New insight into how our brain performs 'mental time travel'

In Proust's novel Recollection of Things Past, the distinctive smell of a lemon madeleine launches the narrator on a long, involved reminiscence of his past that fills seven chapters. It is an extreme example of what neuroscientists term "mental time travel" -- the recollection of memories so rich in detail regarding the time and place of an original experience that it is much like traveling through time. In a paper published Feb. 18 in the Journal of Neuroscience, a team of Vanderbilt scientists shed new light on how the brain processes these elaborate memories by analyzing the brain activity of individuals performing a simple memory recollection task. The researchers found that they can use the activity patterns in a specific region of the brain to substantially improve their ability to predict the order in which the participants recall information that they have recently studied. "It's extremely important that we understand what different brain regions are doing as we search through our memories," said Assistant Professor of Psychology Sean Polyn who headed the study. "Diseases like Alzheimer's and epilepsy are devastating to memory, and this information can help us develop treatments to preserve patients' memories, and identify adverse effects that new psychotropic drugs may have on people's memory." Scientists have known for some time that a portion of the brain called the medial temporal lobe plays a central role in memory because injuries to the MTL cause amnesia and other memory-related problems. However, they have not been able to answer the question: How does the brain control the fidelity of an individual memory? Of course, not all memories are recalled equally. High fidelity Proustian memories are at one end of the spectrum. At the other are bits of information that a person remembers clearly, but in complete isolation, without any accompanying details. Polyn, working with doctoral students James Kragel and Neal Morton (who is now at the University of Texas, Austin), has developed a model that accounts for how the structures in the MTL support memory retrieval. They have found that the anterior region of the MTL signals that a memory is being retrieved, but doesn't indicate how detailed it is. However, when the posterior region of the MTL becomes active it indicates that the person is experiencing a "time travel" memory accompanied by considerable detail. The researchers tested their model in an experiment with 20 participants (seven male and 13 female) between 18 and 35 years of age. They were put in an fMRI brain scanner and given a list of 24 names of common objects like horse, boat and window. Depending on the object they were asked to decide if it was big or small, animate or inanimate. (The purpose of the question was to make them concentrate on the words.) After a brief pause, they were asked to recall the words they had just studied in the order they occurred naturally. The researchers found that when a participant's brain scan indicated that they recalled an object with high fidelity, then their next response was likely to be the next item on the list. However, when the brain scan indicated that the object was an isolated recollection, then the next object the person recalled could come from anywhere on the list. For example, the participants might be asked to study the words "horse, window, robot and boat," in that order. An individual who experienced a time-travel experience when he or she recalled the word "horse," would be very likely to recall "window" immediately afterward. If, on the other hand, the person's memory of "horse" was low fidelity, his or her next response might instead be the more distant word, "boat." Polyn's group had previously developed a model of memory search that could be used to predict the order in which people would retrieve these items from memory. For example, the model predicts that people will tend to first recall the items from the end of the list, and if an item from the middle of the list is recalled, the next recollection is likely to come from a nearby list position. "This model was much better than chance at predicting what a person would recall next, but when we told the model what a person's brain activity was at the moment they recalled a particular item, the model became much better at predicting which item would be recalled next," Polyn said. "This demonstrates that the brain stamps memories with a temporal code. These time-travel recollections allow the brain to retrieve that temporal code, which makes memories for nearby things more accessible, in this case the next item in the list." The temporal code acts something like the time stamp that computers put on files. When you search for files stamped with a specific date and time, you retrieve all the files saved at the time you specify. Time-travel memory acts in much the same way, through a process psychologists call "reinstatement." This process is even more flexible than a computer, in that the temporal code can help you retrieve not just memories from the exact same time, but memories nearby in time, as well. When a strong memory is formed, it may include information about the sights, sounds, smells, emotions, and other information that was present at the time of the experience. All of this information becomes temporally linked, and time-travel memory allows a person to bring it back to mind, as when Proust smelled his famous madeleine cake. Polyn's memory model is an example of a new generation of brain simulations that are attempting to link brain activity with specific cognitive functions. The research was funded in part by National Science Foundation grant 1157432.

