Science

NBC is taking reality television where it's never gone before: space. The American TV network says it's reached a new agreement with producer Mark Burnett and Virgin Galactic -- the space travel service of the stars -- to launch reality show ... contestants into space. Unfortunately, the show doesn't actually take place in space. Instead, contestants on "Space Race" will compete with one another to win a flight on board Virgin Galactic's own SpaceShipTwo space craft. At the moment SpaceShipTwo is being tested at California's Mojave Air and Space Port. Virgin Galactic hopes that, once those tests ... (view more)

Video games are blamed for a lot of things -- exposing kids to violence, encouraging antisocial behaviour, and generally 'rotting' peoples' brains. But a new study finds that a computer game called 'NeuroRacer' can actually improve neurological (or ... brain) activity. In fact, the game is apparently having the most positive impact on players over age 60. NeuroRacer was specially designed for the Gazzaley Lab at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). There, neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley and a team of researchers have been using the game to test its impact on the neurological activity ... (view more)

A University of Washington scientist has transmitted his own thoughts over the Internet in order to make another man's finger move. But he insists this breakthrough isn't quite Star Trek-style Vulcan mind control. The project is designed to explore ... the way the brain operates with electrical signals. (Source: washington.edu ) Professor Rajesh Rao wore a special cap that monitors the electrical signals, or brainwaves, in the skull. Although he didn't physically move, he imagined moving his finger. To make the thought "more powerful", he did so while looking at a computer screen showing a video ... (view more)

There's no denying that computers -- whether they're in desktop, laptop, smartphone, or tablet form -- are becoming both more powerful and complex. Most of the smartphones on the market today are far faster than the desktop PCs we used just a few ... years ago. Still, researchers aren't convinced that today's cutting-edge computers are a match for the highly-adaptive human brain. But that could soon change, thanks to the work of a Boise State University research team. Electrical and computer engineering faculty at the school are currently using a three-year $500,000 National Science Foundation ... (view more)

Elon Musk, the head of Tesla Motors and several other companies, has unveiled a design for a train that could get from Los Angeles to San Francisco in just half an hour. Musk described the solar-powered 'Hyperloop' train as a cross between a Concord ... jet and an air hockey table. Musk says he came up with the design because he was disappointed by the California government's plans to spend $68 billion on a more traditional high-speed rail link that would make the LA-San Francisco trip around two hours and forty minutes long. He argues that's too much time given the project's enormous cost. Musk' ... (view more)

Clean drinking water is a precious resource. As the world becomes more polluted, the demand for healthy water only increases. But now there's some good news on this front: a new invention from Sweden turns sweat into water that can be safely ... consumed by human beings. The device, which has not yet been named, was developed by private researchers and Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology. Andreas Hammer, who helped to design and build the sweat-conversion device, says it will be used by the United Nations and Unicef to help give people access to clean drinking water. Recent studies have shown ... (view more)

For many Americans, camping is the best kind of vacation. It's a simple and cheap way to unwind and 'disconnect' from the busy working world. But there are drawbacks to heading into the bush on a hot weekend in July -- for one, there's a good chance ... you'll be 'eaten alive' by merciless, blood-sucking mosquitoes. Until recently, keeping the bugs at bay meant lathering one's self in smelly sprays and lotions. But a new, high-tech patch could make you practically invisible to bugs for a full two-day period. Special Patch Blinds Mosquitoes It's called the Kite Patch and it uses a mixture of non- ... (view more)

Google's engineering director thinks new developments in technology are bringing us closer to a world where human immortality will become a reality. Ray Kurzweil made that bold statement at the recent Global Future 2045 Congress in New York City. ... The Global Future 2045 Congress each year brings together the world's top scientists. The topics of discussion: important advancements in biotechnology research and human life expectancy. Russian Multimillionaire Seeks Immortality The event is held at New York's Alice Tully Hall and is funded primarily by Dmitry Itskov, a 32-year-old Russian Internet ... (view more)

A team of researchers in Kyoto, Japan, claim to have developed software capable of reading dreams by analyzing brain activity. In a recent study, scientists from the ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories connected three test subjects to an EEG ... (electroencephalogram) and had them sleep inside an MRI machine to measure their brain waves during the first few minutes of sleep. Researchers Build Brain Wave-Image Correlation Database The participants were then awakened and asked to identify the images seen in their dreams. This practice was repeated 200 times, during which researchers built a ... (view more)

The Bluetooth technology behind smartphones and other mobile devices has been adapted for medical purposes. Swiss scientists have developed a blood-testing gadget that is implanted under the patient's skin and can wirelessly communicate vital health ... information. The matchstick-shaped gadget is just under half an inch long and can be injected into the skin through a needle. It then lies in the interstitial tissue, which is just below the skin. Once in place, the implant can test for the presence and levels of five different substances in the blood, including proteins, organic acids, glucose, ... (view more)