Weekly News Bites: Algorithms that detect epilepsy, a robot tournament, and the link between mental health and faster aging

Asia Research News monitors the latest research news in Asia. Some highlights that caught our attention this week are an algorithm that can detect epilepsy from brain scans, the first National Robotics Tournament in Vietnam, and how being lonely or depressed can accelerate aging.

When looking at multiple brain scans over a long period of time, neurophysiologists can become fatigued and this could lead to errors in judgment. To help combat this, scientists from the Indian Institute of Science and All India Institute of Medical Sciences Rishikeshi have developed an algorithm that can detect epilepsy and also identify different types of seizures. The algorithm learns the electrical signal patterns of the brain to give an accurate result.

The first National Robotics Tournament in Vietnam was recently held in Hanoi. This competition was hosted by STEAM for Vietnam, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, and American Centers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. The event featured over 45 teams from around the country and over 300 “matches”.

Psychological health and mental health is tied to our physical well-being.  A new study by the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Deep Longevity, Stanford University has shown that feeling lonely, unhappy or depressed can add years to your “biological age”. The researchers looked at biomarkers including cholesterol, glucose levels and lung function and saw that psychological factors could add up to around 1.5 years to the biological aging clock.