The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today granted accelerated approval to Bavencio (avelumab) for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), including those who have not received prior chemotherapy. This is the first FDA-approved treatment for metastatic MCC, a rare, aggressive form of skin cancer. “While skin cancer is one of the most common cancers, patients with a rare form called Merkel cell cancer have not had an appro...

To cope with negative experiences or to share an insight, people often use the word "you" rather than "I." "You" is an overlooked word that people use to express norms and rules, new University of Michigan research found. Researchers conducted nine experiments with nearly 2,500 people to understand why people curiously use "you" not only to refer to specific others, but also to reflect on their own experiences. "It's something we all do as a way to explain how things work and to find me...

GuardPeanut is a Smart Anti-Theft Alarm that watches over your belongings and alerts you if they are moved. GuardPeanut simply connects to your smartphone using Bluetooth Smart. Using the SensePeanut companion app, you will be alerted when any of your valuables or objects are moved when they shouldn’t be. You can also view an unlimited timeline of the object’s movement history. Simply attach GuardPeanut to the object you want to protect. A bunch of free accessories are in the box such a...

South Korean robotics manufacturer Hankook Mirae Technology debuted its first prototype piloted mech, the Method-2. Method-2 stands 13-feet tall, weighs 1.3 tons and wields a pair of 286-pound, motion-tracking metal arms. Hankook Mirae considers this robot the world's first manned bipedal robot built to work in extreme hazardous areas where humans cannot go unprotected. If you consider this as something from Transformers, Robocop or Terminator, you should know that the company has spent more ...

  Innovative startup's that are helping local governments provide services, transparency, reach and better quality of life for its citizens. MuniRent MuniRent is a website that makes it easy for public agencies to share equipment and personnel. AmigoCloud AmigoCloud is a geospatial platform that helps you collect, manage, analyze, visualize, and publish your location data. All without installing any software. Neighborland Neighborland empowers organizations to collaborate with resi...

The first strength training wearable with patented weight sensing technology. The Delta Gloves automatically track your workout and help you reach your goals.   https://youtu.be/6A57iNuDads   RECORD WORKOUT Automatically records exercise, sets, reps & weight lifted in real time so you can focus on getting the most out of every set. MEASURE PROGRESS Review history of specific exercises or compare different workouts by comparing your power output (Watts). ...

UNSW researchers have identified a critical step in the molecular process that allows cells to repair damaged DNA – and it could mean big things for the future of anti-ageing drugs, childhood cancer survivors and even astronauts. Professor David Sinclair (front) and Dr Lindsay Wu (far left) with the UNSW research team. Photo: Britta Campion UNSW researchers have made a discovery that could lead to a revolutionary drug that actually reverses ageing, improves DNA repa...

The German Center for Research and Innovation will be hosting the Falling Walls Lab New York on September 14, 2017.   Falling Walls Lab New York is an exciting forum for scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs to present their ideas in 3 minutes with the chance to win a travel grant to participate in the Falling Walls Finale in Berlin on November 8, 2017.     Participation is open to bachelor’s and master’s students, PhD candidates, as well as postdocs, junior researchers ...

A landmark decision by the International Football Association Board (The IFAB) at its 130th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Cardiff, Wales, will pave the way for the introduction of live experiments with video assistant referees in football. In the meeting held at the St David’s Hotel and chaired by the President of the Football Association of Wales David Griffiths, also saw the most substantial revision of the Laws of the Game get the green light plus key outcomes on other agenda items inclu...

A protein originally discovered at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) appears to be involved in how the body controls breathing, according to a new study led by scientists at TSRI and Harvard Medical School. The study, published in Nature, shows how the Piezo2 protein, previously shown to be the principal sensor of touch and proprioception, also plays a critical role in sensing lung expansion. “The discoveries here could provide important clues on how to treat patients with respiratory dis...

DNA is a precious molecule. It encodes vital information about cellular content and function. There are only two copies of each chromosome in the cell, and once the sequence is lost no replacement is possible. The irreplaceable nature of the DNA sets it apart from other cellular molecules, and makes it a critical target for age-related deterioration. To prevent DNA damage cells have evolved elaborate DNA repair machinery. Paradoxically, DNA repair can itself be subject to age-related changes ...

Individuals with lower leg injuries could soon be saying goodbye to traditional crutches with the development of a hands-free alternative that is more comfortable and potentially more effective. The device, developed by Purdue University graduates, could provide ergonomic and natural movement and transmit real-time recovery data to physicians. “Six and a half million people in the U.S. today use devices such as wheelchairs, walkers, crutches and canes. Traditional crutches are the most common...

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham are developing and testing a new peptide that they hope will lead to better treatment options for familial hypercholesterolemia. FH is a genetic condition that results from the body’s inability to clear low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or bad cholesterol, from the blood. This results in startlingly high cholesterol levels. There are two forms of FH: heterozygous FH (HeFH) and homozygous HoFH, which is the most serious type of FH. If untreat...

A nanosensor technology has been developed using nanostructures: single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), combined with a silicon-based microfabrication and micromachining process. This technology provides a sensor array that can accommodate different nanostructures for specific applications with the advantages of high sensitivity, low power consumption, compactness, high yield and low cost. BenefitNanotechnology based chemical sensors can provide high sensitivity, low power and low cost p...