Scientists find strongest natural material known to humans

A scanning electron microscope image of limpet teeth. Limpet teeth might be the strongest natural material known to humans, a new study has found. Researchers from the University of Portsmouth have discovered that limpets -- small aquatic snail-like creatures with conical shells -- have teeth with biological structures so strong they could be copied to make cars, boats and planes of the future. The study examined the small-scale mechanical behaviour of teeth from limpets using atomic force microscopy, a method used to pull apart materials all the way down to the level of the atom. Professor Asa Barber from the University's School of Engineering led the study. He said: "Nature is a wonderful source of inspiration for structures that have excellent mechanical properties. All the things we observe around us, such as trees, the shells of sea creatures and the limpet teeth studied in this work, have evolved to be effective at what they do. "Until now we thought that spider silk was the strongest biological material because of its super-strength and potential applications in everything from bullet-proof vests to computer electronics but now we have discovered that limpet teeth exhibit a strength that is potentially higher." Professor Barber found that the teeth contain a hard mineral known as goethite, which forms in the limpet as it grows. He said: "Limpets need high strength teeth to rasp over rock surfaces and remove algae for feeding when the tide is in. We discovered that the fibres of goethite are just the right size to make up a resilient composite structure. "This discovery means that the fibrous structures found in limpet teeth could be mimicked and used in high-performance engineering applications such as Formula 1 racing cars, the hulls of boats and aircraft structures. "Engineers are always interested in making these structures stronger to improve their performance or lighter so they use less material." The research also discovered that limpet teeth are the same strength no matter what the size. "Generally a big structure has lots of flaws and can break more easily than a smaller structure, which has fewer flaws and is stronger. The problem is that most structures have to be fairly big so they're weaker than we would like. Limpet teeth break this rule as their strength is the same no matter what the size." The material Professor Barber tested was almost 100 times thinner than the diameter of a human hair so the techniques used to break such a sample have only just been developed. He said: "The testing methods were important as we needed to break the limpet tooth. The whole tooth is slightly less than a millimetre long but is curved, so the strength is dependent on both the shape of the tooth and the material. We wanted to understand the material strength only so we had to cut out a smaller volume of material out of the curved tooth structure." Finding out about effective designs in nature and then making structures based on these designs is known as 'bioinspiration'. Professor Barber said: "Biology is a great source of inspiration when designing new structures but with so many biological structures to consider, it can take time to discover which may be useful." The research was published today in the Royal Society journal Interface.

Laser 'ruler' holds promise for hunting exoplanets

Vacuum Tower Telescope in Tenerife. The hunt for Earth-like planets around distant stars could soon become a lot easier thanks to a technique developed by researchers in Germany. In a paper published today, 18 February, in the Institute of Physics and German Physical Society's New Journal of Physics, the team of researchers have successfully demonstrated how a solar telescope can be combined with a piece of technology that has already taken the physics world by storm--the laser frequency comb (LFC). It is expected the technique will allow a spectral analysis of distant stars with unprecedented accuracy, as well as advance research in other areas of astrophysics, such as detailed observations of the Sun and the measurement of the accelerating universe by observing distant quasars. The LFC is a tool for measuring the colour--or frequency--of light, and has been responsible for generating some of the most precise measurements ever made. An LFC is created by a laser that emits continuous pulses of light, containing millions of different colours, often spanning almost the entire visible spectrum. When the different colours are separated based on their individual frequencies--the speed with which that particular light wave oscillates--they form a "comb-like" graph with finely spaced lines, or "teeth," representing the individual frequencies. This "comb" can then be used as a "ruler" to precisely measure the frequency of light from a wide range of sources, such as lasers, atoms or stars. In their study, the researchers, from the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, the Kiepenheuer Institute for Solar Physics and the University Observatory Munich, performed an analysis on the Sun by combining sunlight from the Kiepenheuer Institute's solar telescope in Tenerife with the light of an LFC. Both sources of light were injected into a single optical fibre which then delivered the light to a spectrograph for analysis. Lead author of the study Rafael Probst, of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, said: "An important aspect of our work is that we use a single-mode fibre, which takes advantage of the wave nature of light to enable a very clean and stable beam at its output. This type of fibre is quite common in telecom and laser applications, but its applications in astronomy are still largely unexplored. The LFC at the solar telescope on Tenerife is the first installation for astronomical use based on single-mode fibres. "Our results show that if the LFC light and the sunlight are simultaneously fed through the same single-mode fibre, the obtained calibration precision improves by about a factor of 100 over a temporally separated fibre transmission. "We then obtain a calibration precision that keeps up with the best calibration precision ever obtained on an astrophysical spectrograph, and we even see considerable potential for further improvement." Indeed, the researchers envisage using the new technique to not only study the star at the centre of our solar system, but stars much further away from us, particularly to find Earth-like planets that may be orbiting around them. When a planet orbits a star, the star does not stay completely stationary, but instead moves in a very small circle or ellipse. When viewed from a distance, these slight changes in speed cause the star's light spectrum to change--a process known as a Doppler shift. If the star is moving towards the observer, then its spectrum would appear slightly shifted towards the blue end of the spectrum; if it is moving away, it will be shifted towards the red end of the spectrum. The researchers believe that an LFC would allow them to measure these Doppler shifts much more accurately and therefore increase the chances of spotting Earth-sized, habitable planets. With conventional calibration techniques, the researchers state that they could measure a change in speed of roughly 1 m/s over large time periods; an LFC could enable measurements with an accuracy of 1 cm/s. "In astronomy, LFCs are still a novelty and non-standard equipment at observatories. This however, is about to change, and LFC-assisted spectroscopy is envisioned to have a flourishing future in astronomy. Our present work shows how future astronomical LFCs could be utilized," Probst concludes.

