Friday, August 31, 2012
Google+ Launches Business-Savvy Social Networking Tools
via PCMag.com Breaking News on 8/29/12 Google is no stranger to corporate-based applications, but the company is now expanding to provide a new set of Google+ features designed specifically for businesses. 
FYI: How Long Can a Brain Live in a Dish?
via Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now by Daniel Engber on 8/29/12 
Brain in a Dish Tony Latham/Getty Images Scientists have isolated the brains of dogs, cats and monkeys and kept them alive for short periods in one way or another. But the most successful "whole-brain preparation" of a mammal was developed in the mid-1980s. A neuroscientist at NYU Langone Medical Center named Rodolfo Llinás came up with a way to keep the brain of a young guinea pig alive in a fluid-filled tank for the length of a standard workday.
To begin with, Llinás and his colleagues anesthetized the animal, opened up its chest, and cooled its brain by injecting cold saline into the ascending aorta. After extracting the brain from the skull, the researchers tied it to the bottom of the tank with some thread and surrounded it with glass beads, so it wouldn't slide around. They kept the brain alive by injecting a solution of sugar, electrolytes and dissolved oxygen (among other ingredients) directly into one of its vertebral arteries. Guinea pigs turned out to be a good animal for this preparation because their vertebral arteries are accessible and because their brains are small enough to handle-but not too small for fine dissection.
Llinás's preparation allows for the brain to be poked with electrodes, injected with drugs, or otherwise studied from any angle with all its circuitry intact. But there are only a handful of labs that still use this approach; many physiologists do experiments with whole, living animals or slices of brain tissue kept alive in a dish instead. "The preparation is difficult and expensive to maintain as a model system for brain study," says University of Alberta neuroscientist Clayton Dickson, who learned the method in Italy but has since abandoned it. "It requires a dedicated, continuous and persistent research team to keep it going."
Brain in a Dish Tony Latham/Getty Images
Scientists have isolated the brains of dogs, cats and monkeys and kept them alive for short periods in one way or another. But the most successful "whole-brain preparation" of a mammal was developed in the mid-1980s. A neuroscientist at NYU Langone Medical Center named Rodolfo Llinás came up with a way to keep the brain of a young guinea pig alive in a fluid-filled tank for the length of a standard workday.
To begin with, Llinás and his colleagues anesthetized the animal, opened up its chest, and cooled its brain by injecting cold saline into the ascending aorta. After extracting the brain from the skull, the researchers tied it to the bottom of the tank with some thread and surrounded it with glass beads, so it wouldn't slide around. They kept the brain alive by injecting a solution of sugar, electrolytes and dissolved oxygen (among other ingredients) directly into one of its vertebral arteries. Guinea pigs turned out to be a good animal for this preparation because their vertebral arteries are accessible and because their brains are small enough to handle-but not too small for fine dissection.
Llinás's preparation allows for the brain to be poked with electrodes, injected with drugs, or otherwise studied from any angle with all its circuitry intact. But there are only a handful of labs that still use this approach; many physiologists do experiments with whole, living animals or slices of brain tissue kept alive in a dish instead. "The preparation is difficult and expensive to maintain as a model system for brain study," says University of Alberta neuroscientist Clayton Dickson, who learned the method in Italy but has since abandoned it. "It requires a dedicated, continuous and persistent research team to keep it going."
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Sony's Whopping 84-Inch 4K TV Will Dominate Your Living Room
via Wired Top Stories by Christina Bonnington on 8/29/12 If you find your 55" 1080p TV set is just too small and pixelated, you'll be thrilled to know the next generation of ridiculously enormous, ultra-high-resolution smart TVs are on the way. Get ready for 4K TV.
Intel adding wireless power sharing for smartphones and laptops
via The Register - Networks: Mobile on 8/29/12
Dump the cords in 2014
Intel has said it'll start shipping laptops and smartphones that can share power wirelessly towards the end of next year.…
Retro Arcade Light Switch Doesn't Require a Single Quarter [Video]
via Gizmodo by Andrew Liszewski on 8/29/12 
Somewhere there's a tired joke about the Konami code waiting to be made for this awesome arcade-themed light switch plate. But we're going to take the high road here and just focus on why this is a must-have addition to your gaming room. More »
Lock Down Facebook Photo Albums: Hands-on with McAfee Social Protection App
via PCWorld Latest Technology News on 8/29/12 McAfee's newest social protection app lets you create protected Facebook albums.
No, Tablets Won't Replace PCs Anytime Soon
via PCWorld Latest Technology News on 8/29/12 The list of what tablets can do is long and growing, but it's the list of what they can't do that's keeping most employees from using tablets as PC replacements.
Mobile Devices: The Next eDiscovery Wave?
via PCWorld Latest Technology News on 8/29/12 Ready or not, it is time for corporations to accept that real and unique corporate Electronically Stored Information (ESI) resides on mobile devices.
Sugar Found In Space: A Sign of Life?
via National Geographic News by Ker Than on 8/29/12
Simple sugar molecules floating around a star some 400 light-years away suggest the possibility of life on other planets, astronomers say.
iPad Buzzers Turn Your Tablet Into a Tiny Gameshow [Gaming]
via Gizmodo by Andrew Liszewski on 8/29/12 
It might be lacking the charm of a real game show without a host like the late, great Richard Dawson, but the AppQuiz iPad accessory lets four contestants test their knowledge without the embarrassment of being exposed as a complete dunce in front of a TV audience. More »
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