This year has been exceptional for witnessing the stunning Northern Lights.
One of nature’s most enchanting yet elusive phenomena, the vibrant greens and reds of the Northern Lights offered breathtaking displays throughout 2025.
The magic behind these captivating displays originates 150 million kilometers (93 million miles) away on the sun’s surface.
Auroras result from charged particles emitted by the sun—known as solar wind—colliding with Earth’s atmosphere.
Earth’s magnetic field directs these particles into the atmosphere, resulting in collisions with nitrogen and oxygen, which causes them to emit light, leading to the spectacular phenomenon known as the Northern Lights.
The intensity of these light shows is dependent on solar activity.
Our sun operates on an approximately 11-year solar cycle, where periods of high and low activity occur.
During solar peaks, alongside the usual solar wind, massive plasma clouds, termed coronal mass ejections, frequently erupt.
The latest solar cycle peaked in October 2024, and the sun will remain active for the following year.
During solar maximums, activity is heightened, affecting the geographical visibility of the auroras.
Typically, auroras are confined to the aurora oval, a circular area around the poles at latitudes of 65 to 70 degrees.
Nevertheless, more vigorous solar storms can push the lights further south. This year, significant storms carried the Northern Lights to southern England and many parts of the U.S.
Although the Northern Lights, or Southern Lights, usually occur in remote locations or over uninhabited oceans, 2025 offered several opportunities to witness stunning displays from Australia and New Zealand.
All of this signifies that 2025 was a fantastic year not just for observing the Northern Lights but also for photographing them.
Visit Capture the Atlas for a curated selection of 25 incredible images for our annual Northern Lights Photographer of the Year competition. Check them out below.
Lights & Ice – Tori Harp
Tori initially aimed to photograph the night sky from an ice cave’s entrance when the aurora borealis transformed the scene. Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park, New Zealand – Photo credit: Tori Harp
Arctic Rain – Vincent Beudez
The aurora morphs constantly; this shot captures a moment when the light transformed into a colorful mosaic. Tromsø, Norway – Photo credit: Vincent Beudez
Essence of the Arctic Night – Giulio Cobianchi
This breathtaking 360-degree panorama features the Northern Lights beneath the Milky Way arc. Hawkland Beach, Lofoten Islands – Photo credit: Giulio Cobianchi
aurora color
One remarkable aspect of the aurora borealis captured in photography is its vibrant color variety.
The colors are produced by atmospheric particles being excited by solar wind.
Green is the most prominent color commonly associated with the Northern Lights, generated by oxygen atoms at low altitudes up to about 240 km (150 miles).
At higher altitudes, oxygen behaves differently and emits red, the second most common color.
Dark purple and blue shades, derived from nitrogen molecules, are rare and observed during the most intense displays.
Are the Northern Lights dangerous?
The aurora itself is a stunning spectacle, so enjoy it worry-free!
However, the solar activity that creates the auroras can pose dangers in space.
For astronauts, radiation is a significant health hazard. If a powerful solar flare is forecasted, the crew on the International Space Station must take shelter in the most shielded part.
Satellites can also be affected by radiation, leading to hardware damage or complete operational failure.
In February 2022, 40 newly launched SpaceX Starlink satellites were lost due to increased drag on them after a solar event.
Fortunately, we are shielded from this radiation on Earth by our atmosphere and magnetic fields.
However, we should be cautious as these solar storms can disrupt communications and lead to surges in electrical grids.
Alone under a dancing sky – Nikola Vukotic
Not all participants are veteran aurora hunters; Nikola saw the aurora for the first time just the day before taking this photo. Skagsanden Beach, Lofoten Islands – Photo credit: Nikola Vukotic
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Tech firms like Snapchat and Facebook disclosed over 9,600 instances of adults grooming children online within a mere six months last year, averaging around 400 cases weekly.
Law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI and the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), are increasingly alarmed by the rising threats posed by various crimes targeting minors.
In 2023, the U.S.-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) documented 546,000 reports concerning children from high-tech companies globally.
