OCR Text |
Show MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013 Science & Tech WWW.WSUSIGNPOST.COM WSU bookstore features 3-D printing technology igJi^l^ SOURCE: BEN TAYLOR The MakerBot 3-D printer at Weber State University's Ogden campus bookstore prints the base of a Statue of Liberty figure. BY LIZ RUTTENBUR s&t editor | The Signpost Three-dimensional printers are still a relatively new technology, but they are also a fast- developing technology that seem limitless as to what they can create. Weber State University students can see this new technology on display and in action down in the campus bookstore. The bookstore features products by MakerBot Industries, which was founded in 2009 by Bre Pettis, Adam Mayer and Zach Smith in Brooklyn, N.Y. In 2010, MakerBot acquired 3d World- Wide, one of the early innovators of 3-D printing, and merged their two teams. MakerBot continues to grow in popularity worldwide for the quality of its printers. "We're all tech nerds here, truthfully, and it is our job not to just sell technology, but to discover the different uses of technology that departments could have," said Terry Tolman, who works at the campus bookstore. The bookstore has printed various items in 3-D, including a bust of Yoda and a replica of the Tardis from "Doctor Who." Although the 3-D printer showcased at the bookstore is a lower- end model, Tolman said the store should be getting a different model from MakerBot soon, which "has the ability to print two colors and some other features." The current 3-D printer is limited to one color, and is also limited in what it can print. "What you can print is limited to its ability to print things that aren't necessarily out and away from the main body of whatever you are printing," Tolman said. In other words, it does not have the ability to print things that stand away from the main body of the object being printed. "We try to print things like figures, but if the figure had an arm extended, it wouldn't be able to print the arm because it would just fall as it was printing it," See 3-D PRINTER page 8 U of U debunks right/ left brain theory BYCAITLYNNKINDALL s&t reporter | The Signpost Most people have likely heard of being right-brained or left- brained. Those who are right-brained are supposedly more creative, spontaneous and subjective, while those who are left-brained are more logical, detail-oriented and analytic. This theory has been taught in textbooks for years, but new research from University of Utah neuroscientists suggests there is no evidence of some people being right- or left-brained. Culture for years has led to the assumption that people use their right or left brain more than the other, which defines their personalities. However, this two- year study has identified specific networks in the left and right brain that process lateralized functions. Lateralization of brain function means certain mental processes are mainly specialized to the brain's left or right hemispheres. "It's kind of crazy to hear that this is no longer thought to be true," said Weber State University psychology major Hannah Eaton. "It's what I've been taught for so long. I remember taking quizzes in school about whether we were right- or left-brained. However, it does kind of make sense, because I always ended up being half right-brained and half left-brained." The study consisted of researchers evaluating resting brain scans of 1,011 people between the ages of 7 and 29. They studied functional lateralization of the brain by studying thousands of brain regions. They found there is no relationship to people having a preference for using their right or left brain network more often than the other. The brain scans for those studied came from the International See BRAIN page 8 GRAPHIC BY BRETT FERRIN | THE SIGNPOST SCIENCE WEEKLY First bionic implant being developed to fight mental illness Scientists at the University of Wollongong in Australia have developed an innovative brain implant to help treat people who suffer from mental illnesses. Professor Xu-Feng Huang is leading researchers at the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute at the university on the $676,000 project that is expected to last three years. The device will work similarly to the cochlear implant (a surgically implanted device that provides a sense of sound to someone who is deaf or severely hard of hearing). Electrodes will be implanted into the frontal area of the brain, which will electrically stimulate and provide growth factors to help improve brain function in patients suffering from illnesses such as schizophrenia. Schizophrenia affects nearly 1 percent of the world's population. Structural anomalies in the brain that stop neurons from communicating normally are the causes of schizophrenia. Genetics and environmental factors may also play a role in these anoma lies. The approximate total of health care-related costs in association with schizophrenia in the United States alone is $22 billion. Society largely relies on antipsychotics to treat schizophrenia, but they sometimes have debilitating side effects, and they can't address its effects on cognitive functions and communication. The hope is to use the device to help patients function in ways medication cannot help them. Information compiled from Sciencedaily.com. Sci-Fi Heroine How supervillains are made If I lived in a world that made it possible, I would be a supervillain or, at the very least, an antihero. There, I admitted it to all of Weber State University that, if push came to shove, I would probably be a villain in some kind of story. Now, before you all get all judgey about my personality flaws, let me explain. Very rarely do we actually stop and think that, one day, the science and technology that is used to put the world in peril in our favorite stories may actually be developed. There could never, ever be Skynet utilized by our military that could bring the robotic apocalypse. There's never going to be a genetic advancement of humans that could lead to mutant- vs.-human wars, but I promise you, there are technological advances today that society, even 50 years ago, couldn't fathom existing. Harvard University has come out with some pretty interesting technology recently. It raises the question for me of whether LIZ RUTTENBUR 0 The Signpost columnist or not a line has been crossed in the morally and ethically blurry lines of science. Mind control is something straight out of science fiction. It seemed something that could never be anything but just that: fiction. However, Harvard University has developed a noninvasive brain-to-brain interface. I love their constant use of the word "non-invasive." This is their fancy word for not scaring the bejeezus out of us. Quite simply, Harvard has created a device that can control the actions and movements of another living entity. Harvard published its findings in the "PLOS ONE" journal earlier this year. Scientists used a transcranial-focused ultrasound to modulate the neural activity in specific parts of the brains as a computer-to-brain See VILLAINS page 8 |