Wireless restoration of sight to the blind (rats)

David Pescovitz 9:59 am Wed Jun 19, 2013

Stanford researchers developed a retinal prosthesis that wirelessly transmits images from a video camera in a pair of glasses directly to a chip implanted inside the retina tissue. The innovations of lead scientist Daniel Palanker and his colleagues is that their system does away with any cable between the implant and the video eyeglasses, and buries the chip in the sub-retinal layers of the eye instead of on its surface to eliminate a kind of interference. They published their latest breakthroughs in the science journal Nature Communications. From Medical Daily:

In this study, Palanker's team from the Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory placed these second-generation implants into the retinas of rats with or without macular degeneration. The researchers found that the new bionic retinas could transmit images into the minds of rats, which was observed by measuring brain activity in the visual centers of the rodents' brains.

"Solar-Powered Bionic Eye Developed By Stanford Scientist" (Medical Daily)

Restoration of Sight to the Blind: Optoelectronic Retinal Prosthesis (Daniel Palanker)

Possible sign of life on Venus

Astronomers reported today that they've detected phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus, a possible biosignature of life on the planet. The researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of… READ THE REST
Startling, beautiful, and weird close-up images of our Sun

Using Europe's largest solar telescope, GREGOR, researchers captured these incredible images of details on the surface of the sun. Above is a sunspot while the image below "reveals intricate structures… READ THE REST
Programmable, 3D-printed fabric that can "remember" its original shape and transform into new ones

Imagine that your jacket changes shape depending on the temperature or your socks can provide additional support with the push of a button. Harvard engineers created a new material using… READ THE REST
Short Post, just one paragraph

Dessert cheesecake wafer bear claw fruitcake. Fruitcake chupa chups donut candy canes marzipan. Apple pie sweet roll tart chocolate cake macaroon marshmallow carrot cake gummi bears sweet. Pastry sugar plum… READ THE REST
Save 50% on a 1-year subscription to Dashlane's premium password manager

We all know vital information about ourselves and our private digital accounts can be compromised by cybercriminals. However, many would be frightened to know just how compromised they and their… READ THE REST
The Bite Helper removes the itch of a mosquito bite in seconds

While mosquitoes have certainly earned their title as the deadliest animal on earth, their impact on most of our lives is usually a lot less consequential. But even though they… READ THE REST