Category Archives: Technology

Bitcoin gets a big upgrade, We test a new premium air purifier from Dyson, Apple announces self-service repair program, Great deals on Sony PlayStation Black Friday Sale, Activision Blizzard employees demand Bobby Kotick's resignation and YouTube co-founder speaks out against the removal of dislikes

November 20, 2021 / 11:09 AM IST

Bitcoin, the worlds most popular cryptocurrency, has got its long-awaited upgrade, with a focus on improving the network's privacy and security. Taproot, which went live on November 14, uses an enhanced form of signatures for transactions called Schnorr. The new signatures make complicated, multi-signature transactions appear like any other transaction. This makes it difficult for snoopers or would-be hackers to trace larger transactions or unusual ones.

If you want something that looks premium and performs exceptionally well, then you can certainly consider the Dyson Purifier Cool. Those who live in regions with a lower temperature can also opt for the Dyson Purifier Hot + Cool which throws warmer, filtered air through the slits. Check out the review here.

Apple has announced a self-service repair program on November 17 that will allow consumers to repair their iPhone, Mac computers on their own. The initial phase will include parts and components for iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 models. Apple has confirmed that the Mac machines powered by its M1 chips will be eligible under the self-repair program at a later stage. The program comes after years of pressure from consumer groups, which has resulted in Apple providing greater access to repair manuals and genuine parts.

The Sony PlayStation Black Friday sale has officially kicked off, bringing big discounts to several original and third-party titles. Sonys PlayStation Black Friday sale will end on November 29, so if you are looking to add new games to your PlayStation collection, theres no better time than the present.

More than 100 Activision Blizzards employees staged physical and virtual walkouts from their homes and Blizzard officeswhen new allegations claimed that CEO Bobby Kotick knew about employee misconduct, including alleged rape and sexual harassment. Hundreds of Activision Blizzard employees and contract workers signed out of work on November 16 calling for Koticks resignation.

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The Tech Weekender: Top news from the world of technology this week - Moneycontrol.com

The 'first to human' transcatheter aortic valve replacement procedures for all five patients were successful andproceededwithout any complications.

Anteris Technologies Ltd (ASX:AVR, OTC:AMEUF) hassuccessfully implantedits synthetic heart valves infivetranscatheter aortic valve replacementpatients.

The operations occurred in November, at the Tbilisi Heart and Vascular Clinic in Tbilisi, Georgia,in what the company describes as afirst-in-human (FIH) study to assess the DurAVR THV system for treating severe aortic stenosis.

The transcatheter aortic valve replacement procedures for all five patients were successful andproceededwithout any complications.

Anteriss chief medical officerDr Chris Meduriand Medical Advisory Board members, Dr PaulSorajjaand Dr Vinayak Bapat, conducted the procedureswhile Dr Nadira Hamid, of Columbia University, New York, performed the echocardiograms. Medical support was provided by the local team under the supervision of Dr TamazShaburishvili.

We are grateful for the patients who consented to being a part of the study as well as the physicians who performed the implants," AVR CEO Wayne Paterson said.

"TheAnteristeam hasdone a phenomenal job to date to move this technology into the clinical setting in such a short timeframe.

The study was designed to assessa number ofperformance endpoints, including the correct positioning of the valve and the haemodynamicperformance of the valve.

Safety endpoints, to be checked at 30 days and one year post-operatively, include all-cause mortality, heart attack, stroke or disabilityand life-threatening bleeding.

Other endpointsof the trialincludeease of useof the valve andadverse events according to VARC-3 criteria.

Following the success of these first human implants, an additional five patients are planned for treatment in the first quarter of 2022.

This will successfully conclude the study.

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Anteris Technologies successfully implants five heart patients with valve technology - Proactive Investors USA & Canada

The ABCs Chief Digital and Information Officer Helen Clifton has been named one of Australias top three technology leaders by CIO Australia as part of their annual CIO50 awards.

