University of Melbourne (UniMelb)

Scientists used brain-computer interface technology to help stroke survivors use their minds to power “virtual reality hands” to help regain the use of their arms and hands “Virtual reality hands” — controlled by stroke survivors’ thoughts — could help them recover use of their hands and arms, according to a small study presented at the

Image via Wikipedia When scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) tried to apply their expertise in solar cell technology to build a green LED light from the ground up, they surprisingly centered the objective at their very first try. In doing so they solved a long-standing technological problem and paved the way for

The most detailed study to date showing how electrical stimulation accelerates wound healing has been carried out in 40 volunteers by University of Manchester scientists Skin wounds that are slow to heal are a clinical challenge to physicians all over the world. Every year, the NHS alone spends £1 billion on treating chronic wounds such

The development of the smart power grid and the smart meter in our homes to accompany it brings several benefits, such as improved delivery and more efficient billing. Conversely, any digital, connected technology also represents a security risk. Writing in the International Journal of Smart Grid and Green Communications, UK researchers explain how a malicious

An international research team led by physicists at the University of California, Riverside, has revealed a new quantum process in valleytronics that can speed up the development of this fairly new technology. Valleytronics, a portmanteau of “valley” and “electronics,” uses local energy minima — or valleys — in the electronic band structure of semiconductors. Current semiconductor technology

Mark 2013 down as the year that the global cyberweapons arms race started. Already, there have been five cyberattacks of unprecedented size and scope in just the first six months of the year. Of even greater concern, many of these cyberattacks appear to have emanated from state-sponsored actors coordinating cyberespionage campaigns lasting years, not days or weeks. These cyberweapons – which

Scientists have sent a pulse of bright light in a particularly sensitive quantum state through 1.6 kilometers of air. This quantum state, which they call squeezed, was maintained, which is something many physicists thought to be impossible. Eavesdropping on a message protected by quantum cryptography cannot be done without being noticed. It could be difficult

WALT DISNEY’S film version of “Mary Poppins” features a scene in which, at a click of the protagonist’s fingers, cupboards, drawers, bedside tables and trunks fly open and her young charges’ clothes and toys leap inside them. Self-tidying clothes and toys are still some way away, unfortunately. But furniture that collaborates, Poppins-like, with its owners