Loading video.
Credit: Northwestern University
Northwestern University researchers are building social bonds with beams of light.
For the first time ever, Northwestern engineers and neurobiologists have wirelessly programmed and then deprogrammed mice to socially interact with one another in real time. The advancement is thanks to a first-of-its-kind ultraminiature, wireless, battery-free and fully implantable device that uses light to activate neurons.
This study is the first optogenetics (a method for controlling neurons with light) paper exploring social interactions within groups of animals, which was previously impossible with current technologies.
The research will be published May 10 in the journal
Date Time
Untethering mothers
Laboring mothers have been wearing the same cumbersome, polyester fetal-monitoring belt for decades. Not only can these belts slip out of place, requiring constant adjustment, they – along with the array of other wires taped to the mother for monitoring – tether the mother to the bed, limiting her ability to walk around or move freely in ways that are more comfortable.
Now an interdisciplinary team of researchers led by Northwestern University and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is replacing all the belts and wires with three small, thin, soft, flexible and comfortable wireless sensors.
Share
The link between science and art may not be obvious to some. But for three Northwestern University scientists, the connection between the two is innate.
Beginning this weekend, professors Aaron Packman and Daniel E. Horton and molecular biosciences Ph.D. candidate Luis Schachner will explore this connection at different exhibits around Chicago.
Packman and Horton were among 14 artists and scientists brought together as a part of an art exhibition opening at the Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods, “Third Coast Disrupted: Artists + Scientists on Climate.” The exhibition culminates a yearlong conversation between scientists and artists that centered on impacts and solutions to climate change in the Chicago region.
Northwestern spinoff receives $21.3M from NIH to manufacture COVID-19 test
Highly sensitive PCR test takes 15 minutes, using cereal box-sized device
A user inserts a small cartridge, holding a nasal swab sample, into a DASH system.
A new, highly sensitive, easy-to-use test for COVID-19 that requires a single swab and 15 minutes has received $21.3 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx
SM) initiative.
Developed at Northwestern University’s Center for Innovation in Global Health Technologies (CIGHT), the point-of-care technology is being commercialized by Northwestern spinoff company Minute Molecular Diagnostics, which will use the NIH grant to ramp up production to one million test cartridges per month.
Northwestern Now
Annual award recognizes those who demonstrate excellence in undergraduate education
Five faculty members are being honored with the 2021 University Teaching Awards. The annual honor is given to professors who demonstrate excellence and innovation in undergraduate education.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made this academic year even more challenging. Faculty have had to enhance their courses while developing new ways to teach outside of the classroom.
“These five McCormick Teaching Award honorees are a testament to Northwestern’s commitment to our students, particularly during this period of adaptation in the ways we approach teaching and learning,” said Provost Kathleen Hagerty.