Some of the countrys sharpest minds from organisations such as Revenue NSW, Seven West Media, the Victorian Department of Health, Lendlease, TPG Telecom and the Red Cross came together to celebrate the achievements of the top 50 senior tech and digital executives driving technology-led innovations, building cultures, and influencing their peers and leadership teams

Helen was recognised for her role in driving the ABCs transition from a traditional broadcaster to the nations most highly trusted, valued and leading digital content provider. In a panel discussion with the other two winners, Helen said it demonstrated just how far the ABC has come in its almost 90-year history.

This is well deserved recognition for the innovation thats driving the ABC and how its become a leading force in the digital space in Australia. Indeed, we now have 18 million active users each week enjoying a huge range of digital experiences. Its also recognition of the breadth of our distinctive, high-quality content, which gives the ABC its unique place in the lives of Australians our audiences can watch, listen, read and interact with us whenever and wherever it suits them.

ABC Managing Director David Anderson congratulated Helen and thanked her for her leadership in the technology area.

Helen is driving critically important work at the ABC as we continue the transition to digital broadcasting. To see her recognised in this way for her knowledge, leadership and vision is also a strong reflection on the ABCs technology teams and the work they do.

The top 50 Australian technology leaders were unveiled during a celebration ceremony last Thursday evening hosted at Ngalaway Terrace in Sydneys Taronga Zoo, where more than 100 technology and c-level executives attended from across the country.

#ABC #CIO50 #technology #digital

Media contact

Stephen Townsend, ABC Communictions

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Helen Clifton named top three technology leader - About the ABC

Healthcare technology company Clanwilliam Group saw operating profits rise in 2020, but revenue remain flat as the business felt the impact of the pandemic. Clanwilliam also narrowed its pretax losses during the year as exceptional expenses fell significantly.

The companys annual report showed operating profit increased to 14 million from 11 million in 2019 as the group concentrated on corporate structuring and integration work to consolidate the group. Revenue was flat compared to pre-pandemic turnover in 2019, with the group recording 80 million for the year. The bulk of this came from its European business.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were 27 million, up from 24 million in 2019, while losses before tax were 2.3 million, compared with almost 3.9 million in 2019.

Cash at the end of last year was 18.2 million, and Clanwilliam invested 1.05 million in research and development, down from 1.29 million the previous year.

The Irish-headquartered company offers technology and services to a global customer base. It started out developing and supplying practice-management software to Irish GPs and consultants, and now provides a range of electronic health technology, including software to nursing homes to manage aged care and medications, software to manage theatres and outpatient departments, speech recognition for clinical correspondence, GP management software and virtual clinics technology that has seen an increase in use during the pandemic.

However, other areas of the business were adversely affected by the Covid-19 restrictions, particularly those involved in outpatient and secondary care primarily in the UK because of reduced elective outpatient activity.

Chief executive Howard Beggs said the practical effects of national lockdowns and the resultant commercial impact on Clanwilliam businesses were most acutely felt in the UK market...

The company completed the acquisition of Cork-headquartered software business iMedDoc in February 2020, one of five acquisitions it has completed globally since 2018.

The group has customers in more than 20 countries, employing more than 1,100 people across three continents. Looking ahead, the group said it would concentrate on further growth in its core markets of Ireland, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, where it also has key centres of excellence.

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Healthcare technology company Clanwilliam saw operating profits rise in 2020 - The Irish Times

BEIJING, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / November 19, 2021 / (China Economic Net) -- The closing ceremony of the 3rd World Science and Technology Development Forum which focused on the theme of "Openness, Trust and Cooperation" was held in Beijing on November 7. In the Forum, 260 Chinese and foreign science and technology communities including the China Association for Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Engineering, and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization launched an initiative to join hands and work together to genuinely improve science and technology for the benefit of mankind. They sought to promote technology for the needs, desires, and use of people of the world for sustainable development of human civilization.

To watch the video, please visit https://youtu.be/G92vZhHg4Os

According to the statement of the Initiative that consolidated the consensus of the 260 science and technology communities, science and technology are the results of human wisdom. The current wave of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation has accelerated changes as science and technology open up new paths for responding to and addressing global development challenges such as major infectious diseases, climate change, and sustainable development. The Initiative mainly focuses on five aspects:

- Pursue excellence and uphold innovation. Uphold the scientific spirit for the pursuit of truth, use rigorous and meticulous scientific methods, accept the mission of finding the truth and discovering new knowledge, explore the frontiers of science and technology, and advance science and technology. Establish the value of excellence in science and technology, create an academic atmosphere of freedom and equality that respects innovation, encourages innovation, and tolerates failure.

