Technology has immortality, cures for the worlds devastating diseases, quantum computing and a host of other science fiction notions in its grasp. Current trends in a number of areas indicate that over the next 10 years many of these technologies will come to fruition. "The Next 10 Years" tracks the trends that will transform our everyday lives in almost unimaginable ways.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Key to longer life (in flies) lies in just 14 brain cells

Key to longer life (in flies) lies in just 14 brain cells

Now the same team reports an intriguing follow-up finding. The p53 protein, they found, may work its lifespan-extending magic in only 14 insulin-producing cells in the fly brain.

“It’s quite surprising,” said Johannes Bauer, a postdoctoral research fellow at Brown. “In the fruit fly brain, there are tens of thousands of cells. But we found that it takes a reduction of p53 activity in only 14 of those brain cells to extend lifespan. It was like finding a needle in the haystack – a very small needle at that.”

Bauer is the lead author of the research report, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Brown biology professor Stephen Helfand, senior scientist on the project, will discuss the findings in his keynote address at the Gordon Research Conferences on the Biology of Aging, to be held Sept. 23-28, 2007, in Les Diablerets, Switzerland.

P53 is sometimes called “guardian of the genome” for defending cells against DNA damage. Not enough of the protein can cause cancer; too much, however, can shorten lifespan. But in 2005, Helfand and his lab showed that a targeted decrease of p53 in fruit flies – a decrease specifically in their brain cells – allowed flies to live healthy lives that were as much as 58 percent longer.

But how, exactly, does p53 do its work in the brain" To find out, Bauer spent a year conducting painstaking experiments. He’d take a batch of young flies, each genetically altered to reduce p53 activity in a small portion of their nervous systems, and watch the flies age. Time and again, the flies lived for about two months – the average lifespan for these insects.


Technorati tags:

Friday, September 14, 2007

Study: Vowel sounds affect consumer buying

Study: Vowel sounds affect consumer buying

Researchers Tina Lowrey and L.J. Shrum of the University of Texas-San Antonio created fictitious brand names that varied only by one vowel sound -- for example, nillen and nallen. They then varied product categories between small, fast, sharp objects -- such as knives or convertibles -- and products that are large, slow, and dull -- such as hammers and SUVs.

Study participants were asked to choose which word they thought was a better brand name. The researchers found participants overwhelmingly preferred words with front vowel sounds (nillen) when the product category was a convertible or a knife but preferred words with back vowel sounds (nallen) when the product category was an SUV or hammer.

"The implications of phonetic symbolism for brand names are relatively straightforward," said Lowrey and Shrum. "If sounds do convey certain types of meaning, then perceptions of brands may be enhanced when the fit between the sound symbolism and the product attributes is maximized."

The study is detailed in The Journal of Consumer Research.


Technorati tags:

Study: 'Confuse-reframe' sales pitch works

Study: 'Confuse-reframe' sales pitch works

Researchers led by Frank Kardes of the University of Cincinnati examined the effectiveness of the new sales technique that involves presenting a confusing sales pitch to a consumer and then restating the pitch in a more familiar way.

The researchers said by using the technique they were able to improve sales of a candy bar in a supermarket, increase students' willingness to pay to join a student interest group and even convince students to accept a tuition increase.

The study found a confusing sales pitch -- such as one utilizing technical jargon, complex terminology or large product assortments -- increases "cognitive closure," with the consumer eager to accept subsequent easy-to-process or unambiguous information.

The research that also included Bob Fennis of the University of Twente in the Netherlands and Edward Hirt, Zakary Tormala and Brian Bullington of the University of Indiana is reported in the October issue of the Journal of Consumer Research.


Technorati tags:

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

BCI - Brain to Control Games Directly, Maybe Vice Versa

BCI - Brain to Control Games Directly, Maybe Vice Versa:

Your brain might be your next videogame controller.

That might sound pretty awesome, but the prospect of brain-controlled virtual joysticks has some scientists worried that games might end up controlling our brains.

Several makers of brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs -- devices that facilitate operating a computer by thought alone -- claim the technology is poised to jump from the medical sector into the consumer gaming world in 2008.

Companies including Emotiv Systems and NeuroSky say they've released BCI-based software-development kits. Gaming companies may release BCI games next year, but many scientists worry that users brains' might be subject to negative effects.

Technorati tags:

Sunday, September 02, 2007

New Schizophrenia Drug Shows Promise in Trials - New York Times

New Schizophrenia Drug Shows Promise in Trials - New York Times: "New Schizophrenia Drug Shows Promise in Trials "

In a clinical trial of about 200 patients, an experimental drug from Eli Lilly lessened schizophrenia symptoms without the serious side effects of current treatments, according to a paper published Sunday in the journal Nature.
The drug must still be tested on many more patients and is at least three to four years from completing regulatory review. But schizophrenia researchers said the trial’s results were surprising and impressive, especially since the drug works in a different way from existing antipsychotic medicines, all of which have serious side effects including weight gain and tremors