Applying high-frequency electrical noise to the brain can boost maths skills up to six months later, say Oxford University researchers. (BBC)

Google and NASA are forming a laboratory to study artificial intelligence by means of computers that use the unusual properties of quantum physics. Their quantum computer, which performs complex calculations thousands of times faster than existing supercomputers, is expected to be in active use in the third quarter of this year. (New York Times)

Fertility specialists have developed a radical technique that can boost the chances of IVF couples having a healthy baby. Doctors in Nottingham who devised the procedure say it could raise live birthrates at their clinic to 78%, around three times the national average for IVF treatment in the UK. (The Guardian)

Researchers have developed a novel nanoparticle DNA hybridization device which can identify different species of bacteria in less than 2.5 hours. (Forbes)

The new innovation includes a nano biotechnology hemostatic mesh, which creates a mechanical barrier stopping blood flow in wounds and integrates both physical and chemical protection, and antibacterial properties. (The Wall Street Journal)

A team of Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists have discovered a protein that circulates in blood that can turn old hearts young, causing a mouse’s heart that has thickened and enlarged with age to revert back to a more youthful state. (Boston.com)

A new, free iPad application developed at UCLA helps women navigate through the sometimes confusing process of selecting a birth control method without sacrificing quality of information. The app is appealing to look at, easy to use, and highlights the most effective types of birth control, while also revealing any potential side effects, risks and warning signs. (Medical Xpress)

The idea of superintelligent machines may sound like the plot of “The Terminator” or “The Matrix,” but many experts say the idea isn’t far-fetched. Some even think the singularity — the point at which artificial intelligence can match, and then overtake, human smarts — might happen in just 16 years. (Discovery News)

Scientists say they have found a way to restore hair colour with a drug. (BBC)

Vehicles, robots and other autonomous devices could soon collaborate with humans in this way, thanks to researchers at MIT who are developing systems capable of negotiating with people to determine the best way to achieve their goals. (Phys.org)

Devon Carrow spends his days like many other second grade students: He goes to school, says hello to friends in the hallway and practices his multiplication tables. But to do this safely, Devon cannot be in the classroom. (ABC News)

A breakthrough bionic ear that can ‘hear’ radio frequencies beyond the range of normal human ears has been created by scientists at Princeton University. The researchers used a radical 3D printing technique to create the ear with the electronics of a hearing aid inside it. (Daily Mail)

A brain implant may be able to predict epilepsy seizures by picking up the early warning signs, a small study suggests. (BBC)

Scientists have made a step forward in their ability to mimic the sense of touch. (BBC)

Google has always been an artificial intelligence company, so it really shouldn’t have been a surprise that Ray Kurzweil, one of the leading scientists in the field, joined the search giant late last year. Nonetheless, the hiring raised some eyebrows, since Kurzweil is perhaps the most prominent proselytizer of “hard AI,” which argues that it is possible to create consciousness in an artificial being. (Wired)

We’re in the midst of a bionic revolution, yet most of us don’t know it. (CNN)

How do you make an electronic brain prosthesis that could restore a person’s ability to form long-term memories? Recent experiments by Theodore Berger and his colleagues, including Sam Deadwyler at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and researchers at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, have begun to describe how it might be done. (MIT Technology Review)

Cancer patients may soon have their course of treatment chosen by a computer rather than a doctor after scientists devised mathematical formulas that are better than humans at predicting how sufferers will respond to chemotherapy. (The Telegraph)

Despite the advances made against many types of cancer, pancreatic cancer remains grimly resistant to treatment. Only about 4% of patients survive for 5 years, mainly because of the disease’s vicious ability to metastasize, or spread to other parts of the body. Now, a group of researchers has hit upon a novel way to halt its spread: delivering radiation directly to the cancer cells using genetically modified bacteria. (Wired)

Computer chips and silicon micromachines are ready for your body.  It’s time to decide how you’ll take them: implantable, ingestible, or intimate contact.  Every flavor now exists.  Some have FDA approval and some are seeking it.  Others are moving quickly out of the research lab stage. (Forbes)

U.S. scientists built functional replacement kidneys — artificial kidneys — on the structure of donor rat organs from which living cells were stripped. (UPI)