#Freedom Driver allows man with artificial heart to await transplant at home Heart failure patients awaiting organ transplants normally find themselves anchored to the hospital bed by a washing machine-sized device that keeps blood pumping through their veins.
But for Stan Larkin a patient at the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center a new form of wearable technology is allowing him to keep on the move.
This organ shortage means that sufferers of advanced heart failure are implanted with devices to aid in survival.
At first Larkin was hooked up to the larger washing machine-sized device. Known as Big Blue the machine weighs 418 lb (190 kg)
and often sees patients remain in hospital for months or even years at a time. But in June 2014 the Food and Drug Administration approved the aptly named Freedom Driver.
but once they do they are free to leave the hospital and wait for their new heart at home.
Larkin's departure from hospital marks the first time that a patient has been switched over to the Freedom Driver at the University of Michigan hospital
He works with therapists to sustain his mobility with the Freedom Driver onboard is on a number of blood-thinning medications and eats low sodium meals.
He#s still listed for a heart transplant and we hope to transplant him as soon as an organ is available says Jonathan Haft a cardiac surgeon at the University of Michigan.
In the meantime he can be at home he can be functional and continue to rehabilitate himself so he#s in the best possible shape when his opportunity comes.#
#CNN gets go-ahead to use drones in newsgathering News media heavyweight CNN has reached an agreement with the Federal aviation administration (FAA) designed to usher in the use of drones in newsgathering and reporting.
CNN plans on experimenting with the vehicles in producing video content, while the government agency says the initiative will help to inform its drone policy moving forward."
"Unmanned aircraft offer news organizations significant opportunities,"says FAA Administrator Michael Huerta.""We hope this agreement with CNN
and the work we are doing with other news organizations and associations will help safely integrate unmanned newsgathering technology and operating procedures into the National airspace system."
"While the development will be welcome news for CNN and other media outlets looking to tap into the potential of unmanned aircraft,
to others it may seem a little overdue with the FAA still outlawing drone use for commercial purposes.
the Professional society of Drone Journalists has pushed for the establishment of an official framework for drone journalism,
and the vehicles have already been used in news gathering in other parts of the world, from last year's World cup in Brazil to a disaster zones in the Philippines.
the company will look to use drones to open up new possibilities in videography.""Our aim is to get beyond hobby-grade equipment
and they're going to be the headset's core audience at launch. But in the long run we believe the product has the potential to transcend gaming.
Let's take a look at eight future uses for the best virtual reality headset. The Oculus Rift could ultimately transform movies at least as much as it does gaming.
and an epic sci-fi battle scene that had us dodging bullets like Neo from The Matrix.
but why couldn't we eventually have movie theaters full of Oculus headsets? What you'd miss in communion with your fellow moviegoers would be made more than up for with a feeling that you were standing in the middle of the movie's action.
From the comfort of your own La-z-boy the Oculus Rift could give you the best seats in the house#perhaps switching from seat-to-seat as the action moves.
Samsung is already moving in this direction partnering up with the NBA for 360-degree in-game action for the Gear VR in 2015.
Using the Gear VR on an exercise bike we were barely aware that we were exerting energy#and that's without the machine's movements corresponding with the in-game action.
Of all the companies to buy Oculus VR why Facebook? Well perhaps Mark Zuckerburg saw a little of himself in the young innovators running the hot startup
because he saw a new future for social media. Imagine a future version of Facebook where instead of posting photos of your lunch on your wall you have a Second life-like avatar
and can mill about with virtual versions of your high school class or family members who live on the other side of the world.
Each person would be sitting in their own living room but could interact as if they were hanging out at a reunion.
This virtual world could give a whole new meaning to the moniker virtual town square. Speaking of Second life the past-its-prime virtual world is already trying to get a jump on this by integrating Oculus Rift DK2 support into its social sandbox.
If autonomous cars become mainstream that would free us up to focus on other things while in the car.
So why not pimp your ride with a few Oculus headsets? Then instead of staring at miles
Though Oculus Rift and play are going to go hand-in-hand don't forget about work. Governments businesses and militaries could use VR to better prepare people for their jobs.
Pilots could have the most realistic simulators they've ever flown beginner repair technicians could get hands-on experience without damaging expensive equipment
and soldiers could simulate battle without leaving their barracks. Perhaps psychologists could even use it to help patients resolve painful childhood memories.
but imagine a future world where we each have telepresence robots that we control from home using virtual reality headsets.
