MASSDEVICE ON CALL — IBM unveiled a new SyNAPSE microprocessor that it says is the closest a machine has come to replicating the way human brain works.
In attempts at "reverse engineering the brain," the team is working on recreating things like emotion, perception, sensation and cognition, according to IBM’s project leader Dharmendra Modha.
The system uses two "neurosynaptic computing chips," one with more than 262,000 programmable synapses and the other with nearly 66,000 learning synapses, the BBC reported.
While it can’t physically rewire itself the way human neurons can, the processor can selectively attend to certain connections over others, giving it the potential to learn.
Baxter fires lawyer for trying to pay off a witness
Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) fired a lawyer in Mexico for offering to pay an opposing expert in a lawsuit to leave the country on a vital date to undermine the case, an exchange that was caught on tape, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Stryker strikes a deal with Orthosensor
Stryker Corp. (NYSE:SYK) joined with Orthosensor Inc. to develop an "intelligent’ surgical platform for total knee arthroplasty, according to a press release.
Most drug ads don’t meet FDA guidelines
Of 192 drug ads studied, only 18 percent were found compliant with FDA guidelines, with more than half failing to outline serious risks including death, according to research published in the journal Public Library of Science One.
Can doctors avoid lawsuits?
Being a physician in a high-risk specialty goes hand-in-hand with malpractice suits, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The odds of having a claim filed were 99 percent for docs in high-risk specialties and 75 percent for those in low-risk specialties, the Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog reported.