Biotech/medical – Lifeboat News: The Blog

Jun 22
2019

‘Mind-Reading’ AI Turns Thoughts Into Spoken Words

Always think positively!

“Our voices help connect us to our friends, family and the world around us, which is why losing the power of one’s voice due to injury or disease is so devastating. This could happen due to various reasons such as ALS [amyotrophic lateral sclerosis] or stroke,” resulting in what is known as “locked-in-syndrome,” he added.

“Our ultimate goal is to develop technologies that can decode the internal voice of a patient who is unable to speak,” said Mesgarani.

Such innovations also mean better brain-computer interfacing, which would open up whole new platforms for man-machine communication, he added.

Jun 22
2019

What Happens When Scientists Experiment on Themselves?

Cross a compulsive need to discover the truth with a strong sense of adventure, and watch modern medicine move forward.

Jun 22
2019

Florida town pays $600,000 virus ransom

Computers for Riviera Beach have been locked up for more than three weeks following the attack.

Jun 22
2019

Restoring the Body’s Normal Function

Scientists are engineering T-cell to fight diseases and restore the body’s immune function. (Credit: Sensu Film)

Jun 22
2019

Beagles and other scent hounds could be used to help in early detection of lung cancers, study finds

A recent study suggests that dogs with a strong sense of smell could help detect certain lung cancers early.

Jun 22
2019

A Russian Biologist Wants To Create More Gene-Edited Babies

Russian Biologist Seeks To Edit Genes Of Human Embryos With CRISPR : Shots — Health News A Moscow scientist claims he has a safe way of editing genes in human embryos — a method that could protect resulting babies from being infected with HIV. Approval of the experiment seems unlikely.

Jun 22
2019

‘Living drug’ offers hope to terminal blood cancer patients

Doctors say some lymphoma patients are being completely cured in a way “never been seen before”.

Jun 22
2019

An AI “Vaccine” Can Block Adversarial Attacks

For as smart as artificial intelligence systems seem to get, they’re still easily confused by hackers who launch so-called adversarial attacks — cyberattacks that trick algorithms into misinterpreting their training data, sometimes to disastrous ends.

In order to bolster AI’s defenses from these dangerous hacks, scientists at the Australian research agency CSIRO say in a press release they’ve created a sort of AI “vaccine” that trains algorithms on weak adversaries so they’re better prepared for the real thing — not entirely unlike how vaccines expose our immune systems to inert viruses so they can fight off infections in the future.

Jun 21
2019

Ultra-thin “e-tattoo” uses two sensors for better monitoring of the heart

We’ve already heard about flexible so-called “electronic tattoos,” which are a more comfortable and longer-wearing alternative to the rigid electrodes traditionally used to monitor cardiac patients’ hearts. A new one is claimed to be more accurate than others, however, as it tracks heart health in two ways.

Jun 21
2019

New e-tattoo enables accurate, uninterrupted heart monitoring for days

The future of medicine is not fixing what is broken, it’s preventing things from getting broken in the first place.

The leading cause of death in Texas is heart disease, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, accounting for more than 45,000 deaths statewide in 2017. A new wearable technology made from stretchy, lightweight material could make heart health monitoring easier and more accurate than existing electrocardiograph machines—a technology that has changed little in almost a century.

Developed by engineers at The University of Texas at Austin and led by Nanshu Lu in the Cockrell School of Engineering, this is the latest incarnation of Lu’s electronic tattoo technology, a graphene-based wearable device that can be placed on the skin to measure a variety of body responses, from electrical to biomechanical signals.

The research team reported on their newest e-tattoo in a recent issue of Advanced Science.