Of these, approximately 9,600 reports originated from the UK during the first half of 2024. Records indicate that Snapchat reported significantly more distressing content to NCMEC than any other platform during this timeframe.
The NSPCC, a child welfare charity, termed the statistic “shocking,” suggesting that it is likely an underrepresentation.
The NCA is launching an “unprecedented” campaign in the UK aimed at informing teachers, parents, and children about the perils of sexual exploitation.
The NCA emphasized: “Sextortion is a cruel crime that can lead to devastating outcomes for victims. Tragically, teenagers in the UK and worldwide have taken their lives as a result.”
NCMEC’s data is crucial as it is derived from reports submitted by online platforms and internet providers—such as Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok—rather than from victims, who may feel hesitant to disclose their abuse.
High-tech companies are mandated by U.S. law to report suspicious content to NCMEC. The data indicates that Snapchat reported around 20,000 instances of concerning materials in the first half of 2023, which included instances of sextortion and Child Sexual Abuse Materials.
This number surpasses the combined total of reports submitted by Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Google, and Discord. Snapchat revised its policy on reporting such content last year, which is believed to have resulted in lower subsequent figures.
Rani Govender from NSPCC remarked that sextortion and other profit-driven sexual offenses have a profoundly “devastating” impact on young individuals, hindering their ability to seek help and, in some cases, leading to suicide.
NCMEC revealed that they are aware of “more than three dozen” teenage boys globally who have taken their lives after falling victim to sextortion since 2021.
Govender noted that some tech companies “misjudge the abuse occurring online” by implementing protections like end-to-end encryption.
In contrast to certain other platforms, Snapchat does not employ end-to-end encryption for text-based messaging.
Authorities are increasingly worried that predators are utilizing more sophisticated methods to target children online.
The Guardian has uncovered a 101-page manual that provides detailed instructions on how to exploit young internet users, including recommendations for effective mobile phones, encryption, apps, and manipulative tactics.
This document instructs users on how to ensnare victims as “modern slaves” by obtaining explicit images, followed by coercive demands.
The guide is purportedly authored by a 20-year-old individual named Baron Martin from Arizona, USA. Arrested by the FBI in December, he refers to himself as the “king of terror.” According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Martin was a “catalyst for widespread control.”
Researchers report that the sextortion manual has been circulated among numerous “com networks”—an online community that promotes sadistic and misogynistic material while encouraging criminal behavior.
Milo Comerford, a strategic dialogue researcher at the ISD think tank, stated:
The FBI has pinpointed numerous online gangs collaborating to identify and exploit vulnerable victims, targeting them with compromising romantic interests.
These strategies are then used to blackmail victims, often resulting in further explicit imagery, self-harm, and other acts of violence and animal cruelty.
Comerford emphasized that “robust multi-agency” measures are urgently needed to raise awareness about the risks of sextortion among young people, parents, guardians, teachers, and others.
He added, “These transnational networks operate within a constantly shifting landscape of victims, groomers, and abusive entities utilizing social media platforms, sometimes leading to mass violence.”
Both Snapchat and Facebook have been requested to provide comments on this matter.
“Brain corruption” was named the term Oxford’s year 2024. This is defined as the “degradation of a person’s mental or intellectual state” that arises from seeing “trivial” content online, such as a Tiktok video.
It’s a term that is often joked about, but what If there is a grain of truth? This is the seemingly scary implications of a new study published by a large team of brain scientists based at Tianjin Division University in China.
What did this study find?
They scanned the brains of over 100 undergraduates and completed a survey on their habits of watching short online videos. The survey included statements such as “My life will be empty without a short video” and “Not able to watch a short video will be as painful as losing a friend,” indicating how much they agreed.
Interestingly, researchers found that those who felt most obsessed with short videos had significant differences in brain structure. These participants had more gray matter in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). This is an area near the front of the brain that is involved in decision-making and emotional regulation. Similarly, they had more gray matter in the cerebellum – the small cauliflower-shaped structures behind the brain play a role in movement and emotions.
The team concluded that this is bad news, as for Tiktok enthusiasts, having an oversized OFC could be a sign that it is described as “an increased sensitivity to rewards and stimuli associated with short video content.” They speculated that watching too many Tiktok videos could have led to this nerve distension.
