Microfossils first discovered in Australia
in 1982 -- then thought to be minerals -- have
been re-examined with new techniques showing
carbon-based life existing 3.5 billion years
ago. The fossils, which are just ⅛ the width
of a human hair, could suggest the common
presence of life throughout the universe.
And a baby in Tennessee was just born after
her embryo was cryogenically frozen for 24
years. Which is not only a record but it means
the baby was conceived only a year and a half
after her mother was born.
Vsauce! Kevin here. This is Mind Blow.
Researchers at Georgia Tech are using ultrasound
and machine learning to develop a new way
of controlling prosthetic limbs. This approach
created highly-detailed maps of muscle movements
which enable the fine control that most prosthetics
lack -- and it’s so effective it’s already
being referred to as “Luke Skywalker’s
bionic hand.” You may remember from Mind
Blow #102 that Georgia Tech was also the source
for a robotic ‘Smart Arm’ capable of responding
and adapting to a drummer’s actions.
A rare form of blindness caused by gene mutation
could soon be treated using gene therapy.
A trial in which a virus was loaded with a
normal copy of the RPE65 gene and then injected
into the eye resulted in blind patients navigating
a specially-designed obstacle course more
effectively. Researchers are optimistic, but
they pointed out that the treatment does not
represent a cure -- they’re unsure how long
the virus will continue to express the normal
RPE65 gene, and although a price hasn’t
been set, one estimate puts it at $1 million.
But regardless of the challenges, the first
gene therapy treatment approved by the FDA
is a major milestone.
Nanometer-scale CT imagery has allowed us
to see the leg of a tiny newborn velvet worm
-- FINALLY. Physicists at the Technical University
of Munich have designed a machine using a
new type of X-ray tube capable of presenting
3D scans of the smallest biological samples.
That worm’s leg is 400 millionths of a millimeter.
This is so beautiful I just wanted to share
it with you. So there. Okay that’s enough.
Electrical stimulation of the amygdala can
boost your memory -- for a day. At Emory University
Hospital, Deep Brain Stimulation administered
along with specific images resulted in 79%
of subjects recalling those images the next
day with gains up to several hundred percent.
Meaning, they remembered it better. So, maybe
the next generation of cramming for a test
could involved can brain-shocking your way
to an A.
Autonomous Systems Labs’ Maplab is an advanced
visual inertia mapping framework capable of
generating highly-accurate renderings of new
and old spaces. Basically, it’s a really
advanced, quick way to map and 3D render locations.
ASL’s robot constructs a model of its environment,
while a separate process handles localization
-- and multiple data sets can be looped together
to improve accuracy. It seems to me, potential
future applications of this could include
creating rich, accurate virtual reality experiences
or to map tourist destinations. Like the Louvre.
The iCub humanoid robot is constructed to
be like a 4-year old child -- and now that
it’s been around for more than 10 years,
it’s getting more sophisticated. The iCub
can now use stereo vision to estimate the
pose and strategy required to grasp unknown
objects with care, which also enables safe,
gentle interactions with humans. Still no
estimates for a C3P0-level sophisticated droid
will be available. But they're workin' on
it.
AImotive’s full-stack software suite is
poised to enable self-driving cars in any
weather or driving condition. The AIdrive
suite combines data from four separate engines
-- recognition, location, motion and control
-- to analyze and adjust self-driving action
in any situation. So instead of using LIDAR
to scan the surroundings, they’re using
camera sensors to feed data to software which
they say allows for higher resolution information
and analysis like differentiating a child
from an elderly person. And really the next
steps are making the system cheaper and more
energy efficient.
Google’s artificial intelligence has discovered
a planet. It used data from NASA's Kepler
Space Telescope to find Kepler-90i. Which
circles the Sun-like Kepler-90 star every
14.4 days, and it was discovered by using
machine learning to analyze changes in light
readings that happen when distant exoplanets
pass in front of a star. Kepler-90i’s surface
temperature is about 800F, so… it’s hot.
The UK’s National Physical Laboratory has
created the world’s smallest Christmas card.
At just 15 x 20 micrometers, it's 200 million
times smaller than a postage stamp. When magnified
5,000x, you can see a snowman and “Season’s
Greetings from NPL,” who used an ion beam
to slice a silicon nitride membrane coated
with platinum to carve the card with incredible
precision.
To absorb mind-blowing knowledge through your
ears with amazing precision check out Packing
For Mars by Mary Roach on Audible. I read
this book for my video The Planet Behind Your
Eyes and we also included it in Curiosity
Box II. Get a free audiobook with a 30-day
trial today by signing up. I’ve made it
super easy for you just text Vsauce2 to 500-500
or go to Audible.com/Vsauce2. That’s text
Vsauce2 to 500-500 or Audible.com/Vsauce2.
There's a link at the top of this video's
description. For you to click.
Now I’m gonna leave you with FX-2, a giant
human riding robot -- and as always, thanks
for watching.
Map-making in the olden days, was like painting
a masterpiece. A slow, laborious and highly-specialized
task. Requiring the utmost skill and patience.
Map-making today has the speed of our modern
stream-lined methods. But it is still a highly-specialized
occupation. The biggest catch in making roadmaps
is keeping them up-to-date. Modern mapmakers
have solved this by developing a trick method
of printing. Revised maps can be put out every
two weeks. As a rule, these map detectives
work in pairs. One man driving the car as
the other plots road changes on a special
chart book. Notations are carefully checked
against special instruments to ensure complete
accuracy. When all this last minute road information
has been transposed to the overlay sheet,
the sheet is removed and placed in a special
vacuum frame. A huge camera then photographs
the overlay onto a glass negative. This negative
is photographically transferred onto a sensitized
zinc plate. Which after having its face washed
in an acid solution, is ready to be inked
and locked on the press. This press swiftly
overprints the detour symbols onto the latest
standard roadmaps. These, in turn, are automatically
cut and folded to the proper size, ready to
give folks a good steer. Yes, mapmaking has
changed. Has kept pace with a changing America.
Modern maps guide us over the modern roads
of the land. Over great super highways such
as the famous new Pennsylvania Turnpike. Modern
maps taking today's motorists where they want
to go, when they want to go. Quickly, comfortably
and safely.
