Source: www.techtimes.com Author: Naia Carlos Tech Times Technology has advanced so greatly that even patients who have completely lost their voice could potentially have it restored soon. In fact, scientists have already developed a computer-based system that can translate brain activity into speech. Someday in the future, this system could help individuals who have lost their speech through various conditions, such as Parkinson's disease, throat cancer, and paralysis. "Speech is an amazing form of communication that has evolved over thousands of years to be very efficient," said Edward F. Chang, M.D., senior author of the study and professor of neurological surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. "Many of us take for granted how easy it is to speak, which is why losing that ability can be so devastating. It is our hope that this approach will be helpful to people whose muscles enabling audible speech are paralyzed." Scientists Develop Computer-Generated Speech Translator In a study published in the journal Nature, researchers shared the details of their new technology. First, the team collected recordings of the brain activity of epilepsy patients without speech problems and who are scheduled to undergo surgery. The researchers had each patient speak or mime in full sentences, then they constructed maps on how the brain directs the entire vocal system to make sounds. The second step involved the maps getting applied to a computer program that produced the speech. Volunteers listened to the computer-generated speech and asked to transcribe what they heard. In more [...]

Source: rocklandregister.com Author: Rockland Staff Everyone knows, these days, about the cancer risks associated with smoking cigarettes. Perhaps not as many understand that drinking alcohol also poses some elevated risk for developing cancer. A new study, however, has compared and quantified these risks in a new report suggesting that drinking a single bottle of wine per week can bear the equivalent cancer risk of at least five cigarettes. Study author Dr. Theresa Hydes comments, “It is well-established that heavy drinking is linked to cancer of the mouth, throat, voice box, gullet, bowel, liver, and breast. Yet, in contrast to smoking, this is not widely understood by the public.” According to the National Cancer Institute, data shows there are “clear patterns” related to alcohol consumption and the development of several types of cancer: liver cancer, colorectal cancer, esophageal cancer, breast cancer, and head and neck cancer. Essentially, the more you drink (both acutely and cumulatively), the higher your risk for developing cancer. However, the study also suggest that even very light drinks (one or fewer drinks per day, or up to 7 per week) have about the same moderately elevated risk as binge drinkers (sporadic drinking of at least four servings in one session). From this data, then, a British team of researchers from University of Southampton, Bangor University, and the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust investigated the data, particularly in how alcohol consumption might compare against smoking. Analyzing data taken from Cancer Research UK—regarding lifetime cancer risk across the [...]