I might have never left my room. If you've used the Oculus Rift development kits
while relaxing in your living room Want the exercise, but can't conjure up the energy to go to the gym?
Have a seat...and"turn downtime into exercise time.""The TAO Chair, which we took a look at at CES last week,
is designed to provide a dynamic workout for your primary target zones from the comfort of your living room.
TAO-Wellness is developing the TAO Chair as a follow-up to its debut prototype, the TAO Wellshell,
That slick, smartphone-sized portable looks like a design-forward mouse or set-top box but is actually a go-anywhere isometric exercise gizmo.
like the countless fitness monitors out there, TAO tasks its device with actually exercising you at home, work and on the go.
This year's TAO Chair one of the funkiest chairs we've seen in a
and pinched for extreme ergonomics...or maybe torture. What the arms actually do is provide various holds
and supports for working what TAO identifies as the main male and female target areas arms, core, thighs and butt.
no-hassle workout while you watch TV, read or otherwise unwind after a day of work.
We did a couple of the exercises, and you can definitely"feel the burn"instantly after grabbing and holding.
and energy as going to the gym, running, etc. The TAO Chair coaches you through exercises with the accompanying mobile app,
while a built-in, battery-powered digital display shows the calories burned during your current workout and the total calories you've burned since setting the chair up.
The display on the prototype was either out of battery power or a dummy so we didn't get to play with it.
and Kalvachev tells us that his team is hoping to keep the price below US$1, 000.
a design it's now calling the Wellshell 2. 0. The"tiny gym in your pocket"works in conjunction with the free app,
#DNATRAX tracks tainted food with molecular bar code According to the US Center for disease control (CDC) 129000 Americans are sent to hospital and 3000 die each year from food poisoning.
Currently tracing contaminated food is largely a matter of record keeping and detective work but Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers in partnership with DNATREK have developed DNATRAX a DNA-based additive for directly tracking food from producer to consumer.
Food poisoning due to outbreaks is a major problem putting thousands of lives at risk wasting tons of recalled foodstuffs with US$70 billion dollars lost in the US alone each year.
because they rely on what is essentially a combination of accountancy interviews and logical deduction to trace contaminated foods back along what is often an incomplete trail.
That's where DNATRAX comes inoriginally designed for biodefense work DNATRAX was created as a way to simulate germ warfare attacks on indoor and outdoor targets.
The conventional way of determining the weak spots in targets ranging from underground rail systems to the Pentagon is to spray harmless bacteria into the air later collect samples from various places then incubate them to see how the bacteria has spread.
With DNATRAX the bacteria is replaced by particles of non-biological DNA that can be collected with simple forensic swabs
It's an odorless tasteless substance that's classified as a harmless food additive by the US Food and Drug Administration.
so they can contain a lot of data that according to LLNL acts like an invisible barcode. Applying DNATRAX is simply a matter of spraying it on fruits vegetables and meats or mixing it in with bulk commodities like honey olive oil flour or rice.
The idea is to use the DNA to record a code sequence with data such as what the product is where it came from
when it was harvested and so on. Then simple polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology can identify the code and reveal the origin of the product in about an hour right down to
which tree a particular apple came from. Aside from tracking down contaminated food LLNL says that DNATRAX can also help combat food piracy.
Most people have heard of movie or music piracy and may have come across a dodgy Rolex down the market
Called wastage grocery shelves are invaded constantly by everything from fake corn flakes to counterfeit honey selling under false labels to adulterated wines
We all hear horror stories about contaminated foods says DNATREK CEO Anthony Zografos. We are prepared not to deal with an outbreak of pathogens such as E coli and salmonella in tainted foods.
However DNATRAX is a quick and efficient way to stop these foods from sickening more people
and costing producers more money due to massive recalls triggered by poor traceability y
#New Spanish streetlight powered by the sun and the wind The light is being developed through a collaboration between the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and Spanish startup Eolgreen.
and along with an LED lighting array features photovoltaic panels, a wind turbine, a battery pack, and an electronic control system that manages the flow of energy between those components.
