CIS Focal Issue

Researchers at Brown University have succeeded in creating the first wireless, implantable, rechargeable, long-term brain-computer interface. The wireless BCIs have been implanted in pigs and monkeys for over 13 months without issue, and human subjects are next.

Brown’s wireless BCI allows the subject to move freely, dramatically increasing the quantity and quality of data that can be gathered — instead of watching what happens when a monkey moves its arm, scientists can now analyze its brain activity during complex activity, such as foraging or social interaction

the device’s power consumption, which is just 100 milliwatts. For a device that might eventually find its way into humans, frugal power consumption is a key factor that will enable all-day, highly mobile usage

Using hand gestures may be important for more than just making a point; they could help children to learn.

Once something is learned, however, it’s a challenge to unlearn and inhibit the reflexive response. That’s why it helps to develop good habits early

It’s easier to learn something correctly the first time than it is to unlearn ineffective techniques and relearn better ones.

collaboration of architecture and design firms consisting of MKThink, Concordia, and DSK are creating what the developers call "a full service community, where the school district and city work cooperatively to improve access to learning and opportunities to all members of the community through a highly coordinated City/School partnership.”

The local community contributed heavily to the school design. "I’ve been doing this for 30 years, and there’s never been a project that I’m aware of that has required and gone through such an open and transparent communication process with the community,"

The design team drew inspiration for its "school as the center of community" project from the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ)

architectural experiment constructed at MIT, was “3-D printed” using 6,500 live silkworms

The project started with experiments to see if the spinning patterns of the silkworms could be controlled by altering the environment they operated in. It turns out they could,

a silkworm is a sophisticated multi-material, multi-axis 3-D printer.

As personal digital assistant apps such as Google Now become widespread, so does the idea of algorithms that can not only meet but anticipate our needs

eBay lets you shop at only one store at a time and promises delivery “in about an hour,” while Google lets you shop at multiple stores and pick your own delivery time window.

customers won’t be ordering stuff from eBay anymore. Instead, they’ll let their phones do it.

"Unlike Monopoly, the goal of Commonopoly is not the exhaustion, through monopolization, of a virtual stock of goods, but rather the expansion and preservation of a self-propelling sustainable system of recycling, production and distribution," the creators write.

Commonopoly, which has recently resurfaced in a couple of places online, demands that players brainstorm alternative economic systems through activities placed around the board.

Commonopoly also triggers another recent memory. In 2012, a team of psychologists from the University of California, Berkeley, designed several experiments to measure how wealth impacted unethical behavior.

The predictive factors themselves—behavior problems, frequent absences from school, reading skills that are below grade level—are not so surprising.

Thanks to widespread automation and digitization, we now have access to more information, gathered at ever-earlier stages, about individuals’ performance at school

There is a danger, of course, that people who struggle early on will be written off too soon, before they’ve had a chance to prove themselves.

FIMI successfully lodged the complaint stating that isoHunt, which provides access to and sharing of illegal copies of copyright protected content, costs the Italian music industry millions of euros.

Earlier this year, the Rome court ordered to block domains of 27 torrent websites.

The growth of blocking orders seems to be a result of the struggle against online copyright infringements through torrent websites. Opponents of website-blocks argue that blocking access to torrent sharing websites is ineffective.

никто особенно не расстроился, когда однажды утром вместо лютой Натальи на работу вышла Райхон, вежливая и старательная женщина из Таджикистана. Она меняла воду в ведре после мытья каждого этажа и протирала перила специальной тряпочкой

Как-то незаметно сменился персонал в ближайшем супермаркете. На кассах вместо неприветливых продавщиц советской школы появились улыбчивые таджички.

Прошло два года. Наш подъезд снова грязный — дважды в неделю Райхон забегает, чтобы небрежно смести пыль и также небрежно кивнуть в ответ на приветствие.