Researchers discover blood vessels in lab-grown mini-brains

Growing brains in laboratories was just the start for scientists. Next up is vasculature. By studying the naturally occurring capillaries discovered on the mini-brains, researchers from Brown University say that they will be able to conduct bigger in...

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

braingate2-mind-controlled-robot-arm

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.

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

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 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Ars Technica  |  sourceNature  | Email this | Comments

Researchers make an RGB laser with a regular laser and quantum dots

Researchers make an RGB laser with a regular laser and quantum dots

The problem with lasers is, they tend to generate just a single color or light.To get more than one hue requires actually combining more than one type of laser to produce red, green and blue. But researchers at Brown University have figured out a solution to creating small RGB lasers by using colloidal quantum dots, or CQDs. The idea of leveraging the properties of the thin film isn't new, but past attempts to use CQDs in semiconductor lasers have failed because the necessary energy tends to wind up as heat instead of light. The work around scientists found was to excite the various dot sizes with a laser then filter out original light source. Unfortunately, the solution is far from practical for use in commercial products, but it does represent a milestone in the march towards a single-material multi-wavelength laser. For more details check out the source link.

Researchers make an RGB laser with a regular laser and quantum dots originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 May 2012 06:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Ars Technica  |  sourceNature, Brown University  | Email this | Comments