FDA Approves Jublia–republishing-

Valeant Pharmaceuticals Announces FDA Approval Of Jublia for the Treatment of Onychomycosis LAVAL, Quebec, June 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. today announced that that its wholly owned subsidiary, Valeant Pharmaceuticals North America LLC, received notice that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the New Drug Application (NDA) for Jublia (efinaconazole 10% topical solution), the first topical triazole approved for the treatment of onychomycosis of the toenails. "We acquired Jublia through our purchase of Dow Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2008 and advanced Jublia from pre-IND stage through Clinical Phases 1, 2 and 3," said J. Michael Pearson, chairman and chief executive officer. "We are working quickly to get this important product launched in the U.S. and Canada in the third quarter of 2014. We anticipate favorable managed care coverage in the U.S., similar to other branded antifungal agents, with peak sales of $300-$800 million in the U.S. alone and we are also working with other regulatory agencies around the world on further approvals. This is the fourth product, sourced from our acquisition of Dow Pharmaceutical Sciences, for which we have received FDA approval – the other three being 1% clindamycin and 5% benzoyl peroxide gel (IDP 111), Acanya® and Retin-A Micro (tretinoin) Gel microsphere 0.08%. We have also filed a new treatment for acne, Onexton™, which has a PDUFA date of November 30, 2014. All these compounds came through our Dow acquisition, bringing with it the full set of R&D capabilities from preclinical through regulatory." Onychomycosis is a common and destructive nail infection that is currently undertreated largely because of the limitations of available treatments. Currently, over-the-counter or prescription topical treatments provide limited efficacy and are often administered in conjunction with frequent debridement, or the scraping, cutting or removal of the nail. Prescription oral treatments are limited by drug interactions and serious safety concerns. "Onychomycosis is not only embarrassing and uncomfortable, but can lead to permanent nail damage and limited mobility in the general population," said American Podiatric Medical Association Executive Director and CEO Glenn B. Gastwirth, DPM. "We welcome the approval of Jublia® and encourage people with onychomycosis of the toenails to discuss their condition with their podiatrist, or other healthcare professional to find a treatment that's right for them." The licensor and business partner for efinaconazole, Kaken Pharmaceutical, has also agreed to supply Valeant with the finished dosage form of Jublia for the U.S. market. Information about Jublia (efinaconazole 10% topical solution) Jublia (efinaconazole 10% topical solution), is the first topical triazole antifungal agent developed for distal lateral subungual onychomycosis (DLSO). Being a solution, Jublia is applied daily to the nail with a novel bottle that has a built-in flow-through brush applicator. It dries quickly and there is no need to remove excess product. There are no concerns for systemic side effects such as drug-drug interactions or acute liver injury. Jublia has been extensively studied prior to its approval. The two positive pivotal studies that were the basis for approval were published last year in the prestigious Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. These international studies were conducted in 1,655 subjects with onychomycosis, including subjects in Canada. For the pivotal studies, the primary endpoint was complete cure at Week 52, which required that the target nail show no clinical involvement and no evidence of fungus present by both KOH testing and a negative fungal culture. In Study 1, 17.8% of subjects treated with Jublia were completely cured, compared to only 3.3% of subjects treated with vehicle. In Study 2, 15.2% of subjects treated with Jublia were completely cured, compared to only 5.5% of subjects treated with vehicle. Adverse events that were reported were generally mild and transient and were similar between subjects treated with Jublia and vehicle. The most commonly reported adverse events in patients treated with Jublia were application site dermatitis and application site vesicles. About Onychomycosis Onychomycosis is a common nail infection caused predominantly by dermatophyte fungi that typically occurs under the toenail, though fingernails may also be affected. Approximately 35 million Americans suffer from onychomycosis, most of whom are men between 50 and 70 years of age. The fungi that cause onychomycosis live in warm, moist environments, including swimming pools and showers, and may invade the skin through tiny cuts or small separations between the nail and nail bed. The condition typically begins as a small white or yellow spot beneath the nail, and causes nail discoloration, thickening and/or distortion, pain, detachment of the nail from the nail bed and irregular surface changes. Once onychomycosis begins, it can persist indefinitely if not treated and may cause permanent nail damage. Currently 85 percent of onychomycosis patients are untreated. About Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (NYSE/TSX: VRX) is a multinational specialty pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of pharmaceutical products primarily in the areas of dermatology, eye health, neurology and branded generics. More information about Valeant can be found at www.valeant.com.

