Remote crowdworking

As connectivity and technology mean the barriers to outsourcing are beginning to almost disappear entirely, outsourcing is graduating into another trend that is changing how we treat repetitive human work. Crowdworking is growing, fast. Ville Miettinen, chief executive of "human powered document processing" service Microtask, says business at his crowdworking company is increasing at around 400% year-on-year - and his experience is typical of the wider industry.

Heaphy Project
Willow Garage is a robotics company based in California. It pioneers the use of human-in-the-loop systems - that is, actions which robots can't quite manage on their own, but with a simple piece of human intervention can finish the job. By using Mechanical Turk, Amazon's crowdworking platform which allows workers all over the world to remotely carry out small tasks for small cash rewards. Its Heaphy Project is a system which allows a person to control a robot remotely using just a web browser.

Microtask's Mr Miettinen offers a massive workforce available at a company's beck and call without the hassle. "The individual tasks are really small," Mr Miettinen explains. "It can be just a single word out of a document. They're not seeing the entire page, they don't know what the rest of the page contains, and they also don't know who else is working on it." It means several people, in several continents, can all collaborate to process one individual form.

Paralysed rats 'learn to walk'

An injury to the spinal cord stops the brain controlling the body. The study, in the journal Science, showed injured rats could even learn to sprint with spinal stimulation.

Experts said it was an "exceptional study" and that restoring function after paralysis "can no longer be dismissed as a pipedream".

In 2011, a man from Oregon in the US was able to stand up again while his spinal cord was stimulated with electricity. Rob Summers had been paralysed from the chest down after being hit by a car.

Now researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) say they have restored far more movement in rats which became able to run and climb stairs. The spinal cord of the rats was cut in two places. It meant messages could not travel from the brain to the legs, but the spinal cord was still in one piece.

The lead researcher, Prof Gregoire Courtine, said: "Over time the animal regains the capacity to perform one, two steps, then a long run and eventually we gain the capacity to sprint over ground, climb stairs and even pass obstacles."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18257077

Robotic arm controlled by a paralyzed woman’s mind

Cathy Hutchinson suffered from a stroke many years ago that left her debilitated and unable to move and talk. But a group of researchers led by neurologist and engineer Leigh Hochberg of Brown University is about to change all of that. “When the woman with the brain stem stroke reached out for that thermos of coffee and put it in her mouth and then she put it back down, the smile on her face was remarkable,” Hochberg said. Hochberg directs the BrainGate2 clinical trial, an ongoing test of the BrainGate system funded in part by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.


Researchers connected the 58-year-old woman’s brain to a computer that runs a robotic arm. With a 4-millimeter wide brain-implanted chip, the system conducts signals from motion-controlling neurons to a computer that decodes the signals and turns them into software commands. For the researchers to map a person’s neural activity to the robotic arm’s movement, they moved the arm while asking the participants to imagine themselves controlling it.

Once the scientists had taught the computer which patterns would normally make a participant’s arm reach out for a bottle of drink, they hardwired them as the command for the robot arm to do the same thing, but with the signal coming directly from the participant’s brain as they imagined holding the bottle and bringing it near to their mouth for drinking. The researchers are hoping to make the system smaller, stable and wireless in the future so that people with brain injuries and physical disorders can use it.

Robotic limbs or extensions can help us in many ways. This woman who completed the London Marathon using a ReWalk Exoskeleton is a great example.

Source: http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/05/robotic-arm-controlled-by-a-paralyzed-womans-mind/

Teleportation record heralds secure global network

The distance record for quantum teleportation has been smashed. Juan Yin and colleagues at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, Anhui, teleported a quantum state 97 kilometres, 81 km further than the previous record.

Yin's team entangle photons – which links their properties even when the photons are separated. Then they beam one photon from each entangled pair to a point A and the other to B.

When a photon is changed at A, the particle at B also changes. No information passes from A to B, but the photon change can be used to partially encode quantum bits, called qubits. Rather like a letter that can't be opened, these can only be reconstructed at B using additional data communicated conventionally from point A, so information is not being sent faster than light.

Teleportation is ultra-secure as there are no photons travelling through space to intercept. The next step would be to teleport with a satellite, for global teleportation, says team member Yuao Chen. That might even lead to a quantum internet.

"This is a very nice piece of work," says Michael Biercuk of the Centre for Engineered Quantum Systems at the University of Sydney, who was not involved in the work.

