Reviving sperm with ultrasound, light-responsive chips, memory recall through brain hacking, and real one-way glass were the most interesting scientific breakthroughs presented last week.
Our thirst for ever-increasing data storage capacities will not be easily quenched. Fortunately, Chinese scientists have discovered an innovative method for packing much more bytes into the same physical space on an optical disk. The idea from researchers at Shanghai University uses the same approach as light-based optical data storage (ODS) used for writing DVDs, but the novelty lies in doing this in three dimensions now. This means hundreds of layers instead of one, resulting in a huge capacity difference. Researchers claim in their work published in the journal Nature that this amounts to petabits on one disk, or roughly a million standard-resolution movies on the surface area of a classic DVD.
The new approach comes with a new storage medium called AIE-DDPR, a thin film enabling data recording in ultra-high resolution. This is achieved using light patterns applied to the surface, partly through color and partly through a combination of light-capturing molecules that react to it. If the creators of the new medium succeed in their endeavor, the new method of data storage would also mean servers occupying significantly less space, being cheaper to maintain, and consuming less energy.
ULTRASOUND BOOSTS SPERM MOTILITY Ultrasound can revive sluggish sperm, offering hope for treating male infertility. An ultrasound technique developed at Monash University in Australia stimulates sperm movement, so far only in laboratory conditions, by 266%. Researchers say ultrasound exposure prompted the movement of immobile sperm and improved the swimming speed of those already moving. These findings could help improve the outcomes of infertility treatment with assisted reproduction.
Research published in the journal Science Advances showed that 20 seconds of ultrasound at 800 mW and 40 MHz increased sperm motility and swimming ability by 266%, while also reducing the proportion of inactive sperm from 36% to just 10%. The effects of ultrasound exposure, especially the persistence and duration of improved motility visible in donor samples, will now need to be tested on men with low fertility due to asthenozoospermia.
Stimulating sperm at the cellular level with ultrasound Monash University If these results prove satisfactory, this technique, say the researchers, could become a fast and non-invasive treatment for male infertility, affecting one in 35 men and accounting for about 30% of all fertility problems.
PROSTHETIC LIMBS WITH SENSATION International researchers led by ETH Zurich in Switzerland have created a link between the brain and robots that provides people with amputations with more natural sensations while walking on their prostheses. A new method, as shown in research published in the journal Nature Communications, increases the speed of prosthetic users and their self-confidence.
Neuro-robotic leg for faster walking: restoring natural sensory feedback offers cognitive benefits to prosthetic leg users Pietro Comaschi Inspiration for the neuro-robotic stimulation protocol, which restores natural sensation to robotic limbs, was found in biological systems. Testing indicates that biomimetic neurostimulation, derived from a computer model replicating neurons in the soles of the feet, minimally burdens the brain and allows patients to focus on other things while walking.
NANODIAMONDS COOL CLOTHING Researchers at RMIT University in Australia have used nanodiamonds to create smart textiles that can cool people faster. The temperature of cotton fabric coated with nanodiamonds using the electrospinning process can be lowered by two to three degrees more than untreated cotton. Nanodiamonds extract body heat and release it from the fabric due to their incredible thermal conductivity.
Cotton material is coated with glue and then electrospun with a polymer solution of nanodiamonds, polyurethane, and solvent. This process creates a network of nanofibers that hardens and bonds to the cotton fibers. This material, described in the journal Polymers for Advanced Technologies, could be used to make protective gear and sports equipment, and since nanodiamonds also increase UV protection, it could be used for summer clothing.
“The cotton material is coated with adhesive and then electroprepared with a polymer solution of nanodiamonds, polyurethane, and solvent. This process forms a network of nanofibers that solidifies and adheres to the cotton fibers.” – Cherry Cai, RMIT
“The increase of 2 or 3 degrees may not seem like a big change, but it greatly affects human comfort and health, as well as energy consumption for air conditioning,” say the researchers, who believe their material could also be used to protect buildings from overheating.
CHIP WORKS ON LIGHT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a new silicon photonics (SiPh) computer chip that uses light instead of electrical energy. They say this could improve AI model training by increasing data transmission speed and, more efficiently, reducing the amount of electrical energy consumed.
New silicon photonics (SiPh) computer chip utilizes light instead of electrical energy. Penn Engineering.
New silicon photonics (SiPh) computer chip uses light instead of electrical energy Penn Engineering In addition to faster computing and lower power consumption, SiPh chips, presented in the journal Nature Photonics, could also solve the problem of data privacy. Since the chip can perform multiple computations in parallel, there is no need to store information in memory while calculations are being performed. “No one can hack into nonexistent memory to access your information,” explain the researchers.
NEURONS PREDICTING WHAT WE’LL SAY Although speech usually seems effortless, the human brain performs many complex cognitive steps, including generating the words we want to say, planning articulatory movements, and producing the desired vocalizations. All of this happens surprisingly quickly, with about three words per second in natural speech and remarkably few errors. Trying to understand how and why this happens, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) used sophisticated brain imaging methods.
Phonetic representations of prefrontal neurons during natural speech production MGH With the help of Neuropixels probes for recording the activity of individual neurons in the prefrontal cortex, the frontal region of the human brain, they identified cells involved in language production and found that there are separate groups of neurons in the brain dedicated to speech and listening. This detailed map of how speech sounds like consonants and vowels are represented in the brain long before they are spoken. These findings, presented in the journal Nature, will help us better understand and then treat various speech and language disorders.
Although smaller than the width of a human hair, Neuropixels probes contain hundreds of channels that can simultaneously record the activity of tens or even hundreds of individual neurons, explain the researchers. This technology allowed researchers to predict the combination of consonants and vowels that would be produced before the words are actually spoken. This ability could be used to create artificial prosthetics or brain-machine interfaces capable of producing synthetic speech.