2015 terá mais 1 segundo e isso poderá trazer problemas para a Internet

A IERS (International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service) resolver marcar para o próximo dia 30 de Junho a adição de 1 segundo extra. Assim às 23:59:59 o tempo avançará para as 23:59:60 antes de ser meia noite do dia 01 de Julho (00:00:00).   Porque esta alteração? Esta alteração pode ser pequena e quase insignificante, mas segundo a IERS é importante para manter os parâmetros temporais da Terra (relógios) de acordo com o movimento de rotação da Terra. Esta alteração visa, precisamente, sincronizar o movimento da Terra com a nossa referência temporal.   Que problemas poderá causar? Para os utilizadores e cidadãos comuns a alteração é irrelevante e não afetará as suas tarefas. Contudo para os sistemas computacionais essa alteração pode levar ao encerramento dos sistemas por não estarem preparados para a alteração na escala do tempo. Isto acontecera no passado, em 2012 quando aconteceu o último acerto, onde os servidores de sites como Reddit, Foursquare, Yelp, LinkedIn e StumbledUpon apresentaram graves problemas e estiveram inacessíveis durante várias horas. Estes problemas explicam-se pelo código dos aplicativos não estar preparado para perceber um segundo extra e acabam por gerar bugs e desligar. No entanto, empresas como a Google estão já a preparar-se, adicionando de forma periódica alguns milissegundos aos relógios dos seus sistemas e garantindo assim que no dia 30 de Junho os seus relógios vão estar já com o segundo adicional, não se esperando qualquer problema no dia 30 de Junho. Será uma mudança imperceptível a menos que visite um site que esteja down devido ao segundo extra. Fonte: Pplware

Coffee – An Overlooked Health and Anti Aging Food

In the past, coffee (like wine ) has been overlooked as a healthy food. There has always been some level of suspicion around coffee and its long-term impact on health. For some reason, coffee has this association of being unhealthy. Well, (thank goodness) it looks like that link between coffee and unhealthiness is wrong. In fact, there is a good bit of evidence that coffee is good for you and it may even be good for you. This is important, considering more than half of the people in the U.S. drink coffee every day. Why Coffee Is A Superfood? It looks like coffee has two main ways of improving the health of your body: antioxidants and caffeine. Both these substances have health and anti aging benefits. Antioxidants, for example, help your body repair damage to cells caused by free radicals (which are produced as a byproduct of cells just doing their daily thing). Caffeine has been shown to help improve a range of symptoms and may even be important in fighting of Parkinson’s Disease and other age-related brain problems . Coffee is loaded with both antioxidants and caffeine, and each has different potential benefits for improving health and reducing the risk of chronic illnesses. Health Benefits of Coffee I scoured the internet to find reliable sources of the health benefits of coffee. Type "coffee" into pubmed (the database of medical research) and your get almost 7,000 results back. Below are some of the major findings about health, life expectancy and coffee. Heart Disease (up to 25% reduction in mortality risk (for women)) Diabetes (up to 60% reduced risk) Dementia (up to 65% reduced risk) Colon Cancer (up to 25% reduced risk) Cirrhosis (up to 80% reduced risk) Gallstones (almost 50% reduced risk) Parkinson’s Disease (up to 80% reduced risk – probably because of caffeine) Headache Relief (because of the caffeine) Asthma Relief (caffeine again) Cavity Protection (because of anti-bacterial and anti-adhesive properties of compounds within coffee) Vanderbilt University's Institute for Coffee Studies. Does Coffee Consumption Reduce the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in Individuals With Impaired Glucose? Besa Smith, MPH, Deborah L. Wingard, PHD, Tyler C. Smith, MS, Donna Kritz-Silverstein, PHD and Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, MD. Diabetes Care 29:2395-2390, 2006. Coffee Consumption and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: An 11-Year Prospective Study of 28 812 Postmenopausal Women. Mark A. Pereira, PhD; Emily D. Parker, MPH; Aaron R. Folsom, MD. Arch Intern Med. 2006;166:1311-1316. Coffee Consumption and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes. A Systematic Revie. Rob M. van Dam, PhD; Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD JAMA. 2005;294:97-104. Kivipelto, M. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, January 2009; vol 16: pp 85-91.

