Lasers help prove parts of the brain ‘sleep’ while you’re awake

Have you ever spaced out in the middle of a conversation without dozing off completely? MIT scientists now have a better idea why: only part of your brain is sleeping while the rest stays awake. Neuroscientists always suspected that, but the MIT team proved it in mice by using “optogenetics” to stimulate a part of the brain associated with sleep. They showed that the “thalamic reticular nucleus” (TRN) not only triggers slow sleep waves across the brain, but controls individual regions as well. The research could lead to safer anesthetic techniques and improved drugs for insomniacs.

Optogenetics lets scientists modify mouse brains with algae DNA, making them light-sensitive. They can then hit targeted parts of the brain with lasers and observe the resulting behavior. The MIT team strongly stimulated the TRN (which wraps the thalamus), generating slow waves in the entire cortex (outer brain layer) and putting the mice to sleep. However, when they stimulated the TRN with weaker beams, they produced slow waves in just a small part of the cortex, making the animals “behaviorally act like they’re drowsy,” said research affiliate Laura Lewis. “(We) think that happens because the brain begins to transition into sleep, and some local brain regions become drowsy, even if you force yourself to stay awake.”

While science already theorized such behaviour, “the strength of this paper is that it’s the first to use optogenetics to try to dissect the role of part of the (TRN) circuitry in generating slow waves in the cortex,” according to independent researcher Mark Opp. That could help neuroscientists figure out ways to trigger it to produce different types of sleep in subjects, especially more restful deep, non-REM sleep. It could also result in anesthesia drugs that produce more of a sleep-like state so they don’t completely knock out patients — helping eliminate those horrible side effects.

[Image credit: AFP/Getty Images]

Source: MIT

OnePlus X phone to be unveiled on October 29th

OnePlus might be struggling to get its second phone into people’s hands, but that hasn’t stopped it from pressing ahead with another handset launch. OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei had already confirmed that a third phone is on the way, but now we have a date for the grand unveiling: October 29th. A London event for the “OnePlus X” was teased on social media, while a blog post on its Chinese site confirms a companion event in Beijing. Earlier this month a new OnePlus handset was spotted in an FCC filing, revealing a 5.5-inch display and an industrial design that looks like an amalgamation of past and present iPhones. A few other, unexciting specs were confirmed in the process; a 1.9GHz processor and support for LTE, Bluetooth, GPS, WiFi and FM radios. Further details have reportedly leaked through an Amazon India listing, but we’ll let you decide if they’re trustworthy.

The first two OnePlus phones have been well-received. For their price, both offer excellent performance and are more than competitive with their respective crop of Android flagships. But the company’s invite system and, in the case of the OnePlus Two, some early manufacturing problems have arguably overshadowed both launches. Many fans are still waiting for a OnePlus Two to arrive on their doorstep, so the company will have to tread carefully when it unveils this third, likely mid-range device in a couple of weeks.

Source: OnePlus

Sainsbury’s will kill its mobile network on January 15th

After more than two years of selling mobile plans to customers, Sainsbury’s is very suddenly exiting the game. Talks with Vodafone, the carrier underpinning the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), apparently broke down, leading the supermarket chain to quietly pull monthly plans from its website. A knowledgeable source told Engadget that Sainsbury’s began removing marketing material in stores yesterday and is in the process of contacting existing customers about their next steps.

“We regret that Mobile by Sainsbury’s – a joint venture between Sainsbury’s and Vodafone UK – offering a mobile phone service to Sainsbury’s customers is ending and the service will no longer be available from 15 January 2016,” Vodafone said in a statement. “Mobile by Sainsbury’s priority now is to help its customers and make sure they are inconvenienced as little as possible.”

Sainsbury’s issued a similar response, adding: “We will continue to sell mobile phones and accessories in our 38 in-store phone shops and to sell handsets in over 300 of our stores.”

While the move is certainly sudden, there have been rumours of a potential disconnect for a number of months. In July, TalkTalk claimed that Vodafone was “in the process of withdrawing entirely from the MVNO market’ in documents filed with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over the upcoming BT/EE merger. Vodafone vigorously denied that was the case and noted that it would continue “to provide MVNO services to Sainsbury’s and Talk Mobile.”

The closure of Mobile by Sainsbury’s is the second time the company has left the MVNO market. In 2001, it launched Sainsbury’s One, which quickly underwent a rebrand and shut up shop in 2003. Rival supermarket Tesco launched later that year and now counts more than 4 million customers (although there are rumours that could soon be sold off).

If you are a Mobile by Sainsbury’s customer, worry not, as the company will continue to support your plan for another 90 days. That means you’ll have until January 15th to secure a move to another network. The supermarket will issue you a PAC code, which will let you carry over your number to your next carrier.

[Image credit: Sainsbury’s, Flickr]