Important Innovations

Organic Sensor & Organic Solar Cell Combine to Monitor Heartbeats Source:  RIKEN Center Very Flexible, Taped Heart Monitor on Your Finger Scientists have developed an organic sensor powered by sunlight that performs as a self-powered heart monitor.  The scientists put a sensor device, an organic, electrochemical transitor, into a flexible organic solar cell.  The device successfully measures the heartbeats of humans under bright light conditions. New Generation of Self-Medical Monitoring This monitor, developed by scientists at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and the University of Tokyo, is human friendly, ultra flexible with a solar powered sensor.  It can also be used to monitor brain function.  The development was reported in the journal Nature.  It's being hailed as the next generation of self-medical monitoring.  Such self-powered devices placed on the skin have great potential for medical applications.

Genetically Putting Mosquitos on Self-Destruct Africa's Malaria-Endemic Countries DNA Editing Malaria is among the world's worst scourges.  In Africa in 2016, 194 million people were infected by malaria and nearly half a million died from it.  The deadly disease is caused by a parasite and transmitted by mosquito bites. Imperial College London Biologists A team of biologists at Imperial College London may have the weapon to end the scourge.  They've successfully gene-edited mosquitos to self-destruct.  They've targeted a patch of DNA that never varies.  By gene editing the female mosquitos into infertility, the population becomes extinct within 5 to 11 generations. Potential:  Malaria Eliminated within 2 Decades If this gene editing is as successful as lab tests have been, the scientists believe malaria could be eliminated within 2 decades.  Computer models indicate that in the wild mosquito populations could be made extinct by the technique within 4 year

Desert Agriculture Enabled by Seawater and Solar Power Jordan's Sustainable Solar & Seawater Farm Project Ambitious, Innovative Project Jordon has embarked on a very ambitious and innovative project to turn the desert green for farming. They have a pilot project underway in a location that's .62 miles from the Israeli border and 9.3 miles from the Red Sea. Feeding the World One of the most pressing needs facing humanity is feeding the world's growing population.  By 2050, food production needs to go up by 50% to feed the projected global population.  The problem is further complicated by the lack of good water, which is a big issue in Jordan.  Furthermore, food production totals 70% of global freshwater consumption and emits 25% of greenhouse gases.  Changes are clearly needed.  Jordan, which is the 2nd poorest water supply nation and three-quarters desert, is taking an innovative, problem solving lead. Jordan Playing to Its Strengths Jordan has plenty o

Innovation to Increase Jet Fuel Efficiency Photo:  Courtesy of Texas A&M Potential to Reduce the Cost of Flying Texas A&M scientists have developed a group of new, smart materials that could significantly improve the efficiency of fuel burn in jet engines.  That has the potential of cutting the cost of flying. Brand New Materials with Great Potential The materials could also reduce airplane noise over residential areas.  Scientists say there are additional applications in a variety of other industries.  They believe they are just scratching the surface of something new that could enable brand new technologies and brand new scientific research.  The lead researcher is Dr. Ibrahim Karaman, Chevron Professor and head of the university's Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering. Smart Metals Changing Shape The Texas A&M team brought together 2 new areas of materials science involving metal alloys which are metals composed of 2 or more elements.  One are

N ew Research Says It's a Real Possibility Mars, the Red Planet Evidence of Support for Underground Martian Life New research by Brown University scientists has discovered that ancient Mars had a plentiful supply of key ingredients for microbes to live under the surface of Mars for millions of years. Just Published Research Based on basic physics and chemical calculations, the Brown researchers found that the subsurface of Mars had more than enough dissolved hydrogen to support microbial life.  Their study was just published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters. Core Findings The scientists found that radiolysis, which is a process by which radiation breaks down water into its basic particles of hydrogen and oxygen, would have created plenty of hydrogen 4 billion years ago on Mars.  They believe the Martian subsurface had the capability to support life for hundreds of millions of years. Intriguing One Step Closer Let's face it.  We are intrigued by the

Facebook Believes VR is Next Big Thing Quest Headset Quest Facebook unveiled a wireless VR headset this week called Oculus Quest.  The company is pushing to popularize the emerging technology by taking it to a mainstream audience.  Facebook acquired Oculus in 2014.  The headset Quest will be available in the spring of 2019. Facebook Goals Facebook leadership believes that VR is the next big thing in human communications after the mobile phone.  The company's goal is to get 1 billion people involved in VR.  Quest offers 6 degrees of freedom and Touch controllers.  It allow you to jump into action with no PC wires or external sensors. VR Future There are expert forecasts that VR headsets and devices will grow in sales by 31% for 2018 over 2017.  A number of heavyweights are investing in the field including Google, Sony and Apple.

Erica Makes Robotic News Erica - The Robot TV News Anchor First Robot TV News Anchor The world has its first robot news anchor.  Nippon Television, the Japanese TV network, has hired Erica to deliver the nightly news.  Erica is a highly advanced robot.  It was developed by the Director of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Osaka University, Hiroshi Ishiguro.  He says Erica has one of the most advanced artificial speech systems in the world. Likes to Chat The news robot is loaded with the latest tech.  It's capable of holding conversations with humans thanks to speech generation algorithms, facial recognition technology and infrared sensors that track faces across a room. Even Tells Jokes - Robot News Network This robot is no joke.  Erica actually likes to tell jokes.  For now, she'll serve as a news reader. No on-the-road reporting assignments yet but that can't be too far behind on a potential channel called Robot News Network (RNN).