Similarly, they suggested that enhanced cerebellum could help the brain process short video content more efficiently – perhaps the result of frequent rampages. This can create a reinforcement cycle. In this cycle, watching more videos strengthens these brain pathways and habits become even more ingrained.
Over 23 million videos are uploaded to Tiktok every day – Photo Credit: Getty
But that’s not all. The team also performed a second brain scan to track participants’ brain activity while participants were resting with their eyes closed.
They found a greater synchronization of activity within multiple regions of the brain. These include the dorsal prefrontal cortex (areas involved in self-control), the posterior cingulate cortex (areas involved in thinking about oneself), the thalamus (a type of relay station for brain signals), and the cerebellum.
The researchers suggested that these functional brain differences could reflect a variety of issues among addiction participants. The issues include the tendency to overly social comparisons while having trouble leaving the video and watching them.
They also asked participants to fill out a survey on “promising temperament.” This is a factor measured by agreeing to statements such as “I strive to reach other people’s outstanding results.”
Interestingly, scientists have found that many links between video addiction and brain differences are also linked to a higher level of envy. This suggests that feeling of envy can make someone more likely to watch a short video. And over time, this habit can lead to potentially harmful changes in the brain.
Does Tiktok cause brain decay?
If you are an avid consumer of fun online videos, or a related parent, the idea that seeing habits can reconstruct brain structures is no surprise.
However, it is important to consider this study in a broader historical context in which new technologies and media have long been causing exaggerated neurological claims. It is also important to understand the deep limitations of research.
It’s been nearly 20 years Atlantic Ocean The magazine ran a cover function that asked, “Is Google making us stupid?” And, in a nutshell, the answer that was asserted was “Yes!” Author Nicholas Kerr lamented that he was once a “scuba diver in the sea of words,” but now, thanks to Google, he zipped “along the surface like a jet ski man.”
Countless brain imaging studies of questionable quality were also published in the same era. Many aim to demonstrate the disaster effect of the World Wide Web on our vulnerable minds.
A few years later, Professor Susan Greenfield, a neuroscientist professor of Baronness, launched a media campaign claiming that “mind change” (the impact of the internet and video games on the brain) is just as serious threat to humanity as climate change.
She even wrote dystopian novels about the dehumanizing effects of the internet, but received mixed reviews (One critic (I questioned whether this was one of the worst science fiction books ever written).
Scientists still don’t know how much Tiktok affects the brains of young people, but research is still underway. – Photo credit: Getty
Almost 20 years later, we’re fine. At least I don’t think our brains have been transformed into mash. But of course, these previous horrors were before the appearance of Tiktok. Perhaps there is something uniquely damaging about the types of short, scrollable, meaningless content available today.
I asked Professor Peter Etchellsif this is plausible, expert on the psychological impact of digital technology at Bathspa University. “As far as I know, there is no good science to support the idea that short videos are either tangible or uniquely bad in terms of their impact on the brain,” he says.
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Is short video brain research a good science? Not so, but the evidence suggests that it is not.
What is wrong with this research?
Let’s take a look at some of the limitations of the research. If the goal was to prove that seeing tiktok is harmful to the brain, a more effective approach would be to scan participants’ brains and then consume different amounts of harmful content.
However, this study is completely cross-sectional, meaning that only a single snapshot was captured in time. This was not a pre- and post-comparison of causes and effects.
Or, as Etchell says: “[From this study] I can’t say anything about whether watching a short video will cause brain changes, or whether certain types of brain structures precede certain types of video consumption.
“This research doesn’t really add anything that will help us understand how digital technology affects us.”
Even if we accept the speculative leap of researchers that Tiktok’s videos may have caused the brain changes they observed, there are still some issues to consider.
First, the researchers searched the entire brain for differences that correlated with the scores on the video addiction scale. This approach is a common problem in brain imaging studies as it increases the risk of finding false positives. In other words, the more comparisons you make, the more likely you will stumble over random differences that seem important but are actually just a coincidence.
