Aerial Drones Get Schooled in Navigation by Moths

BU researchers observed how moths navigate forests to improve control programs for autonomous aerial drones By Kerry Benson Originally featured on The Brink A rather unusual situation recently unfolded inside a laboratory—moths playing a “video game,” flitting their wings as they navigated through a virtual forest displayed on a projector screen. Each of the moths’ […]

Speeding Up MRI Scans to Save Lives

BU researchers design an “intelligent” magnetic metamaterial that could make MRI more affordable and accessible By Art Jahnke | Via The Brink Boston University researchers have developed a new, “intelligent” metamaterial—which costs less than 10 bucks to build—that could revolutionize magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), making the entire MRI process faster, safer, and more accessible to […]

Wong Builds Catalog of Tools for Genetic Research

The key, new element in this work is that these recombinases are inducible—their functions can be turned on and off. A recombinase is an enzyme that can recognize a specific DNA sequence and then perform a specific function at that site such as cutting out a gene from the DNA.

A Picture-Perfect Look at How Electrical Activity Travels through the Brain

Brain cells function using rapid electrical impulses, a process that underlies our thoughts, behavior, and perception of the world. Yet, for a long time, it’s been challenging for scientists to see exactly how individual neurons work together in larger circuits.

Now, a new technique reported in Nature finally gives the clearest picture ever of brain cell activity. Using a voltage-sensing molecule that fluorescently lights up when brain cells are electrically active, researchers at Boston University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have shown that they can see the activity of many more individual neurons than before as they fire inside the brains of mice.