[Popular STEM] Curating the Internet: STEM digest for April 24, 2021
Warp drives are inching from science fiction towards applied science; A neuroscientist talks with TED about memory; The FDA approved a brain-computer-interface to help stroke patients recover use of hands and arms; Study finds that exergaming helps with physical and mental health; and IEEE Spectrum's weekly selection of awesome robot videos
Links and micro-summaries from my 1000+ daily headlines. I filter them so you don't have to.
- Warp drives: Physicists give chances of faster-than-light space travel a boost - Mario Borundo writes about the possibility of using the Warp Drive concept from science fiction staples like, Star Trek, for actual interstellar travel. He notes that the concept is still theoretically possible, and it even got a boost from recent papers:
- Breaking the warp barrier: hyper-fast solitons in Einstein–Maxwell-plasma theory
- Introducing physical warp drives
In summary, the idea of a warp drive is that an engine compresses space in front of it and expands space behind it. According to General Relativity, this is mathematically and theoretically possible, but of course no one has yet accomplished it. Until recently, the possibility has been thwarted because it was thought to require an impractically large amount of "negative energy". These new papers, however, find a hypothetical way to build a warp drive without a need for negative energy. Unfortunately, however, this form of warp drive will not travel faster than light, so even if the math turns into real-world applications, it's still not likely to lead to interstellar travel. Here is Borundo's conclusion:
It is essential to point out that these exciting developments are mathematical models. As a physicist, I won’t fully trust models until we have experimental proof. Yet, the science of warp drives is coming into view. As a science fiction fan, I welcome all this innovative thinking. In the words of Captain Picard, things are only impossible until they are not.
- How your memory works -- and why forgetting is totally OK | Lisa Genova - In this TED talk, neuroscientist, Lisa Genova discusses the phenomenon of forgetting. She says that it's perfectly normal for all of us to forget certain types of things. In fact, she says that most of us forget most of the things we do in a given day by the very next day. This means, she says, that we have all forgotten most of our lives. Types of normal memory slips that she discusses include:
- Absent-mindedness: where a memory may never have formed in the first place because our mind was occupied with other tasks.
- "tip of the tongue": when we can remember something similar, "the ugly sister", but not the actual thing we're trying to remember. For these, she points out that "giving up" and Googling the answer doesn't weaken our memories, and "muscling through" to the answer doesn't strengthen it.
- Missing context queues: where we might be able to remember things in one context but we forget it in another context, for example, after moving from the bedroom to the kitchen.
After a short introductory talk, Genova spends most of the talk answering questions from a host, David Biello. One of the questions has to do with claims that you can improve your memory through diet or mental exercises like crossword puzzles. She says that mental exercises like crossword puzzles do not work. Mechanisms that do work include, getting good sleep, physical exercise, and diets that are rich in fish and leafy vegetables. She adds that the more we learn, the more memory pathways that get created, so continuous learning is one of the best way to strengthen memory.
- FDA Clears Brain-Computer Interface Device to Aid Stroke Rehab - The FDA has approved ith IpsiHand Upper Extremity Rehabilitation System (IpsiHand System) for treatment of stroke patients. This is a non-invasive device that helps a patient to recover the use of arms and hands. The device is available only by prescription, and it is intended for use in clinics or in homes. Here is a summary from the article:
In approving the device, the FDA reviewed safety and effectiveness data submitted by the company, including data from an unblinded study of 40 patients who took part in a 12-week trial. All participants showed improvement in motor function after using the device.
In case you're wondering how long the approval took, here is a video of IpsiHand from ten years ago:
- The efficacy of exergaming in people with major neurocognitive disorder residing in long-term care facilities: a pilot randomized controlled trial - Exergaming is a form of physical exercise that is also intended to boost cognition. In this study, participants were assigned to 15 minutes of exergaming vs. 15 minutes of watching music videos 3 times per week for 8 weeks. The exergaming was a platform where players used stepping movements in order to make gaming moves. Here is the conclusion:
-h/t Daniel LemireThe findings of this pilot RCT suggest that an individually adapted exergame training improves lower extremity functioning, cognitive functioning and step reaction time and symptoms of depression in inpatients with MNCD residing in long-term care facilities.
- Video Friday: Ingenuity on Mars - IEEE Spectrum's weekly selection of awesome robot videos contains:
- two videos from NASA's Ingenuity first helicopter flight and one video of the second flight on Mars.
- a Flatcat video from Flatcat. Would you pay $1,200 to back this on Kickstarter?
- Another video of Digit from Agility Robotics. This time, Digit navigates an obstacle course that's constructed from recycling cans.
- A video of Robotshop's Yellow Drum Machine in percussive action.
- and more...
Here is a drone from Near Earth doing high speed autonomous flight in a grove of trees:
And here are robots from ABB that are assisting with COVID-19 vaccinations:
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After watching Dr. Lisa Genova’s discussion, I breathed a sigh of relief. Many people worry about forgetting, about the loss of memory, of having the symptoms of Alzheimer's that if we misplace our keys or wallet, we are in a panic state.
However, Dr. Lisa Genova assures us that this is natural and gives us some solid ideas about how to boost our memory and ultimately the functionality of our brain.
Thank you for your reply and for a good summary of the video! I am glad that you were reassured by the video.
The part that was especially interesting and surprising to me was that going to Google when we temporarily forget something doesn't weaken our capability for recall.
