robot arm helps paralyzed woman have her cup o' joe (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 10:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Harvard tired of overpaying for research, tells faculty to open up

Steve Dent — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:53:00 EST

The grand dame of Ivy League schools is taking action against one of higher learning's pet peeves: the exorbitant price of research journals. Even though the e-reader revolution may have already touched other schoolbooks, so far academic subscription prices -- with some journals as high as $40,000 -- are becoming unsustainable, according to Harvard. To that end, it's taking the lead and pushing its own faculty toward open access publishing, and encouraging them to quit boards of journals that aren't. That could in turn prod other schools to take the same steps, and allow Harvard to focus on more, ahem, interesting pursuits.

Harvard tired of overpaying for research, tells faculty to open up originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aluminum oxide 'egg-carton' could improve quantum dot efficiency

Terrence O'Brien — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 03:22:00 EST

Quantum dots have been deemed the future of everything from light bulbs, to displays and solar panels. Yet, one thing has been keeping them down -- a lack of efficiency. Current has a tendency to leak in between the dots, instead of passing straight through all the time. But, researchers at Harvard have found a possible solution. By surrounding the dots with an insulating layer of aluminum oxide, which hugs them like an egg carton, they were able to direct the current, greatly increasing the light-emission yield and reducing wasted electricity. Of course, this only applies to light-producing quantum dots at the moment, but it's possible it could eventually be applied to solar panels and increase the amount of energy harvested from the sun's rays. If you're scientifically inclined, check out the latest issue of Advanced Materials for the complete research paper.

Aluminum oxide 'egg-carton' could improve quantum dot efficiency originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Dec 2011 03:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Harvard's Kilobot project does swarm robots on the cheap (video)

Donald Melanson — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 13:13:00 EST

We've certainly seen plenty of swarm robots before, but few of those are cheap enough to let you easily build something that can truly be called a "swarm." These so-called Kilobots developed by Harvard's Self-organizing Systems Research Group, however, can apparently built for just $14 apiece, and can each be assembled in just five minutes to boot. Despite that low cost, the bots are still capable of plenty of swarm-like behaviors, including the ability to follow the leader, disperse in an environment, put on a synchronized LED light show. Head on past the break for a pair of videos.

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Harvard's Kilobot project does swarm robots on the cheap (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 13:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Carbon nanotubes used to more easily detect cancer cells, HIV

Sam Sheffer — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 01:31:00 EST

Cancer's not slowing its march to ruining as many lives as it possibly can, so it's always pleasing to hear of any new developments that act as hurdles. The latest in the world of disease-prevention comes from Harvard University, where researches have created a dime-sized carbon nanotube forest (read: lots of nanotubes, like those shown above) that can be used to trap cancer cells when blood passes through. A few years back, Mehmet Toner, a biomedical engineering professor at Harvard, created a device similar to the nano-forest that was less effective because silicon was used instead of carbon tubes. Today, Toner has teamed up with Brian Wardle, associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT, who together have redesigned the original microfluid device to work eight times more efficiently than its predecessor. The carbon nanotubes make diagnosis a fair bit simpler, largely because of the antibodies attached to them that help trap cancer cells as they pass through -- something that's being tailored to work with HIV as well. Things are starting to look moderately promising for cancer-stricken individuals, as hospitals have already began using the original device to detect malignant cells and ultimately prevent them from spreading -- here's hoping it's qualified for mass adoption sooner rather than later.

Carbon nanotubes used to more easily detect cancer cells, HIV originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 01:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Researchers from Harvard and MITRE announce world's first programmable nanoprocessor

Donald Melanson — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:09:00 EST

We've seen plenty of breakthroughs involving nanowires over the years, but none of those have involved an actual programmable processor -- until now, that is. That particular "world's first" was just announced by a team of researchers from Harvard University and the MITRE Corporation this week, and it's being described as nothing short of a "quantum jump forward in the complexity and function of circuits built from the bottom up." As for the processor itself, it consists of an array of nearly 500 germanium nanowires that have been criss-crossed with metal wires on a chip that's just 960 micrometers (or less than 1 millimeter) square. That becomes an actual processor when the researchers run a high voltage through the metal wires and switch the individual intersections off and on at will -- we're simplyfing things a bit, but you get the idea. What's more, the researchers note that the architecture is fully scalable, and promises to allow for the assembly of "much larger and ever more functional nanoprocessors." Head on past the break for the official press release.

[Thanks, Chris]

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Researchers from Harvard and MITRE announce world's first programmable nanoprocessor originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Harvard University controls worm with laser, we wait for choreographed dance moves (video)

Sam Sheffer — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 09:47:00 EST

Researchers at Harvard University's Center For Brain Science have successful manipulated nematode C. elegans worms by genetically modifying a select few of their 302 neurons. Not to be confused with magnetically controlled invertebrate, these creepy-crawlies are controlled by the CoLBeRT system (a nod to the comedian but no other relation), controlling locomotion and behavior in real time. The scientists can manipulate movement of the worms, induce paralysis, and even cause them to lay eggs all by shining a laser that turns on and off the modified cells at will. The laser hits the worm and causes it to react as if it were being touched. According to the researchers, the reaction is similar to when light is shined in a human eye -- the protein found in the worm and eyes are sensitive to different variations of rays and will respond based on the color shined. Peep past the break for some squiggly mind- er, light-controlled action.