Its composite-bladed turbine starts generating electricity at a minimum wind speed of 1. 7 meters (5. 6 ft) per second,
moving at 10 to 200 revolutions per minute and producing a maximum output of 400 watts. A planned second-generation turbine will need only to turn at 10 to 60 rpm
producing 100 watts as it does so. The commercial version of the streetlight should feature two 100-watt polycrystalline solar panels,
an array of Philips LEDS that put out either 3, 500 or 4, 000 lumens (depending on the streetlight model),
and a lithium iron phosphate battery pack that can store enough power to run the lights for up to 3. 5 nights per charge an optional higher-capacity battery could reportedly manage 6. 5 nights.
While the streetlights can run off-grid, groups of up to 99 of them are also able to send status updates via UHF to a central station,
once every 30 minutes. This will allow administrators to know of any technical problems, so that they can be repaired.
Spain University of Seville is also working on a solar wind-powered streetlight, while New york-based Urban Green energy already manufacturers one r
#Scientists find that exposure to nanoparticles could impact cardiovascular health Due to its huge potential in applications ranging from cheaper vaccinations to energy-storing car panels there's plenty of excitement surrounding the emergence of nanotechnology.
But a team of scientists are urging caution with a study conducted at the Technion-Israel Institute of technology suggesting that exposure to silicon-based nanoparticles may play a role in the development of cardiovascular disease.
The scientists from the Technion Rappaport Faculty of medicine Rambam Medical center and the Center of Excellence in Exposure Science and Environmental Health (TCEEH) worked with cultured laboratory mouse cells that resemble the cells of arterial walls
exposing them to nanoparticles made from silicon dioxide. The team was seeking to explore the effects that the nanoparticles have on the development of atherosclerosis a condition that leads to the hardening of the arteries and cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke.
What the researchers found was a negative relationship between the silicon-based nanoparticles and macrophages a type of white blood cell that destroys damaged or dead cells.
The toxicity of the nanoparticles causes the macrophages to transform into foam cells or lipids leading to the development of lesions and hastening the onset of atherosclerosis.
This exposure may be especially chronic for those employed in research laboratories and in high tech industry where workers handle manufacture use
and dispose of nanoparticles says the study's lead author Professor Michael Aviram. Products that use silica-based nanoparticles for biomedical uses such as various chips drug or gene delivery and tracking imaging ultrasound therapy and diagnostics may also pose an increased cardiovascular
risk for consumers as well. This study isn't the first time concerns have been raised about the dangers of nanotechnology.
Operating at a scale of 1-100 nanometers (a nanometer is one billionth of a meter) the chemical reactions
when dealing with nanotechnology can be somewhat unpredictable. Previous research has turned up some unsettling results including that silver nanoparticles can materially alter a person's immunity and that titanium dioxide nanoparticles cause systemic genetic damage in mice.
The researchers warn that adopting a cautious approach is critical in the near-term with nanotechnology-based consumer products on the rise a world market they estimate will hit US$3 trillion by 2020.
This reality leads to increased human exposure and interaction of silica-based nanoparticles with biological systems write the researchers.
Because our research demonstrates a clear cardiovascular health risk associated with this trend steps need to be taken to help ensure that potential health
and environmental hazards are being addressed at the same time as the nanotechnology is being developed. The research was published in the journal Environmental Toxicology y
#Spinal implant could one day let paralyzed people walk again Three years ago scientists at The swiss Federal Institute of technology (EPFL) reported success in getting rats with severed spinal cords
to walk again. They did so by suspending the animals in a harness then using implants to electrically stimulate neurons in their lower spinal cord.
Although this ultimately resulted in the rats being able to run on their previously-paralyzed hind legs the technology still wasn't practical for long-term use in humans.
Thanks to new research conducted at EPFL however that may no longer be the case. In the original study the rats were injected first with chemicals that replaced the neurotransmitters that could no longer reach their hind legs.
Electrical stimulation was delivered then below the location at which the spinal cord had been cut using electrodes that had been implanted onto the outermost layer of the spinal canal in that region.
This caused their hind legs to move albeit involuntarily. After a period of training however the rats learned to activate the electrical impulses with their brains allowing them to walk
and run voluntarily #while still being supported by the harness that is. Eventually they even started forming new neuronal connections between the brain
and the lower spine circumventing the cut in the spinal cord. Although the researchers hoped that the technology could eventually find use in a rehabilitative neuroprosthetic system for humans there was at least one stumbling block#the implants
which weren't as soft and flexible as the biological tissue surrounding them. Over time this could cause irritation which would in turn lead to inflammation the build up of scar tissue and ultimately rejection.