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a technique that uses light to get two-dimensional (2-D) plastic sheets to curve into three-dimensional (3-D) structures, such as spheres, tubes or bowls. The advance builds on earlier work by the same research team, which focused on self-folding 3-D structures. The key advance here is that rather than having the plastic fold along sharp lines – into polygonal shapes such as cubes or pyramids – the plastics bend and curve. Res...

A research team led by Professors Doman Kim and Tae Sub Park of the Graduate School of International Agricultural Technology found that chicken feed including naturally fermented buckwheat increases the production of eggs by over 8%. The researchers used Rhizopus – a fungus causing the group of infections referred to as zygomycosis and usually found in decaying breads, fruits, and vegetables - to ferment the buckwheat. The team found that chickens eating the buckwheat feed laid more and larger e...

Volkswagen's plans to develop fully autonomous vehicles that would offer greater comfort and convenience than current cars, while slashing the number of road deaths and truly democratizing mobility, have borne their first fruit. This is Sedric, designed to be a platform for cross-brand ideas, which will feed into subsequent concepts from the group's car brands. The biggest idea it introduces is its full "Level 5" autonomy: no human driver is required. There's no VW badge on the fron...

A Stanford electrical engineer has invented a way to wirelessly transfer power deep inside the body, and then use this power to run tiny electronic medical gadgets such as pacemakers, nerve stimulators or new sensors and devices yet to be developed. The discoveries reported May 19 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences culminate years of efforts by Ada Poon, assistant professor of electrical engineering, to eliminate the bulky batteries and clumsy recharging systems that preve...

We live in a three-dimensional world, but everything we see is first recorded on our retinas in only two dimensions. So how does the brain represent 3-D information? In a new study, researchers for the first time have shown how different parts of the brain represent an object’s location in depth compared to its 2-D location. Researchers at The Ohio State University had volunteers view simple images with 3-D glasses while they were in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner. ...

Doctors may soon be able to detect and monitor a patient’s cancer with a simple blood test, reducing or eliminating the need for more invasive procedures, according to Purdue University research. W. Andy Tao, a professor of biochemistry and member of the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research and colleagues identified a series of proteins in blood plasma that, when elevated, signify that the patient has cancer. Their findings were published in the early edition of the Proceedings of the N...

A group of University of Tokyo researchers and their collaborators identified for the first time in monkeys the neural substrate, or functional units in the nervous system, underlying the ability, known as metamemory, that enables objective self-evaluation of memory. The group also demonstrated that the neural substrate for metamemory is distinct from that for memory recollection. Metamemory is a sophisticated mental process that requires introspective evaluation of one’s own cognitive proces...

We’re just beginning to understand how the brain participates in experiences that believers interpret as spiritual, divine or transcendent,” says senior author and neuroradiologist Jeff Anderson, who also has an unpaid faculty position in the U’s bioengineering department. “In the last few years, brain imaging technologies have matured in ways that are letting us approach questions that have been around for millennia.” Specifically, the investigators set out to determine which brain networks ar...

With the Raptor XL Platform Fishing Boat, you can stay on the water as long as you'd like. Measuring 16.4 x 16.4 feet, this platform-style fishing boat is so big, you can pitch a tent and camp in it. Unlike standard fishing boats, it comes with tent mounts (15 D-rings) that you can use to pitch an actual tent right on the boat. That way, you can sleep in the water while all your baits are cast and waiting for a bite. The Raptor Platform XL is an inflatable boat that measures a whopping 16....

Whether you are a gas station owner concerned about armed robbery, an organization with secure spaces for drugs, arms or data systems, or a school that wants to limit who can enter, having the right security systems in place is critical. First Line’s intelligent facial recognition, video surveillance software by Blue Line Technology is a non-intrusive, but rigorously precise, identity-verification system. Every face is scanned Everyone who approaches a First Line monitored doorway is ...

Purdue University researchers are developing software in a “haptic device” that could give people with visual impairments the ability to identify scientific images on a computer screen using their other senses. Ting Zhang, a graduate student in the Purdue School of Industrial Engineering, is developing a system that involves a specially designed joystick attached to a computer. The joystick controls a cursor. When the cursor moves across an object on the screen, force feedback, vibrations and...

The Tsimane people—a forager-horticulturalist population of the Bolivian Amazon—have the lowest reported levels of vascular aging for any population, with coronary atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) being five times less common than in the U.S., according to a study published today in The Lancet and presented at the American College of Cardiology. Senior author of the study is Gregory S. Thomas, M.D., MPH, Medical Director, MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute, Long Beach (CA)...

New study by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health showed that B vitamins may play a critical role in reducing the impact of air pollution on the epigenome, further demonstrating the epigenetic effects of air pollution on health. This is the first study to detail a course of research for developing interventions that prevent or minimize the adverse effects of air pollution on potential automatic markers. The results are published online in the journal PNAS. An e...

There is a widely held and influential view that physical activity begins to decline at adolescence. This study aimed to identify the timing of changes in physical activity during childhood and adolescence. John Reilly from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, in Scotland research study found that sedentary behaviors begin to set in shortly after the ripe old age of 7. Longitudinal cohort study (Gateshead Millennium Study) with eight years of follow-up, from Northeast England. Cohort me...