New research from Drexel University uncovered that a branch of army ants who lived underground
for 60 million years moved to the surface 18 million years ago and regrew the vision-related
parts and increased the size of their brains.
And researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital are working on regenerating functional
heart muscle - the first steps in creating bioengineered human hearts.
Vsauce!
Kevin here.
This is Mind Blow.
Metaskin can make things invisible to radar.
The stretchable material, developed at Iowa State University, manipulates electromagnetic
waves using electric rings filled with liquid metal.
The rings absorb radar frequency waves, so an object covered in this material would essentially
be impossible to detect using radar.
In the 70 years since PET plastics have been in existence, a bacterium has already evolved
to eat it.
Researchers in Japan discovered the species attaching to PET with tendril-like threads
and using two enzymes to break it down into its original substances which aren’t environmentally
harmful.
The goal now is to speed up the process which currently takes about six weeks to eat a thumbnail-sized
piece.
Computer vision is being used to find the exact image you’re looking for.
Taking a huge leap forward in 2012, computer vision is now used in Facebook’s facial
recognition, which was featured in Mind Blow #80, as well as Google’s image CAPTCHA.
Image searches are typically hampered by keywords, which works okay if you want to find any old
picture of a blue bike but not great if you need a very specific blue bike.
Shutterstock’s new computer vision model uses an image's raw pixel data to understand
what is contained within the image, enabling it to break the image down into its dominant
features that can be used to find visually similar images, as well as perform a reverse
image search of 70 million images.
All of this occurring in double-digit milliseconds.
Advances in computer vision will aid automated vehicles and robot sight.
Researchers have proven a technique that allows kidneys to be donated to anyone.
Traditionally, a compatible donor would not only need the right blood type, but also the
correct combination of 6 antigens.
The chances of which are 1 in 100,000.
Sadly, around 4,500 people in the U.S. alone, die annually waiting for that match.
But with their Desensitization technique, new antigens are regenerated that are less
likely to attack a newly transplanted organ, lessening the chance for rejection and increasing
the chance of survival.
A potential game changer for kidney transplants.
Nima is a portable gluten sensor.
By putting a sample of the food in a disposable capsule, the sensors in the device tell you
if there’s 20 parts per million or more of gluten and then display the results on
the front - with an accuracy of 99.5%.
And they’re currently developing tests to launch a similar device for peanuts and dairy.
A new bionic fingertip allows amputees to feel with their phantom hand.
Researchers at EPFL surgically implanted electrodes into the nerve system of the amputee which
receive electrical signals from the artificial fingertip.
A person with an intact hand can also feel the same sensation - which helps accelerate
the research toward developing prosthetics that can feel surfaces.
Mind Blow #84 featured bio bots, 3D printed scaffolds connected by engineered skeletal
muscle tissue controlled with electrical or optical signals.
Well they’re now hoping to make biobots with neurons that could sense specific chemicals
and tell the muscle to move.
With potential applications like environmental cleanup and clot-busting bots to treat cardiovascular
disease.
Mind Blow #62 uncovered a real world touchscreen developed by Fujitsu Laboratories that used
a projector and a webcam to allow you to digitally manipulate objects on a table.
Recently Sony’s Future Lab unveiled it’s own touch-sensitive tabletop prototype.
Their proof of concept identifies a book including text and illustrations which become animated
when you touch them.
It also allows you to highlight text, making reading and learning an interactive experience.
Finally, Johns Hopkins Physics Laboratory has developed an unmanned aerial vehicle that
can launch from underwater.
CRACUNS can remain at and launch from a depth of several hundred feet without needing structural
metal parts or machine surfaces.
I’m gonna leave you with a hexapod walking on unstructured terrain - and as always thanks
for watching.
And here it is.
The greatest advance in television since color television itself.
Take the remote unit from its handy storage space and you’re set for hours of pure pleasure.
See all regular programs in crisp, clear, black and white.
This selector button changes changes clockwise while this front-window channel indicator
lets you know at a glance what channel you’re viewing.
Yes, here is the ultimate in television.
A supreme achievement in television engineering.
Armchair convenience, luxurious styling, a set where the pride of ownership is truly
second only
to the pleasure.