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Here's a good reason to pay attention in math class. Nature Communications has published a paper from Ottawa researchers today, outlining how advanced mathematical modelling can be used in the fight against cancer. The technique predicts how different treatments and genetic modifications might allow cancer-killing, oncolytic viruses to overcome the natural defences that cancer cells use to stave off viral infection.

Before life existed on Earth, there was just matter, inorganic dead "stuff." How improbable is it that life arose? And -- could it use a different type of chemistry? Using an elegant definition of life (anything that can evolve), chemist Lee Cronin is exploring this question by attempting to create a fully inorganic cell using a "Lego kit" of inorganic molecules -- no carbon -- that can assemble, replicate and compete.

A potentially amazing way to explore the human body Scientists in Switzerland have developed a novel way to monitor a neuron's electrical activity by bathing it in laser light. The technique, called holographic microscopy, doesn't require the invasive electrodes or dyes typically used to measure cell activity. Researchers say the approach could be used to rapidly screen new drugs designed to protect brain cells.

Fascinating insight into the findings of research into the human microbiome.  the idea that microbes can both hurt and heal us. that future medicine will work on improving the ratio of microbes instead of wiping them out completely. 

The growing acceptance of Neuro plasticity lets us see the brain as a resource we can continually develop. This talk describes a programme designed to help us address limitations of our own brain and even take our skills to exceptional levels Barbara Arrowsmith-Young tells the inspiring story of how she overcame her severe learning difficulties with specific brain exercises she developed herself. We also hear the moving accounts of two Australians who've taken a leaf out of her book.  They've found the hard work has paid off.

Here now, for distributing far and wide, is a list of common misconceptions surrounding "Folk Neuroscience" - a term clinical and neuropsychologist Vaughan Bell uses to describe the imprecise, "sometimes wildly inaccurate," concepts that are commonly used to explain the brai

An overgrowth of bacteria in the gut has been definitively linked to Irritable Bowel Syndrome in the results of a new Cedars-Sinai study which used cultures from the small intestine. This is the first study to use this "gold standard" method of connecting bacteria to the cause of the disease that affects an estimated 30 million people in the United States.

Metabolic interactions between multiple cell types are difficult to model using existing approaches. Here we present a workflow that integrates gene expression data, proteomics data and literature-based manual curation to model human metabolism within and between different types of cells. Transport reactions are used to account for the transfer of metabolites between models of different cell types via the interstitial fluid. We apply the method to create models of brain energy metabolism that recapitulate metabolic interactions between astrocytes and various neuron types relevant to Alzheimer's disease. Analysis of the models identifies genes and pathways that may explain observed experimental phenomena, including the differential effects of the disease on cell types and regions of the brain. Constraint-based modeling can thus contribute to the study and analysis of multicellular metabolic processes in the human tissue microenvironment and provide detailed mechanistic insight into high-throughput data analysis.

The brainiest creatures share a secret - an odd kind of brain cell involved in emotions and empathy that may have accidentally made us conscious

Three films exploring the very thing that makes us human. Each episode features an extraordinary character who can do extraordinary things with their brain. Marc Yu is only 7 years old, but he already has a repertoire of over 15 classical piano pieces - some of them over 20 minutes long. Chess grand master Susan Polgar tells the story of how her father turned her and her sisters into chess prodigies. Autistic Savant George Widener stuns us with his superhuman calculating and memory skills. And prepare to be moved by Tommy McHugh - the Liverpool hardman who turned into an obsessive artist after surviving a stroke. We find out how they do it. Episodes included: Make Me A Genius, Accidental Genius, and Born Genius.

Surgeons using kinect to manipulate mri scans. optometrist using 3ds to detect those who need vision therapy

have you seen Oblong ? http://oblong.com/#!/home

A gadget to monitor your lifestyle. currently (june '11) In private beta. sounds really good. Uses extra sensors for biofeedback. Waiting until they run on android using open hardware and the hardware api.

Best example of a human body in the browser so far. Has animated elements. No plugins. Uses web 3d. REally easy to use. Very stable. 

ODE is an open source, high performance library for simulating rigid body dynamics. It is fully featured, stable, mature and platform independent with an easy to use C/C++ API. It has advanced joint types and integrated collision detection with friction. ODE is useful for simulating vehicles, objects in virtual reality environments and virtual creatures.

Virtual tools that enable  enthusiasts to collaborate on solving problems are an amazing and extremely useful resource that we should be using more of. 

Surgeon Anthony Atala demonstrates an early-stage experiment that could someday solve the organ-donor problem: a 3D printer that uses living cells to output a transplantable kidney. Using similar technology, Dr. Atala's young patient Luke Massella received an engineered bladder 10 years ago; we meet him onstage.

Body area network (BAN), wireless body area network (WBAN) or body sensor network (BSN) are terms used to describe the application of wearable computing devices

Abstract Traditional microscopes have limitations in obtaining true 3D (three-dimensional) stereovision. Although some optical microscopes have been developed for 3D vision, many of them are complex, expensive, or limited to transparent samples. In this research, a freeform optical prism array was designed and fabricated to achieve 3D stereo imaging capability for microscope and machine vision applications. To form clear stereo images from multiple directions simultaneously, freeform optical surface design was applied to the prisms. In a ray tracing operation to determine the optical performance of the freeform prisms, Taylor series was used to calculate the surface shape. The virtual image spot diagrams were generated by using ray tracing methods for both the freeform prisms and the regular prisms. The results showed that all the light rays can be traced back to a single point for the freeform prism, and aberration was much smaller than that of the regular prism. The ray spots formed by the freeform prisms were adequate for image formation. Furthermore, the freeform prism array was fabricated by using a combined ultraprecision diamond turning and slow tool servo broaching process in a single, uninterrupted operation. The slow tool servo process ensured that the relative tolerance among prisms is guaranteed by the precision of the ultraprecision machine without the need for assembly. Finally 3D imaging tests were conducted to verify the freeform prism array's optical performance. The principle of the freeform prism array investigated in this research can be applied to microscopy, machine vision, robotic sensing, and many other areas.

Human intestinal flora has three typesIn humans, three different 'intestinal-type "and for each type has its own characteristics. An international research team that wrote this week in Nature magazine. This knowledge is useful in medical research and determine the best medical treatment method for each type.

Fascinating idea. Use meta genomics the bacterial flora of the gut were included in an investigation on humans. They found that energy efficient bacteria were more common in those with a high BMI. So while evidence may show that humans don't become more efficient with energy the bacteria they host could do and thus encourage weight gain. 

Temporary electronic tattoos could soon help people fly drones with only thought and talk seemingly telepathically without speech over smartphones, researchers say. Electrical engineer Todd Coleman at the University of California at San Diego is devising noninvasive means of controlling machines via the mind, techniques virtually everyone might be able to use