Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
BrainEx Restores Some Activity To Severed Pig Head
Researchers have succeeded in returning a bit of brain function to dead pig brains.
[neuroscientist Nenad Sestan of Yale University] and his team developed a system called BrainEx - meaning brain ex vivo - consisting of three parts.
The first part is a synthetic solution designed to be pumped through the brain in a manner similar to the heart - perfusion - at body temperatures around 37 degrees Celsius.
The second part is the perfusion device itself, which pumps the solution and mimics the supporting organs. The final part is the surgical technique that allows the brain to be isolated.
The team then obtained 32 pig brains from a food processing facility, meaning no animals had to be killed for the research, and applied the BrainEx technology four hours after death, to model the effects of prolonged brain injury.
The brains were perfused for six hours. At this point, the team was able to observe a clear difference between the BrainEx brains and the control brains, which either weren't treated, or were perfused with a control solution.
"We found that tissue and cellular structure is preserved, and that cell death is reduced," Sestan said.
"In addition, some molecular and cellular functions were restored, including glial and vascular response to stimuli, as well as spontaneous synaptic activity along with active global metabolism."
(Via Science Alert.)
Fans of Golden Age great Edmond Hamilton know that in 1929 he described a scheme that allowed brains to be harvested and preserved - with full function!
Of course you know that the human brain is fed from the bloodstream of the human body. To replace this, they placed the brain in a special solution, having all the properties of Nursing the brain cells. This solution is usually renewed once a week, so it is always fresh, and therefore the brain never really ages.
However, multiple observations from our lab and others have questioned the notion that widespread cell death is unavoidable minutes or even hours after blood flow stops. For example, live cells can be harvested from postmortem brains and cultured in a dish. This indicates itself that the postmortem brain may have the capacity to be revived.
From the living body of one of their number he removed the living brain, as their consummate art in Super-surgery enabled him to do. This living brain was then placed within a specially-prepared brain chamber of a metal body, inside its cubicle head.
(Read more about Brain Placed In Metal Body)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 4/7/2019)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Medical ")
MIT Computerized Bionic Leg Is Part Of The User
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain, through the mediation of the electronic brain in the leg.' - Charles Recour, 1949.
Bone-Building Drug Evenity Approved
'Compounds devised by the biochemists for the rapid building of bone...' - Edmond Hamilton, 1932.
BrainBridge Concept Transplant Of Human Head Proposed
'Briquet’s head seemed to think that to find and attach a new body to her head was as easy as to fit and sew a new dress.' - Alexander Belaev (1925)
Natural Gait With Prosthetic Connected To Nervous System
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain...' - Charles Recour, 1949.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
FTC: Says Ring Employees Illegally Surveilled Customers
'Then she looked up with a smile and moved closer to the camera.'
Switzerland May Cap Population At Ten Million
'The population of Castle Hagedorn was fixed...'
Project Silica Offers 'Long-Term' Digital Storage
'... folios and tapes and playable discs of platinum alloy.'
Can 'Tactical Umbrellas' Shield One From Drones
'... another corner of his mind began to think about the shields.'
Crystalline Structures In Space, You Say?
A massive space borne lifeform from ST:TNG.
Garçon! A Menu For Artemis II, S'il Vous Plaît
'Michel Ardan, as a Frenchman, was declared chief cook, an important function, which raised no rival.'
Amazing Photonic Crystal Light Sail
'That sail will be twenty thousand miles at the wide part.'
Blue Collar AI Goes To Work To Mine Its Own Crypto
Blue collar bot.
Rogue AI Replicated Itself
'Sapiro’s computer just kept dialing at random, hanging up on humans, until it got a fellow computer of the same type as itself.'
HandelBot Helps Two-Handed Robots Learn Piano
'I request that you feed the correlation between those dots and the levers of the panel into my memory banks.'
Woven Fiber Electronic Skin For Robots
'... all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
When AI Takes Its First Breath
Any suggestions?
Chinese Aircar Light And Airy, Not For Blade Runners
Daytime version.
The Morphing Wheel And The Smartwheel
'If you surf over a bump, the spokes contract to roll over it.'
Transporting Antimatter
'...drawing plans for the magnetic tongs and bed plates and relays.'
Polish Turns Your Nail Into A Stylus
'He wrote on it, using the pointed fingernail of his right forefinger...'
