All posts tagged: cord

Europe’s breakthrough in reversing paralysis after spinal cord injury

Europe’s breakthrough in reversing paralysis after spinal cord injury

Published by skeptic

Once considered impossible, restoring movement after paralysis is becoming a reality thanks to EU-funded researchers who have developed a device that reconnects the brain to the body. Spinal cord injury (SCI) remains one of the most devastating neurological conditions, severing communication between the brain and the body and leaving millions worldwide with permanent paralysis. Despite decades of research, restoring movement after spinal cord injury has remained one of neuroscience’s most intractable problems. An EU-funded initiative supported by the European Innovation Council offers a new route: a fully implantable brain–spine interface that reconnects mind and body, offering fresh hope against paralysis. “Treating patients with paralysis remains one of the greatest challenges of humanity,” said Professor Grégoire Courtine, the neuroscientist at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland, who led the breakthrough research. He said researchers have tried for decades – and failed – to regrow neurons and fibres with biological approaches. “We have completely changed the approach. Instead of trying to repair the actual injury, we are focusing on what is intact below the injury, but …

Free streaming apps that replace YouTube TV for cord cutting in 2026

Free streaming apps that replace YouTube TV for cord cutting in 2026

Published by skeptic

YouTube TV offered a lot, including a clean interface, a solid channel lineup, and unlimited DVR storage for $82.99 a month. But as costs rose, I realized I needed to seriously weigh whether what I got was worth it. I was paying nearly $1,000 a year for a service I used mainly for background noise, some live sports, and network TV shows available elsewhere. So I canceled it. That was four months ago, and I haven’t looked back. Here are the three free apps I use now — and how they stack up against what I gave up. Related I replaced my entire streaming setup with a $30 device and free apps Embracing a simpler streaming setup can save you money and reduce subscription fatigue without sacrificing high-quality entertainment. YouTube TV kept getting more expensive — and I kept watching less of it The subscription audit that changed my mind The price was the main reason, but I also kept watching the same few channels, most of which were available for free with some effort. …

Don’t plug these 7 common household gadgets into an extension cord – according to an electrician

Don’t plug these 7 common household gadgets into an extension cord – according to an electrician

Published by skeptic

Nina Raemont/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Heavy-duty appliances overload cords, leading to dangerous overheating and fire risks. Appliances over 1,800 watts need a dedicated wall outlet for safety. Daisy-chaining extension cords is a major fire hazard and should be avoided. While extension cords are a standard fix for reaching distant wall outlets, they aren’t a universal solution for everything that plugs in. There is a critical distinction between low-power “electronics” and high-draw “appliances.” Although items like refrigerators and toaster ovens are technically electronic, they operate on a different level in terms of amperage requirements. Because these appliances pull significantly more power to function, standard extension cords can quickly become a safety hazard rather than a simple convenience. Why you shouldn’t plug everything into an extension cord Extension cords are manufactured with a maximum current-carrying capacity, determined by the wire gauge used in the cord. For instance, a 16-gauge extension cord can handle up to 13 amps, while a 14-gauge cord can handle up to 15 amps (or 1,800 …

Electrical stimulation can restore ability to move limbs after spinal cord injury

Electrical stimulation can restore ability to move limbs after spinal cord injury

Published by Jenni Sidey

One participant pointed to her chest. That, she explained, is where she felt her foot hit the treadmill. Not the foot itself, not the ground beneath it, but a sensation somewhere above the injury that her brain had learned to translate into something useful. “It wasn’t like I could feel my foot hit the treadmill or anything like that,” she said, “but it was close.” Close is a word that carries real weight in spinal cord injury research. For people who have lost all sensation and movement below the waist, close to normal is not a consolation. It is a clinical milestone. A team from Brown University, Rhode Island Hospital, and VA Providence Healthcare has now reported results from a small but significant clinical trial, the first to demonstrate simultaneous motor control and sensory feedback in people with complete spinal cord injuries. The findings were published in Nature Biomedical Engineering. David Borton (left), an asociate professor of engineering and brain science at Brown, and Jonathan Calvert (right), an assistant professor at UC Davis who led …

‘The Cord’ CPH:DOX Doc Film on Maternity Warrior, Solidarity Interview

‘The Cord’ CPH:DOX Doc Film on Maternity Warrior, Solidarity Interview

Published by Daniella Wilson

In the new documentary feature The Cord (Le cordon), French journalist-turned-filmmaker Nolwenn Hervé takes us to Venezuela and inside its “broken health system where life hangs by a thread,” a description of the doc highlights. “Carolina rises as a maternity warrior. Drawing strength from her past, she relentlessly preserves the vital cord between pregnant women and their babies.” After all, “giving birth has become a life-threatening act” for the underprivileged in the country, the press notes for the film explain. Carolina fights this crisis with seemingly endless energy and the resilience network she has created in her neighborhood, “leading women in the fight for bodily autonomy and safe birthing conditions.” Her vision is to create a space where ancestral practices and Western medicine come together in a community-led model of care and a “place where women reclaim autonomy over their bodies, their births, and their futures.” The Cord world premieres on Saturday, March 14, in the main competition of CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, which runs through March 22. Hervé served as director and cinematographer, …

