Humans have two nostrils, which you’d think would allow us to determine the direction of smells, in the same way that two ears let us determine the direction of sounds. But that’s not how it works, sadly—humans, in general, are not stereo smellers. We can track down a smell by moving our head and body while […]
Is totally unobtrusive control of my devices really too much to ask? Apparently, it is, because every device that I own insists that I either poke it, yammer at it, or wave it around to get it to do even the simplest of things. This is mildly annoying when I’m doing just about anything that […]
How much does it itch? That’s a question doctors often ask people with eczema and other itch-inducing ailments, but the answer is subjective and hard to quantify; like being asked to rate one’s pain using one of those emoji-face pain scales. Today researchers report in Science Advances a wearable sensor that can accurately quantify how much a person […]
One year ago, when the coronavirus pandemic was first tearing through the United States, experts bemoaned the lack of fast, accurate, and portable tests to diagnose COVID-19. Now, finally, rapid at-home tests have started appearing on drug store shelves—these are tests that are sold over the counter, without need for a prescription. But the tests […]
Neural control might one day help patients operate robotic prosthetics by thought. Now researchers find that with the help of physical therapy, patients could accomplish more with such neural control than scientists previously knew was possible. Around the world, research teams are developing lower-body exoskeletons to help people walk. These devices are essentially walking robots […]
When scientists in the 1950s tried to cool hamsters to 0 °C and rewarm them, it didn’t go great. In 2002, things looked rosier when a scientist chilled a single rabbit kidney down to -130°C, then rewarmed it and transplanted it into a live rabbit, where it worked for 48 days. Then not much else […]
In 2015, the BrainGate initiative hit a milestone when volunteers with tetraplegia were able to type using their minds. But, to accomplish this feat, participants had to be connected to a stationary computer in order for the immense amount of data to be transmitted for processing. In a more recent breakthrough, BrainGate researchers have succeeded in creating a wireless brain-computer […]
Telehealth visits increased dramatically when the pandemic began—by over 4000% in the U.S., by one account. But there’s a limit to what doctors can accomplish during these virtual appointments. Namely, they can’t check patients’ vital signs over the phone. But new technologies in the works could change that by equipping phones with reliable software that can measure […]
Engineers, using artificial intelligence and wearable cameras, now aim to help robotic exoskeletons walk by themselves. Increasingly, researchers around the world are developing lower-body exoskeletons to help people walk. These are essentially walking robots users can strap to their legs to help them move.
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