- Openness, inclusiveness, and shared mutual benefits. Promote the open science movement to build an open science culture, promote the concept of open science, and establish open science institutions and systems. Attract active participation from all disciplines, so that scientific data, knowledge, equipment, and results can be more widely accessible and more reliably used. Maintain the legal boundaries of open science, establish a balanced and appropriate openness principle, and protect personal privacy, data security, and intellectual property rights.

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- Consultation, collaboration, equality and mutual trust Respect the research results and prioritized rights of others, evaluate the research results of others in an objective and fair manner, respect the rights of others to raise reasonable challenges, and publish our research data and research results for the scientific and technology community. Follow the principles of crossing national borders, accessibility, and non-discrimination, and trust and respect the abilities, contributions, and values of partners.

- Exchange ideas and create partnerships. Establish diverse and collaborative cross-border exchange mechanisms, break down barriers to cooperation in innovation, create an open international innovation network, pool the collective wisdom of scientists from different countries, and respond to the common challenges to human society. Understand and respond to the needs for cooperation between different entities, seek common ground for cooperation and exchange, and jointly promote international cooperation and exchange of ideas in science and technology.

- Fulfill our responsibilities and missions. Defend academic freedom, abide by the rules of scientific logic and ethics, uphold the values of science and technology, take a far-sighted view of the conflicts of rules, social risks, and ethical challenges brought about by scientific and technological development, and have the awareness of avoiding the negative effects of science and technology. Use different methods and channels to participate in popular science activities, spread scientific ideas, spread scientific knowledge, respect the people's right to participate in science and technology, and promote public awareness and support of science and technology. Actively participate in the discussions of policy issues of relevant government institutions, and provide comprehensive, accurate, objective, and realistic opinions and recommendations for decisions regarding science and technology.

In the closing ceremony of the Forum, representatives of Chinese and foreign experts and scholars focused on "Trust: the Foundation of Inclusive Development and Governance" and "Cooperation: the Way of Meeting Challenges". Their reports were respectively, "Emerging Science and Technology and the Ethics", "International Science Cooperation for Sustainable Development" and "Cooperation for Climate Change and Sustainable Development". They also engaged in high-level dialogue on the topic of "Governance, Trust, and Collaboration of Ethical Science and Technology". They also published other papers including "The Ten Scientific Issues Concerning Human Social Development in 2021" and "Top 10 Emerging Technologies in Chemistry".

Company: LinguitronicsContact Person: Chuang LingEmail: info_cn@linguitronics.comWebsite: http://www.linguitronics.comTelephone: +86-21-61398088City: Shanghai

SOURCE: Linguitronics

View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/673858/Initiative-Jointly-Launched-by-260-Science-and-Technology-Communities-in-Beijing

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Initiative Jointly Launched by 260 Science and Technology Communities in Beijing - Yahoo Finance

At a personal level, everyone sees how much technology is changing the way society works: ubiquitous cellphones, the national shift to work-from-home in a matter of weeks and the domination of e-commerce in the consumer space are just a fraction of the ways that IT is changing everything.

The role of the federal Technology Modernization Fund, or TMF, is to catalyze that magnitude of change throughout the government. Unlike the societal shift, which is driven by many factors with capitalism foremost among them, the purpose of applying technology to changing the way government works is to make it more efficient and responsive to citizens while increasing the productivity and job satisfaction of employees.

On Nov. 17, the Association for Federal Information Resources Management hosted a webcast for its Virtual Monthly Speaker series that focused on Reimagining and Transforming Mission Delivery through IT.

Deputy Federal Chief Information Officer Maria Roat from the Office of Management and Budget emphasized the central role that technology plays in every facet of the governments mission. For us as digital leaders, we have to think about strategies to accelerate modernization across the government, she said. What were designing has the public in mind, and were using data to drive all our service decisions.

