Exploring the relationship between video game expertise and fluid intelligence

Hundreds of millions of people play intellectually-demanding video games every day. What does individual performance on these games tell us about cognition? Here, we describe two studies that examine the potential link between intelligence and performance in one of the most popular video games genres in the world (Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas: MOBAs). In the first study, we show that performance in the popular MOBA League of Legends' correlates with fluid intelligence as measured under controlled laboratory conditions. In the second study, we also show that the age profile of performance in the two most widely-played MOBAs (League of Legends and DOTA II) matches that of raw fluid intelligence. We discuss and extend previous videogame literature on intelligence and videogames and suggest that commercial video games can be useful as 'proxy' tests of cognitive performance at a global population level

Conducting Polymer Fibers

Organic fibers that can function as electronic components such as batteries, sensors, and actuators are exciting prospects for new textile technologies known as smart fabrics or e-textiles. Conducting polymer materials are ideal candidates for such fibers as a result of their good electronic conductivity and mechanical properties and their electrochemical activity. The latter allows the polymer to act as a battery or supercapacitor electrode, to respond to its chemical surroundings as a sensor and to change properties (e.g., color, conductivity, and stiffness) and size when oxidized or reduced. Developing these useful materials into fiber forms has involved wet spinning of soluble forms of polyaniline, polypyrrole, and polythiophene. Both structural modification to the base monomer and the use of solubilizing dopants have been used to render the polymer soluble. In some cases, the addition of carbon nanotubes to the spinning solution has been used to produce composite fibers with improved mechanical and electrical properties. These fibers have been evaluated for applications including biomechanical sensors and artificial muscles. The main current limitation in the further development of conducting polymer fibers for textiles processing is their low toughness