The Thermometer Meets the Smart Phone: Technology that Help Moms and Saves Lives

It’s an essential element to being a good mom and a good doctor. It’s a gauge of the human body’s well being and plays a valuable role in the management of many diseases, not the least of which is infection.  Every intern, parent and caregiver knows that feeling when “their patient” spikes a temperature. Sometimes, it’s a human touch and yet other times it’s the touch of technology.

Taking a temperature is nothing new and the concept dates back to the 16^th and 17^th centuries.  And today, technology has made the process quick, efficient and accurate. But problems still exist, especially for that restless child who resists the process.

There’s an app for that! And here’s another case where your smartphone is another key tool for both health and wellness.

These days, with smart phones, we can take a photo and video, play games, locate our position and do countless of other useful things. In the future, allow smart phone become an accurate medical diagnosing instrument that, without physical contact, can instantly measure someones temperature and detect environmental hazards.

 

Today, thanks to a great progress in microelectronics, the infrared sensors became really tiny and even more sensitive. According to the patent, the infrared sensor is positioned inside a smart phone next to the digital camera lens. To measure temperature, the camera works as a viewfinder for a correct positioning the smart phone at about 1 inch from the patient’s temple. When the phone detects that its position is just right, it instantly takes the body temperature with a clinical accuracy sufficient for any diagnostic purpose. Thus, a doctor, nurse or mom no longer needs to carry a thermometer because it will be just there inside their smart phone. An additional benefit may also be the avoidance of physical contact and the potential for disease transmission. This new patent will be incorporated into future smart phone and give everybody a powerful health care tool.

But it doesn’t stop there. The technology can be used to measure the surface temperature of many objects, including something as important as our baby’s bath water. The progress in technology combined with consumer demand will drive innovation with a speed and direction that is almost impossible to predict. But if this slope of innovation continues, health and wellness will be an important beneficiary.

The World's 1st 3D-Printed Gun

An American gunsmith has become the first person to construct and shoot a pistol partly made out of plastic, 3D-printed parts. The creator, user HaveBlue from the AR-15 forum, has reportedly fired 200 rounds with his part-plastic pistol without any sign of wear and tear.

HaveBlue’s custom creation is a .22-caliber pistol, formed from a 3D-printed AR-15 (M16) lower receiver, and a normal, commercial upper. In other words, the main body of the gun is plastic, while the chamber ( where the bullets are actually struck) is solid metal.

The lower receiver was created using a fairly old school Stratasys 3D printer, using a normal plastic resin. It cost around $30 of resin to create the lower receiver, but “Makerbots and the other low cost printers exploding onto the market would bring the cost down to perhaps $10.” Commercial, off-the-shelf assault rifle lower receivers are a lot more expensive.

HaveBlue tried to use the same lower receiver to make a full-blown .223 AR-15/M16 rifle, but it didn’t work. Funnily enough, he thinks the off-the-shelf parts are causing issues, rather than the 3D-printed part.

While this pistol obviously wasn’t created from scratch using a 3D printer, the interesting thing is that the lower receiver is what actually constitutes a firearm. Without a lower receiver, the gun would not work; thus, the receiver is the actual legally-controlled part.

In short, this means that people without gun licenses or people who have had their licenses revoked could print their own lower receiver and build a complete, off-the-books gun. What a chilling thought. But, that’s the ambivalent nature of technology, the great enabler. In just the last few months, 3D printers have also been used to print organs, blood vessels, and drugs. In a few more years, when 3D printers move beyond plastic resins, who knows what we’ll be able to print.

*3D Printing:

3D printing is a method of manufacturing everything from shoes to jewelry, to guns and aerospace parts, using a computer-controlled printer. The fundamental rule of 3D printing is that it's an additive manufacturing technique, unlike machining, turning, milling, and sawing which are subtractive.

While there are different kinds of 3D printing, all 3D objects are generally built out of layers. A 3D printer starts with the bottom layer, waits for it to dry or solidify, and then works its way up. This layering process differs depending on the printer and the material it works with metal, plaster, polymer and resin but it also depends on whether it's an industrial or commercial 3D printer.

Barabus TKR-The Most Fastest Car in the World

 

 

The Barabus TKR (also known as the TKR) is a supercar designed by the British company, Barabus Sportscars Ltd. The vehicle was designed to compete with other high-powered supercars, like the Bugatti Veyron and the ultimate aim of the car's creators was to achieve superior performance versus the competition, as well as suitability on public roads. At the time of its official release in mid-2006, the Barabus, Italian-built exotic car with twin-turbo 6.0-liter V8 produces 1005 bhp. The motor will propel the all carbon-fiber car (body and chassis) to 60 mph in a mare 1.67 seconds, and on to a top speed of 270 mph. The TKR is designed to compete with world's fastest, quickest, best handling, most luxurious grand touring cars in the world.

