25 Feb, 2008
The next time someone tells you to blow into a tube for ten seconds you may be surprised to learn they won’t be wearing a cop uniform. Your doctor will be in his usual all-whites at your annual checkup. That’s because a group of scientists at the NIST and the University of Colorado have developed a new breath analysis technique.
Your doctor will give you a sample to blow into. Shortly after lasers will pulse through the air sample, identifying normal breath molecules as well as trace elements that could lead to indications of disease. Markers for diseases such as asthma and cancer are apparent in some patients. For example, trace amounts of certain gazes, such as ammonia may indicate retinal failure, or diabetes.
Some potentials of the technology is that it’s inexpensive while maintaining both a non-invasive and fast method to conduct a health screen. It has a lot of work ahead of it, as it needs to prove its worth to the medical community as a valid and testable form of pre-screening for disease.
22 Feb, 2008
Imagine this: your phone rings and you lift your sleeve and push a tattooed button on your forearm. Next thing you know there is a digital video of the caller, moving in full video on your arm. After you hang up the tattoo completely fades away to leave nothing but your bare skin.
The Digital Tattoo Interface is a Bluetooth device that is inserted into the skin via a small incision. After inserted as a tube, it unrolls as a flat silicon base. It rests between skin and muscle. Glucose and oxygen in your blood fuel the implant via an attached artery and vein.
A special tattoo on the surface of your skin would interact with the field created by the device. Touching it through your skin would make it react similar to a touch screen display. Implications are limitless. Telephones, TV, the Web and just about everything else we rely on could be literally embedded in your skin.
Always on and ready, it stays out of sight until you need it to function. Well, that is unless you have a screen saver of your favorite tattoo’s running during the day. Cross your fingers with me and we might be able to get our hands on this concept sooner rather than later.
20 Feb, 2008
We all know a thing or two about reducing emissions at home. But why bother turning off the lights and conserving water when you can just buy a home that is completely self-sufficient? That’s the question that architectural firm Sheppard Robson asked when building “The Lighthouse,” a completely carbon neutral home.
The two bedroom home features special insulation that retains 60% more heat. Solar panels capture enough light to generate it’s own electricity. Water efficiency comes in the form of harvested rainwater. What about human waste, you ask? A built-in separation system automatically removes combustible waste materials, providing yet another source of energy.
In fact, it has so much energy that it feeds the grid. That means the electric company pays you for all the excess energy you’re providing them. I’d imagine that would only be in cases where you didn’t leave all the lights on for days on end, but it’s still a pretty huge bonus.
So all that goodness for the environment, what’s the catch? Well, let’s just say they aren’t making them for a song and a dance. The materials and building costs chalk up to almost double the cost of the average home.
Just like Nintendo, you’re likely to get your hands on one after a couple thousand are made. And be rest assured, by that time the electricity company will find an innovative way to take the same amount of money out of your pocket. But at least by that time it’ll be good for the environment!
13 Feb, 2008
Have problems fitting in? Too apathetic? Maybe you need a kick start. Get that compassion flowing and fit into those awkward social situations. First, you’ll need a shot of a new hormone called Oxytocin. It’s your golden ticket into the cool group.
A study by Hollander and Bartz suggests that the drugs fist use could be on autistic patients. Their deficiency suggests that a boost in the naturally occurring hormone may help them bond socially. Beyond the world of autism the drug could have a huge effect on people with obsessive compulsive disorder and social phobias. Other effects include eliminating repetitive behaviors and an increased connection to external emotion.
Pregnant women experience a rush of Oxytocin when it produces contractions and stimulates milk production. Links have previously been made to the hormone creating a bond between parent and child. It’s literally a social bonding agent, creating a need to be connected to the outside world.
If you’re looking for a prescription tomorrow you may need to hold off until the hormone has been properly developed into a drug. Yet, after it’s in production we may look back on the days of Prozac and laugh at its ineffectiveness. Get prepared to get emotional.
