UCLA neuroscientists are the first to show that rhythmic waves in the brain called theta oscillations happen more often when someone is navigating an unfamiliar environment, and that the more quickly a person moves, the more theta oscillations take place — presumably to process incoming information faster. (more…)
William Warren’s research group is advancing virtual reality technology in the service of studying the science of the swarm: how patterns of crowd movement emerge from individual behaviors. He described his work June 29 in a keynote address to a conference in Vancouver.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The cognitive scientists in the Virtual Environment Navigation lab at Brown University are not only advancing a frontier of behavioral research but also of technology. (more…)
The theory that pigeons’ famous skill at navigation is down to iron-rich nerve cells in their beaks has been disproved by a new study published in Nature.
The study shows that iron-rich cells in the pigeon beak are in fact specialised white blood cells, called macrophages. This finding, which shatters the established dogma, puts the field back on course as the search for magnetic cells continues. (more…)
With the recent advancements in robotics, automation, navigation, and self-driving vehicles, all spurred on by the DARPA Challenge and the research at Georgia Tech among other programs, it’s no surprise to hear that Google has been working very hard on these same kinds of technology.
Sebastian Thrun, Distinguished Software Engineer at Google, recently announced on their blog that so far Google’s efforts to create a self-driving car have been largely successful, though he made it a point to say that the program was still very much in the experimental stages. (more…)