Laughing is the best remedy

Suntanned, windblown…

Criminologist 'hacks' the hacker

We often view hackers as evil geniuses, but perhaps a more accurate depiction would be a talented -- though sometimes mischievous -- craft worker, according to a Kansas State University researcher. The way society views hackers is not representative of the whole hacking culture, said Kevin Steinmetz, assistant professor of sociology, anthropology and social work in the College of Arts and Sciences. Simply stated: Hacking is more than breaking into security systems and computer networks. "Hackers are sort of portrayed as this digital other, lurking in the nether, ready to pilfer your pockets," Steinmetz said. "Hacking is much broader than that. It can also involve free and open source software programming, hardware hacking and various types of security hacking, among others." Steinmetz studies hacking culture and technology crimes. His latest research addresses the question: What is a hacker and what does it mean to hack? Through an ethnographic study he found his answer: Hacking is a late-modern transgressive craft. "Hacking emerged as a geeky, tech-oriented culture that was a little mischievous, but ultimately was about programming," Steinmetz said. "It has evolved over time to be a very diverse subculture, yet we focus on that one pocket that emerged through the area of security culture. These hackers may be a minority, but a loud minority, as a hacker once told me." Steinmetz researched various characteristics of hackers: views on privacy, background factors, and perceptions toward government and institutions of authority. He began to see parallels between hacking and craftwork. According to Steinmetz, both activities share: • A particular mentality. • An emphasis on skill. • A sense of ownership over tools and objects of labor. • Guild-like social and learning structures. • A deep sense of commitment. • An emphasis on process over result. • A common phenomenological experience. • Tendencies toward transgression. "Hacking is crafty and also looks a lot like craftsmanship," Steinmetz said. "Perhaps the best way we can understanding hacking is as a transgressive, technological craft." For his study, Steinmetz performed ethnographic field research. He met with a group of hackers in Texas to observe them and study their culture. He interviewed members to understand how they viewed themselves as hackers. Through his research, Steinmetz found that the term "hacking" has become separated from the original subculture from which it emerged. Hacking began in the 1950s and 1960s with group of people who were interested in technology and computers. Hacking culture now includes phone phreaking, hardware hacking and security hacking, among other domains. Political and media discussions often evoke the term hacker based solely on outcome, such as network intrusions, credit card fraud and other stereotypes, Steinmetz said. Such depictions miss out on the fact that hacking is more about the process than the outcome, he said. Without the craft-like components, a person who engages in certain technological crimes may not be a hacker. "If these people engage in this type of behavior because they only want outcomes, my research indicates that they may not completely be considered hackers," Steinmetz said. "They have to take on the qualities of craftsmen -- someone who enjoys their work and is dedicated to it." Steinmetz has published his latest research, "Craft(y)ness: An Ethnographic Study of Hacking," in the British Journal of Criminology.

