Michigan Tech Researchers Develop ‘Smart’ Deep Brain Stimulation Systems for Parkinson’s Patients

source: mfu.edu  |  image: pixabay.com

Researchers at Michigan Technological University are applying neuromorphic computing to improve the effectiveness and energy efficiency of deep brain stimulation systems used to treat Parkinson’s disease.

 

Currently incurable, Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects millions worldwide. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an alternative to medications that are effective but lose effectiveness as patients develop drug resistance. Over time, larger doses of medication become necessary to control the condition and with them come potentially serious side effects. DBS is one alternative.

Making Deep Brain Stimulation Systems Better for Patients

DBS systems function like a pacemaker for the brain. They suppress the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, including slowed or delayed movements (called bradykinesia), tremors and stiffness. An electrode, implanted into a specific target in the brain, emits electrical impulses using a battery-powered device in the chest. 

DBS systems can be life-changing for people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. But battery life is a challenge. Current devices use an implantable pulse generator (IPG), surgically inserted in the chest or abdomen, to send stimulation signals to the brain at a constant frequency, regardless of the clinical state of the patient. Nonchargeable batteries last approximately two to five years. Battery replacement can be disruptive for patients; it requires a surgical procedure. And there can be unwanted side effects caused by the IPG’s continuous stimulation.

Continue reading “Michigan Tech Researchers Develop: Systems for Parkinson’s Patients”

 

What is a QR Code + How Does It Work?

Everything Marketers Should Know

 

source: blog.hubspot.com, contributed by FAN, Steve Jones. |  image: pixabay.com

 

I’ll never forget the first time dining at a restaurant after my pandemic-induced hibernation. Before I could ask for a menu, the waitress nodded towards a piece of paper with a barcode on it. “Open your phone camera and scan it. The menu should pop up.”

QR codes have become a common sight almost overnight — from cereal boxes and billboards to even employee uniforms. With a 94% increase in interactions from 2018 to 2020, there’s no denying QR codes are seeing an epic revival in a new touch-free world.

Let’s explore the origins of the QR code, learn how it works, and discuss ways it can refresh your marketing strategy.

What is a QR code?

Short for quick response, QR codes are scannable barcodes that store data. In the marketing sphere, they’re commonly used to redirect users to landing pages, websites, social media profiles, or store coupons.

For instance, someone can place a QR code on the back of their business card to direct you to their LinkedIn profile. A QR code on a billboard may send you to a landing page.

QR codes vary in design and function, and primarily fall into one of the following categories — static or dynamic.

Static vs. Dynamic QR Codes

A static QR code contains information that cannot be modified once it’s live. This means any typo or misstep will require you to create a brand new one. The good news is that static codes don’t expire — so once the content is set, your work is done.

Static QR codes are ideal for storing fixed or sensitive info — think Wi-Fi passwords, employee ID numbers, or access codes. But they’re not so helpful if you need to update your data regularly.

Dynamic QR codes allow you to change your info as many times as you want. This is because the information isn’t ingrained into the code itself. Instead, it redirects users to a specific URL that can be changed at any time. For example, a restaurant can redirect users to a menu on their website.

A major benefit of dynamic QR codes is the ability to gather scanning metrics. While you can’t access personal information from users, you can see the time, location, and device used for each scan. And as marketers, we know these metrics are crucial to gauging campaign effectiveness.

How do QR codes work?

A QR code works similarly to barcodes at the supermarket. Each QR code consists black squares and dots which represent different pieces of information. When scanned, the unique pattern on the barcode translates into human-readable data. This transaction happens in seconds.

Users must scan the code with a QR reader or scanner, although nowadays most people scan QR codes with smartphones. On the off chance your phone doesn’t have the capability, there are plenty of free apps for QR scanning like NeoReader and QuickMark Barcode Scanner.

Continue reading “What is a QR Code + How Does It Work?”

Ford patents self-driving car that repossesses itself if the owner fails to keep up with payments – and drives itself back to the showroom or scrapyard

 

source: dailymail.co.uk/, contributed by Artemus Founder, Bob Wallace  |  image: pixabay.com

 

Ford is not taking any chances with owners missing car payments – the company is working on a system that prompts the vehicle to repossess itself. 