The TKR uses an eight cylinder engine with 6.0 litres (1.6 USgal) capacity and is equipped with two turbochargers. The engine produces 1005 horsepower, which classifies it among the most powerful production cars in the world, including the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, Bristol Fighter T and SSC Ultimate Aero. An additional, unique feature is a camera and monitor in place of the conventional rearview mirror (a small camera is mounted in the rear of the car for the purpose of feeding a monitor located where the rearview mirror traditionally sits). The interior of the TKR is made from a combination of fine leather and suede, while the accents are provided by super light construction materials (such as brushed aluminium or carbon fiber) combined with painted highlights.

The Bugatti Veyron may no longer be the world's fastest car. Barabus has 1005 horsepower supercar that is capable of doing zero to 60 mph in 1.67 seconds. What's more, the car has a top speed of 270 mph (nearly 20 more than the Veyron). Power comes from a 6.0 liter V8 twin-turbocharged with dual intercoolers. The car has a full carbon fibre body and chassis. 

Bugatti Veyron 16.4

Bristol Fighter T

SSC Ultimate Aero

A Very Human-Like Robot Invented by Japanese Engineers

Actroid-F Robot Female Nurse

 Actroid-F Robot-Male Version

I couldn't believe! This is really amazing! Two human look-a-like robots invented by Japanese engineers. They can talk to each other! 

The Japanese engineers often get asked why they made a female robot, so they decided to come out with male version as well. Mechanically, the two robots, are the same, and if the wigs off, their faces are the same too. They have created the male appearance using a wig and cosmetics. This makes Actroid-F (Actroid is a type of android (humanoid robot) with strong visual human-likeness developed by Osaka University and manufactured by Kokoro Company Ltd.. 

Because these robots look human, they have a very strong presence.  Their psychological impact on people is much bigger than with robots that are simply shaped likes people, or animal shaped robots. In their research, when they use these robots in the field, the robots match their surroundings and do not look out of places.

New LCD Contact Lens

Hey all!  Today I would like to share an interesting technology innovation about contact lens. I care about this as I also wear contact lens.

Researchers from IMEC at the Centre of Microsystems Technology (CMST) in Ghent University, Belgium have developed a spherical curved LCD which can be embedded into contact lenses. This new LCD technology allows electronic messages sent from mobile phones to be directly projected on to contact lens placed in the recipient's eyes. It can display much more detailed designs than an LED-based contact lens display and also allow use of the entire contact lens surface as a display. The example, shown below shows a dollar sign displayed upon the LCD. 

 

*** The 1st prototype presented today contains a patterned dollar sign, depicting the many cartoons that feature people or figures with dollars in their eyes. It can only display rudimentary patterns, similar to an electronic pocket calculator. In the future, the researchers envision fully autonomous electronic contact lenses embedded with this display. These next-generation solutions could be used for medical purposes, for example, to control the light transmission toward teh retina in case of a damaged iris, or for cosmetic purposes such as an iris with a tunable color. In the future, the display could also function as a head-up display, superimposing an image onto the user's normal view. However, there are still hurdless to overcome for broader consumer and civilian implementation.

The spherical curved LCD display can be embedded in contact lenses and handle projected images using wireless technology. The new technology allows the whole curved surface of the lens to be used, unlike previous contact lens displays, which are limited to a few small pixels to make up an image. One application suggested by the researchers is a “one pixel, fully covered contact lens acting as adaptable sunglasses”.  

For specific applications it may be interesting to show images such as road directions or projecting text messages from our smart phones straight to our eye. The innovation is the first step towards “fully pixelated contact lens displays” with the same detail as a television screen. 

Currently the spherical curved LCD based technology can only display rudimentary pixel patterns like what we may see on a pocket calculator. Another thing to consider about the new development is that the pictures and patterns displayed cannot be “read” by the wearer as they are far too close to the eye to focus upon, even for the most myopic person.

 

The LCD display may have medical, cosmetic and entertainment applications but the first practical idea is that a “one-pixel, fully covered contact lens acting as adaptable sunglasses” could be built into the eye to help people with damaged retinas. Different pixel patterns could control the light transmission to the eye and a color LCD could even tune the iris color appearance.

There remains the challenge of powering the LCD once it’s on or built into the eye. The prototype in the video and picture uses a 5V wired connection. The device only needs a tiny current to change the display so it is hoped that in the future it could be powered autonomously using electromagnetic induction. Also integrated flexible solar cells and micro batteries are a power option.

Here's a closer look at the lens in action complemented by an eclectic musical accompaniment:

 

Just as there are millions of smartphone apps now, we can imagine millions of applications for a computer as close to our brains as a contact lens:

* on the road, providing turn-by-turn directions with unobtrusive coloration.

* stats hovering over the quarterback at a football game.

* virtual name tags affixed to everyone's shirt at a business networking event.

* lyrics floating above the stage at a concert.

* subtitles to a live conversation with the foreigner in front of us.

* voice-powered, hands free Google search and note-taking that expands our memory and information recall.

* new, immersive games, visual art, and narrative art that goes far beyond what 2D screens can offer.