Second, even if we accept that the observed brain differences are real and caused by seeing Tiktok, interpreting them involves a lot of speculation. Researchers enveloped an increase in brain synchronization (known as regional homogeneity (Reho). However, Rejo itself is not inherently a good or bad thing. In fact, other studies have associated with an increase in Reho in certain brain regions. positive Results such as results observed during meditation training.
Perhaps the biggest flaw in the study relies on questionable survey-based measures of short video addiction that lacks strong scientific validity.
As Etchells put it, “Short video addiction is essentially an invented term, not a formal diagnostic clinical disorder.”
Taken together, these issues suggest that we should not be overly concerned that Tiktok fundamentally shapes the brains of young people in harmful ways.
That said, the excessive amount of time spent watching frivolous videos can still be a problem for some. However, it is more productive to focus on developing healthy media habits rather than worrying about brain changes or addiction.
“In many cases, when research like this hits the news, it’s a good opportunity to pause and reflect on whether we’re happy with the use of the technology,” says Etchells.
“If there’s concerns there, it’s worth thinking about what you can do to eliminate your frustration, knowing that you’ll benefit a lot from these technologies.”
About our expert, Professor Pete Etchell
Pete is a professor of psychology at Bath Spa University. His research focuses on how playing video games and using social media affects our mood and behavior. He is the author of I got lost in a good game We are currently investigating whether game mechanics can promote gambling behavior in other parts of our lives.
The shadow of the laser beam appears as a horizontal line against a blue background.
Abrahao et al. (2024)
Usually light casts shadows on other objects, but with the help of rubies, laser beams themselves can cast shadows.
When two laser beams interact, they don’t collide like the lightsabers in the movies. star warssay Rafael Abrahao At Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York. In real life, they simply pass through each other. But Abrahao and his colleagues discovered a way for one laser beam to block another, causing its shadow to appear.
The key ingredient was ruby cubes. The researchers illuminated the cube with a green laser beam while shining a blue laser from the side. When green light passed through the ruby’s atoms, its properties changed in a unique way, which affected its response to blue light.
Atoms affected by the green light blocked the blue laser light instead of letting it pass, creating a shadow that was exactly the same shape as the green laser beam. Remarkably, the researchers were able to project blue light onto a screen and see this “laser shadow” with the naked eye.
Abrahao says he and his colleagues had a long discussion about whether what they had created was actually worthy of a shadow. Because moving the green laser beam also moved the green laser beam, we were able to see it without special equipment, and we were able to project it onto commonplace objects like markers, so we finally found a positive answer. I made a judgment.
Historically, understanding shadows has been critical to understanding what light can do and how it can be used, and this experiment has added to scientists’ light manipulation toolbox. Add unexpected technology, he says.
thomas kloba Researchers at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany say their experiment used a known process to create an impressive visual demonstration of how materials can help control light. . For example, the interaction between lasers and rubies is similar to the interaction of materials used in laser eye surgery, and if the laser light becomes dangerously strong, it must be able to react by blocking the laser light. yeah.
2024 is already shaping up to be a banner year for horror movies, with Long Legs making over $100 million at the box office and Late Night with the Devil earning an impressive 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the year’s breakout horror movie might be an $800 project that’s currently available to watch for free on YouTube.
Milk & Cereal is a 62-minute found-footage horror from YouTuber Cully Barker that’s brutally effective yet wonderfully authentic. It has garnered 348,000 views in the two weeks since its release, with rave reviews on Reddit and traditional media outlets like Bloody Disgusting calling it “one of the best-kept secrets of the year.” Barker even tweeted about it recently, Variety.
One reason for its success is the fascinating story behind Milk & Cereal: Barker is credited as the writer, director, producer, editor, cinematographer, composer, and star of the film. With a budget of just $800, most of which was spent on hiring actors and buying a camera, the film is on track to deliver a significant return on investment.
Milk & Cereal follows a pair of YouTube pranksters whose antics take a dark turn when one of them reveals a sinister capability. It’s a chilling and believable hour of horror that explores the disturbing world of online prank videos.
