Scientists may have identified the particles that make up Dark Matter
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF If it were not for the gravity of dark matter galaxies wouldn’t be able to hold themselves together and planets and stars would fly into oblivion. Understanding what Dark Matter is has proven to be amazingly difficult. Of course, one might expect this from a...
Second Sight’s bionic eye helps restore a woman’s sight
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Neuroprosthetics provides individuals with crippling or debilitating conditions, whatever their origin, with the opportunity to regain sensations and capabilities, such as sight and hearing, that would otherwise be impossible. Over the past several years, people with degenerative eye diseases could recover some their vision...
Report finds that global internet freedom declines for sixth straight year in a row
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Internet freedom is on the decline with over two thirds of the worlds population now subject to government and institutional censorship. Independent watchdog Freedom House has issued its 2016 report along with a chilling warning that internet privacy is becoming something of an oxymoron. Freedom...
Japanese researchers have built a computer brain
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to model the human brain will help us create better treatments for neurological conditions, and might also help answer questions about consciousness and sentience. Researchers in Japan have used the powerful Riken K computer, one of the world’s fastest supercomputers, to simulate...
