Brain implants helped create a digital avatar of a stroke survivor’s face
The information: A lady who misplaced her potential to talk after a stroke 18 years in the past was capable of replicate her voice and even convey a restricted vary of facial expressions by way of a pc avatar. A pair of papers revealed in Nature yesterday about experiments that restored speech to ladies by way of mind implants present simply how shortly this area is advancing.
How they did it: Both groups used recording gadgets implanted into the mind to seize the alerts controlling the small actions that present facial expressions. Then they used AI algorithms to decode them into phrases, and a language mannequin to regulate for accuracy. One group, led by Edward Chang, a neurosurgeon on the University of California, San Francisco, even managed to seize feelings.
The caveats: Researchers warning that these outcomes could not maintain for different folks, and both means, we’re nonetheless a really great distance from tech that’s accessible to the broader public. Still, these proofs of idea are vastly thrilling. Read the complete story.
—Cassandra Willyard
How new batteries may assist your EV cost sooner
The information: Chinese battery large CATL has unveiled a brand new fast-charging battery—one which the corporate says can add as much as 400 kilometers (about 250 miles) of vary in 10 minutes. That’s sooner than just about all EV charging immediately, and CATL claims the brand new cells, which it plans to supply commercially by the top of 2023, will “open up an era of EV superfast charging.”
Why it issues: Although EVs are more and more standard, drivers might be held again by worries in regards to the restricted vary of their batteries, and the necessity to cost for upwards of half an hour. Innovation in battery supplies, if matched with progress in charging infrastructure, may assist mimic the comfort of gas-powered vehicles and encourage adoption of EVs. Read the complete story.
—Casey Crownhart