Brain-computer interfaces are an emerging assistive technology, enabling people with paralysis to type on computer screens or manipulate robotic prostheses just by thinking about moving their own bodies. For years, investigational BCIs used in clinical trials have required cables to connect the sensing array in the brain to computers that decode the signals and use them to drive external devices.

In artificial intelligence, deep learning organizes algorithms into layers (the artificial neural network) that can make its own intelligent decisions. To speed up the learning process, the new network was trained using the parameters of MobileNetV2, a mobile vision application, pre-trained on the ImageNet dataset with 1.4M images.

Last year, a team of biologists and computer scientists created novel, tiny self-healing biological machines from frog cells called "Xenobots" that could move around, push a payload, and even exhibit collective behavior in the presence of a swarm of other Xenobots. The same team has now created life forms that self-assemble a body from single cells, do not require muscle cells to move, and even demonstrate the capability of recordable memory.

A printable hydrogel made of ultrashort peptides could help shape cells into viable tissues.

Antimicrobial technologies such as coatings and textiles containing silver and copper are helping people during the COVID-19 pandemic by ensuring that whatever they touch, whether that is a door handle or their own mask, is free from live SARS-CoV-2 particles. But how exactly do these antimicrobial technologies work?

A new study finds that patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as well as other psychiatric comorbidities, such as autism spectrum or tic disorders, may respond well to Deep Brain Stimulation.

A team of scientists has developed a diagnostic test that can detect the virus that causes COVID-19 even after it has gone through mutations. Called the VaNGuard (Variant Nucleotide Guard) test, it makes use of a gene-editing tool known as CRISPR, which is used widely in scientific research to alter DNA sequences and modify gene function in human cells under lab conditions, and more recently, in diagnostic applications.

Five years ago, scientists created a single-celled synthetic organism that, with only 473 genes, was the simplest living cell ever known. However, this bacteria-like organism behaved strangely when growing and dividing, producing cells with wildly different shapes and sizes. Now, scientists have identified seven genes that can be added to tame the cells' unruly nature, causing them to neatly divide into uniform orbs.

Food scientists have made an antibacterial gel bandage using the discarded husks of the popular tropical fruit, durian.

Existing brain interfaces are based on metals such as platinum and iridium, which impose significant restrictions in terms of miniaturisation and signal resolution, and therefore cause considerable side effects. For this reason, there is a 50% rejection rate in candidate patients. Graphene Flagship spin-off INBRAIN Neuroelectronics uses a disruptive technology based on graphene which will overcome the current limitations of metal-based neural interfaces.

Researchers have applied artificial intelligence methods to evaluate data of human embryo development. The AI based system photographs the embryos every five minutes, processes the data of their development and notifies any anomalies observed. This increases the likelihood of choosing the most viable and healthy early-stage embryo for IVF procedures.

Living tissue can heal itself from many injuries, but giving similar abilities to artificial systems, such as robots, has been extremely challenging. Now, researchers have developed small, swimming robots that can magnetically heal themselves on-the-fly after breaking into two or three pieces. The strategy could someday be used to make hardier devices for environmental or industrial clean up, the researchers say.

Meatable, the cultivated meat startup, has closed $47 million USD in its Series A funding round, bringing the company's total funding to $60 million. Meatable finalized its first showcase product in 2020 and aims to use the new funds to advance small-scale production at the Biotech Campus Delft and to diversify its product portfolio.

In a discovery that will revolutionize research into the causes of early miscarriage, infertility and the study of early human development - an international team of scientists has generated a model of a human embryo from skin cells.

Researchers used organoid technology to grow miniature human tear glands that actually cry. The organoids serve as a model to study how certain cells in the human tear gland produce tears or fail to do so. Scientists everywhere can use the model to identify new treatment options for patients with tear gland disorders, such as dry eye disease.

Researchers have designed a new bioink which allows small human-sized airways to be 3D-bioprinted with the help of patient cells for the first time. The 3D-printed constructs are biocompatible and support new blood vessel growth into the transplanted material. This is an important first step towards 3D-printing organs.