A newly awarded patent describes a car self-driving back to the showroom or a scrapyard if the owner does not answer messages about their delinquent account. 

The American carmaker would start the process by disabling ‘comfort features,’ playing noises inside the car and limiting where the vehicle can drive.

 

If all else fails, Ford will activate the self-driving feature and the owner has no choice but to give up the car.

While patent applications do not always turn into real-world services, Ford describes using a ‘repossession computer’ that could be installed to let it take control of functions.

Continue reading “Ford patents self-driving car that repossesses itself…”

The Deepfake Dangers Ahead

source: wsj.com, contributed by Artemus Founder, Bob Wallace  |  image: pexels.com

 

AI-generated disinformation, especially from hostile foreign powers, is a growing threat to democracies based on the free flow of ideas

 

By Daniel BymanChris Meserole And V.S. Subrahmanian

Feb. 23, 2023 9:58 am ET

Bots, trolls, influence campaigns: Every day we seem to be battling more fake or manipulated content online. Because of advances in computing power, smarter machine learning algorithms and larger data sets, we will soon share digital space with a sinister array of AI-generated news articles and podcasts, deepfake images and videos—all produced at a once unthinkable scale and speed. As of 2018, according to one study, fewer than 10,000 deepfakes had been detected online. Today the number of deepfakes online is almost certainly in the millions.

We can hardly imagine all the purposes that people will find for this new synthetic media, but what we’ve already seen is cause for concern. Students can have ChatGPT write their essays. Stalkers can create pornographic videos featuring images of the people they are obsessed with. A criminal can synthesize your boss’s voice and tell you to transfer money.

Deepfakes risk leading people to view all information as suspicious.

Continue reading “The Deepfake Dangers Ahead”

Shape-shifter

 

source: newatlas.com, contributed by FAN, Bill Amshey  |  image: pexels.com

 

Scientists reported this week they’ve created a material that can be molded into forms that can shift between being liquid and solid.

Why it matters: Shape-shifting materials could be used for a range of applications — from biomedical devices to electrical circuitry that could be wirelessly repaired, study co-author Carmel Majidi, a professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, told me in an email.

How it works: The material is made from the metal gallium — which melts at about 86 degrees Fahrenheit — embedded with magnetic particles.

  • Electricity generated from a rapidly alternating magnetic field creates heat that liquifies the metal.
  • A magnet is then used to move the material around. When it cools back down to room temperature, the metal solidifies.
  • The researchers’ inspiration? Sea cucumbers that can soften into a material that sinks between your fingers — and then stiffen again.

In one experiment, the material was cast as a Lego-like figure, liquified and moved out of a jail cell, then recast in a mold.

  • They also tested the material by having it jump over moats and climb walls.
  • In another experiment, it softened around a small ball in order to remove it from a model stomach — a proof of concept for potential biomedical applications.

Yes, but: Operating in the human body would likely require a non-toxic material that could degrade and one with a higher melting point, which could possibly be created by adding other metals to gallium, the authors note.

Researchers shrink camera to the size of a salt grain- Princeton Engineering

source: https://engineering.princeton.edu, contributed by Artemus Founder, Bob Wallace  |  image: pexels.com

see images of the cameras here

Micro-sized cameras have great potential to spot problems in the human body and enable sensing for super-small robots, but past approaches captured fuzzy, distorted images with limited fields of view.

Now, researchers at Princeton University and the University of Washington have overcome these obstacles with an ultracompact camera the size of a coarse grain of salt. The new system can produce crisp, full-color images on par with a conventional compound camera lens 500,000 times larger in volume, the researchers reported in a paper published Nov. 29 in Nature Communications.

Enabled by a joint design of the camera’s hardware and computational processing, the system could enable minimally invasive endoscopy with medical robots to diagnose and treat diseases, and improve imaging for other robots with size and weight constraints. Arrays of thousands of such cameras could be used for full-scene sensing, turning surfaces into cameras.