Source: New Scientist arxiv.org/abs/1205.2024

Light-powered bionic eye invented to help restore sight

A retinal implant - or bionic eye - which is powered by light has been invented by scientists at Stanford University in California. Implants currently used in patients need to be powered by a battery.

The new device, described in the journal Nature Photonics, uses a special pair of glasses to beam near infrared light into the eye.

Retinal implants stimulate the nerves in the back of the eye, which has helped some patients to see. Early results of a trial in the UK mean two men have gone from being totally blind to being able to perceive light and even some shapes.

However, as well as a fitting a chip behind the retina, a battery needs to be fitted behind the ear and a cable needs to join the two together.

Prof Robert MacLaren from Oxford Eye Hospital explains how a bionic eye implant works
The Stanford researchers say their method could be a step forward by "eliminating the need for complex electronics and wiring".

A pair of glasses fitted with a video camera records what is happening before a patient's eyes and fires beams of near infrared light on to the retinal chip. This creates an electrical signal which is passed on to nerves. Natural light is 1,000 times too weak to power the implant.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18061174

BBC News - Stem cell shield 'could protect cancer patients'

It may be possible to use "stem cell shielding" to protect the body from the damaging effects of chemotherapy, early results from a US trial suggest.

Chemotherapy drugs try to kill rapidly dividing cancer cells, but they can also affect other healthy tissues such as bone marrow. A study, in Science Translational Medicine, used genetically modified stem cells to protect the bone marrow.

Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in Seattle, said these effects were "a major barrier" to using chemotherapy and often meant the treatment had to be stopped, delayed or reduced.

'Protective shields'
They have tried to protect the bone marrow in three patients with a type of brain cancer, glioblastoma.

One of the researchers, Dr Jennifer Adair, said: "This therapy is analogous to firing at both tumour cells and bone marrow cells, but giving the bone marrow cells protective shields while the tumour cells are unshielded."

The researchers said the three patients had all lived longer than the average survival time of 12 months for the cancer. They said one patient was still alive 34 months after treatment.

Cancer Research UK scientist Prof Susan Short said: "This is a very interesting study and a completely new approach to protecting normal cells during cancer treatment.

"It needs to be tested in more patients but it may mean that we can use temozolomide [a chemotherapy drug] for more brain tumour patients than we previously thought. "This approach could also be a model for other situations where the bone marrow is affected by cancer treatment."

Source: BBC News - Stem cell shield 'could protect cancer patients'

BBC News - MirageTable: Microsoft presents augmented reality device

Microsoft has shown off an augmented reality system that allows users at different locations to work together on tabletop activities, sharing objects which they can both handle.

The MirageTable was demonstrated at a conference in Austin, Texas and is outlined on the firm's research site.


Source: BBC News - MirageTable: Microsoft presents augmented reality device

BBC News - Magnetic bacteria may help build future bio-computers

Magnet-making bacteria may be building biological computers of the future, researchers have said.

A team from the UK's University of Leeds and Japan's Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology have used microbes that eat iron. As they ingest the iron, the microbes create tiny magnets inside themselves, similar to those in PC hard drives.

"We are quickly reaching the limits of traditional electronic manufacturing as computer components get smaller," said lead researcher Dr Sarah Staniland of the University of Leeds. "The machines we've traditionally used to build them are clumsy at such small scales. "Nature has provided us with the perfect tool to [deal with] this problem."


Biological wires

Besides using microorganisms to produce magnets, the researchers also managed to create tiny electrical wires from living organisms.  Tubes could in future be used as microscopic bio-engineered wires, capable of transferring information - just like cells do in our bodies - inside a computer, Dr Masayoshi Tanaka from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology.

Source: BBC News - Magnetic bacteria may help build future bio-computers

BBC News - Range of brain diseases could be treated by single drug

The tantalising prospect of treating a range of brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, all with the same drug, has been raised by UK researchers. In a study, published in Nature, they prevented brain cells dying in mice with prion disease.


Many neuro-degenerative diseases result in the build-up of proteins which are not put together correctly - known as misfolded proteins. This happens in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's as well as in prion diseases, such as the human form of mad cow disease. Researchers at the University of Leicester uncovered how the build-up of proteins in mice with prion disease resulted in brain cells dying. They showed that as misfolded protein levels rise in the brain, cells respond by trying to shut down the production of all new proteins.