Roat said the TMF is key to modernizing government operations in line with citizen expectations. The $1 billion boost the fund received in the American Rescue Plan, or ARP, earlier this year is having a positive effect.

Just getting the funding to get started has really made a difference, she said. To change [historical underinvestment] we have to use bold, multi-year investments to drive [systemic changes.] The faster we can adopt modern technologies and cloud services, the faster we can deliver.

But it is not just about technology. Roat said another key to meeting the mission is the federal workforce. She applauded the launch of digitalcorps.gsa.gov to bring IT professionals into public service earlier in their careers, as well as the reskilling programs being offered in numerous departments and agencies for current employees.

This does include training traditional, non-technical federal employees, Roat said. Theyre the people who are doing the day-to-day work. They may not be technical, but they understand the processes.

A panel of government employees then discussed what the TMF is doing to make use of that new funding, and how it affects the way the program works today.

Raylene Yung was named executive director of the TMF in September, just in time for the first big wave of applications following the funding boost.

By far, we have way more demand than funds. More than $2 billion [in applications] and growing, so its already [double] that billion, Yung said.

Sanjay Gupta, chief technology officer at the Small Business Administration, is one of the TMF board members who decide which applications get funded. He, too, has already felt the accelerated pace.

We focus on two main areas: assessing the proposals and making decisions, then providing ongoing oversight of recipients progress in meeting their goals, Gupta said. When the TMF got the appropriated [funds] in March, we needed to accelerate our reviews and decision-making. Typically the board would meet once a week, a long meeting but because we were getting such inflows of proposals, we started meeting twice a week because we wanted to get the money out there as soon as possible.

Autumn Maxey, lead IT specialist and TMF liaison for the Office of Information and Technology, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, runs the TMF-funded modernization program for the Automated Commercial Environment, which handles import and export processing. The grant was approved in the TMFs first tranche of projects, back in 2018, to support migrating ACE from mainframes to the cloud.

Our immediate return on investment is mainframe retirement, Maxey said. What were trying to get to, partnering with U.S. agencies and citizens [is] a modernized interface, cybersecurity and also ease of use for those cargo ships coming to us, that theyre ready to enter as soon as they reach port.

Gupta said the ARP funding had two specific objectives: how modernization could support COVID-19 relief efforts and how it can strengthen cybersecurity.

When the cybersecurity executive order was issued in May, Gupta said the TMF received multiple proposals focused on zero trust, a central aspect of the order.

How do we find a way to help all the agencies on their journey to zero trust, he said. Maybe we fund one or two initiatives that will create [replicable] outcomes Theres been a back-and-forth [among board members] about the best way we can help all agencies improve their zero trust architectures.

Gupta said the TMF board meetings discussing these kinds of issues, along with hashing out questions on applications, are very active.

Theyre anything but relaxing because were very engaged in having a good dialogue, he said. Were intense, diverse, representing multiple perspectives.

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Technology Modernization Fund Board Offers Insights on Latest Wave of Proposals - Nextgov

BOSTON, Nov. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- BlueSnap, a global payment company committed to helping B2B and B2C businesses accept and optimize digital payments around the world, today announces it has been made the Deloitte Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the 500 fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, fintech, and energy tech companies in North America, for the second year in a row. BlueSnap is one of 40 New England companies to be recognized on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 this year.

(PRNewsfoto/BlueSnap)

BlueSnap's chief executive officer, Ralph Dangelmaier, credits their expertise in global payments and helping businesses increase revenue and decrease costs with the company's 248% revenue growth. He said, " As businesses digitalize their payment experience through ecommerce, invoicing or mobile payments they need to account for an ever-increasing international customer base. At BlueSnap, we are committed to helping businesses around the world increase revenue and reduce costs so they can thrive and seize the new opportunities that arise with the growing global economy."

About the 2021 Deloitte Technology Fast 500Now in its 27th year, the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 provides a ranking of the fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, fintech, and energy tech companies both public and private in North America. Technology Fast 500 award winners are selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2017 to 2020.

