Sadly, I wish I could say that this is probably a unique case, but I don't believe that for a second.
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Bits of news - The FDA has dismissed claims that the trace amounts of bisphenol A (BPA) that leach into our drinks (and into baby bottles) are in any way harmful. BPA is some pretty nasty stuff, but then so are plenty of things we find in trace amounts in our environments. Still, I appreciate the Canadian government's willingness to err on the side of caution and ban its use in products for children.
A shameless plug for a study out of the Institute where I work: Mothers that were pregnant during the huge ice storm of 1998 have kids that are developmentally delayed 5 years later. The babies are slightly smaller, and have a slightly lower IQ than average. On the bright side, other studies have shown that these kids will probably "catch up" to their peers by adolescence. Interestingly, the way that the mother responded to the stress didn't seem to matter - just the presence of the stress itself seemed to impact the development of the child. The primary investigators will continue to follow the children through their lives.
Frickin' robot brains, man!!! They're getting closer and closer. This is upsetting because I will lose one of my euphemisms for human error/incompetence in the lab ("wetware" problems), but actually really cool to see. This video shows a guy who is using randomly-assembled networks of actual neurons to drive a robot to learn about its environment. I really can't wait for this guy to publish, because this is nowhere near detailed enough for me. He might even be something to consider investing in, once he has a startup. If I were to get back into electrophysiology, this exactly the sort of thing I'd love to do.
In a diametrically-opposed approach, another group has a computer model of something like a brain. This model is "given" a virtual body that interacts with its virtual environment, and the neural network figures out how to move itself using the virtual stimuli and the joints and limbs the programmers give it. What is most interesting here is that structure dictates function, and the "robots" just learn to move what they have rather than needing to have complicated steps programmed into them. This will be a huge step in designing computer games at least, but probably in artificial intelligence and robot tech in general.
Bits of news - The FDA has dismissed claims that the trace amounts of bisphenol A (BPA) that leach into our drinks (and into baby bottles) are in any way harmful. BPA is some pretty nasty stuff, but then so are plenty of things we find in trace amounts in our environments. Still, I appreciate the Canadian government's willingness to err on the side of caution and ban its use in products for children.
A shameless plug for a study out of the Institute where I work: Mothers that were pregnant during the huge ice storm of 1998 have kids that are developmentally delayed 5 years later. The babies are slightly smaller, and have a slightly lower IQ than average. On the bright side, other studies have shown that these kids will probably "catch up" to their peers by adolescence. Interestingly, the way that the mother responded to the stress didn't seem to matter - just the presence of the stress itself seemed to impact the development of the child. The primary investigators will continue to follow the children through their lives.
* * *
Frickin' robot brains, man!!! They're getting closer and closer. This is upsetting because I will lose one of my euphemisms for human error/incompetence in the lab ("wetware" problems), but actually really cool to see. This video shows a guy who is using randomly-assembled networks of actual neurons to drive a robot to learn about its environment. I really can't wait for this guy to publish, because this is nowhere near detailed enough for me. He might even be something to consider investing in, once he has a startup. If I were to get back into electrophysiology, this exactly the sort of thing I'd love to do.
In a diametrically-opposed approach, another group has a computer model of something like a brain. This model is "given" a virtual body that interacts with its virtual environment, and the neural network figures out how to move itself using the virtual stimuli and the joints and limbs the programmers give it. What is most interesting here is that structure dictates function, and the "robots" just learn to move what they have rather than needing to have complicated steps programmed into them. This will be a huge step in designing computer games at least, but probably in artificial intelligence and robot tech in general.
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