Monday, 4 August 2014

Light may bring sound to the deaf

Researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago have made a new discovery that could lead to better cochlear implants for deaf people. They have found that infrared light can stimulate neurons in the inner ear as precisely as sound waves, reports New Scientist. A healthy inner ear uses hair cells that respond to sound to stimulate neurons that send signals to the brain. However, hair cells can be destroyed by disease or injury, or can contain defects at birth, leading to deafness. In such cases, cochlear implants can directly stimulate neurons.


The hearing provided by implants is good enough to enable deaf children to develop speech skills that are remarkably similar to hearing children's. However, implant users still find it tough to appreciate music, communicate in a noisy environment and understand tonal languages like Mandarin and that's because the implants use only 20 or so electrodes, a small number compared to the 3000-odd hair cells in a healthy ear.

More sources of stimulation should make hearing clearer but more electrodes cannot be packed in because tissue conducts electricity, so signals from different electrodes would interfere. On the contrary, laser light targets nerves more precisely and doesn't spread, which could allow an implant to transmit more information to the neurons.

In order to explore that idea, a research team led by Claus-Peter Richter at Northwestern University in Chicago shone infrared light directly onto the neurons in the inner ear of deaf guinea pigs. At the same time, the researchers recorded electrical activity in the inferior colliculus, a relay between the inner ear and the brain cortex, producing a set of frequency "maps". These maps are a good indication of the quality of sound information sent to the brain.

Richter said that electrical stimulation of the inner ear by a cochlear implant produces blurred maps, but the light stimulation produced maps that were as sharp as those produced by sound in hearing guinea pigs. While it's a mystery how light stimulates the neurons, as they do not contain light-sensitive proteins, Richter hypothesizes the heat that accompanies the light may play a role, and his team is now investigating the long-term effects of heating neurons. The findings were presented at the Medical Bionics conference in Lorne, in the Australian state of Victoria, earlier this week.

Thursday, 21 February 2013

Real Facts



Please read this for your own use!

1) Do not drink APPY FIZZ . It contains cancer causing agent.

2) Don’t eat Mentos before or after drinking Coke or Pepsi coz the Person will die immediately as the mixture becomes cyanide.. Please fwd to whom u care.

3) Don't eat kurkure because it contains high amount of plastic if U don't Believe burn kurkure n u can see plastic melting. Please forward to all!!!!!!!!! News report from Times of India.

4) Avoid these tablets they are very dangerous
* D cold                      * Vicks action- 500               * Actified                    * Coldarin     
* Cosome                   * Nice                                     * Nimulid                   * Cetrizet-D
They contain Phenyl- Propanol -Amide PPA. Which Causes strokes, and these tablets are banned in U.S.

5) Cotton Ear Buds ... (Must read it) Please do not show sympathy to people selling buds on roadside or at Signals. Just wanted to warn you people not to buy those packs of ear buds you get at the roadside. It's made from cotton that has already been usedin hospitals. They take all the dirty, blood and pus filled cotton, wash it, bleach it and use it to make ear buds. So, unless you want to become the first person in the world to get Herpes Zoster Oticus (a viral infection of the inner, middle, and external ear) of the ear and that too from a cotton bud, DON'T BUY THEM! Please forward to all this may be helpful for someone.

6) Don't put your mobile closer to your ears until the recipient answers, Because directly after dialing, the mobile phone would use it's maximum signaling power, which is: 2watts = 33dbi. Please Be Careful. Please use left ear while using cell (mobile), because if you use the right one it may affect brain directly.

Thursday, 2 August 2012

Daily Information

Daily Information (or Daily Info for short) is a printed information sheet in Oxford, England, displayed especially around the University colleges and departments, but also in local businesses. It has been in continuous existence since 28 September 1964, mostly as a brightly coloured A2 sheet. It provides information on Oxford, events and small advertisements.

Daily Information used to be published daily, as its name implies, but now appears on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays during university term-time and weekly on Fridays during the vacation. It was run for 40 years by John Rose, but he died in December 2004. Daily Info now has a regularly updated associated website from which the printed information is drawn. It also provides information via Twitter.

Monday, 22 August 2011

Daily Information


Daily Information (or Daily Info for short) is a printed information sheet in Oxford, England, displayed especially around the University colleges and departments, but also in local businesses. It has been in continuous existence since 28 September 1964, mostly as a brightly coloured A2 sheet. It provides information on Oxford, events and small advertisements.

Daily Information used to be published daily, as its name implies, but now appears on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays during university term-time and weekly on Fridays during the vacation. It was run for 40 years by John Rose, but he died in December 2004. Daily Info now has a regularly updated associated website from which the printed information is drawn.