Now however the scientists have created a new type of implant which addresses that issue. It's known as the e-Dura as it's designed to be implanted on the spinal cord or cortex beneath the dura mater#that's the protective envelope that surrounds the nervous system.
The implant consists of a stretchy silicone substrate covered in cracked-gold conducting tracks leading to electrodes made from a silicon/platinum microbead composite.
Those electrodes deliver a current plus they can detect electrical impulses (such as those that would be used to move the legs) in the brain.
Additionally a microfluidic channel in the substrate is able to deliver the chemicals that were injected formerly by hand.
All of these components remain functional while also being highly flexible allowing them to stretch and deform with the dura mater instead of rubbing
or pressing against it. In lab tests e-Duras implanted in rats caused no problems even after two months#according to EPFL traditional implants would have caused significant nerve tissue damage within that same amount of time.
The scientists are now looking towards human trials and are further developing the e-Dura for commercialization.
#Newly-discovered compound gives hope in fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria Over the past quarter century,
and overuse of existing antibiotics has led to the increasing emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogens, with the World Health Organisation warning of an impending"post-antibiotic era"where common infections will once again pose the risk of death,
as was the case before the discovery of the first antibiotics in the early 20th century.
As a result, we've seen various research efforts that take a non-antibiotic approach to bacterial infection
such as"ninja polymers"and artificial nanoparticles made of lipids. But this latest breakthrough by researchers from Novobiotic in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Northeastern University in Boston, the University of Bonn in Germany,
and Selcia Limited in the UK, shows that antibiotics are still in the fight. The compound is called teixobactin
and was discovered using a device called the ichip, which is a miniature device that can isolate
and help grow single cells of uncultured bacteria in their natural environment. This is highly beneficial as,
"says Northeastern University Distinguished Professor Kim Lewis, lead author of the paper outlining the discovery."
#Toyota opens fuel cell patents to drive hydrogen society Toyota is serious about hydrogen fuel cell technology.
At this year's Consumer electronics Show, the automaker announced that it will open more than 5,
500 fuel cell patents and provide royalty-free licenses to other automakers and entities. Upon walking into Toyota's CES press conference, the shimmering Mirai under the hard conference room lighting suggested that it might just be a rehashing of the details we already learned at November's LA Auto Show.
Instead Toyota used the Mirai as a jumping off point for what it terms the"hydrogen future.""
""We're leaving the age of hydrocarbons and entering the age of hydrogen to create a hydrogen nonpolluting society,"physicist,
futurist and author Dr. Michio Kaku said from Toyota's dais.""Seventy-five percent of the universe is made out of hydrogen.
Hydrogen is the most plentiful substance in the universe. Contrast that now to oil, black gold, one of the rarest of substances on the Planet Earth.
"Toyota hopes to help jumpstart this future hydrogen society by sharing its intellectual property. This week's announcement represents the first time that it's sharing patents free of charge.
The automaker helped to grow the gas-electric hybrid market in a similar manner, but those licensed technologies didn't come free."
"At Toyota, we believe that when good ideas are shared, great things can happen, "said Bob Carter, senior VP of automotive operations at Toyota motor Sales,
USA Inc."The first generation hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, launched between 2015 and 2020, will be critical,
requiring a concerted effort and unconventional collaboration between automakers, government regulators, academia and energy providers.
By eliminating traditional corporate boundaries, we can speed the development of new technologies and move into the future of mobility more quickly, effectively and economically."
"The approximately 5, 680 total global patents break down into roughly 3, 350 fuel cell system software control patents, 1,
970 fuel cell stack-related patents, 290 high-pressure hydrogen tank patents, and 70 hydrogen production and supply patents.
They will be made available to fuel cell vehicle manufacturers, fuel cell parts suppliers, and hydrogen fueling station companies through an initial market introduction period that Toyota expects to run until 2020.