This 3-in-1 multi-charger erases desktop cord clutter – and looks great while doing it

This 3-in-1 multi-charger erases desktop cord clutter – and looks great while doing it

Published by skeptic

Kayla Solino/ZDNET Wireless charging has come a long way, but cord clutter is still an inevitability, especially in high-traffic charging areas like a bedside table or a work-from-home setup. Thankfully, there are tons of options on the market to cut cords and let you truly maximize the wireless capabilities of gear like smartphones, smartwatches, and earbuds. And if you’re an Apple user like me, you may be in need of a multi-charger that perfectly powers Apple’s mobile trifecta: your iPhone, your Apple Watch, and your AirPods.  Also: The three cheap gadgets ZDNET readers are buying nonstop (No. 1 is weird) That’s where Lululook’s Ultra-Rise Qi2 charger comes in. Like many stand chargers on the market, it has a raised, mobile MagSafe charger for an iPhone, an Apple Watch charger built in behind where a phone would rest, and, at the base, a wireless charger for AirPods. It’s a fairly common setup, and it’s certainly not innovative in terms of function.  But it is one of the nicest multichargers I’ve laid eyes on (and trust me, …

Noninvasive brain scanning could restore movement after spinal cord injury

Noninvasive brain scanning could restore movement after spinal cord injury

Published by Jenni Sidey

An individual may become completely paralyzed because of any number of accidents that interfere with the functioning of the nerves in their body. People who have lost the ability to walk due to spinal cord injuries often continue to feel movement in their legs and arms, and the brain sends movement signals to their limbs. However, the spinal cord prevents the brain’s signals from reaching the legs and arms. Scientists in Italy and Switzerland are working together to figure out if they can read brain signals, like those from electroencephalography (EEG), that happen in the brain when we perform an action, and then send the read signals to a spinal cord stimulator to help restore mobility. The research has been compiled and published in APL Bioengineering. Many universities in Europe contributed to this research, but it was coordinated by Laura Toni from Università Vita Salute San Raffaele and her team. The researchers at the various European universities have created a way to use EEG technology to read brain signal patterns and help restore voluntary movement …

Silent spinal cord cells may hold the key to healing after devastating injuries and brain disease

Silent spinal cord cells may hold the key to healing after devastating injuries and brain disease

Published by Jenni Sidey

Silent cells deep in your spinal cord may hold a surprising key to healing after devastating injuries and brain disease. A new study from Cedars-Sinai, reveals that support cells called astrocytes do far more than watch from the sidelines. They help coordinate cleanup and repair across long stretches of the central nervous system, and they do it from far away. Rethinking the Role of Astrocytes Astrocytes sit throughout your brain and spinal cord, wrapping around nerve fibers and blood vessels. They help keep neurons healthy, balance chemicals and support the flow of electrical signals that let you move, feel and think. After an injury, scientists have mostly focused on astrocytes right at the damage site. Those local cells form a scar and shield nearby tissue. Joshua Burda, PhD, a neuroscientist at Cedars-Sinai, and his team took a different view. Spatiotemporal molecular decoding of SCI LRAs. (CREDIT: Nature) “We discovered that astrocytes far from the site of an injury actually help drive spinal cord repair,” said Burda, assistant professor of Biomedical Sciences and Neurology and senior …

New platform aims to transform the study of spinal cord biology

New platform aims to transform the study of spinal cord biology

Published by skeptic

A newly developed platform aims to create a high-fidelity 4D model of the human spinal cord using advanced bioprinting techniques and patient-derived cells. Developed with funding from the ERC Consolidator Grant, the SPINECRAFT platform will create a cutting-edge, 4D human spinal cord construct that mirrors the architecture and functionality of the real spinal cord. This ambitious approach represents a paradigm shift in central nervous system (CNS) research. SPINECRAFT will set new standards in tissue engineering and open doors to breakthroughs in neurodegenerative disease modelling and regenerative therapies –pushing the boundaries of what is possible in neuroscience. “We finally have the tools to ask questions that were previously inaccessible – and move closer to real treatments for patients,” stated Zaida Álvarez Pinto, Principal Investigator at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), who was awarded the ERC Grant. Limitations of current central nervous system models Current laboratory models of the CNS struggle to replicate its extraordinary complexity, limiting progress in understanding neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. Traditional 2D cultures, 3D organoids and animal models fall short of …