Electrical brain stimulation rejuvenates memory by 50 years
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As we age our memory capacity degrades, but his latest breakthrough turns the clock back over 50 years. Over the past couple of years I’ve been closely watching the field of Neuro-Training – an emerging technique that helps people with brain training, memory retention,...
Scientists bring 28,000 year old woolly mammoth cells back to life
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Many scientists see de-extinction, as well as immortality and re-incarnation, as a mystery we simply haven’t solved yet. In a world rife with movie plotlines about bringing extinct animals back from the dead, and actual scientists thinking about actually doing it, scientists in Osaka,...
Scientists gene hacked lizards to make them albino
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As gene editing tools become more powerful scientists are starting to push the boundaries by modifying the genes of more complex animals. For the first time reptiles, which are comparatively complex organisms, have been gene-edited with CRISPR technology after scientists at University of Georgia...
Scientists have unlocked the secret to whole body regeneration
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Humans genetic ability to regenerate body parts naturally was “turned off” millions of years ago, but now scientists have found a switch that turns it on – in worms. When it comes to regeneration some animals are capable of amazing feats. For example, if...
Revolutionary Bio-Compatible transistors will let AI’s interface with your brain
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Neural interfaces that let us communicate with each other and the machines around us, as well as stream our thoughts to TV, will revolutionise humanity, but we need bio-compatible hardware. It’s a fact that silicon transistors and the brain don’t mix, and while you...
Simple paper blood test diagnoses disease faster and cheaper
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Not everyone has access to a lab that can process blood tests, so this breakthrough will help people in developing nations diagnose disease faster. Dutch and Japanese scientists have developed an inexpensive new paper-based blood test kit that quickly determines if patients have infectious...
China shows off its first official neurosurgery robot
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the technologies needed to construct sophisticated robot surgeons advances, so too are the type and complexity of surgeries they can take on. Using robots in surgery isn’t new, and I’ve written about a bunch of them recently as the technology starts leaving the...
3D Printing with sound, new tech opens door to printed cosmetics, food, and drugs
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As 3D printing becomes more popular the ability to control the size of droplets opens the door to 3D printing everything from cosmetics and materials, to pharmaceutical drugs. Harvard University has announced that its researchers have developed a way to print objects using sound....
A decade after the first person was cured of HIV, another is in remission
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The HIV and AIDS epidemics have claimed the lives of millions of people, and now there may be a cure, but there’s a big catch. News has emerged from the UK that a man has been in remission from HIV for a year and...
Researchers have created a digital nose that can sniff out disease
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There are many ways to detect disease, and one of the most effective ways is using smell, so scientists have developed a digital nose. An electronic nose typically identifies odours by detecting the “fingerprint” of a chemical compound across an array of sensors that are...
Scientists built an 8 base pair DNA double helix with potential to create new lifeforms
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF DNA is the universes’ most advanced programming language, and we might have just given it a boost of infinite proportions. DNA is wonderful. And powerful. After all, it gave us everything from the dinosaurs and dolphins, to us, and, of course, the world’s first...
Experts believe Chinese scientist who Gene-Hacked twins “likely boosted their brainpower”
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Genetic enhancement has a variety of unknown impacts on human biology and cognition, and we are no where near to understanding them. When now infamous Chinese scientists He Jiankui edited the genes of human twin babies last year, he was reportedly trying to make them immune...
Experimental vaccine for Celiac disease heads to human trials
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF About 1 in 100 people have Celiac disease, and this could be the cure they’re all waiting for. Recently there have been several interesting vaccine breakthroughs, including the development of Contagious Vaccines, that mean vaccinate one person and suddenly everyone has the immunity, and...
World first as nanobots get to work choking cancers to death
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Nanobots are one of the ultimate medical frontiers and science fiction classics, and they’re slowing beginning to show their promise. Recently I discussed how we’re building the first generation of enzyme powered nanobots capable of hunting and tracking down disease within the human body...
World first as scientists get the “Extinction Gene” to work in mammals
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Gene drives over rule the laws of genetic inheritance, which means you can cure inherited genetic diseases forever, wipe out the entire human population, and everything in between. The phrase Gene Drive often sends a shudder down a scientist’s spine, one of awe and...
Genetic engineering breakthrough turns chickens into egg laying medicine factories
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to produce drugs and medicines cheaply is important, and this breakthrough breaks grounds on all kinds of fronts. Ordinarily, when scientists want to produce proteins to use in medicine they have to use techniques that are costly and complex. Recently, however, in...
MIT’s new neural network can explain its decisions
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As AI gets more deeply embedded into the world’s digital fabric, in everything from self-driving cars to high frequency stock trading, it’s crucial we know how it makes its decisions. A child is presented with a picture of various shapes and is asked to...
Researchers 3D printed a working spinal chord implant in 1.6 seconds
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today if you break your spine, you’re paralysed, but paralysis is increasingly no longer for life. 3D Bio-Printing, an offshoot of its better known cousin 3D Printing, lets scientists manufacture everything from real bones, cartilage, corneas and kidneys, to hearts, ovaries, skin, and teeth, by laying...
Woebot, the World’s first AI counsellor, manages 2 million conversations a week
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Mental health issues seem to plague modern society, but the number of people who seek out professional help is minimal, so companies are developing AI counsellors that are free and accessible anywhere 24/7 Mental health has been increasingly on people’s minds, if you’ll excuse...
Revolutionary bio-electronic implant heals nerves, then vanishes
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Many people around the world suffer from what is today irreparable nerve damage, but this new technology can repair these nerves, restore bodily functions, and disappear without trace. Lots of people, especially the military, are increasingly interested in creating electronic devices that disappear once...