The film’s authenticity lies in its portrayal of the dark side of YouTube prank videos, showcasing the obsession with filming every moment and exploiting every opportunity for content. Milk & Cereal takes this obsession to a terrifying extreme, shedding light on the twisted motivations behind these videos.
As horror movies continue to experiment with new formats, Milk & Cereal stands out as a brilliant example of found-footage storytelling. With well-crafted characters and a compelling narrative, the film is a testament to Barker’s talent as a filmmaker.
Milk & Cereal not only showcases Barker’s filmmaking skills but also serves as a strategic move in his career. By offering the film for free on YouTube, Barker has attracted attention from industry professionals and is already collaborating on his next project. This bold approach could mark the beginning of a successful career in the film industry.
Ultimately, Milk & Cereal presents Barker with a choice: to follow the traditional path to Hollywood or to continue disrupting the industry with his independent spirit. Whichever path he chooses, one thing is certain – Milk & Cereal has cemented Barker’s status as a rising talent in the world of horror movies.
Many of us have a morbid fascination with true crime. Whether it’s the gruesome details or insight into the mind of a killer, our curiosity drives our obsession with the macabre. But amidst the sensational headlines, there are real lives affected.
When traditional methods fail, cutting-edge technology can step in to unravel some of the most baffling cases. Here are five astonishing crime cases where scientific advancements helped uncover the truth.
1. Soham Murder
Two men watch as Ian Huntley is sentenced to two life sentences for the murders of 10-year-old schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, in London, December 17, 2003. – Photo credit: Getty
Captor: Palynology
In August 2002, Ian Huntley was convicted of the murder of two 10-year-old girls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, through the analysis of pollen grains and spores found on his clothing and car. This breakthrough led to his guilty plea and sentence.
2. The Sacramento Vampire
Captor: Psychological Profiling
Psychological profiling helped solve the case of the Sacramento Vampire, a brutal killer in California in the 1970s. By creating a profile of the killer, authorities were able to identify Richard Chase as the culprit, leading to his conviction.
3. BTK Killer
Dennis Rader during his trial in 2005. – Photo credit: Getty
Captor: Digital Forensics
The BTK Killer, known for his “Bind, Torture, Kill” crimes, was caught through digital forensics after taunting authorities and leaving digital evidence of his identity. Dennis Rader was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes.
4. The Butcher Baker Murders
Grounds for conviction: Ballistics, Forensic Geology
Robert Hansen, the Butcher Baker, was convicted through ballistics and forensic geology evidence linking him to the murders of 17 women in Alaska. Unique mineral compositions in soil samples tied him to the crime scenes, leading to his arrest.
5. Golden State Killer
Joseph James DeAngelo during his trial in 2020. – Photo Credit: Getty
Captor: Genetic lineage
The Golden State Killer, Joseph James DeAngelo, was identified through genetic lineage testing after decades of evading capture. Ancestry DNA and genealogy databases led to his identification and conviction for multiple murders.
MaWhat I love most about Luigi’s Mansion are the little details: the way Mario’s timid little brother nervously hums along to the music as he stumbles through the spooky mansion; the slapstick animations when he falls into a fireplace or gets blasted into a secret room on a foldout bed; the laughs and goofy expressions on his face as the ghosts start to play tricks on you. As you use Luigi’s trusty ghost vacuum to flip up carpets to reveal secret trap doors (or secret spiders) and suck up bills and gold coins hidden throughout, you can’t help but notice how every little sound, scene and secret has been carefully placed to give you little moments of joy.
This ghost-busting puzzle game was a very welcome surprise sequel when it launched for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013. Its diorama-like mini-mansions and peepholes gave Nintendo’s artists ample opportunity to show off the console’s stereoscopic 3D effects, enabled by a small slider on the side of the screen. But now, 11 years later, the game has launched on the Switch and two things have changed. First, the 3D effect it was designed around is no longer there, and second, Luigi’s Mansion 3 is here and it’s vastly improved.
Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD. Photo: Nintendo
Considering Luigi hasn’t made a single spooky film in a decade now, it’s hard to begrudge him a graphically improved remake. But Nintendo has priced Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD at almost £50, which is especially infuriating when you consider it wasn’t much more expensive to begin with. It looks better – the interiors of all five mansions have been revamped, with impeccable detail on everything from sofas and spider webs to armour – but it plays exactly the same, broken up into mini-missions that interrupt the flow of the game and take Luigi out of the creepy abode he’s exploring at 10-minute intervals, and back to paranormal investigator E. Gadd’s laboratory.
Gadd is constantly calling Luigi on his little flip phone, which is very cute, but also distracts from the gameplay. While many Nintendo games suffer from too many tutorials for the first hour or two, this game has these interruptions from start to finish, making it hard to enjoy leisurely exploration. It’s not a scary game, but it would be better without the constant chatter. Maybe the levels needed to be broken down like this to fit the game on the tiny 3DS cartridge, but it feels dated now. Another irritation is the multiplayer, where two people can’t play together on the same console. Unlike Luigi’s Mansion 3, you can’t play with your child or partner.
Structural quibbles aside, there’s no disputing Luigi’s Mansion 2’s design is sound: the puzzles are great, the ghost combat is fun and clever, and the attention to detail creates an abundance of endearing moments, but Luigi’s Mansion 3 delivers on all of that. and For the same price, you get even more attractions: you can explore a haunted hotel without being interrupted by anything but poltergeist activity;
The ancient Maya civilization of Central America has fascinated scholars for centuries with its incredible astronomical calendar and magnificent step pyramids.
But alongside their glorious culture, they are also associated with another dark cultural phenomenon: human sacrifice. And according to recent research, very It's certainly dark.
New findings from an analysis of ancient DNA from the ancient Maya city of Chichen Itza suggest that many of those sacrificed were children, including a high proportion of identical twins.
El Castillo, also known as the Temple of Kukulkan, is the centerpiece of the Chichen Itza ruins in the Yucatan state of Mexico. – Image credit: Johannes Krauss
Published in a journal NatureThe study looked at human bones found in a xultun, or underground cistern, located near a large sinkhole known as the Sacred Cenote.
Radiocarbon dating (when scientists use decaying radioactive carbon to estimate the age of organic remains) suggests that the chultun was used between the early 7th century AD and the mid-12th century AD.
“The only people in Chultung were children between the ages of three and six.” Dr. Rodrigo BarqueraThe lead author of the study is BBC Science Focus“Until now, we haven't had the opportunity to report the sex of these individuals because when they are that young, you can't determine their biological sex based on the bones alone.”
Moving quickly on from how bleak a hole filled with 100 children looks, DNA evidence revealed that all 64 people tested were male, and about 25% were close relatives, including two sets of identical twins.
The chance of having identical twins is about 1 in 250, so two sets of male twins in such a small sample size is unusual.
Barquera explained that twins had a special meaning to the Mayans because one of their most important myths involves heroic twins who defeat the king of the underworld.
The team believes that unlike other sacrificial rituals that were intended as offerings, the sacrifice of identical male twins may have been undertaken to honour the existence of hero twins.
Detail of the reconstructed stone tzonpantli (skull house) at Chichen Itza. – Image courtesy of Christina Wariner
While that's not great news for identical twins in Mayan culture, as Barquera says, it would have been a huge honor for the family: “It was more like, 'Wow, the gods or the powers that be have chosen us to be the guardians of these children who will one day participate in this magical ceremony.'”
“We know this because the site has been there for over 500 years. This isn't something that happened once or twice; it's been a widely held belief for at least five centuries,” he said.
Next, Barcela and his team hope to confirm their findings by comparing them with other similar archaeological sites.
About our experts
Rodrigo Barquera He is a postdoctoral researcher in the Archaeogenetics department at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig. He has authored nearly 200 academic research papers, which have been published in such renowned journals as: Nature and Nature Communications Biology.