In order to be eligible for Technology Fast 500 recognition, companies must own proprietary intellectual property or technology that is sold to customers in products that contribute to a majority of the company's operating revenues. Companies must have base-year operating revenues of at least US$50,000, and current-year operating revenues of at least US$5 million. Additionally, companies must be in business for a minimum of four years and be headquartered within North America.

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About BlueSnap BlueSnap helps businesses accept payments globally. Our All-In-One Payment Platform is designed to increase sales and reduce costs for all businesses accepting payments. BlueSnap supports payments across all geographies through multiple sales channels such as online and mobile sales, marketplaces, subscriptions, invoice payments and manual orders through a virtual terminal. And for businesses looking for embedded payments, we offer white-labeled payments for platforms with automated underwriting and onboarding that supports marketplaces and split payments. With one integration and contract, businesses can sell in over 200 geographies with access to local acquiring in 45+ countries, 110+ currencies and 100+ global payment types, including popular eWallets, automated accounts receivable, world-class fraud protection and chargeback management, built-in solutions for regulation and tax compliance, and unified global reporting to help businesses grow. BlueSnap is backed by world-class private equity investors including Great Hill Partners and Parthenon Capital Partners. Learn more at BlueSnap.com

About DeloitteDeloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the "Deloitte" name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see http://www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.

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BlueSnap Named to Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Fastest-Growing Company in North America for Second Year in a Row - Yahoo Finance

At the onset of the pandemic, there were fears that restrictions in economic activity would halt 5G deployment efforts around the world. However, with Covid-19 highlighting the significance of cellular technology and connectivity in these uncertain times, we have witnessed 5G adoption accelerate at an incredible rate, at both organizational and industrial levels. Much of the current 5G momentum could be credited to innovations in microwave technology, which is only set to become increasingly important in the coming years.

Over the last few years, it is safe to say that microwave technology, such as E-bands, have become an essential part of 5G wireless backhaul support. The success of E-bands could be credited to their speed, flexibility, and spectrum availability, which allows for multi-gigabit connections where fiber is not available. Being now open for deployment in a vast majority of countries, E-band is enabling 5G network roll-out all around the world. As it allows for a less expensive microwave connection it is becoming increasingly crucial in building 5G infrastructure in developing countries.

With E-band gaining popularity, there have been concerns about the potential effect wind may have on E-band link availability. In our latest Microwave Outlook report, we have tested this issue ourselves by monitoring the impact of wind on almost 500 E-band links for a year. 32 percent of these links were in fact impacted by wind, however, we recorded that 95.5 percent had no error seconds at all. Even the worst impacted link still had over 99.99 percent availability. From this, we have come to understand that with proper tools for careful planning and monitoring, it is possible to control and mitigate the effect of wind.

As network slicing helps build customized networks that individually serve specific use cases, it has become an enabler of new 5G services and market opportunities. In the near future, we estimate that up to 30 percent of 5G use cases will require network slicing. Recent advancements in microwave technology and microwave nodes have placed them in a unique position to support network slicing using standard packet technologies and QoS schemes to ensure successful deployment in 5G networks. With network slicing set to play a significant role in the creation of innovative 5G use cases, it is important that telecom operators around the world turn focus to investments in innovative microwave technology.

Microwave technology has also become a key enabler for profitable fixed wireless access (FWA) services. With FWA services such as online gaming and 4K video streaming requiring lower latency and high capacity, microwave transport offers a scalable and future-proof solution on new or existing sites, with capabilities to go up to 10Gbps with E-band or Multi-band solutions. Today, more than 70 percent of all service providers are offering fixed wireless access (FWA). We forecast FWA connections to represent 25 percent of the global mobile data traffic by 2026 and we strongly believe microwave technology can contribute to this growth.

With data traffic growing year-on-year, so is the demand for microwave backhaul capacity. However, not all service providers have good access to microwave backhaul spectrums and can find it challenging to handle the increased data traffic demands. Some countries that have limited spectrum availability are finding the ever-growing demand for data traffic put a strain on their networks. For countries and service providers who have limited access to spectrum, it is important to utilize the available spectrum resources in the best possible way. Our simulations have shown that more aggressive channel reuse is a prime solution to handle higher traffic demands in a limited spectrum with traditional bands. Being properly dimensioned, backhaul spectrum reuse is also a spectrally efficient and sustainable solution.