Interaction between light and sound in nanoscale waveguide

February 16, 2015 Ghent University Scientists have demonstrated interaction between light and sound in a nanoscale area. Their findings elucidate the physics of light-matter coupling at these scales – and pave the way for enhanced signal processing on mass-producible silicon photonic chips. In the last decade, the field of silicon photonics has gained increasing attention as a key driver of lab-on-a-chip biosensors and of faster-than-electronics communication between computer chips. The technology builds on tiny structures known as silicon photonic wires, which are roughly a hundred times narrower than a typical human hair. These nanowires carry optical signals from one point to another at the speed of light. They are fabricated with the same technological toolset as electronic circuitry. Fundamentally, the wires work only because light moves slower in the silicon core than in the surrounding air and glass. Both light (left) and sound (right) are trapped in a nanoscale silicon core. Scientists from Ghent University and imec announce today that they demonstrated interaction between light and sound in a nanoscale area. Their findings elucidate the physics of light-matter coupling at these scales -- and pave the way for enhanced signal processing on mass-producible silicon photonic chips. In the last decade, the field of silicon photonics has gained increasing attention as a key driver of lab-on-a-chip biosensors and of faster-than-electronics communication between computer chips. The technology builds on tiny structures known as silicon photonic wires, which are roughly a hundred times narrower than a typical human hair. These nanowires carry optical signals from one point to another at the speed of light. They are fabricated with the same technological toolset as electronic circuitry. Fundamentally, the wires work only because light moves slower in the silicon core than in the surrounding air and glass. Thus, the light is trapped inside the wire by the phenomenon of total internal reflection. Simply confining light is one thing, but manipulating it is another. The issue is that one light beam cannot easily change the properties of another. This is where light-matter interaction comes into the picture: it allows some photons to control other photons. Publishing in Nature Photonics, researchers from the Photonics Research Group of Ghent University and imec report on a peculiar type of light-matter interaction. They managed to confine not only light but also sound to the silicon nanowires. The sound oscillates ten billion times per second: far more rapid than human ears can hear. They realized that the sound cannot be trapped in the wire by total internal reflection. Unlike light, sound moves faster in the silicon core than in the surrounding air and glass. Thus, the scientists sculpted the environment of the core to make sure any vibrational wave trying to escape it would actually bounce back. Doing so, they confined both light and sound to the same nanoscale waveguide core -- a world's first observation. Trapped in that incredibly small area, the light and vibrations strongly influence each other: light generates sound and sound shifts the color of light, a process known as stimulated Brillouin scattering. The scientists exploited this interaction to amplify specific colors of light. They anticipate this demonstration to open up new ways to manipulate optical information. For instance, light pulses could be converted into sonic pulses and back into light -- thereby implementing much-needed delay lines. Further, the researchers expect that similar techniques can be applied to even smaller entities such as viruses and DNA. These particles have unique acoustic vibrations that may be used to probe their global structure. Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by Ghent University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference: Raphaël Van Laer, Bart Kuyken, Dries Van Thourhout, Roel Baets. Interaction between light and highly confined hypersound in a silicon photonic nanowire. Nature Photonics, 2015; DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2015.11

