Taiwanese scientists have developed the world’s first ultra-high-speed four-dimensional microscope in a breakthrough that enables the observation of electric activity in living neurons.
A multidisciplinary group of researchers from National Taiwan University (NTU) and National Tsing Hua University created the technology and published a study on it with a government grant, the team told a news conference at the National Science and Technology Council yesterday.
The device is thousands of times faster than traditional microscopes and uses artificial intelligence (AI) to increase the image resolution by 10 times, study coauthor and NTU physics professor Chu Shi-wei (朱士維) said.
Photo courtesy of the National Science and Technology Council
The technology represents a leap forward in speed, resolution and image range enabling neural signal transmission to be observed with great detail in real time, compared with existing electronic microscopes that can observe only nonliving specimens, he said.
Using the novel microscope, the team monitored the brain activity of mice to discover that neurons governing motor functions were distributed in parallel, he said.
The arrangement implied that neurons can function independently or be combined to create motor movement patterns, similar to graphics processing units in computers, he said.
That means transmitting a similar signal to different neural networks would lead to distinct results in the cellular body, Chu said.
The microscope’s unprecedented capability can potentially be applied to the observation of electric signals in the human brain to benefit researchers working in neurobiology and AI-related fields, he said.
The human brain’s remarkable energy efficiency would be of interest to chipmakers to reduce the power consumption in servers, he said.
NTU professor of pharmacology Pan Ming-kai (潘明楷) said the human brain uses as little as the equivalent of 12 watts of electricity compared with generative AI, which requires up to 2 megawatts.
The microscope could additionally be used in the study of epilepsy, tremors or dementia, he added.
The study was published last month in the journal Advanced Science.
National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday said it disqualified a person from an entrance examination for using AI smart glasses to cheat, along with two others for making untruthful statements in their curriculum vitae. The three applicants were given null scores, Taiwan’s highest-ranked university said, calling on prospective students to be honest in the admissions process. NTU registrar Lee Hung-sen (李宏森) said that the cheating applicant wore a hat and thick-rimmed glasses to the second written exam for medical school, claiming that they felt cold. Suspicions were aroused when the applicant stared oddly at the test for long stretches while steadily bringing the paper
MILITARY ISSUES: A partisan divide between the Cabinet and the legislature ‘raised questions about Taiwan’s ability to adequately fund its defense,’ the report said Taiwan’s defense budget, military personnel numbers and resilience are challenges to its ability to meet national defense goals, the US Naval Institute said in a report published on Tuesday. In response to the perception of a growing military threat posed by China, Taiwan has embarked on an effort to enhance the capabilities needed to deter an attempt by Beijing to annex the nation by force, the institute said in the US Congressional Research Service report, titled Taiwan: Defense and Military Issues, which was filed on Thursday last week. Taiwan’s defense budget increased by about 7.5 percent from 2024 to last year, it
66 FIGHTER JETS: The aircraft is likely undergoing preparations for its transfer to Taiwan — a significant step forward in the nation’s modernization program, a lawmaker said The first of Taiwan’s order of F-16V Block 70 aircraft has been sighted in Texas ahead of delivery, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said. Taiwan’s first F-16V Block 70 two-seat aircraft, tail number 6831, was seen flying from Lockheed Martin’s production facility in Greenville, South Carolina, to Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in Texas, Wang wrote on Facebook yesterday. The plane is likely undergoing preparations for its transfer to Taiwan, marking a significant step forward in the Republic of China Air Force’s modernization program, Wang said, citing military analysts. The F-16V Block 70 is a new-build version
NOT JUST NUMBERS: What matters to intelligence work is crucial, reliable information, so even a few credible leads can be highly valuable to national security, a legislator said The National Security Bureau (NSB) yesterday said it has finished the establishment of an information-reporting channel for Chinese nationals, the aim of which is to broaden intelligence gathering on China’s political, military, economic and social developments. Chinese nationals can submit information on the Web page, https://report.nsb.gov.tw, the NSB said in a statement. The move aims to expand the bureau’s diverse intelligence sources and is pursuant to the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), it said, adding that it referenced practices adopted by intelligence agencies in the US, the UK and Israel. An increasing number of people are approaching Taiwanese agencies to provide information, as
RSS