Technology
How would you feel if I told you that a virus could be responsible for depleting human intelligence? According to scientists at Johns Hopkins Medical School and the University of Nebraska, a virus that infects human brains could be making much of the population ‘stupid’.
Researchers from the University of Exeter found that when individuals are briefly presented pictures of others receiving emotional support and affection, the brain’s threat monitor, the amygdala, subsequently does not respond to images showing threatening facial expressions or words. This occurred even if the person was not paying attention to the content of the first pictures.
“We humans have indeed always been adept at dovetailing our minds and skills to the shape of our current tools and aids. But when those tools and aids start dovetailing back — when our technologies actively, automatically, and continually tailor themselves to us, just as we do to them — then the line between tool and user becomes flimsy indeed.” – Andy Clark
Travelling through time, invisibility cloaks and teleporting could all happen within today’s children’s lifetimes, experts have predicted
An extraordinary process for transferring electrons between the solar panel and the battery electrode transpires. Inside the device, light and oxygen enable different parts of a set of chemical reactions that then re-charge the battery.
A group of engineers and researchers from both Columbia Engineering and the Georgia Institute of Technology revealed that they have made the first thin electric generator, that is remarkably only one atom thick.
A major breakthrough could lead to more effective methods for detoxifying dangerous pollutants like PCBs and dioxins, scientists say. The result is a culmination of 15 years of research. It details how certain organisms manage to lower the toxicity of pollutants
Lockheed Martin announced on Wednesday it has achieved a major breakthrough in developing a nuclear fusion reactor. Although the defense contractor claims it is developing a prototype small enough to fit on the back of a truck, some scientists are skeptical the company is actually on its way to harnessing the elusive energy source. RT’s Ben Swann takes a look.
Businesses and governments around the world increasingly are turning to voice biometrics, or voiceprints, to pay pensions, collect taxes, track criminals and replace passwords.
Over the years, consumer electronics have improved in almost every way, becoming thinner, lighter, and more pixel-packed, all while increasing exponentially in performance. But beating at the heart of many mobile devices and even electric cars is a technology that hasn’t kept up with the rapid pace of innovation: batteries. Specifically, lithium-ion batteries.
A device that fits into a shoe harvests the energy made by walking and successfully uses it in watch batteries
Microsoft is looking to invest more heavily in its ability to predict the future. This week it’s opening the Microsoft Prediction Lab, which includes a website that conducts polling that’s meant to predict the upcoming US congressional and gubernatorial races.
Inspired perhaps by Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak, scientists have recently developed several ways—some simple and some involving new technologies—to hide objects from view. The latest effort, developed at the University of Rochester, not only overcomes some of the limitations of previous devices, but it uses inexpensive, readily available materials in a novel configuration.
A new proposal envisions a high-speed urban gondola that would offer commuters swift transport between Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, reducing travel times.
Wolverine, Ghost Rider, the Incredible Hulk — all of these characters have at least one awesome trait in common: the ability to heal themselves. And now, the Pentagon wants to give ordinary people this superhuman capability.