A study by Johns Hopkins University has demonstrated that applying a gentle electric current to the cerebellum increases an individual’s ability to transfer skills from virtual reality to real-world environments, particularly in robotic surgery. The technology showed significant improvements in dexterity and skill application in participants, even without prior surgical or robotics training, and was used in training in a variety of high-tech industries, including medical and robotics. It could revolutionize the way we do things. Credit: SciTechDaily.com
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have found that gentle electrical stimulation of the cerebellum significantly improves the transition from virtual reality training to real-world tasks in robotic surgery, and in medical and technical training. It shows potential advances in the method.
People who received a mild electrical current to the back of the head learned to operate a robotic surgical tool in virtual reality and subsequently operated the robotic surgical tool in a real environment much more easily than those who did not receive such stimulation. A new study shows that.
The study results provide the first glimpse of how stimulating a specific part of the brain, called the cerebellum, could help medical professionals apply what they learn in virtual reality to the real operating room. It’s a much-needed transition in a field that is increasingly reliant on digital simulation training. “It’s important to remember that this is the case,” said author Jeremy D. Brown, a robotics engineer at Johns Hopkins University.
“Training in virtual reality is not the same as training in a real environment. Previous research has shown that skills learned in simulation can be difficult to transfer to the real world.” , said Mr. Brown of John C. Kennedy. Malone Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering. “Although it is very difficult to claim statistical accuracy, the participants in the study concluded that when they received this stimulation, they were able to more easily transfer skills from virtual reality to the real world. ”
This work was published today (December 20th). Nature scientific report.
Participants drove surgical needles through three small holes, first in a virtual simulation and then in a real-life scenario using the da Vinci Research Kit, an open-source research robot. Researchers say the exercise mimics the movements required during surgery on abdominal organs.
Participants received a subtle flow of electricity through electrodes or small pads placed on their scalp to stimulate the cerebellum of the brain. Half of the group received a steady flow of electricity throughout the test, while the remaining participants received only a short stimulation at the beginning and nothing at all for the rest of the test.
Those who received steady flow showed significant improvements in dexterity. None of them had prior training in surgery or robotics.
“The unstimulated group had a little more trouble applying the skills they learned in virtual reality to the real robot, especially the most complex movements that involve rapid movements,” said Johns Hopkins University roboticist and former robotics engineer. , said Guido Caccianiga, now of Max. Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, which designed and led the experiment; “The group that received brain stimulation did better at those tasks.”
Non-invasive brain stimulation is a method of influencing specific parts of the brain from outside the body, and scientists say they have shown how it can aid motor learning in rehabilitation therapy. Ta. Co-author Gabriela Cantarello, a former assistant professor of physical therapy and rehabilitation, said the research team is looking at how surgeons can stimulate their brains to acquire skills they might need in real-world situations. He said he was taking research to a new level by testing whether it could help. at Johns Hopkins University.
“It’s really great to be able to use this setup to actually influence behavior and really quantify every little aspect of people’s movements, deviations, and errors,” Cantarello said.
Study participants undergoing non-invasive brain stimulation sit at the console of a surgical robot and use a virtual reality simulation of needle-stroke practice. Credit: Guido Caccianiga/Johns Hopkins University.
Robotic surgical systems offer significant benefits to clinicians by improving human skills. It helps surgeons minimize hand tremors and enhance vision for detailed and precise work.
In addition to impacting the way future surgeons learn new skills, this type of brain stimulation also holds promise for skill acquisition in other industries that rely on virtual reality training, particularly in the field of robotics.
Even outside of virtual reality, this stimulation is likely to help people learn more generally, the researchers said.
“What if we could prove that if you stimulate your brain, you can learn new skills in half the time?” Caccianiga said. “This will significantly reduce costs because we can train people more quickly. We will have more resources to train more surgeons and engineers who will be working frequently with these technologies in the future. You can save.”
Reference: “Anodal cerebellar t-DCS influences skill learning and transfer in robotic surgical training tasks” by Guido Caccianiga, Ronan A. Mooney, Pablo A. Celnik, Gabriela L. Cantarero, and Jeremy D. Brown, 2023 December 20th, scientific report. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47404-1
Other authors include Ronan A. Mooney of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Pablo A. Selnik of the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab.
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