Hey batter batter. Consider the following: although a baseball is in the "hitting zone" for only a few milliseconds, it may take more than 10 milliseconds for the brain's neuronal network to process the multitude of signals that tells a batter to swing. So how does Mark McGwire do it?

McGwire knows the right moment to swing because the brain uses "inhibitory coupling," a process in which the activation of one neuron momentarily suppresses the level of activity in other neurons. This creates a more efficient flow of information by separating "signals" from "noise," thus avoiding neuronal traffic jams.

Similarly, engineers use a process called spectral noise-shaping to filter out noise in devices such as digital telephones and CD players. But so far, engineers haven't even come close to the brain's ability to distinguish signals from noise.

Now Center for BioDynamics and ENG department of biomedical engineering researchers Douglas Mar and Professor James Collins are using the inhibitory coupling model, which is based on large networks of interconnected circuits that are similar to neuronal networks in the brain. The process improves the signal-to-noise ratio of electronic devices.

Using the inhibitory coupling theory, the researchers were able to smooth the flow of information and identify and shift unwanted information to a frequency where it could be filtered out.

"The next step," says Mar, "is to use the theoretical results in actual devices."

Mar and Collins worked in collaboration with researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and Analog Devices, Inc. Their research appeared in the August 31 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Net smarts. Internet start-ups are the toast of Wall Street. But these highfliers are nowhere near ready to replace "bricks-and-mortar" stores, which will remain a vibrant part of the economy for years, thanks to "lean retailing," according to a multiyear study by SMG Associate Professor of Finance and Economics David Weil and colleagues at Harvard University.

Weil argues that such cutting-edge lean retailers as Home Depot have a lot to teach the new breed of Internet "e-tailers." Although e-tailers sell virtually, they still must pick, pack, and ship products. Doing that efficiently is a key feature of lean retailing.

Lean retailers utilize the information technologies developed in food stores and pioneered by merchants like Wal-Mart, accumulating up-to-the-minute data when bar-coded items are scanned at the checkout counter. They have also reshaped the way products are ordered, eliminating most delays at distribution centers and sales floors and taking the guesswork out of ordering products.

Additionally, lean retailers have revolutionized delivery systems by using centralized retail distribution facilities equipped with sophisticated information systems.

"Lean retailers deal with fickle consumer tastes and the potential problems of stocking a huge product variety by using early sales as a bellwether of consumer tastes," explains Weil. "They also draw on agile suppliers able to quickly respond to last-minute orders."

"Ironically, many e-tailers have narrowed, not broadened, the selection they offer customers," he continues. "In the end an e-tailer is forced to broaden product offerings, but if he lacks efficient distribution capabilities, he could fall victim to a lean retailing brick-and-mortar competitor."

The lesson for e-tailers? "E-tailing is an extension of lean retailing since it compresses the time lag between consumer purchases and production," says Weil. "But Internet companies unable to grasp the fundamental principles of the lean retail revolution face dim prospects."

Weil and his coauthors' study was just published by the Oxford University Press in the book A Stitch in Time: Lean Retailing and the Transformation of Manufacturing: Lessons from the Apparel and Textile Industries.