Cybernetics News

Beaver-like robots face off in annual contest (5/10/2008)

Robots designed to toss pool-noodle trees into a river of ping-pong balls ruled over competitors focused on rescuing fuzzy toy beavers in this year's 2.007 contest ...> Full Article

First steps toward autonomous robot surgeries (5/7/2008)

The day may be getting a little closer when robots will perform surgery on patients in dangerous situations or in remote locations, such as on the battlefield or in space, with minimal human guidance ...> Full Article

The spring in your step is more than just a good mood (4/25/2008)

Scientists using a bionic boot found that during walking, the ankle does about three times the work for the same amount of energy compared to isolated muscles ...> Full Article

Each finger can be moved separately (4/23/2008)

A new prosthetic hand is being tested at the Orthopedic University Hospital in Heidelberg / Grip function almost like a natural hand ...> Full Article

NIH funds research to improve hearing (4/15/2008)

Electric-acoustic stimulation research could help discover important acoustic cues used to improve the hearing of certain profoundly hearing-impaired people ...> Full Article

New lab will 'change the way people live' in mid-west. and beyond (4/12/2008)

New lab to work on artificial eyes and implanted medical sensors. ...> Full Article

Robot sets walking record (4/10/2008)

Robot walks for 5.6 miles breaking the unofficial world record for walking robots ...> Full Article

Versatile coating for biomedical devices lets them interact with live cells (4/8/2008)

A new type of plastic coating made from vapor could lead to better biomedical devices ...> Full Article

Crowning glory (4/5/2008)

Bonelike coating for dental implants makes everyone smile ...> Full Article

'Wildcat Power Cord' repairs cruciate ligament in dairy cow's knee (3/30/2008)

An 8-year-old Jersey dairy cow is back at her Kansas farm thanks to a decade of research and an experimental surgery. ...> Full Article

Helping Your Brain Be All That It Can Be: Neuro Research Works to Combine Human Brain Capabilities with Computer Data Crunching Power (3/29/2008)

As fantastic as computers are at processing mountains of data at lightning speed, they still can't beat the human brain at, for instance, detecting a friend's face in a crowded airport terminal, or even at more specialized tasks such as detecting suspicious objects in X-ray scans of checked baggage. The human brain can do these tasks not just very well but also very rapidly, within a fraction of a second, says Georgetown University Medical Center neuroscientist Maximilian Riesenhuber, Ph.D., of the Laboratory for Computational Cognitive Neuroscience. However, while the brain's visual system can perform the actual detection task very rapidly, even for multiple images presented at the same time, turning these decisions into behavioral responses is much slower. ...> Full Article

Foldable and stretchable, silicon circuits conform to many shapes (3/28/2008)

Scientists have developed a new form of stretchable silicon integrated circuit that can wrap around complex shapes such as spheres, body parts and aircraft wings, and can operate during stretching, compressing, folding and other types of extreme mechanical deformations, without a reduction in electrical performance. ...> Full Article

Medical Center Performs First U.S. Implant of Heart Device (3/22/2008)

A central Ohio man has become the first person in the United States, and only the 16th worldwide, to receive a heart implant designed to improve the heart's pumping action and help manage congestive heart failure symptoms. The procedure was performed at The Ohio State University Medical Center. ...> Full Article

Robot Fetches Objects With Just a Point and a Click (3/21/2008)

Scientists have found a way to instruct a robot to find and deliver an item it may have never seen before using a more direct manner of communication -- a laser pointer ...> Full Article

Crab-like robot could benefit undersea exploration (3/19/2008)

Underwater exploration may become easier in the future thanks to a new prototype crab-like robot ...> Full Article

Implantable medical devices may expose patients to security, privacy risks; solutions suggested (3/14/2008)

Study conducted by team from UMass Amherst, University of Washington ...> Full Article

Joint research: Probing the mysteries of a surprisingly tough hydrogel (3/12/2008)

Scientists have reported on a gel that, while having the pliancy of gelatin, won't break apart even when deformed over 1,000 percent. ...> Full Article

Regeneration Initiative enables nerve cells on a computer chip to heal and regrow damaged nerves (3/8/2008)

Neuroscientists, brain surgeons, graduate students, rehabilitation specialists and neurologists are joining forces to develop new technology aimed at repairing and regenerating peripheral nerves that connect the brain, spinal cord, and the body. ...> Full Article

Magnetic levitation gives computer users sense of touch (3/6/2008)

Computers, long used as tools to design and manipulate three-dimensional objects, may soon provide people with a way to sense the texture of those objects or feel how they fit together, thanks to a haptic, or touch-based, interface developed at Carnegie Mellon University. ...> Full Article

Robotics Academy Develops Programming Language for Robots (3/1/2008)

ROBOTC Language Supports LEGO Mindstorms and Other Educational Robots ...> Full Article

Killer military robots pose latest threat to humanity (2/29/2008)

A robotics expert in the UK to issue stark warnings over the threat posed to humanity by new robot weapons being developed by powers worldwide. ...> Full Article

A wearable artificial kidney for patients on the go (2/27/2008)

It's light enough to be worn on a tool belt around your waist. You can walk with it, work with it, sleep, take showers - even have sex with it on. ...> Full Article

Put Your Mind to It: Researcher to Give Presentation on Thought-Controlled Prosthetic Devices (2/22/2008)

There really is something to the phrase "mind over matter." Just ask Dr. Todd Kuiken, researcher from Northwestern University, whose work gives hope to amputees. ...> Full Article

Surgical Robot Triples Accuracy Of Medical Students Training For Hip Surgery (2/17/2008)

Delegates at the British Society for Computer Aided Orthopaedic Surgery Conference will hear that results from a pilot study saw graduates 95 per cent more confident using this robotic technique than when using conventional surgical methods in training. ...> Full Article

Artificial Retinal Implant Project Grows (2/16/2008)

With its expansion to Europe, the only long-term retinal prosthesis study under way worldwide offers hope for treating blindness. ...> Full Article

Web will work wonders for the faint hearted (2/15/2008)

A new device could put the beat back into weak hearts - and free patients from a lifetime of anti-rejection drugs. ...> Full Article

A 'micro pharmacy' inside (2/13/2008)

Implantable film can deliver drugs ...> Full Article

Scientists are Developing 'Robotic Rats' That Will Be Able to Aid in Rescue Missions and Planetary Research (2/12/2008)

A new initiative, bringing together nine research groups from seven countries, including teams of robotics and brain researchers from Europe, Israel, and the U.S., has recently been set up with the aim of imitating nature. ...> Full Article

Knee brace generates electricity from walking (2/8/2008)

A new energy-capturing knee brace can generate enough electricity from walking to operate a portable GPS locator, a cell phone, a motorized prosthetic joint or an implanted neurotransmitter, research involving the University of Michigan shows. ...> Full Article