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Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay Enter your email address[ ] Please enter a valid email. Please enter a valid email. Subscription failed Subscribe for free Thank you for subscribing! Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news? Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte Enter your email address[ ] Please enter a valid email. Please enter a valid email. Subscription failed Subscribe for free Thank you for subscribing! Enter your email address[ ] Please enter a valid email. Please enter a valid email. Subscription failed Subscribe for free Thank you for subscribing! Apr 10, 2021 - Health Using brain interfaces to learn about learning Bryan Walsh, author of Future Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios A new study uses a brain-computer interface (BCI) to observe the neural activity in monkeys during the process of learning. Why it matters: The internal state of the brain is often a mystery -- including to ourselves -- but new neural interfaces are making it easier for scientists to observe the mind in action. How it works: In a paper published recently in Nature Neuroscience, a large team of researchers hooked up a group of monkeys to BCIs while the study subjects were trained to play a basic computer game. Details: The researchers found that neural fluctuations took place when the monkeys were surprised by something happening during the game. * Those monkeys that showed greater engagement performed better during following rounds of the test, indicating that arousal and engagement -- internal states that can be difficult to track without a BCI -- can affect the act of learning something new. What they're saying: "Our understanding of what happens in the brain as one learns is super limited right now," says Byron Yu, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and a co-author of the paper. But BCI "gives us an amazing window into how this happens." Context: BCI technology has emerged as a major area of scientific research and increasingly consumer technology as the interfaces have slowly improved. * On Friday, Elon Musk's BCI company Neuralink released a video of a monkey with chips embedded on each side of its brain as it played a basic video game using only its thoughts. Yes, but: BCI technology would have to progress significantly -- and the applications would need to go beyond video games -- before many people would be willing to have an interface drilled into their skull . Go deeper: Elon Musk's Neuralink wants to read your brain Go deeper Jonathan Swan 56 mins ago - Politics & Policy Biden pollster urges blunt tax talk Illustration: Aida Amer/Axios The top pollster for Joe Biden's presidential campaign is advising the White House to do something that often makes Democrats nervous: Talk loudly and proudly about raising taxes on the rich. Why it matters: John Anzalone tells Axios his extensive polling and research has found that few issues receive broader support than raising taxes on corporations and people earning more than $400,000 a year. Go deeper (2 min. read) Stef W. Kight 59 mins ago - Politics & Policy On the front lines of the growing border crisis A migrant mother and her children sit in the dirt at a temporary processing center under the Anzalduas International Bridge in McAllen, Texas. Photo: Stef Kight/Axios At night, parents with young children march through the brush after crossing the Rio Grande River in the pitch black. By day, unaccompanied kids arrive at shelters, in one instance 17 of 17 testing positive for COVID-19. Driving the news: Axios accompanied a delegation of Republican lawmakers to South Texas last week -- followed by a unilateral visit to El Paso -- to see in real-time the challenges fueled by a border surge, the effects of actions taken by the previous administration, and the lagging response by the new one. Go deeper (3 min. read) Lachlan Markay 1 hour ago - Politics & Policy Scoop: Trump campaign boosted by unsuspecting state GOPs Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios Federal regulators are probing financial reporting discrepancies stemming from an effort to funnel $75 million through state Republican parties to the national GOP effort to reelect Donald Trump, Axios has learned. Why it matters: In comments to Axios and filings with the Federal Election Commission, some state party officials seemed unaware of their roles. Go deeper (3 min. read) Axios gets you smarter, faster with news & information that matters. 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