Although, I have to say that I'm not sure that I totally believe her. I have noticed that my own memory for phone numbers and correct spellings has diminished over the years as my reliance on "Contacts" lists and spell checkers has increased. That's sort of the same situation.
Digital dependency is weakening our memories, according to researchers. They call it,
Most people may argue that it doesn’t matter.
Who needs to remember all those information if we are getting everything in Google? Well, researchers say, our creativity relies on long-term capabilities and our intelligence is founded on recalling long-term memory. Constant rely on digital technology or internet searches diminish our focus and weaken our aptitude.
Exactly what I have observed in myself. It seems the researchers in that article would disagree with that particular point in Genova's talk.
I have always liked to see a youtube video that talks about science and astrophysics. The news of the warp motor surprised me a lot a few months ago, the problem with the motor is that it consumes a lot of energy, maybe nuclear energy works, but my question is how to get it negative energy?
Another piece of news that surprised me is the neuralink company managed to implant a chip in a monkey and it can play video games even if it is from Atari.
This leads to another question !!
If the human being manages to implant a chip or create embryos with human cells in animals to give them intelligence, not counting artificial intelligence; Couldn't all these harm us in the future? perhaps the planet of the apes prophecy will be fulfilled or the terminator.
Thanks for the comment! Your point about the monkey playing video games reminds me of a a TED talk from 2014 by Miguel Nicolelis, where he describes work he did getting monkey brains to communicate directly - not just with a computer, but also with other monkeys. He calls this a "brain net".
The video is below, and the transcript is here. The whole talk was fascinating, but the portion about monkeys collaborating in a brain net begins at about 13:50.
In your closing point, it's easy to imagine things going in a dystopian direction like The Terminator or Planet of the Apes, but there are also a lot of positive results that might arise from it. In that TED talk, Nicolelis acknowledges that even the scientists don't know where this is all leading.
According to Nicolelis the objective of this project is to help human beings with brain disabilities such as autism, I wonder this scientific and technological advance could help a person who is brain dead? From what I understood the monkeys communicate through a second dimension but they act in a third dimension. The interesting thing is that none of the 3 monkeys know of the existence of the others.
Yesterday I saw a news story that said that a group of millionaires is financing a project with SONY and they have given 1000 million for them, SONY thinks creating a metaverse is like a parallel world similar to real where it intends to interconnect us, this sounds like science fiction but these are not impossible to do.
Interesting point about this being helpful for someone who is brain dead. My first thought was, "no way", but after thinking about it some more, I'm not so sure. Maybe.
I was also interested by the points that the monkeys didn't know about each other, and they each only controlled 2 dimensions, but still - they collaborated to manage 3 dimensions.
Ever since watching the Nicolelis TED talk, I have imagined a future where "going to work" means attaching a helmet with a brain-computer-interface to collaborate with the worldwide "brain net". We get connected at the beginning of the work day and disconnect at the end, just like we do with our laptops and desktops now.
So, I hadn't heard about that SONY project, but it definitely doesn't seem too far fetched to me.
I think that a helmet that communicates with an interface would be a bit ordinary if we had to go out on the street with it on, I prefer that they do it like tony stark's glasses.
I think these projects are long-term since it is in its beta version, another point is that governments approve its use in humans since there is a small possibility of damaging the brain.
We will see what the future holds for us, science and technology in these last 2 years are advancing at an enormous speed, it is a pity that in medicine we are taking a step backwards.
@remlaps, I appreciate your informative and helpful publication.
I noticed the video where the guy was showing finger movements that help with memory training. That's very correct, and I know it.
After all, when kids are young, we teach them to use motor skills to develop brain and neural connections. After all, there are concentrated nerve endings at the fingertips.
Nerve endings are concentrated, and motor skills help children gain knowledge and skills in everyday life. I think many people lose their memory in old age because they do less with their hands because they think it is unnecessary.
I am sure that if many household chores are done by hand, such as sewing buttons with a needle, knitting, assembling puzzles from small parts, working in the garden, playing a musical instrument, learning a foreign language, reading books, then memory will stay with us until old age.
Thank you for the reply! That's a good observation about how children build brain connections by practicing motor skills. You may be right on this point:
After reading your post, I watched Lisa Genova's video regarding memory work, that's so true, it actually happens to me to forget things and I always forget the sayings of someone. Before this, I thought may be it's an only problem with me of memory loss.
But going through the video and your post, I thankfully came to know that this is natural and fine.
Thank you so much @remlaps for sharing such a nice post..
I am really enjoying reading your posts, these are informative and interesting.
Your all posts are amazing. And I always try to give a read to these posts
Good job 👌👌
Thank you for the feedback and I am glad that you enjoyed the post and the TED video that I linked to.
Thank you very much for this post Steve. I can always update with your posts, as I am always very impressed, of each of the technological advances. Humanity is heading in another direction. I imagine that in a few centuries we will colonize another planet or live in space. something like the movie of Wall-e or Elisyum hahaha.
As for forgetting. I am always afraid because my grandmother died with Alzheimer's and it is a hereditary disease, I am 21 years old and I forget many things, some exercises would be good for me to strengthen my memory :)
xoxo
Thanks for the reply! I'm glad you enjoyed the post and the video.
The ideas given in this to relieve or treat memory loss by just balancing diet, having good sleep and more learning are great. Will surely try to do these practices
Thanks for the reply! I am glad you thought it was helpful.
I always enjoy your posts. So reply is must on such posts,