In the near future, microwave technology will be critical to support the capacity needs for 5G in urban and suburban areas. The June 2021 edition of our Mobility Report forecasts 5G subscriptions to reach 580 million by the end of 2021. With the demand for 5G services increasing rapidly, now is the time for telecom operators to invest in and leverage innovative microwave technology alongside traditional frequencies in multi-band solutions and make true 5G a reality in every corner of the world.

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Microwave Technology - Enabling 5G Around the Globe - Ericsson

Technology is changing many aspects of life and work, as well as the way Yale School of Medicine (YSM) students learn.

For alumni and students, you know that the Yale System is the core of medical education at Yale. But today we have creative and novel technologies that enable that system in new ways, said Nancy J. Brown, MD, Jean and David W. Wallace Dean and C.N.H. Long Professor of Internal Medicine, as she welcomed YSM alumni, students, faculty, and staff to the inaugural webinar, Reimagining Medical Education: Using Technology to Educate, Innovate, and Captivate, in the schools Innovation in Medical Education series.

The four-part series that began on November 4 is designed to showcase how that innovation enhances our already unique education, Brown explained. The next session, on January 26, will focus on how simulation is used in medical education at YSM, followed by discussions of the adoption of telehealth in YSMs clinical skills program and how innovation is being incorporated into the schools pharmacology training.

The theme of the series aligns with one of the medical education priorities of Jessica Illuzzi, MD, MS, deputy dean for education and Harold W. Jockers Professor of Medical Educationto develop innovative approaches to medical education that are irrevocably engaging and compelling, enhanced by increased use of simulation and evolving technologies and resources. In her remarks, Illuzzi referenced how medicine looks a lot different than it did even a decade ago and will continue to evolve along with technology. In addition, she stated, the learning style of our students has evolved as they become ever more technologically-savvy."

The panels moderator, Associate Dean for Curriculum Michael Schwartz, PhD, was appointed the inaugural director for innovation in medical education in July 2021, demonstrating the schools commitment to enhancing medical education through technology. Schwartz shared the history of how YSM has been using technology to enhance student learning through devices like iPads and iPad Minis since 2010.

One theme of Schwartzs remarks was the important role of students in decision-making about what technology to incorporate, since students know what will be useful, versus leadership and faculty trying to anticipate what might be useful. He noted the importance of ensuring students with different levels of tech-savviness pilot technology, since it has to work well for all users.

When a participant asked how faculty stay ahead of changing technology, Schwartz again pointed to students, explaining they become technology educators for our faculty. When students first had iPad Minis on the wards in 2013, during rounding, residents and attendings often turned to students to quickly access patient data in EPIC and other online information. This helped to integrate students into teams and allowed for bi-directional teaching and learning. As mobile devices have become more common in clinical spaces, residents and attendings are increasingly modeling their use in patient care.

Schwartz described how use of iPad Minis on the wards also improves interactions with patients and shared how during COVID-19, when telehealth was being used extensively, the iPad Minis importantly gave students access to electronic medical records on and off-site.

In 2010, when YSM first introduced iPads in the pre-clerkship curriculum, it was one of three medical schools to use the technology. By fall 2011, the entire curriculum was delivered through iPads, allowing students to receive faculty members most current lecture notes and presentations and to annotate these course materials.

Four faculty panelists shared how they have been using technology to enhance their teaching. William Stewart, PhD, associate professor of surgery (gross anatomy), described how the anatomy lab now has 40 dissection tables with networked iMacs on an adjustable arm. Additionally, he and a team have created 24 interactive iBooks for use in anatomy that are also available to other institutions through the Apple bookstore.

Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine Rachel Liu, BAO, MBBCh, who is the director of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) education, noted that since 2015, POCUS transducers paired with iPads and other tablet devices have been available in all YSM educational physical exam practice rooms. Each year, Liu explained, 16 students are trained in the use of these devices and how to teach their peers. This has enabled students to practice POCUS on their own and enhance their ability to learn normal anatomy, physiology, and pathology. Using POCUS, a student will see the spleen for the first time in their medical career, Liu stated.

