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Baidu’s autonomous electric carmaker Jidu raises $400 million in Series A financing

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Baidu’s intelligent electric vehicle arm Jidu has closed its Series A financing, raising nearly $400 million.

This round of financing was backed by Baidu and its strategic partner multinational auto manufacturer Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.

With the completion of financing, Jidu is set to continue accelerating the progress in R&D and achieving mass production. [Read more…] about Baidu’s autonomous electric carmaker Jidu raises $400 million in Series A financing

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  • Tau invents wire that doubles the power of electric motors and raises €10.25 million
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    Tau invents wire that doubles the power of electric motors and raises €10.25 millionA startup company called Tau, which specializes in materials science and automotive electrification, says it has delivered a prototype wire that enables electric motors to double their power output without changing their size.  The technology could mean that electric vehicles and machines of all kinds can keep going for longer…
    Tags: industry, engineering, news

RealThing Ai launches smartphone for visually impaired

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RealThing Ai has launched its latest fully voice accessible smartphone: the RealSAM Pocket V4, completely designed for those with sight loss.

Released today in the United Kingdom and previewing in the United States, RealSAM Pocket V4 delivers on significant innovations from its V3 2021 release.

The newest developments are cleverly crafted to meet the daily frustrations that visually impaired people face, including the ease of accessing choices when shopping, challenges in being independently mobile and a need for a reliable solution to read text in confidential situations, such as banking and healthcare. [Read more…] about RealThing Ai launches smartphone for visually impaired

Firefly drones with infrared vision set to transform wind turbine and aircraft inspections

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Two UK-based companies, Innvotek and Mapair, have successfully trialled a drone system that uses infrared technologies and artificial intelligence to inspect composite structures, including wind turbines and aircraft wings, for defects. (See video below.)

Firefly Inspect can hover above wind turbine blades and aircraft using a 1,000W heat lamp to test for defects – the first time that such a powerful heat source has been fitted to a drone.

Firefly Inspect was originally a concept for inspecting aeroplane wings when they are stationary within hangars. Thanks to a collaboration with the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, the technology has now been adapted to include inspection of on- and offshore wind turbines. [Read more…] about Firefly drones with infrared vision set to transform wind turbine and aircraft inspections

Learning from a ‘living fossil’

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As we live and breathe, ancient-looking fish known as bowfin are guarding genetic secrets that that can help unravel humanity’s evolutionary history and better understand its health.

Michigan State researchers Ingo Braasch and Andrew Thompson are now decoding some of those secrets. Leading a project that included more than two dozen researchers spanning three continents, the Spartans have assembled the most complete picture of the bowfin genome to date.

“For the first time, we have what’s called a chromosome-level genome assembly for the bowfin,” said Braasch, an assistant professor of integrative biology in the College of Natural Science. “If you think of the genome like a book, what we had in the past was like having all the pages ripped out in pieces. Now, we’ve put them back in the book.” [Read more…] about Learning from a ‘living fossil’

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  • Eye-brain connection evolved much earlier than previously thought
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    Eye-brain connection evolved much earlier than previously thoughtThe network of nerves connecting our eyes to our brains is sophisticated and researchers have now shown that it evolved much earlier than previously thought, thanks to an unexpected source: the gar fish. Michigan State University's Ingo Braasch has helped an international research team show that this connection scheme was…
    Tags: braasch, fish, team, zebrafish, biology, news

Lack of math education negatively affects adolescent brain and cognitive development

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A new study suggests that not having any maths education after the age of 16 can be disadvantageous.

Adolescents who stopped studying maths showed a reduction in a critical brain chemical for brain development. This reduction in brain chemical was found in a key brain area that supports maths, memory, learning, reasoning and problem solving.

This amount of brain chemical successfully predicted cognitive performance 19 months later. [Read more…] about Lack of math education negatively affects adolescent brain and cognitive development

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  • Scientists say active early learning shapes the adult brain
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    Scientists say active early learning shapes the adult brainAn enhanced learning environment during the first five years of life shapes the brain in ways that are apparent four decades later, say Virginia Tech and University of Pennsylvania scientists writing in the June edition of the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. The researchers used structural brain imaging to detect the developmental…
    Tags: brain, study, education, cognitive

Embryos of many species use sound to prepare for the outside world

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It’s well known that reptiles depend on temperature cues while in the egg to determine a hatchling’s sex.

Now, researchers writing in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution on May 26 say that embryos of many different animal species also rely on acoustic signals in important ways. They call this phenomenon “acoustic developmental programming”.

“Acoustic developmental programming occurs when a sound informs embryos about the environment they’ll encounter postnatally and changes their development to better suit this environment,” said Mylene Mariette (@MyleneMariette) of Deakin University in Australia. [Read more…] about Embryos of many species use sound to prepare for the outside world

Technology that predicts protein stability is released by UK university spin-out company

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A cutting-edge digital tool that will make it cheaper, safer and faster for pharmaceutical companies to predict protein stability – a vital step in the development of new medicines – is being rolled out by scientists from the UK’s University of Bath through their spin-out company, BLOC Labs.

The tool, launched this week, will help researchers identify the most promising protein molecules for drug development. It has the potential to play an important role in the creation of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The market for these therapeutic antibodies is worth over £70 billion.