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Harvard University controls worm with laser, we wait for choreographed dance moves (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 09:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Human Connectome Project maps brain's circuitry, produces super trippy graphics

Christopher Trout — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 10:29:00 EST

A team of researchers at the Human Connectome Project (HCP) have been carving up mice brains like Christmas hams to find out how we store memories, personality traits, and skills -- the slices they're making, though, are 29.4 nanometers thick. The end goal is to run these tiny slices under a microscope, create detailed images of the brain, and then stitch them back together, eventually creating a complete map of the mind, or connectome. The team, comprised of scientists at Harvard, UCLA, University of Minnesota, and Washington University, is still a long way from cutting up a human brain, partially due to storage limitations -- a picture of a one-millimeter cube of mouse brain uses about a petabyte of memory. A human brain would require millions of petabytes, and an indefinite number of years, causing speculation that the payoff isn't worth the effort -- although, we're convinced the HCP wallpaper possibilities are totally worth it.

Human Connectome Project maps brain's circuitry, produces super trippy graphics originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 01 Jan 2011 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Metamaterials used to focus Terahertz lasers, make them useful

Vlad Savov — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:39:00 EST

Forget old and busted X-rays, T-rays are the future, man! It was only recently that we were discussing Terahertz lasers and their potential to see through paper, clothes, plastic, flesh, and other materials, but that discourse had to end on the sad note that nobody had managed to make them usable in a practical and economically feasible way. The major hurdle to overcome was the diffusion of Terahertz radiation -- which results in weak, unfocused lasers -- but now researchers from the universities of Harvard and Leeds seem to believe they've managed to do it. Using metamaterials to collimate T-rays into a "tightly bound, high powered beam" will, they claim, permit semiconductor lasers (i.e. the affordable kind) to perform the duties currently set aside for sophisticated machinery costing upwards of $160,000. Harvard has already filed a patent application for this innovation, and if things pan out, we might be seeing body scanners (both for medical and security purposes), manufacturing quality checks, and a bunch of other things using the extra special THz stuff to do their work.

Metamaterials used to focus Terahertz lasers, make them useful originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Researchers create functioning human lung on a microchip

Laura June — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 09:42:00 EST

Researchers at Harvard University have successfully created a functioning, respirating human 'lung' on a chip in a lab. Made using human and blood vessel cells and a microchip, the translucent lung is far simpler in terms of observation than traditional, actual human lungs (for obvious reasons), in a small convenient package about the size of a pencil eraser. The researchers have demonstrated its effectiveness and are now moving toward showing its ability to replicate gas exchange between lung cells and the bloodstream. Down the road a bit more, the team hopes to produce other organs on chips, and hook them all up to the already operational heart on a chip. And somewhere in the world, Margaret Atwood and her pigoons are rejoicing, right? Here's to the future. Video description of the device is below.

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Researchers create functioning human lung on a microchip originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 09:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Self-assembling nanodevices could advance medicine one tiny leap at a time

Vlad Savov — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 02:40:00 EST

Seems like Harvard wasn't content with making robotic bees, and has taken its quest for miniaturization right down to the nanoscale level. One nanometer-wide, single-stranded DNA molecules are the topic of the university's latest research, which sets out a way they can be used to create "3D prestressed tensegrity structures." Should these theoretical scribblings ever pan out in the real world, we could see the resulting self-assembled nanodevices facilitating drug delivery targeted directly at the diseased cells, and even the reprogramming of human stem cells. Infusing a nanodevice with the relevant DNA data passes instructions on to your stem cells, which consequently turn into, for example, new bone tissue or neurons to augment your fleshy CPU. Yes, we're kinda freaked out, but what's cooler than being able to say you're going to the doctor for a shot of nanotransformers?

Self-assembling nanodevices could advance medicine one tiny leap at a time originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Jun 2010 02:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First quantum cryptographic data network demoed

Evan Blass — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 14:41:00 EST

With so much sensitive data traveling among governmental agencies, financial institutions, and organized crime rackets, the need for ultra-secure communication has never been higher, and now it seems like the holy grail of unbreakable encryption is almost upon us. Researchers from Northwestern University and Massachusetts-based BBN Technologies recently joined forces to demonstrate what's being hailed as the world's first fully-functional quantum cryptographic data network, as the system leverages the quantum entanglement properties of photons for both data transfer as well as key distribution. The magic of quantum cryptography lies in the fact that not only can two parties exchange the so-called keys without the risk of an eavesdropper ever being able to fully ascertain their values, but the simple act of eavesdropping on an encrypted data transfer can easily be detected on both ends of the line. This current breakthrough combined Northwestern's data encryption method (known as AlphaEta) with BBN's key encryption scheme to enable a completely secure fiber optic link between BBN's headquarters and Harvard University, a distance of nine kilometers. As you might imagine, the entire project was funded by a $5.4 million grant from DARPA, an agency which has a vested interest in transmitting data that not even a theoretical quantum computer could crack. It will be a while before this technology filters down to the consumer, but when it does, you can bet that BitTorrenting pirates will be beside themselves with joy.

[Via Slashdot]

Filed under: Networking

First quantum cryptographic data network demoed originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Aug 2006 14:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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