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TS-Si News Service
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Tuesday, 03 June 2008
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Durham, NC, USA. Little things that go awry in the brain can have large consequences. What if we could insert tiny electrodes (nanotubes) into neural cells? And how could we get them there? We may be a step closer to answers with the emergence of maneuverable microrobots measured in the mere billionths-of-a-meter. Scientists at Duke University craft microscopic robots that assemble into self-organized structures to maneuver as separate entities without any obvious guidance.
Each microrobot is shaped something like a spatula but with dimensions measuring just microns, or millionths of a meter. They are almost 100 times smaller than any previous robotic designs of their kind and weigh even less.
Planar Microassembly by Parallel Actuation of MEMS Microrobots. B. R. Donald, C. Levey, and I. Paprotny. Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, In Press. (2008). ISSN: 1057-7157. doi: 10.1109 / JMEMS.2008.xxxxxx [ Download PDF ]
The devices are formally known as microelectromechanical system (MEMS) microrobots. They are of suitable scale for Lilliputian tasks such as performing diagnostics on brain function, moving around the interiors of laboratories-on-a-chip, and inserting tiny nanotubes into neural cells.
 "It's marvelous to be able to do assembly and control at this fine a resolution with such very, very tiny things," said Bruce Donald, a Duke professor of computer science and biochemistry.
In videos produced by the team, two microrobots can be seen pirouetting to the music of a Strauss waltz on a dance floor just 1 millimeter across.
In another sequence, the devices pivot in a precise fashion whenever their boom-like steering arms are drawn down to the surface by an electric charge. This response resembles the way dir
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TS-Si News Service
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Thursday, 15 May 2008
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Bilbao, Spain. Most scientific and technological advances tend to take their place silently in society until general awareness reaches a critical level (usually after the fact). Biotechnology often finds itself the center of public debate and regulatory attention from the start, due partly to the moral issues posed by many of its applications. Stem cell research is one example, garnering extensive comments and debate by by public officials and pundits from many corners of society. But what do ordinary citizens have to say on the subject?
In the Second BBVA Foundation International Study on Attitudes to Biotechnology, the BBVA Foundation performed an in-depth comparative analysis of the attitudes of citizens towards research with embryos for the purpose of obtaining stem cells. Survey respondents were drawn from 12 European countries plus Israel, Japan, and the United States.
Second BBVA Foundation International Study on Attitudes to Biotechnology: Stem Cells. BBVA Foundation Social Studies Department. May 2008.
[ Download PDF ]
Among the questions analyzed the extent to which public opinion has been informed about stem cells, expectati
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TS-Si News Service
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Thursday, 10 April 2008
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Linköping, Sweden. There have been significant increases in processing power, giving machines greater capacities and capabilities. However, there has not been a similar leap forward in interface technology. Emotions are intrinsic to communications, but machines don’t have, perceive or react to them. This can make us, their handlers, hot under the collar. It sounds good: some new building blocks developed by teams of researchers in Europe may result in machines that can ‘feel’.
Currently, machine communication is on the machine’s terms. Nearly everybody has to communicate with machines at some level, be it mobile phones, personal computers or annoying, automated customer support ‘solutions’. Although researchers around the world have been working on making the human-machine interface more user friendly, most of the progress has been on the purely mechanical side.
But where will the emotions come from? Machines are the creations of human beings who, in turn, download their skills and presumptions into their (machine) world. There is a direct analogy to the way humans train each other (and themselves), trying to learn relational skills. In effect, w
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TS-Si News Service
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Tuesday, 08 April 2008
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Linköping, Sweden. Human beings can learn by emulating others, but exploring one's environment is an important part of the learning process. To grow up is to make mistakes, score successes, and learn from experience. What about robots? Can they learn the same way? And if they do, what can we humans learn from their experience and skills? A team of researchers have developed an artificial cognitive system that learns from experience and observation rather than relying on predefined rules and models.
Most schoolchildren struggle to learn geometry, but they are still able to catch a ball without first calculating its parabola. Why should robots be any different? Researchers led by Linköping University (Sweden) in the Cognitive Systems: Perception, Action, Learning (COSPAL) project wondered what basic elements of cognition and learning are common across and within the human species and robotic emulations.
Traditional robotics relies on having the robots carry out complex calculations, such as measuring the geometry of an object and its expected trajectory if moved. But COSPAL has turned this around, making the robots perform tasks based on their own
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Springfield, VA, USA. Society (the women and men around us) has always been more comfortable if its members fall within certain known, established patterns: this is how we dress, this is what we say, this is... |
Washington, DC, USA. Science shows that the human brain and central nervous system form before the remaining portions of our overall body plan. This is a central insight and the province of developmental biology, particularly embryology, which deals with the development of organs and other anatomical structures... |
Edmunton, Alberta, Canada. Does emotional wisdom come with age? Researchers identified brain patterns that help healthy people over the age of 60 regulate and control emotion better than younger counterparts. Two brain regions increased activity when... |
Washington, DC, USA. Criticism of the Washington state Democratic Party for an attack ad that linked an Italian-American politician to fictional organized crime. The Pennsylvania Senate ponders expansion of bathroom access to people with bowel disorders. North Carolina's motor vehicle department embarrassed by a sample license plate on its... |
Washington, DC, USA. As fuel and energy costs continue to soar to record highs, a growing number of states are offering more of their public employees compressed workweeks to hold down states’ energy spending and give long-distance commuters some relief from paying high gas prices.
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman... |
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TS-Si News Service
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Sunday, 29 June 2008
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TS-Si News Service
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Saturday, 21 June 2008
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TS-Si News Service
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Thursday, 12 June 2008
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TS-Si News Service
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Tuesday, 24 June 2008
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TS-Si News Service
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Friday, 20 June 2008
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TS-Si News Service
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Thursday, 29 May 2008
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TS-Si News Service
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Tuesday, 01 July 2008
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TS-Si News Service
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Monday, 30 June 2008
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TS-Si News Service
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008
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TS-Si News Service
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Sunday, 06 April 2008
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TS-Si News Service
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Sunday, 09 March 2008
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TS-Si News Service
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Sunday, 02 March 2008
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TS-Si News Service
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Thursday, 28 February 2008
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TS-Si News Service
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Thursday, 28 February 2008
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So They Say
Transition is not the donning of a mask. The mask was the closet one lived in before. Transitioning is removing the mask to stand nakedly exposed to all that is out there that crushes the lives, hopes, dreams and spirits of people born transsexual.
To come out is an act of courage not deception. Suzan Cooke
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Finding Our Way
Richard Smith, Editor-in-Chief, introduces Cases Journal. Dr. Smith urges all physicians to submit their case reports to the new open access Cases Journal, which publishes case reports from any area of healthcare.
Cases Journal will publish any case report that is understandable, ethical, authentic, and includes all essential information. A more selective companion, the Journal of Medical Case Reports, publishes original and interesting case reports that contribute significantly to medical knowledge. Article submissions are subject to potential publication by either journal. All reports will be entered in a common and open access database.
Time 00:01:35.
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