A bionic eye lets blind patients read again, and fiber eases arthritis pain

A wireless chip goes under the retina and pairs with a pair of camera glasses that beam video in as near-infrared light, which the chip converts into signals the brain can read. One patient in France finished a 300-page novel and mailed it to the company. Another drew a sketch of the Sydney Opera House that now hangs on the office wall. Patients have played crossword puzzles and filled in Sudoku, ordinary tasks that had been closed off to them 58.

A team at the University of Chicago's HAARC Center and TGen tested that directly, comparing 142 SuperAgers to 89 cognitively average older adults, looking at the APOE gene (the strongest known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's) and three separate polygenic risk scores. The two groups were genetically indistinguishable. Whatever is protecting these memories, it isn't written in their DNA 8.

The mechanism traces back to gut bacteria: when they feast on inulin, they produce butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid that touches inflammation and pain pathways throughout the body, along with a hormone called GLP-1 that was linked to the strength gains too.

Researchers tracked a typing task that measured both learning during practice and how well the skill consolidated afterward, alongside brain measures of perceptual processing using EEG and TMS. LSD produced measurable improvements in motor learning that outlasted the drug itself, with effects tracked for up to a week, alongside changes in blood levels of BDNF, a hormone tied to the brain's ability to rewire itself.

Women whose diets aligned most closely with it had about a 28 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, stroke, and heart failure compared to the women whose diets aligned least. The finding, presented by doctoral student Donya Shahamati at NUTRITION 2026, held up whether researchers looked at overall cardiovascular disease or broke it down into specific conditions.

Under a steady white LED the crystals held a "static bright" state; the instant the light cut off, they snapped to "dark" within moments, then eased back to "twinkling" within about 10 seconds once light returned. Testing colored LEDs and lasers showed the response was most sensitive to blue light specifically.

He turned that childhood frustration into MINAGIE Energy and its Fusion Wind Turbine, a hybrid system built largely in Ghana that stacks a vertical-axis wind turbine beneath a solar arch, so it draws power from the sun by day and wind once the sun goes down. The design skips gears and lubricants entirely, which Amo-Aye says means it runs without a drop of oil over its lifespan, aimed at powering rural clinics, schools, and communities where grid reliability can't be counted on.