New brain implant design is meant to restore vision to the blind

Experiments that let a paralyzed person swig coffee using a robotic arm, or that let blind people “see” spots of light, have proven the huge potential of computers that interface with the brain. But the implanted electrodes used in such trials eventually become useless, as scar tissue forms that degrades their electrical connection to brain …

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George Church gives an update on the field of genetics

Award-winning geneticist, molecular engineer, chemist and Harvard Medical School professor Dr. George M. Church discusses human genomics and compute technologies at the 2016 Bio-IT conference. Church predicts that de Novo sequencing and inSitu sequencing will be in use within 1-2 years. This will be full reads of millions of base pair sequences. It took 15 …

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Ukraine makes an upgraded BMP-1 armored vehicle

Ukrainian industry has developed to the prototype stage a major upgrade package for the Russian BMP-1 tracked infantry fighting vehicle (IFV). The first prototype vehicle, designated the BMP-1 UM IFV, is being tested in Ukraine. The BMP-1 was a Soviet amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle. BMP stands for Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty 1, meaning “infantry fighting …

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People in Poor Countries will still catch up and reduce world income inequality in 2035

Over the next two decades the structure of world population and income will undergo profound changes. Global income inequality is projected to decline further in 2035, largely owing to rapid economic growth in the emerging-market economies. The potential pool of consumers worldwide will expand significantly, with the largest net gains in the developing and emerging-market …

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Russia could collapse before US shale producers

The Wall Street Journal talked about how Russia’s Debt and Currency Markets Could Spiral into Crisis in October. This was before Opec decided to keep oil production and drove down the price of oil. Some now speculate that oil prices could drop to $30 to $40 per barrel before later stabilizing around $70 per barrel. …

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Protein BubR1 slows aging by 15% and reduces cancer in mice

Genetically engineered mice that make extra BubR1 are less prone to cancer and live 15% longer. Researchers found that when they exposed normal mice to a chemical that causes lung and skin tumors, all of them got cancer. But only 33% of those overexpressing BubR1 at high levels did. They also found that these animals …

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Nvidia Will Reveal Next-Generation Tegra “Wayne” and “Grey” Chips at CES

Nvidia Corp. has already revealed that both of its next-generation Tegra system-on-chip for mobile devices would be taped out this year. Now, the company says that the first details about Tegra-series products code-named Wayne and Grey are set to be revealed at the consumer electronics trade-show (CES) in early 2013, whereas actual products are on …

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China’s new leadership indicates they will make faster reforms to boost domestic consumption

Beijing’s leadership say they want to boost imports and speed the integration of rural migrants into cities as ways to boost domestic consumption, according to reports in China’s state-owned news agency, Xinhua. China needed to show “more courage to reform,” the statement said. The conference was chaired by the incoming premier, Li Keqiang, and focused …

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Ray Kurzweil joins Google to work on new projects involving machine learning and language processing

Ray Kurzweil confirmed that he will be joining Google to work on new projects involving machine learning and language processing. “I’m excited to share that I’ll be joining Google as Director of Engineering this Monday, December 17,” said Kurzweil. “I’ve been interested in technology, and machine learning in particular, for a long time: when I …

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