John Hamilton

So researchers at the University of Utah set out to make a bionic hand that could mimic some of those circuits.

The result is a system that uses machine learning to help a person carry out a task.

And Marshall Trout says it worked in a study of four people who tried to use the bionic hand to drink from a cup.

Without the machine assistance, the person just crushed it or dropped it every single time.

But when participants got help from the system's machine learning function, they were able to bring cup to lip without a hitch.

John Hamilton, NPR News.

A natural hand doesn't need much guidance.

Just think about picking up that cup of coffee and subconscious circuits in the brain and spine take care of the details.

So researchers at the University of Utah set out to make a bionic hand that could mimic some of those circuits.

The result is a system that uses machine learning to help a person carry out a task.

And Marshall Trout says it worked in a study of four people who tried to use the bionic hand to drink from a cup.

Without the machine assistance, the person just crushed it or dropped it every single time.

But when participants got help from the system's machine learning function, they were able to bring cup to lip without a hitch.

John Hamilton, NPR News.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge in the UK studied the brains of more than 3,800 people from newly born to age 90.

The team used MRI to see how the brain's wiring changed over that span.

and they identified four time points when the brain reconfigures.

At about age 9, the brain ends its childhood phase, which prunes away unneeded connections between neurons.

It also begins an adolescent phase of optimizing the connections that remain.

At 32, the brain enters a long period of stability.