It is the same trick cells use when infected with a virus. Stopping production of proteins stops the virus spreading. However, shutting down the factory for a long period of time ends up killing the brain cells as they do not produce the proteins they actually need to function. The team at the Medical Research Council laboratory in Leicester then tried to manipulate the switch which turned the protein factory off. When they prevented cells from shutting down, they prevented the brain dying. The mice then lived significantly longer.


Prof Giovanna Mallucci told the BBC: "The novelty here is we're just targeting the protein shut-down, we're ignoring the prion protein and that's what makes it potentially relevant across the board."



Source: BBC News - Range of brain diseases could be treated by single drug

BBC News - Curry's ability to fight cancer put to the test

A chemical found in curry is to be tested for its ability to kill bowel cancer tumours in patients. Curcumin, which is found in the spice turmeric, has been linked to a range of health benefits.

Studies have already shown that it can beat cancer cells grown in a laboratory and benefits have been suggested in stroke and dementia patients as well.

Forty patients at Leicester Royal Infirmary and Leicester General Hospital will take part in the trial, which will compare the effects of giving curcumin pills seven days before starting standard chemotherapy treatment. Prof William Steward, who is leading the study, said animal tests combining the two were "100 times better" than either on their own and that had been the "major justification for cracking on" with the trial.

Souce: BBC News - Curry's ability to fight cancer put to the test

BBC News - Two blind British men have electronic retinas fitted

Two British men who have been totally blind for many years have had part of their vision restored after surgery to fit pioneering eye implants.

They are able to perceive light and even some shapes from the devices which were fitted behind the retina.

The men are part of a clinical trial carried out at the Oxford Eye Hospital and King's College Hospital in London. Professor Robert MacLaren and Mr Tim Jackson are leading the trial.


Prof MacLaren said the results might not seem extraordinary to the sighted, but for a totally blind person to be able to orientate themselves in a room, and perhaps know where the doors and windows are, would be "extremely useful" and of practical help.

In 2010 a Finnish man who received the experimental chip was able to identify letters, but his implant worked only in a laboratory setting, whereas the British men's devices are portable. The implant was developed by a German company, Retina Implant AG.

Source: BBC News - Two blind British men have electronic retinas fitted

Michael Jordan - Why I succeed

"Our willingness to fail gives us the ability and opportunity to succeed where others may fear to tread."


“I've missed more than 
9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."


—Michael Jordan

BBC News - Way to spot breast cancer years in advance

A genetic test could help predict breast cancer many years before the disease is diagnosed, experts hope. Ultimately the findings, in the journal Cancer Research, could lead to a simple blood test to screen women, they say. The test looks for how genes are altered by environmental factors like alcohol and hormones - a process known as epigenetics.

One in five women is thought to have such a genetic "switch" that doubles breast cancer risk.
And they found a strong link between breast cancer risk and molecular modification of a single gene called ATM, which is found on white blood cells.

Baroness Delyth Morgan of the Breast Cancer Campaign, which funded the work, said: "By piecing together how this happens, we can look at ways of preventing the disease and detecting it earlier to give people the best possible chance of survival."

Laura Bell of Cancer Research UK said: "This study gives us a fascinating glimpse of the future and the promise that the emerging field of epigenetics holds. But it's too early to say exactly how these particular changes might affect our ability to detect who is likely to develop certain types of cancer.

"With further studies, scientists will increase our knowledge of how genetic switches like this interplay together to affect breast cancer risk, with the hope that one day this could lead to a blood test that could help predict a woman's chance of getting the disease."

Source: BBC News - Way to spot breast cancer years in advance

BBC News - 'Brake gene' turned off in pancreatic cancer

Aggressive pancreatic tumours may be treatable with a new class of drugs, according to Cancer Research UK.

A study, published in the journal Nature, showed that a gene was being switched off in the cancerous cells. Studies in mice showed that a gene called USP9x, which normally stops a cell from dividing uncontrollably, is switched off in some pancreatic cancer cells. The gene is not mutated, but other proteins and chemicals become stuck to it and turn the gene off.

