Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Indian scientists produce most detailed 3D atlas of the human brainstem

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 28 posts

Re: Indian scientists produce most detailed 3D atlas of the human brainstem

#11

Post by hsb3 »

pchangr wrote: post #9
CubicalOrange wrote: post #4

> The researchers have made the atlas freely available online fuck yes. finally someone not gatekeeping lifesaving technologies so they can make shit ton of money out of it.

I believe this is how most publicly funded research and some private research institutes work. This research was conducted by a public Indian university (IIT Madras). Which, by the way is literally more selective than IVY league universities

Doesnt matter how selective they are if the Budget of 1 MIT is $5 Billion while the budget of all 23 IIT is less than $1 Billion. There is a reason why so many Indian scientists move out of India.

Re: Indian scientists produce most detailed 3D atlas of the human brainstem

#13

Post by porridgeraisin »

pchangr wrote: post #9
CubicalOrange wrote: post #4

> The researchers have made the atlas freely available online fuck yes. finally someone not gatekeeping lifesaving technologies so they can make shit ton of money out of it.

I believe this is how most publicly funded research and some private research institutes work. This research was conducted by a public Indian university (IIT Madras). Which, by the way is literally more selective than IVY league universities

This particular lab happens to be primarily privately funded, donations, grants, etc,. Most big ticket research at IITM like this one are industry-funded or donation-funded. The public funds cover all the usual stuff and I don't mean to understate it.

Re: Indian scientists produce most detailed 3D atlas of the human brainstem

#14

Post by deskamess »

iandanforth wrote: post #5

The article sometimes makes it sound like this is a diagnostic tool but am I wrong in thinking it's a reference constructed from a small number of individuals?

Correct...

"Anchor is not a diagnostic tool. Instead, its greatest value lies in the questions it could help answer."

and

"Users can zoom from the whole brainstem seen on MRI down to individual neurons while maintaining their precise spatial relationships."

Thats pretty cool. The diagnosis/evaluation is still in the hands of another entity (doctor/scientist/AI assistant). More samples (via end of life donations) would help understanding, early diagnosis, and hopefully/eventually cures.

Re: Indian scientists produce most detailed 3D atlas of the human brainstem

#15

Post by hgoel »

pchangr wrote: post #9
CubicalOrange wrote: post #4

> The researchers have made the atlas freely available online fuck yes. finally someone not gatekeeping lifesaving technologies so they can make shit ton of money out of it.

I believe this is how most publicly funded research and some private research institutes work. This research was conducted by a public Indian university (IIT Madras). Which, by the way is literally more selective than IVY league universities

Selectivity is just a numbers game, doesn't translate well in the way you're trying to present.

Re: Indian scientists produce most detailed 3D atlas of the human brainstem

#16

Post by pchangr »

hsb3 wrote: post #11
pchangr wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe this is how most publicly funded research and some private research institutes work. This research was conducted by a public Indian university (IIT Madras). Which, by the way is literally more selective than IVY league universities

Doesnt matter how selective they are if the Budget of 1 MIT is $5 Billion while the budget of all 23 IIT is less than $1 Billion. There is a reason why so many Indian scientists move out of India.

I just thought it was a cool fact :)

Re: Indian scientists produce most detailed 3D atlas of the human brainstem

#17

Post by pchangr »

porridgeraisin wrote: post #13
pchangr wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe this is how most publicly funded research and some private research institutes work. This research was conducted by a public Indian university (IIT Madras). Which, by the way is literally more selective than IVY league universities

This particular lab happens to be primarily privately funded, donations, grants, etc,. Most big ticket research at IITM like this one are industry-funded or donation-funded. The public funds cover all the usual stuff and I don't mean to understate it.

Oh, I could find just the founding statement of the project stating it was funded by the “Principal Scientific Advisor” of the government of India https://acr.iitm.ac.in/iitm_in_news/iit-madras-launches-sudh... did you find something different?

Edit: it seems you were right. Apparently they have received big donations from ex-alumni including the co-founder of infosys and the founder of Fairfax Financial Holdings. Pretty cool!

Re: Indian scientists produce most detailed 3D atlas of the human brainstem

#18

Post by pchangr »

hsb3 wrote: post #11
pchangr wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe this is how most publicly funded research and some private research institutes work. This research was conducted by a public Indian university (IIT Madras). Which, by the way is literally more selective than IVY league universities

Doesnt matter how selective they are if the Budget of 1 MIT is $5 Billion while the budget of all 23 IIT is less than $1 Billion. There is a reason why so many Indian scientists move out of India.

I think it’s good for people outside of India (myself included) to know how competitive life is over there. Indian research institutes seem to be truly top notch and they deserve due respect. That was my reason to share.

Re: Indian scientists produce most detailed 3D atlas of the human brainstem

#19

Post by rramadass »

pchangr wrote: post #17
porridgeraisin wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This particular lab happens to be primarily privately funded, donations, grants, etc,. Most big ticket research at IITM like this one are industry-funded or donation-funded. The public funds cover all the usual stuff and I don't mean to understate it.

Oh, I could find just the founding statement of the project stating it was funded by the “Principal Scientific Advisor” of the government of India https://acr.iitm.ac.in/iitm_in_news/iit-madras-launches-sudh... did you find something different? Edit: it seems you were right. Apparently they have received big donations from ex-alumni including the co-founder of infosys and the founder of Fairfax Financial Holdings. Pr…

The article you linked to itself states;

The centre will power a large-scale multi-disciplinary effort to map human brains at cellular level. It is supported by Infosys co-founder and IIT Madras’ Distinguished Alumnus Kris Gopalakrishnan and his wife Sudha Gopalakrishnan. Since 2014, Gopalakrishnan has been involved in seeding research at the institute at the intersection of neuroscience and engineering.

Post reply on HN