We’re getting closer to being a race of cyborgs: scientists have engineered self-healing artificial muscles. A research team at Duke University created the bio-engineered muscle tissue which is 10 times stronger than any previous iterations. And, unlike previous generations of bio-engineered muscles, this artificial muscle is able to heal itself both in the laboratory and in animals.

The researchers damaged the muscle by exposing it to a toxin found in snake venom. They then implanted the muscle inside a mouse and installed a “window” in the mouse’s skin to monitor how the muscle was integrating and changing inside the animal’s body. Biological muscles have cells on reserve, waiting to jump into action when the muscle is damaged. The researchers had to create a similar set of “satellite cells” and then watch to see if they would heal the injured bio-engineered muscle.

The muscle fibers were engineered to produce fluorescent flashes to make it easier for the researchers to gauge the rate of the muscles’ growth and strengthening. As they watched through the glass window on the backs of the mice, they witnessed the muscle tissues repairing themselves much in the same way biological muscles do. Next up for the researchers: working to repair biological muscle injuries and diseases with artificial muscles.

The post Artificial Self-Healing Muscles as Strong as Biological Ones first appeared on Gajitz.

Those of us who can see colors normally tend to take that ability for granted. Designer Christopher Yamane has developed a device that will help people born with a condition called achromatopsia see colors by involving their sense of hearing. Achromatopsia is a rare and often-misunderstood medical syndrome which causes the inability to see color. The Wassiliscope induces a kind of artificial synesthesia, a condition in which people experience one sense as a different sense – seeing sounds, for instance.

This particular type of artificial synesthesia causes users (who may have always seen only in black and white) to hear colors. The Wassiliscope translates the colors’ light frequencies and translates them into their corresponding sound frequency. The video above gives a demonstration of the setup, including the sounds of several different colors.

A lifelong achromatopsia sufferer named Neil Harbisson famously wears an “eyeborg,” a gadget that lets him hear colors. The Wassiliscope works on the same principles of capturing visible light frequencies and translating them into sound frequencies. Yamane was struck by the idea when he realized that colors and sounds are made of the same stuff: waves. From there, he put together this complex machine that analyzes light wave frequencies, processes those waves through a triangular wave oscillator and sends them to the earphones as sounds. It might as well be magic as far as we’re concerned.

The post Machine Turns Color Waves Into Sounds for the Colorblind first appeared on Gajitz.

Scientists at Harvard have brought to the world a futuristic advance which may or may not be the human race’s first step toward a violent cyborg uprising. For the first time ever, they have created a 3D hybrid of living tissue and electronics. They’ve mixed muscle cells, neurons, and blood vessels with nanowires and transistors, effectively creating cyborg tissues.

This first generation of the cyborg tissues are limited in their function, but future generations have almost endless possibilities. They could be used for all kinds of monitoring activities, from drug testing to medical observation of ongoing conditions.

But the most exciting and most creepy possibilities involve actually controlling the cells in a human body via the integrated nanowires. This could be accomplished through electrical stimulation or even through controlled releases of drugs. Lab-grown cyborg tissues could be used by the pharmaceutical industry to easily measure the effects of new drugs on real three-dimensional tissues rather than the thin layers of cell cultures currently used.

The post Harvard Scientists Create World’s First Living Cyborg Tissues first appeared on Gajitz.

Eye-mounted or eye-embedded heads-up displays are no longer in the realm of science fiction. They’re getting closer all the time, and eventually they’ll be just as commonplace as our regular contact lenses of today. That’s the premise of Sight, a short film from Eran May-raz and Daniel Lazo. The futuristic plot puts us into a day in the life of Patrick, a creepy, somewhat maladjusted software engineer who both works on and uses Sight, a very popular HUD system embedded in the eyes.

The film shows us what our future could look like, with most entertainment, decorative objects, and even social interactions being either supplied or augmented by an always-on computer system. Would that world feel any less real than the one in which we live now? This outstanding sci-fi vision is so exciting and so chilling precisely because it could easily become a reality in our lifetime.

The post Short Sci-Fi Film Gives a Chilling Glimpse of Our Tech Future first appeared on Gajitz.

When this beautiful little girl was born, doctors told her parents that she had a rare congenital disorder known as Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita. The condition meant that Emma did not have – and would never develop – the strength to lift her own arms. But thanks to some amazing doctors and a healthy dose of science and technology, Emma now has “magic arms” that allow her to play, draw, and even hug her mom.

The touching story told in the video above would never have been possible without 3D printing, a high-tech way to immediately manufacture 100% custom parts. Whenever a piece of Emma’s “magic arms” breaks or wears out, her mom can call the researchers who designed the device and have a new part printed instantly. With no wait time for a new part, Emma suffers far less down time without her incredible assistive device. We dare you to watch the video and not get at least a little misty-eyed.

The post 3D Printing Tech Gives Disabled Girl Custom ‘Magic Arms’ first appeared on Gajitz.