Technology altered how clinical skills were taught during the pandemic, changes that according to Jaideep Talwalkar, MD, associate professor of internal medicine (general medicine) and pediatrics and director of clinical skills, will have staying power because they enhanced learning. Pre-pandemic, small groups of students practiced clinical skills with each other in the clinical skills practice rooms, with faculty providing feedback. COVID restrictions forced creative adaptation. Students practiced on roommates, family members, or even mannequins, using mounted iPads at home if they did not have access to the schools cameras, with faculty observing remotely providing formative feedback. Students engaged with standardized patients on iPads as they practiced the actual physical exam on a mannequin. Faculty brought iPads to hospital rooms so that students, who could not be physically present, could talk with patients and their team members and participate in care discussions remotely.

The portability and versatility of these tech-driven solutions improved clinical skills training because students were more engaged, there was increased access to faculty and patients, and more opportunities for physical exam practice and feedback.

Deliberate practicepremised on Dr. Anders Ericssons concept that people get better at a skill when they practice toward a discrete goal, receive immediate feedback, and have the chance to practice againled Christine J. Ko, MD, professor of dermatology and pathology, to develop an app that trains people to visually recognize skin cancer. People look at images of skin lesions in a range of skin types and are asked to identify which lesions are skin cancer. Ko has visions of the app expanding to other diseases, specialties, and physical examination skills. Schwartz hopes that in his new role as director for innovation in medical education he will be able to encourage and support more new applications of technology to enhance learning.

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Reimagining Medical Education: Using Technology to Educate, Innovate, and Captivate - Yale School of Medicine

Its difficult to talk about the human brain without inadvertently talking about computers. Im still processing, you might say, or Could we do a quick download about your findings? Then theres the favorite phrase of office workers who are stretched too thin: I dont have the bandwidth.

Theres a reason computer metaphors are peppered across academic papers and lectures about the brain, according to Matthew Cobb, a zoologist and the author of The Idea of the Brain, a deep dive into the history of neuroscience. As he looked back centuries at early research into the brain, he kept running into older and older mechanical metaphors.

I realized that at different times, one of the ways that people have conceived of the brain has been to draw a metaphor between what they think the brain does and the highest technology of their time, he explains. Different generations of researchers drew connections between the brain and automata, electrical circuits, and the telegraph.

These technological metaphors didnt just serve as illustrations for existing conceptions of the brain. Instead, Cobb says comparisons to inventions like the telegraph wire which could transmit information from a central node to distant points in the countryside actually helped researchers reimagine the brain, spurring leaps in their understanding of the structure and function of the brain.

Once Id realized that scientists were using these metaphors or these analogies, that actually enabled me to understand for myself why there have been changes and shifts in our understanding, Cobb says.

The latest episode of Unexplainable, Voxs podcast about unsolved mysteries in science, traces the impact of new tools like fMRI that probe the brains many secrets. But tools are not enough, Cobb argues: Researchers also need concepts or frameworks in order to interpret the data they gather from their tools. And technologies that have little to do with brain research have often inspired and influenced studies of the mind.

A transcript of our conversation, edited for clarity and length, is below.

So whats the timeline here? When did we first start doing this?

Well, the first thing to realize is that even an interest in the brain [came] pretty late. For most of human history, the brain hasnt been the focus of attention in thinking about perception, emotion, spirit, mind whatever you might want to call it. Its been some organ in the body like the liver or the kidneys or the heart.

You mention in your book that phrases like heartache or pulling at heart strings date back to this idea that thought was occurring in the heart. So when do researchers in Europe start saying, Oh, maybe its the brain after all?

Not in one moment. You mustnt get the idea that somebody suddenly did an experiment and said, Aha! Instead, theres this slow accumulation of certainty. First, theres anatomical demonstration that the viscera like the heart have other functions. The heart is a pump, which was demonstrated at the beginning of the 17th century so it doesnt have the wherewithal to do the mysterious business associated with perception and thinking and so on.

