Scientific Breakthroughs

• Downloads and Uploads: (1) A new weight-loss device being tested in the U.S. ("AspireAssist") is billed as a less-expensive alternative to bariatric surgery, with the ability to evacuate up to 30 percent of recently eaten food from the stomach before digestion. A tube, through a port in the stomach, sucks ("aspirates") the food.

• (2) Researchers at HRL Laboratories in California, in a recent journal article, reported that test subjects without airplane-pilot knowledge nonetheless performed flight simulations 33 percent better than a control group after the researchers uploaded electrical signals to certain piloting-helpful areas of their brains. [CTV News (Toronto), 2-28-2016] [Frontiers in Human Neuroscience via Daily Mirror (London), 3-23-2016]