Corinna Underwood

ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as Lou Gherig’s disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that destroys nerves cells in the brain and spinal cord. As the nerve cells die, motor control is lost and the patient gradually becomes paralysed. ALS affects around 30,000 people in the United States, with 5,000 new cases each year.

MIT Develops Robot Cheetah

According to a report from My Science Academy, MIT recently designed a robotic cheetah that can run and jump autonomously and clear hurdles, reaching speeds of up to 10 mph. The research team, led by Sangbae Kim, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, devised an algorithm that enables the robotic feline to bound along. It functions because each of the robot’s legs is programmed to exert a specific amount of force in the precise second that each of its feet hit the ground. The bot has a sleek design comprised of a complex assemblage of gears, four legs, electric motors and batteries. All included, it weighs about as much as its real-life counterpart. The MIT team claims that with a few tweaks, they could get this model running at speeds of up to 30 mph.

Research in the field of brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) dates back to the 1950s when National Institute of Health researcher John Lilly implanted a series of between 25 to 610 electrodes in the cortex of rhesus monkeys. By using the electrodes to stimulate the monkeys' cortex, Lilly was able to study the spread of motor function throughout the cortical tissue.

A group of scientists from the U.S., Spain and France may have gotten a step closer to mental telepathy. According to a report from The Financial Express, the scientists conducted a groundbreaking experiment to achieve the first transmission of information via a brain-to-brain link between two human beings.

Brain-computer interfacing (BCI) is a rapidly growing field that offers huge potential for many applications, such as medical grade BCIs, to help people with sensory-motor disabilities. Currently, a number of researchers are developing more affordable BCI systems designed to address a wider range of neurotherapeutic applications.

According to a report from Cullen College of Engineering, Jose L. Contreras-Vidal, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the college, is pioneering a unique study on the brain’s reaction to art, which he hopes could help streamline brain-machine interface systems.

It’s easy to see the many advantages of augmented reality (AR), such as transforming business and accelerating productivity, but AR may also have a downside, particularly when it comes to cybercrime.

According to a report in the Times of News, scientists in China have recently developed a robotic arm that is controlled by the user’s brainwaves. For the first time, the arm has been used on a human subject. The device gives hope for individuals who have lost a limb or suffer from motor disabilities.

Pediatric Robot Surgeon

According to a recent report from NASA, some of their engineers and a team of researchers from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) have recently developed a robotic surgical arm. Known as KidsArm, the robot has an external positioning system and is roughly the same size as a human arm. The robot will allow surgeons to easily explore surgical sites within a patient’s body and automate specific tasks to make pediatric surgery less invasive.  The arm is still undergoing testing so that its dexterity can be fine-tuned. Potentially, KidsArm could greatly reduce the cost of surgical procedures, as well as improve the precision and consistency of patient interventions.

Robot Swarm Works Together Spontaneously

Scientists at Harvard University have designed a swarm of 1,024 mini robots that can assemble, change formation and work together without needing any guiding intelligence. A report in Science Alert explains that the coin-sized robots are able to assemble themselves into a range of 2D formations by wobbling around with a vibrating movement until they have formed shapes such as stars or letters of the alphabet. Each Kilobot is programmed to know how to follow the group's perimeter, how to map the distance it travels, and how to maintain an understanding of its relative position. The swarm of bots may become useful for creating programmable matter.

What do you get when you merge theories of consciousness with quantum theory? The answer is Dr. Amit Goswami's unique paradigm of science called “science within consciousness.” Amit Goswami is a former professor of theoretical nuclear physics at the University of Oregon where he served since 1968. He is also the author numerous books including The Self-Aware Universe, Physics Of The Soul and The Quantum Doctor.

Over the past year, there have been many developments in brain-computer interfaces for controlling prosthetics. One of the most recent involves a device that aims to control a prosthetic arm using memories of movement within the amputee's brain.

Turn Regular Bulbs into Smart Lights

Imagine being able to turn any dimmable light in your home or office into a smart light that enables you to control your lights from anywhere in the world. Emberlight gives you the ability to do just that using only a simple plug and play adapter. According to TechCrunch, a new company called Emberlight has developed an application that works with your existing light bulbs, so you don’t have to spend money on expensive smart bulbs, nor does it require a wireless hub needed by many existing smart bulbs. The device is screwed in with the bulb and rests between it and the light fitting. It connects to the Wi-Fi network so the light can controlled remotely via computer, tablet or smart phone.

Tim Stevens is Editor in Chief at Engadget—one of the world's most popular technology blogs. He's also one of the first people outside of Google to wear Google Glass.

The field of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) is expanding rapidly. We have already seen the development of BCIs to control computer programs, and move prosthetic hands and arms. Now, scientists at the University of Houston in Texas have developed a BCI that can control robotic legs.

Implant Teaches the Brain to Cure Tinnitus

According to the National Institute of Deafness and other Hearing Disorders (NIDCD) tinnitus affects 12.3 percent of men and around 14 percent of women over age 65 in the United States. The disorder causes a chronic noise or ringing in the ears. U.S. company MicroTransponder has developed an implant that can train the brain to cure tinnitus, reports GizMag. The user listens to computer-generated sounds via headphones to trigger the tinnitus. The implant simultaneously targets the vagus nerve, transmitting small pulses which trigger the release of chemicals within the brain. These chemicals stimulate the brain to reconfigure itself, reducing the tinnitus symptoms.

According to the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, almost one in 50 people live with some form of paralysis. Imagine being paralyzed after a stroke or serious accident and no longer being able to move your arms, then one day your doctor tells you of a new device that is going to empower you to move again. Researchers at Battelle Memorial Institute have developed groundbreaking technology that can do just that; it can help paralyzed patients regain conscious control of their arms, wrists, hands and fingers.

One of the problems facing BCI has been the fact that the electrodes used to interface with the brain are rigid, whereas brain tissue is soft and moves within the cranium. This means that it's tough to follow individual neurons because as the brain moves, the inflexible electrodes drop the signal they're tracing. Researchers at Arizona State University and Sandia National Labs, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, are now working on neural interfaces that can trace individual neurons even as the brain moves, reports Med Gadget.

Bacterial Robotics Create Minute Robots for Tumor Treatment

According to a report from Reuters, Cincinnati-based biotechnology firm Bacterial Robotics is developing a series of miniature medical robots called BactoBots™. Inspired by swarms of bacteria, the BactoBots are designed to destroy cancer cells in cases of cholesteatoma. This is a form of benign cancer which affects the skull, temporal bone and ear. It can cause dizziness, deafness, brain abscess, facial palsy and meningitis. The BactoBots may also have a number of uses in industry, such as cleaning municipal wastewater and assisting with the production of food and beverage production.

One of the main differences between business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing is that the former is more complicated. B2B marketing generally has a longer sales cycle, there is usually a larger number of people involved in the sales process and, according to Douglas Burdett, founder of Artillery Marketing Communications, B2B marketing is more emotional than rational.