BRAIN HACKING FOR MEMORY RECALL Deep brain technology can’t remind you whether you’ve already turned off the oven, but research from Wake Forest University (WFU) and the University of Southern California (USC) has shown that it can help people recall certain images more easily. Researchers implanted brain electrodes in epileptics to locate seizure centers. They used a computer model to track a person’s brain activity to try to identify patterns consistent with remembering certain images. The model generated stimulation patterns for each individual, and these patterns were associated with remembering images of animals, buildings, plants, tools, and vehicles.
Delayed Match-to-Sample (DMS) task performed on a touch-sensitive screen by patients sitting in a hospital bed or chair Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience Artificially restoring these neural “codes” through deep brain stimulation, as shown in test results presented in the journal Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience, improves the memory recall of people with impaired memory. This means, say the researchers, that in the future, it may be possible to treat memory disorders by artificially restoring neural codes.
Preliminary DR display following DMS stimulation session. Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience.
“Memory deficits are a common feature of many brain diseases and psychiatric conditions,” explain the researchers. “This technology could one day restore memories to those who have lost them.”
AN INVISIBLE ONE-WAY GLASS Imagine being able to see what’s happening on the other side of the window, but not vice versa. This concept has fascinated researchers for years, and now scientists at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have made it a reality. They created a new type of one-way glass that can hide objects from view from one side while leaving them visible from the other.
A prototype of the one-way glass developed by researchers at Nanyang Technological University Singapore. NTU Singapore The glass is made of a thin film of gold, 80 nanometers thick, covered with holes only 200 nanometers in diameter, arranged in a grid pattern. The holes allow light to pass through from one side to the other, but the gold film absorbs almost all the light that hits it. This means that light cannot pass through from the other side, making objects on that side invisible to observers.
According to research published in the journal Advanced Optical Materials, the new one-way glass could be used in a variety of applications, including security cameras, privacy screens, and even futuristic sci-fi gadgets like invisibility cloaks.
“The ability to control light transmission through a material could have many practical applications,” says the lead researcher. “For example, it could be used to make privacy screens for smartphones or to create windows that automatically adjust their transparency depending on the time of day.”
BONE WRAP FOR FRACTURED BONES
Bone regeneration is a complex process, and current known methods to facilitate regeneration, such as transplants and growth factor applications, are expensive and inaccessible to many. However, Korean researchers have now introduced a piezoelectric material capable of enhancing bone tissue development. The journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces presented the invention from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) at KAIST and the Department of Convergence Engineering for Biomedical Systems at Chonnam National University.
Design and Characterization of Piezoelectrically and Topographically Engineered Biomimetic Scaffolds – KAIST
Their biomimetic scaffold generates electrical signals upon pressure application, utilizing the unique osteogenic properties of hydroxyapatite (HAp), a fundamental calcium phosphate material found in bones and teeth, which prevents decay and is commonly used in toothpaste.
“We have developed a piezoelectric composite material based on HAp that can act like a bone wrap and accelerate bone regeneration,” say the researchers, highlighting the potential of their work in advancing biomaterials.
SMART GLOVE LEARNS NEW SKILLS
Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have developed a knitted smart glove capable of capturing, reproducing, and transmitting touch-based instructions. The researchers have also developed a simple machine learning agent that adapts to how different users respond to tactile feedback, optimizing their experience. The new system, presented in the journal Nature Communications, could help teach people physical skills, improve teleoperation of fast robots, and assist in virtual reality training.
Adaptive Wearable Device Provides Feedback to Different Parts of the Hand to Indicate Optimal Movements for Performing Various Skills, Such as Playing the Piano, as Demonstrated in an Experiment – MIT
The wearable device adapts to the user, with the computer creating a pattern based on hand measurements, and a machine embroiderer sewing sensors and touch elements. Trained initially on 12 touch responses, the adaptive machine learning model of the system requires just 15 seconds of new user data for personalizing feedback.
“This is the first step in creating personalized AI agents that continuously collect data about the user and their environment,” say the researchers, citing various applications from enhancing VR experiences to providing tactile feedback in video games and virtual courses for surgeons, firefighters, and pilots.
With stronger tactile feedback, such gloves could extend beyond just fingers to guide movements of feet, hips, and other less sensitive body parts, expanding their potential applications, conclude the creators of the smart glove.
BIOSSENSOR REVEALS MEAT FRESHNESS
Despite technological advancements in preserving meat freshness for as long as possible, some aging processes are inevitable. The age of meat can be determined by measuring hypoxanthine (HXA) and xanthine. There are many methods for detecting HXA, ranging from gas chromatography to nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, but these can be expensive, time-consuming, and require experts to interpret the results. However, Vietnamese researchers and their Russian colleagues have now developed an efficient, fast, and easily portable biosensor that detects the amount of hypoxanthine using graphene electrodes modified with zinc oxide nanoparticles.
Using a porous graphene electrode with zinc oxide nanoparticles, the biosensor identifies aging by-products in meat ???? Ngo Thi Hong Le
The sensor, presented in the journal AIP Advances, is made using a polyimide film that is transformed into porous graphene using a pulsating laser. Added zinc oxide nanoparticles attract HXA molecules to the surface of the electrode. When HXA interacts with the electrode, it oxidizes and transfers its electrons, increasing the electrode’s voltage. The linear relationship between HXA and voltage increase allows for easy determination of HXA content. Testing on supermarket-purchased pork fillets showed that the sensor was accurate in more than 98% of cases.
