Hasta La Gadget!

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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Mouse brains were the first to be grown, but when it comes to discovering the inner workings of the human brain, as Juergen Knoblich of the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) in Austria put it: “mouse models don’t cut it.” The institute has managed to grow some adorable-sounding tiny human brain models that include parts of the cortex, hippocampus and retinas through stem cells. The lab-grown tissue will allow researchers to peer into the early stages of human brain development in far higher detail than ever before. Growing the little gray matter samples involved adult cells reprogrammed to behave like embryonic stem cells and giving them a cocktail of vital brain development nutrients.

In under a month, they had grown to between 3 and 4mm across, with several structures that are found in the fully-formed versions. Through imaging techniques, the scientists were even able to pick up neural activity — we’ve added the video after the break. The models are already providing insights and new ideas on brain development. According to the New Scientist, if the researchers were able to adjust their techniques to include stem cells that develop into blood vessels, future models could offer more detailed knowledge on conditions like schizophrenia and autism.

Filed under: Science, Alt

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Source: New Scientist

When people talk about artificial intelligence, it’s tempting to think that it means computers can think (a little) like humans. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it turns out that’s not quite the case.

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It may not have FDA approval, but the noggin-shocking Foc.us headset recently passed through the FCC for certification. The unit utilizes transcranial direct-current simulation on the prefrontal cortex of the brain (forehead), which is claimed to improve short-term memory and cognitive function. Currently pitched as a cranial performance enhancer for gamers, Bluetooth 4.0 low energy connectivity allows it to be controlled via a smartphone app. Snake oil or not, Foc.us is still set to ship this month, and you can relive our weird and tingly experience with it in our hands-on.

Filed under: Gaming, Wearables

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Source: FCC, Foc.us

Customized scarves are nothing new, but artists Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet still came up with something truly novel and different in this category.

They worked with Sebastian Mealla from the Music Technology Group in Barcelona to create something called Neuro Knitting.

The process is described as follows:

Neuro Knitting represents a novel way of personal, generative design and fabrication. An approach that brings together affective computing and digital crafts. And thus, it offers new applications and creative thinking to both areas. It’s basically a process where you, the person who wants a new one-of-a-kind scarf, wears an EEG cap and listens to 10 minutes of classical music. Your brain activity is recorded and transferred into a knitting pattern using a program called Knitic.

A custom scarf is then knitted from this pattern, and voila! You’ve got a truly unique brainwave-patterned scarf that’s yours, in every sense of the word.

But note that if you have something against Bach’s Goldberg Variations, you’ll probably have one chaotic-looking scarf.

[via Gizmodo via Dvice]