Computing of tomorrow
Carbon, AI, and tiny microbiome robots: MIT students imagine the “future of computing.”
Zeynep Tüfekçi reminds us to look past the benchmarks
Is the tipping point of AI already behind us?
Tiny Disks, Big Impact: Wireless Brain Therapy with Magnetic Nanodiscs
Your brain is a massive game of well-choreographed pinball. At every instant, a hundred billion neurons fire through a hundred trillion synaptic connections. It’s an incredibly complicated system ― and things can go wrong. In Parkinson’s disease, misfiring neurons cause tremors and uncontrollable movements. One possible treatment is Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS): using implanted electrodes that send electrical impulses to specific brain areas responsible for motor control, DBS essentially resets parts of the pinball board. By hijacking neural signals, it’s been shown to reduce symptoms and improve motor function. However, DBS’s applicability is limited by its invasiveness. The surgery can cause hemorrhages and infection, and the target, commonly a region called the subthalamic nucleus, is buried deep inside the folds of the brain.
Forging ahead in alloy design using machine learning
Predicting atomic behavior in advanced alloys paves the way for targeted material design.
Faces everywhere: pareidolia in machine learning
Look at an electrical outlet, and you can almost see a little shocked face: two slits for eyes, and a ground-socket mouth.
Digital simulations help robots learn real-world tasks
A novel approach to training robots using 3D scans of real environments paves the path for robust and accessible home robotics.