Tech

New research suggests that when brains are organized into modules they are better at learning new information without forgetting old knowledge. The findings not only shed light on the evolution of intelligence in natural animals, but will also accelerate attempts to create artificial intelligence (AI).

Humans have evolved to be incredibly efficient at walking. In fact, simulations of human locomotion show that walking on level ground and at a steady speed should theoretically require no power input at all.

But anyone who works on their feet or has taken an arduous hike knows otherwise. In fact, people expend more energy during walking than any other activity in daily life, and for the elderly and those with mobility issues, that energy can be precious.

A blood test undertaken between 10 to 14 weeks of pregnancy may be more effective in diagnosing Down syndrome and two other less common chromosomal abnormalities than standard non-invasive screening techniques, according to a multicenter study led by a UCSF researcher.

A novel molecule designed by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the University of Virginia inhibits progression of a hard-to-treat form of recurring acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in patient tissue. The small molecule is one of the first designed to specifically target a cancer-causing transcription factor. Previously thought to be an undruggable target, this strategy may be used to design other novel molecules that can specifically inhibit cancer-causing transcription factors. Details of the work were published in Science.

New research shows that paracetamol is ineffective in reducing pain, disability or improving quality of life for patients who suffer from low back pain or osteoarthritis of the hip or knee, and its use may affect the liver. The study in the British Medical Journal provides new evidence that paracetamol is no better at treating low back pain than a placebo and its effect on osteoarthritis of the hip or knee is too small to be clinically worthwhile.

High-fructose corn syrup is in just about every product on grocery store shelves so it is no surprise that something of a culture war sprang up against it - at least until the tables turned on sugar as well. Is one sugar that has a variable range of sugar really better than another sugar with a precise, even if lower, ratio of fructose? If fructose is bad, why isn't honey banned? Is bleached white table sugar the healthy alternative to anything?

Face recognition security on smartphones can be significantly improved if users store an 'average' photo of themselves, according to new research by scientists at the University of York.

A research team led by Dr David Robertson, of the Department of Psychology's FaceVar laboratory at York, found that combining different pictures of the user, rather than a single 'target' image, leads to much better recognition across all kinds of daily settings. The research is published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Fasting in combination with chemotherapy has already been shown to kill cancer cells, but a pair of new studies in mice suggests that a less-toxic class of drugs combined with fasting may kill breast, colorectal and lung cancer cells equally well.

If shown to work in humans, this combination could replace chemotherapy and make fasting a potent component of a long-term strategy to treat cancer, according to senior author Valter Longo of USC.

A new peer-to-peer networking tool enables sufferers of anxiety and depression to build online support communities and practice therapeutic techniques. A study involving 166 subjects who had exhibited symptoms of depression allowed researchers to compare their tool with an established technique known as expressive writing.

Virginia Tech has released its five-star ratings of hockey helmets, judging their abilities to help prevent concussions. The findings so far: Only one of 32 tested helmets earned three stars with all other models faring worse in laboratory impact tests representative of the blows experienced by hockey players.

The first-of-their-kind ratings are three years in the making and follow Virginia Tech's ratings of football helmets.

Semiconductor imaging technology originally developed to scan silicon wafers for defects has been modified to zoom through the human body down to the level of a single cell and could be a game-changer for medicine.

Big Data is a term we read and hear about often, but outside the obvious terms, 'big' and 'data', and what they casually mean, it can be hard to grasp. Computer scientists at Washington University in St. Louis' School of Engineering & Applied Science tackled some big data about an important protein and discovered its connection in human history as well as clues about its role in complex neurological diseases.

A team of investigators at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the University of Southern California have developed the first fully implantable micropacemaker designed for use in a fetus with complete heart block. The team has done preclinical testing and optimization as reported in a recent issue of the journal Heart Rhythm. The micropacemaker has been designated a Humanitarian Use Device by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA). The investigators anticipate the first human use of the device in the near future.

Traditionally, to understand how a gene functions, a scientist would breed an organism that lacks that gene - "knocking it out" - then ask how the organism has changed. Are its senses affected? Its behavior? Can it even survive? Thanks to the recent advance of gene editing technology, this gold standard genetic experiment has become much more accessible in a wide variety of organisms.

BioBlast Pharma Ltd. has announced positive preclinical in vitro and in vivo proof-of-concept study results for its mitochondrial protein replacement therapy drug candidate (BB-FA) for Friedreich's Ataxia.