Toyota will consider requests from outside the transportation sector on a case by case basis. Last year,
Tesla announced a similar move, opening its EV patents to the competition n
#Self-tinting breathing window doubles as a transparent battery Scientists at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore have developed a smart window that is able to tint itself blue,
partially blocking incoming light, without the need for an external power source. The device also functions as a small transparent battery that recharges on its own simply by interacting with the oxygen in its surroundings.
Indoor cooling can make up a sizeable percentage of a building power consumption. To help with the problem,
wee seen a number of"smart windows"pop up that act as high-tech shutters to shield incoming light during those hot sunny days.
The prototypes wee seen so farhether designed for use in buildings or public transport controllable with a light switch or wirelessly through a smartphoneenerally rely on an external power source to function,
which is both a hindrance and an ongoing additional cost. And though they are better looking
and make for techier gadgets than your standard blinds or curtains, in the end, even the self-powered models are limited fairly in their functionality.
Professor Sun Xiaowei and colleagues at NTU have developed a self-powered smart window that is bi-functional.
but also act as a transparent electrochemical battery that can slowly charge itself by absorbing oxygen from it surroundings.
The window consists of two glass panes connected by electrical cables with an oxygen-carrying liquid electrolyte in between them.
The panes are wrapped inside a transparent conductive coating which is attached to an aluminum foil on one side and coated with an oxygen-sensitive blue dye on the other.
the dye reacts with the oxygen in the electrolyte and spontaneously turns blue, blocking up to 50 percent of light passing through the window.
Conversely, when the circuit is closed the process is reversed and the dye becomes transparent again in a matter of seconds."
"The window charges up and turns blue when there is oxygen present in the electrolyten other words,
"says Sun. The scientists also used a small section of their device to power a red LED,
showing that their window can find use as a transparent, self-rechargeable electrochemical battery for low-power electronics.
This means that in principle this technology could turn out as an interesting, more versatile alternative than transparent solar cells, a technology
which could be attractive for hi-tech green buildings or even to promote energy savings in the household.
A paper describing the advance appears on the journal Nature Communications l
#Prototype system paves way for huge glasses-free 3d displays Using red/blue filters (anaglyph),
polarized (passive) or LED shutter (active) glasses are relatively simple ways of creating a 3d effect.
To help address this, Austrian scientists working at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna)
Every 3d-Pixel (or"Trixel""as the team calls them) used by the prototype system consists of lasers
from left to right,"says Professor Ulrich Schmid of TU Vienna.""During that movement the laser intensity is modulated
so that different laser flashes are sent into different directions.''Unlike current large-scale 3d projection systems, such as those used at the cinema where only two different pictures are projected, one for each eye,
but we expect that new footage will be created especially for our displays perhaps with a much larger number of cameras,
According to the research team, compared to a movie screen, the display is also very vivid
and can be used easily outdoors, even in full sunlight. As a result, the new technology lends itself to applications such as 3d electronic billboards that could display different ads at the same time, dependent upon the angle of the viewer."
"Maybe someone wants to appeal specifically to the customers leaving the shop across the street,
and a different ad is shown to the people waiting at the bus stop, "says Ferdinand Saint-Julien, CEO of Trilite Technologies.
On the downside, the current prototype only has a resolution of five pixels by three and,
which split the image for a 3d effect without the user having to wear glasses,
the viewer must be positioned at a certain distance from the screen for the effect to work.
"says Jörg Reitterer of Trilite Technologies and Phd-student in the team of Professor Schmid."
"But the crucial point is that the individual laser pixels work. Scaling it up to a display with many pixels is not a problem."
"From first design to working prototype took three years, and the technology behind the system has now been patented.
The breakthrough is in the new system's ability to bind titanium dioxide (Tio2) a photocatalyst that reacts under ultraviolet light.
but they suffered a loss of active site surface area. Panasonic has found a way to bind the Tio2 to another particle zeolite (a commercial adsorbent and catalyst)
which solves that problem by enabling photocatalysts to maintain their active site. And the method requires no binder chemicals
because the two particles are bound together by electrostatic force. When the novel photocatalytic particles are stirred Tio2 is released from the zeolite and dispersed throughout the water.
As a result reaction speed is much faster than other methods of fixing Tio2 on the surface of substrates
If the water is left still it will cause Tio2 to bind to zeolite again making it easy to separate
which is exposed to different types of pollution from agrochemical residues to metals from leather tanneries.
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