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Systems that allow a brain to control a computer are inching ever closer to reality — but their most important applications may be different from those envisaged by science fiction.
From the whimsical to the downright scary, images featuring creatures from the deep are showcased in the BP Kongsberg Underwater Image Competition being held this week at the 11th International Deep-Sea Biology Symposium, UK. Narelle Towie takes a look at some of the most striking entries.
Implants in the brain could one day help paralysed people move robotic arms and legs. But first, scientists need to work out how our brains know where our limbs are, says Alison Abbott.
Plate tectonics has created oceans and pushed up mountain ranges. But when did the process that shapes the planet get going? Alexandra Witze joins the geologists debating the issue.
The suggestion that women are not advancing in science because of innate inability is being taken seriously by some high-profile academics. Ben A. Barres explains what is wrong with the hypothesis.
There is a clear need to help people who have brain or spinal-cord damage to communicate and interact with the outside world. Progress to that end is being made with brain-implantation technology.
The spin Hall effect occurs when electrons with opposite spins go their separate ways in an electric field. The phenomenon is crucial to spin-based electronics, and its electrical signal has just been spotted.
Hydroxyl free radicals are part of a complex network of atmospheric chemical reactions. But a long-term study shows that their concentration can be predicted by the intensity of ultraviolet sunlight alone.
Witness a snail scraping microbial films from the inside of an aquarium. Go back 505 million years, and this looks to have been the way an enigmatic early animal made its living (but without the aquarium).
Supersolids — substances that are crystalline but also behave as free-flowing superfluids — can exist, according to quantum theory. Models now suggest a route to the clinching experimental evidence.
Report of an electrical demonstration of the spin Hall effect using high-quality metallic devices that incorporate a ferromagnet and a tunnel junction to inject spin-polarized electrons.
A solution-processed electronic device that uses colloidal quantum dots of lead sulphide outperforms the state-of-the-art crystalline alternatives, with ease of fabrication, physical flexibility, large device areas and low cost among its benefits.
A new type of brain–machine interface device enables recording of neural activity in the monkey cortex and extraction of intended target signals, leaving the monkey able to place a cursor on a location, just by thinking about it.
One of two studies that identifies a new class of small RNAs that interact with one Argonaute subfamily, the Piwi class. These testis-specific small RNAs, called 'piRNAs', are slightly longer than the previously described siRNAs and miRNAs.
One of two studies that identifies a new class of small RNAs that interact with one Argonaute subfamily, the Piwi class. These testis-specific small RNAs, called 'piRNAs', are slightly longer than the previously described siRNAs and miRNAs.
Cryoelectron tomography of two-dimensional arrays of myosin V reveals that it downregulates its activity by folding, positioning the cargo binding domain on the motor domain's active site.
The opening of the Large Hadron Collider in Europe will offer high-powered opportunities for particle physicists to decode the mysteries of the Universe. Virginia Gewin finds out more.