Cyclone could become third million dollar motorcycle

A Cyclone Board Track race going to auction next month seems to have all the boxes ticked to become just the third motorcycle in history to sell for more than a million dollars. Rarity? One of just six known to exist. Tick. Precedent? A similar bike set the world auction record in 2008. Tick. Technologically significant? The bevel-driven OHC V-twin was capable of 111 mph in 1911. Tick! Wildcard factor? Previously owned by the man with the midas touch, Steve McQueen. Tick, tick tick! Trends in public fascination come and go, and just over a century ago, at the dawn of the age of personal transportation, car and motorcycle racing was a phenomenon across the United States and Europe. Motorcycle sport began wherever it could. Invite men to race or fight anywhere and you can immediately oversubscribe competitors and draw a crowd, but the most successful race promoters of 100 years ago built massive banked board tracks in cities across the United States and it was on these tracks that the public's first taste of theatrical motorsport was played out. Unlike other pioneering motorsport contests (primarily road and cross country racing) where the the majority of the race could not be seen from one vantage point, the giant oval motordromes offered spectators close access to the entire spectacle, and contributed to it because the wooden surface quickly became slick with oil and treacherously slippery. With a very similar format to the gladiatorial chariot races which preceded motorsport by thousands of years, spectacular often tragic accidents could be seen at every event and prodigious crowd-pulling feats (and hence profit) were a given. Newspaper headlines quickly helped the fastest of America's new motorcycle manufacturers develop enduring brand names. The advent of the motorcycle was the first time that personal transport had been available to the public at an affordable price, and there were more than one hundred American motorcycle manufacturers in the first decades of the twentieth century. Not surprisingly, winning such races was rewarded with success in the sales showroom but only a few prevailed on the racetrack – Harley-Davidson, Excelsior and Indian were the predominant names before board track racing was banned. For a short period, one technologically advanced marque was clearly faster than the rest, Cyclone. You don’t need to do a lot of research to realize just how rare Cyclones were in their day, let alone one in such pristine condition a century later. The extraordinarily beautiful motor of the Cyclone was a 996cc, 45 degree V-Twin with bevel-driven overhead camshafts. In 1915 it was reportedly timed at 111 mph (178.6 km/h). The short-lived but spectacular success of the Cyclone brand and the bike’s remarkable bevel-driven OHC V-twin design, which was bleeding edge at the time, both contributed to another Cyclone setting a world auction price at a Mid-America auction in 2008 (pictured above). Only two motorcycles have ever previously sold for a million dollars: the current world auction record holder, the Captain America Chopper ridden by Peter Fonda in the film Easy Rider (pictured above), and the ex-Rollie Free Vincent, which set a world record for a private sale several years ago. As we accurately forecast last year, the Easy Rider Captain America Chopper smashed existing motorcycle auction records when it sold for $1.62 million last year, tripling the previous record of $580,000 held by the 1910 Winchester motorcycle below. The image above is of the on-line auction interface during bidding for the Captain America Chopper, showing the competing bids and the highest bid at that time. The only two Winchesters known to exist are also heading to auction in March along with the EJ Cole Collection (of which the Cyclone is part), suggesting that more records are likely to fall in the next month. The most expensive motorcycle to ever change hands privately was a 1948 Vincent Black Lightning famously ridden by Rollie Free at Bonneville Salt Flats to a then record speed of a 150.313 mph (241.905 km/h) over the "flying mile" on September 13, 1948. The "Bathing Suit Bike" was sold in late 2011 for exactly US$1,000,000 by elite Texan rare motorcycle agency and restoration service Harris Vincent Gallery to well-known collector Chip Connor. Restoration by Stephen Wright The motorcycle in question was restored by Stephen Wright, which may not mean much to most people, but for knowledgeable enthusiasts, Wright's involvement in the restoration adds an authenticity even greater than McQueen's. Apart from being a restoration expert of exceptional quality, Stephen Wright was one the foremost authorities in early American motorcycle history having penned the now highly-sought-after books "American Racer 1900-1940" and "American Racer 1940-1980" plus "The American Motorcycle 1869-1914" which is still available and like his restorations, will also appreciate in value when the limited stocks run out. Wright-restored bikes are highly sought after, not just those he restored while working directly for Steve McQueen at Solar Productions, but the many he subsequently restored. The quality of his work can be seen quite obviously on this Cyclone, but also on this selection of motorcycles which have come to auction in recent years, and the prices they have fetched. Several of Stephen Wright's restorations have crossed the auction block in recent times: From top left clockwise, a 1912 Indian V-Twin Board-Track Racer which sold for $61,500, a 1920 Indian Powerplus ‘Daytona’ Racing Motorcycle which sold for $150,000, a 1929 Harley-Davidson Model B which sold for $37,440, and a 1914 Indian Model F board track Racer which sold for $34,500. Fittingly, Ron Christenson, the founder and Managing Director of Mid-America, (now the head of the motorcycle section of Mecum Auctions, which amalgamated Mid-America in 2014), will preside over the sale of the ex-McQueen Cyclone. That's Ron pictured above at the sale of the only Cyclone ever to be previously offered for public sale, on the day it set a world record in 2008. Indeed, the only thing more exciting than this motorcycle going to auction is the collection which is to be auctioned at the same time, the EJ Cole Collection. The collection is easily the most significant and valuable motorcycle collection ever to reach public auction. We'll have a full preview of the collection later in the week, but suffice to say this collection also contains a 1942 Crocker V Twin likely to fetch $500,000 or more, a 1907 Harley-Davidson Strap Tank (one of these sold for $352,000 in 2006), a 1911 Flying Merkel Twin Racer (Auctions America sold a 1911 Flying Merkel for $201,250 in 2011), a hyper-rare 1913 Minneapolis Twin, a 1915 Harley-Davidson V-twin (Mid-America sold one of these for $169,600 in 2009), a 1917 Henderson Four, a 1914 Theim Single two-speed (made by the same company that made the Cyclone, Joerns Motor Mfg. Co) and dozens of other priceless exotics and it will almost certainly attract the cream of the world's collectors. Share