Monoclonal antibodies are a type of protein derived from natural antibodies and then refined and mass produced in the lab. They are steadily transforming the way we treat and prevent diseases, from cancer and conditions affecting the immune system to viral infections. [Read more…] about Technology that predicts protein stability is released by UK university spin-out company

Scientists identify many genes involved in neuron development

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Neurons result from a highly complex and unique series of cell divisions. For example, in fruit flies, the process starts with stem cells that divide into mother cells (progenitor cells), that then divide into precursor cells that eventually become neurons.

A team of the University of Michigan (U-M), spearheaded by Nigel Michki, a graduate student, and Assistant Professor Dawen Cai in the departments of Biophysics (LS&A) and Cell and Developmental Biology at the Medical School, identified many genes that are important in fruit flies’ neuron development, and that had never been described before in that context.

Since many genes are conserved across species such as between fruit flies (Drosophila), mice, and humans, what is learnt in flies can also serve as a model to better understand other species, including humans. [Read more…] about Scientists identify many genes involved in neuron development

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  • Neuroscientists build ‘ultra detailed map’ of brain motor cortex, from mice to monkeys to humans
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    Neuroscientists build ‘ultra detailed map’ of brain motor cortex, from mice to monkeys to humansHundreds of neuroscientists have built a “parts list” of the motor cortex, laying groundwork to map the whole brain and better understand brain diseases. Before you read any further, bring your hand to your forehead. It probably didn’t feel like much, but that simple kind of motion required the concerted…
    Tags: brain, cell, cells, neurons, news
  • Scientists discover a new class of memory cells in the brain
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    Scientists discover a new class of memory cells in the brainScientists have long searched in vain for a class of brain cells that could explain the visceral flash of recognition that we feel when we see a very familiar face, like that of our grandmothers. But the proposed "grandmother neuron" – a single cell at the crossroads of sensory perception…
    Tags: cells, brain, neuron, cell, neurons, news
  • Rules of brain architecture revealed in large study of neuron shape and electrophysiology
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    Rules of brain architecture revealed in large study of neuron shape and electrophysiologyTo understand our brains, scientists need to know their components. This theme underlies a growing effort in neuroscience to define the different building blocks of the brain – its cells. With the mouse's 80 million neurons and our 86 billion, sorting through those delicate, microscopic building blocks is no small…
    Tags: cell, brain, cells, neurons, data, news

Satellite map of human pressure on land provides insight on sustainable development

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The coronavirus pandemic has led researchers to switch gears or temporarily abandon projects due to health protocols or not being able to travel. But for Patrick Keys and Elizabeth Barnes, husband and wife scientists at Colorado State University, this past year led to a productive research collaboration.

They teamed up with Neil Carter, assistant professor at the University of Michigan, on a paper published in Environmental Research Letters that outlines a satellite-based map of human pressure on lands around the world.

Keys, lead author and a research scientist in CSU’s School of Global Environmental Sustainability, said the team used machine learning to produce the map, which reveals where abrupt changes in the landscape have taken place around the world. The map shows a near-present snapshot of effects from deforestation, mining, expanding road networks, urbanization and increasing agriculture. [Read more…] about Satellite map of human pressure on land provides insight on sustainable development

New pig brain maps facilitate human neuroscience discoveries

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When scientists need to understand the effects of new infant formula ingredients on brain development, it’s rarely possible for them to carry out initial safety studies with human subjects. After all, few parents are willing to hand over their newborns to test unproven ingredients.

Enter the domestic pig. Its brain and gut development are strikingly similar to human infants – much more so than traditional lab animals, rats and mice. And, like infants, young pigs can be scanned using clinically available equipment, including non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI.

That means researchers can test nutritional interventions in pigs, look at their effects on the developing brain via MRI, and make educated predictions about how those same nutrients will affect human infants. [Read more…] about New pig brain maps facilitate human neuroscience discoveries

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  • Neuroscientists build ‘ultra detailed map’ of brain motor cortex, from mice to monkeys to humans
    37
    Neuroscientists build ‘ultra detailed map’ of brain motor cortex, from mice to monkeys to humansHundreds of neuroscientists have built a “parts list” of the motor cortex, laying groundwork to map the whole brain and better understand brain diseases. Before you read any further, bring your hand to your forehead. It probably didn’t feel like much, but that simple kind of motion required the concerted…
    Tags: brain, news
  • How modern robots are developed
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    How modern robots are developedToday, neuroscience and robotics are developing hand in hand. Mikhail Lebedev, academic supervisor at HSE University’s Centre for Bioelectric Interfaces, spoke about how studying the brain inspires the development of robots. Robots are interesting to neuroscience and neuroscience is interesting to robots – this is what the article “Neuroengineering challenges…
    Tags: development, brain, news
  • How meditation can help you make fewer mistakes
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    How meditation can help you make fewer mistakesIf you are forgetful or make mistakes when in a hurry, a new study from Michigan State University – the largest of its kind to-date – found that meditation could help you to become less error prone. The research, published in Brain Sciences, tested how open monitoring meditation – or,…
    Tags: brain, news