An anonymous reader quotes a report from New Atlas: One of the most remarkable “sixth” senses in the animal kingdom is magnetoreception — the ability to detect magnetic fields — but exactly how it works remains a mystery. Now, researchers in Japan may have found a crucial piece of the puzzle, making the first observations of live, unaltered cells responding to…
Tag: senses
Neuroscientists’ New Theory: Dreaming Protects the Braincells For Eyesight
Writing in Time magazine, two neuroscientists share a surprising new theory on exactly how dreaming protects our brains: Neuroscience used to think that different parts of the brain were predetermined to perform specific functions. But more recent discoveries have upended the old paradigm. One part of the brain may initially be assigned a specific task; for instance, the back of our…
Quarter moon or a half moon?
Half the moon always faces us. And half the moon is always lit by the sun. But, in the language of astronomers, there are no ‘half moons.’ Source: https://earthsky.org/moon-phases/is-it-a-quarter-or-a-half-moon…
Mars landings: ‘7 minutes of terror’
To celebrate the 8-year anniversary of Curiosity rover’s arrival on Mars, here’s a video on the final 7 minutes of its chilling descent on August 5-6, 2012. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/mars-curiosity-rovers-seven-minutes-of-terror…
Netflix Breaks Record With 160 Emmy Nominations
Netflix led the Emmy Awards race with a record-breaking 160 primetime nominations, beating the likes of linear television giant HBO and digital newcomers Disney+ and Apple TV+. Deutsche Welle reports: HBO came in second with 107 Emmy nominations, with its hit series “Watchmen” sweeping up 26 nominations, including a nod for the best limited series category. Earlier this year, Netflix hit…
CES Comes To Its Senses and Will Go All-Digital For 2021
For the first time in more than 50 years, the CES technology tradeshow will be a digital-only event in January 2021. The event is the first big event of the year for the Las Vegas events calendar, and a huge cash cow for the Nevada city’s economy. From a report: The Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which runs the event, today announced…
Neural Network-Enhanced ‘Cognitive Radio’ Communicates With ISS
IEEE Spectrum reports:
There’s still plenty that can disrupt radio communications… Rather than waiting for a human on Earth to tell the radio how to adapt its systems — during which the commands may have already become outdated — a radio with a neural network can do it on the fly. Such a device is called a cognitive radio. Its neural network…
Coronavirus Patients Lose Senses of Taste, Smell — and Haven’t Gotten Them Back
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Wall Street Journal: Clinicians racing to understand the novel disease are starting to discern an unusual trend: one common symptom — the loss of smell and taste — can linger months after recovery. Doctors say it is possible some survivors may never taste or smell again. Out of 417 patients who suffered mild…
MIT Builds Robot Hand That Can ‘See and Feel’ Objects
Robotic hands capable of picking up objects as fragile as a crisp by “sensing” objects have been developed by researchers. The Independent reports: Two new tools built by MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) offer a breakthrough in the emerging field of soft robotics — a new generation of robots that use squishy, flexible materials rather than traditional rigid…
How ‘Technoprogressive’ Transhumanists Are Enhancing Their Bodies With Technology
Rob Spence installed a wireless video camera in place of his right eye, reports CNN. And 29-year-old James Young’s robotic arm “features a USB port, a screen displaying his Twitter feed and a retractable dock containing a remote-controlled drone…” “As biotechnology advances, so too may our ideas of what it means to be human.” Today, we can alter our bodies in…