Continue reading “Researchers shrink camera to the size of a salt grain- Princeton Engineering”

IT Leaders Reveal Cyber Fears Around ChatGPT

source: infosecurity-magazine.com  |  image: pexels.com

 

The majority (51%) of security leaders expect ChatGPT to be at the heart of a successful cyber-attack within a year, according to new research by BlackBerry.

The survey of 1500 IT decision makers across North America, the UK and Australia also found that 71% believe nation-states are likely to already be using the technology for malicious purposes against other countries.

ChatGPT is an artificially intelligence (AI) powered language model developed by OpenAI, which has been deployed in a chatbot format, allowing users to receive a prompt and detailed response to any questions they ask it. The product was launched at the end of 2022.

Cyber-Threats from ChatGPT

Despite its enormous potential, information security experts have raised concerns over its possible use by cyber-threat actors to launch attacks, including malware development and convincing social engineering scams.

Continue reading “IT Leaders Reveal Cyber Fears Around ChatGPT”

Ants can detect the scent of cancer in urine

source: livescience.com, contributed by FAN Steve Page  |  image: pexels.com

 

Ants use their antennae to sniff out cancer

Ants can be trained to detect cancer in urine, a new study finds.

Although ant sniffing is a long way from being used as a diagnostic tool in humans, the results are encouraging, the researchers said.

Because ants lack noses, they use olfactory receptors on their antennae to help them find food or sniff out potential mates. For the study, published Jan. 25 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences(opens in new tab), scientists trained nearly three dozen silky ants (Formica fusca) to use these acute olfactory receptors for a different task: finding tumors.

In a lab, scientists grafted slices of breast cancer tumors from human samples onto mice and taught the 35 insects to “associate urine from the tumor-bearing rodents with sugar,” according to The Washington Post(opens in new tab). Once placed in a petri dish, the ants spent 20% more time next to urine samples containing cancerous tumors versus healthy urine, according to the study.

Continue reading “Ants can detect the scent of cancer in urine”

5 scientific breakthroughs in 2022 that should give you hope for the future

 

source: fastcompany.com  |  image: Pixabay.com

 

It’s been a challenging year on many fronts, but where science is concerned, the future is brighter than it is bleak.

While there was no shortage of upsetting news in 2022, researchers and science enthusiasts can point to a number of uplifting advancements and discoveries to revive hope in humanity. This year, the brightest minds in STEMs brought us steps closer to a revolutionary future, with breakthroughs in energy production, space exploration, and planet protection. Here are five scientific breakthroughs from 2022 to reflect on how far we’ve come. 

WE HIT A NUCLEAR-FUSION MILESTONE

It took 70 years, but physicists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) finally had more output than energy input. Although commercial production of fusion energy is still a pipe dream, researchers at NIF in California have done what a similar project in France has yet to do. The hope for the future is more energy gains from nuclear fusion, which can provide an infinite source of clean energy that’s carbon-free and doesn’t emit radioactive waste. 

Continue reading “5 scientific breakthroughs in 2022…”

You’ll Soon Be Able To Run Holograms

On Your Smartphone

 

source: iflscience.com, contributed by FAN Steve Page  |  image: Pixabay.com

 

In 1943, Thomas Watson, the president of IBM, famously predicted the world market for computers would top out at “maybe five” of the machines. He was wrong – you likely have more than that in your own house, let’s face it – but at the time, it made sense. After all, if computers were still gigantic, vacuum-tube-powered addition machines, you probably wouldn’t want more than about five either.

It’s a similar story with holograms. Even back in the 1990s, more than 40 years after Dennis Gabor first came up with the idea of using wavefront interference to reconstruct images in three dimensions, science fiction was still assuming the need for entire decks and suites to power our holographic adventures.

In fact, they can run on a smartphone.

Almost two years ago, researchers at MIT made a breakthrough – a technology they dubbed “tensor holography”. Since then, the project has continued to improve, and today, the team are working with a system they say is “fully automatic, robust to rendered and misaligned real-world inputs, produces realistic depth boundaries, and corrects vision aberrations.”

Continue reading “You’ll Soon Be Able To Run Holograms On Your Smartphone”