Beachbot Cleans Thailand's Beaches Courtesy PTTEP:  Thailand's Beachbot Beach Cleaning Robot Beach Cleaning Robot Thailand, with its beautiful beaches, is one of the world's top tourist destinations.  But as the crowds grow so does the debris left behind on the beach.  Thailand has dispatched a new cleanup crew -  the beach cleaning robot. Bot Partnership Thai oil and gas exploration company PTTEP and Prince of Songkla University have partnered to create the beach cleaning robot.  They're calling it the PTTEP Love Sea Love Beach project and it's proving effective. WiFi Controlled Beachbot can be controlled remotely by WiFi.  It travels along the beach using a vibrating sleeve to separate the trash from the sand.  It works on dry and wet sand and has a rechargeable battery that lasts for 2 hours. More Beach Patrols The team behind Beachbot are expanding its capabilities and plan to deploy more on Thai beaches.  It's robotic innovation maki

LifeStraw - Personal Water Filter Technology Source:  LifeStraw Don't Drink the Water Dirty water kills millions of people every year.  2.1 billion people globally don't have safe water to drink.  In fact, more people die from contaminated water than from anything else, including war and violence.  A Danish entrepreneur has developed a high tech straw that makes dirty water clean and drinkable. Innovative Technology The straw kills millions of microbes as the water passes through it.  It works like a normal drinking straw.  But it traps contaminants in a number of long, hollow fibers inside the plastic tube.  The company says it traps 99.9% of parasites and 99.9999% of bacteria, including those that cause cholera and typhoid fever. 3rd World Use This technology is of particular importance to developing countries where clean, drinkable water is a scarce commodity.  By 2025, half of the world's population will live in regions where the demand for safe water exc

Design with Rotors that Pop Out of the Wheels Toyota's Flying Car Design Concept Toyota's Quadcopter Toyota has applied for a patent on its flying car design.  The wheels have spring-loaded, pop out helicopter rotors.  It has the appearance of a quadcopter.  If you decide you want to fly and get out of a traffic jam, you switch on the flying mode.  The wheels start to fold upwards.  Then, the wheels sprout rotor blades and spin up, providing lift. Drives Like a Tank According to the patent filing, the wheels and rotors would be electric powered.  It's not clear what type of engine would generate the electricity.  The source could be hydrogen fuel cells, EV batteries or some type of combustion engine.  In driving mode, the flying car would steer in a manner similar to tracked vehicles such as a tank. Crowded Skies There are quite a few flying cars getting close to entering the airspace.  Volvo announced it will start selling sister company Terrafugia's fl

Promise of New & Better Blood Pressure Treatments Source:  OSHU Breakthrough Research by Oregon Health and Science University New research by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland reveals the 3-dimensional structure of a membrane that controls blood pressure.  The membrane is called the human epithelial sodium channel.  It has never been so precisely isolated and detailed as that done by the OHSU researchers. Membrane Is Critical to Human Health Using a cyro-electron microscope, the researchers generated a 3D model of the channel.  Besides being critical to controlling blood pressure, it's also impactful on other functions in the body. The channel enables sodium ions to be absorbed into tissue throughout the body including the kidney.  As such it's critical to human health by regulating sodium balance, blood volume and blood pressure. Great Potential for New Therapies This discovery is expected to lead to new and better blood pressu

Google Forecast - Speech Will Be the Next Big Leap for the Internet MIT Image of Speech Recognition Google Turns Twenty Google turned 20 on 9/24/2018.  And, the company, with a storied history of innovation, is forecasting that speech recognition and the understanding of language are the keys to the future of information and search.  They believe that is literally the future of the internet. Better Understanding of Common Language Advanced voice services will be the next big leap.  That's according to Google's head of search Ben Gomes.  He and Google believe what's crucial to the future of the internet is a better understanding of common language.  This is very complex territory as there are millions of problems that arise and need to be solved in the many languages used to search for information on the internet. Google's Leadership in Speech Recognition Tech Google has been at the forefront of voice recognition.  Voice recognition is built into Googl

New Research:  Sulfuric Acid Speeding Erosion in the Artic Courtesy:  NOAA Runoff from Melting Permafrost in Alaska Flows Toward the Sea The Arctic's ice melt from global warming seems to get worse with every new scientific study.  Melting permafrost is making the ground unstable and waterlogged.  But scientists now say it's also dissolving rocks and minerals embedded in it. Acid Mix Sulfite minerals in the ice are forming sulfuric acid as the ice melts.  That's creating an acid mix that's speeding erosion. Dramatic Changes & CO² Releases The Arctic is undergoing dramatic changes as temperatures rise and sea ice melts.  The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the earth.  The sulfuric acid and escalating erosion are just one more consequence of an ice melt process that threatens to release billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from the permafrost alone.