On the other hand, the brain, as anatomical studies showed, has got all these neurons, and its connected by the neurons to all the sense organs and everything else. So gradually, in the course of the 17th century in particular, people became increasingly confident that it was the brain that was doing thinking. How it did it, they werent quite sure. Descartes, the French philosopher, looked at mechanical, water-powered, animatronic statues, and he thought, maybe weve got some kind of hydraulic system inside us.

We dont, and it was very soon demonstrated that theres no kind of water power inside our neurons. But thats an example of people trying to use technology to explain and understand brain function.

[Researchers were later inspired by clockwork automata, like the one below.]

I think the telegraph was the example that best helped me understand how having a technological metaphor really helped researchers understand the brain. Can you tell me what happened there?

The telegraph is finally mastered in the middle of the 1830s and 40s, and incredibly rapidly, it spreads over whole continents. And virtually immediately, scientists drew a parallel between those telegraph networks and the nervous system and the brain.

This metaphor of communication, of wires, and above all, there being information in those wires news, facts, and orders going from the center out to the periphery to make things happen. That changed very much how we see the brain.

How did thinking of the brain like a telegraph, sending signals out electrically from one point to another, how did that help researchers?

They looked, for example, at the structure of undersea cables that were carrying telegraph messages across the Atlantic, and they could see that there was a central core of copper and then around it was insulation. And then they looked at neurons, at nerves, and they said, Well, this is exactly the same. Theres this outer sheath which seems to be insulating it. So even our understanding of the most very basic units of the nervous system began to be completely fused with our understanding of technology.

When did they get to a point where they realized that maybe this telegraph metaphor had its limits, or wasnt a perfect analogy for the brain?

Well, the key problem with the telegraph system is that its fixed and the wiring is static. It doesnt change. You send a message from headquarters down to your branch office in some suburban place, and thats it. You cant decide to reroute that message instead to the head office, to the branch office, or to somewhere next door.

So what happened was that a new technology came along and people start to think, Well, actually, the brain is much more like a telephone exchange. Because that was the next big development.

A telephone exchange is that like the switchboard operators plugging cables in and out?

A telephone exchange in the late 19th century consisted of a grid of slots with wires going into it. And if you wanted to telephone somebody, youd pick up your receiver at home, and a light would come on in the local exchange. And one of the telephone operators, who would normally be a woman, would then plug a lead into your slot.

She would then say, What number do you want? And she would then connect that wire to the number you wanted to talk to. So the key point here is that messages can change their destination. The wiring is flexible, in that it alters depending on what youre doing, and this coincided with a realization of the structure of the nervous system. Some astonishingly beautiful neuroanatomy, with new stains that people were developing, meant they could see these structures under the microscope in particular.

These structures and their interconnections, they changed with time, and they grew, and our nervous systems arent fixed. And that is much more like a telephone exchange than it is like a telegraph system. You still got the idea of messages going down the wires, but now it can change it can alter and its plastic.

And whats after the telephone?

Well, the dominant metaphor is that the brain is something like a computer. Its carrying out some kind of calculations. And that idea, which came into being in the 1940s and early 1950s, still dominates over 70 years on.

There are distinct limits to this metaphor. There arent many scientists who would say, Literally, the brain is like a computer with a central processing unit, with a graphics board. If I take out my graphics unit from my computer, its not going to have any image, whereas if I damage a particular part of my brain, if Im lucky, there may be sufficient plasticity from the other parts of my brain to recover some aspects of those function. Brains are alive.

If were seeing the limits of this metaphor that weve been working with for 70 years, is that because the computer metaphor has sort of outlived its usefulness? Is there a better metaphor out there?

Well, if I knew that, Id be very rich. Im not sure that simply saying, Yeah, we need a new metaphor, is going to help us. When I was an undergraduate, holograms were the big deal, but people abandoned it. More recently, with the advent of cloud computing, people started to say, Well, the brain may be a bit more like a cloud computing system. But theres not really been experiments that have emerged from the use of the metaphor.

Brains have evolved over maybe 600 million years. Each animal lineage has got a different kind of brain that responds and processes the world in different ways because of its evolutionary past. So maybe our brains dont have a single explanation. Maybe thats a mistake. Maybe were just going to have to be content with lots of little explanations.

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How technology has inspired neuroscientists to reimagine the brain - Vox