Studies then showed that UPS9x was being turned off in human pancreatic cancer. Prof David Tuveson, from the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute, said: "We suspected that the fault wasn't in the genetic code at all, but in the chemical tags on the surface of the DNA that switch genes on and off, and by running more lab tests we were able to confirm this. "Drugs which strip away these tags are already showing promise in lung cancer and this study suggests they could also be effective."

Dr David Adams, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said: "This study strengthens our emerging understanding that we must also look into the biology of cells to identify all the genes that play a role in cancer."

Source: BBC News - 'Brake gene' turned off in pancreatic cancer

Self-cleaning coating gets tough

Chemists have devised a better method of coating fabrics with a water-repellent, "self-cleaning" coating.

Super-hydrophobic surfaces have fascinated scientists for years; they are behind the lotus plant's self-cleaning leaves and the gecko's super-dry and thus super-sticky feet.

These surfaces are practically impossible to wet - water beads on them and dirt and particulates do not stick to them, leading to the self-cleaning description. Chemists looking for the next best thing in clothing coatings have tried several tricks in recent years to create a coating with similar properties in the laboratory. Uncoated fibres (top) and fibres coated with multiple layers of silica nanoparticles - the same stuff as sand

The new work hinges on what is known as layer-by-layer self-assembly - basically dipping a fabric into a solution over and over again to deposit multiple layers on it.


The team from the Australian Future Fibres Research and Innovation Centre at Deakin University made their solution with tiny particles of silica.

Source: BBC News - Stain-shedding coating gets tough

BBC News - 3D images of tissue may help spot and treat cancer

Three-dimensional images of tissue samples could help spot cancer early, say researchers.

Scientists from the University of Leeds have created a technique to generate hi-resolution, colour 3D images of a piece of tissue. Cancer Research UK said the technology could help researchers understand how cancer grew and spread, and learn how to treat it more effectively.


The scanner then creates 2D impressions of each cross-section, and this is where the new technology comes into play. The software developed by the Leeds University team generates a three-dimensional shape from these virtual slides, creating a realistic image that a researcher can manipulate and spin around.



Source: BBC News - 3D images of tissue may help spot and treat cancer

BBC News - Self-sculpting sand robots are under development at MIT

Tiny robots that can join together to form functional tools and then split apart again after use might be ready for market in little more than a decade, according to researchers.

A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says it has developed about 30 prototype "smart pebbles" and the software to run them. Each processor can currently store 32 kilobytes of code and has only two kilobytes of working memory - so the algorithm powering the process had to be kept simple. "The idea is that they sense the border of the original shape - if a module detects it doesn't have a neighbour, it assumes it may be on the border of the shape," Mr Gilpin explained.


"But in 10 years you might see a product on the market that starts to rival traditional manufacturing approaches. I think we might all be surprised at how quickly this advances once people really start looking at the technology."

More details of the project will be presented to the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in St Paul, Minnesota next month.


Source: BBC News - Self-sculpting sand robots are under development at MIT

BBC News - Breast cancer rules rewritten in 'landmark' study

What we currently call breast cancer should be thought of as 10 completely separate diseases, according to an international study which has been described as a "landmark".

The categories could improve treatment by tailoring drugs for a patient's exact type of breast cancer and help predict survival more accurately.

"Breast cancer is not one disease, but 10 different diseases," said lead researcher Prof Carlos Caldas.

The study was funded by Cancer Research UK. Its chief executive, Dr Harpal Kumar, said: "This is the largest ever study looking in detail at the genetics of breast tumors.


Source BBC News - Breast cancer rules rewritten in 'landmark' study

AngelMed Guardian alerts you before a heart attack strikes | Ubergizmo

Heart attacks are scary – you can never know when one might hit you squarely in the chest. The AngelMed Guardian intends to circumvent this potentially fatal situation by warning you beforehand thanks to a self-monitoring alert mode. The downside to it? You will need to be carved open first, as this is an implantable medical device.



Source: AngelMed Guardian alerts you before a heart attack strikes | Ubergizmo

New prostate cancer treatment may reduce side-effects

A new technique to treat early prostate cancer may have far fewer side-effects than existing therapies, say experts.

A 41-patient study in the journal Lancet Oncology suggests targeted ultrasound treatment could reduce the risk of impotence and incontinence. The Medical Research Council (MRC), which funded the study, welcomed the results, which it said were promising. Hashim Ahmed, a urological surgeon at the trust who led the study, says the results, 12 months after treatment, are very encouraging.



Source: BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17726979