Science and research

Tiny mic could improve cochlear implants

Cochlear implants, which help 220,000 deaf people around the world hear, come with a few unfortunate side effects.

Because the implants also consist of external parts (the mic, a speech processor, and a radio transmitter coil) worn rather conspicuously behind the ear, users are often unable to swim or wear helmets comfortably, must fully rely on a microphone exposed to the elements, and have to deal with appearing at least somewhat handicapped.

So an electrical engineer at the University of Utah has developed a prototype that moves all these external parts into the middle ear, allowing cochlear implants to … Read more

Microsoft forges ahead with new home-automation OS

More than a decade ago, Microsoft execs, led by Chairman Bill Gates, were touting a future where .Net coffee pots, bulletin boards, and refrigerator magnets would be part of homes where smart devices would communicate and interoperate. Microsoft hasn't given up on that dream.

In 2010, Microsoft researchers published a white paper about their work on a HomeOS and a HomeStore -- early concepts around a Microsoft Research-developed home-automation system. Those concepts have morphed into prototypes since then, based on a white paper, "An Operating System for the Home," published this month on the Microsoft Research site. … Read more

Tracking diseases using Google Maps and cell phones

Many of us have relied on rapid diagnostic tests at one time or another, whether it's testing for pregnancy, blood glucose levels, or strep throat.

But while dropping fluid samples on a small strip for near-instantaneous results is affordable and convenient, reading results using the human eye means there is the potential for, well, human error.

So researchers at UCLA have taken the human out of the equation as much as possible and developed a digital "universal" reader for all rapid diagnostic tests, or RDTs, that requires no translation of results.

In the journal Lab on a … Read more

3D X-ray provides window into heart health

Researchers at the University of Liverpool say they have developed a new imaging technique that will help them identify, and thus analyze, tissue fibers in the heart that control whether the muscle beats regularly.

Using a micro CT scanner, the team imaged hearts whose tissue had been highlighted using iodine. The scientists discovered that certain tissue -- the conducting tissue that sends an electrical wave to trigger each heartbeat -- absorbed less of the solution than the muscular tissue.

This contrast made it easier to identify which tissue was producing electrical activity in 3D, which has until this study had … Read more

Neil deGrasse Tyson: Going to Mars vital to future of U.S.

Neil deGrasse Tyson was born the same week in 1958 that NASA was founded. Luck of the draw, perhaps, but the stars clearly have been aligned for a man who today is America's most famous astrophysicist (not to mention director of New York's prestigious Hayden Planetarium).

In recent years, Tyson has also taken on the role of popular educator -- if not public intellectual -- making the case for bigger national investment in space exploration and research. The thrust of his argument is that the pursuit of bold "space adventures" would have the salutary side effect … Read more

Plucking cancer cells from blood via microfluidics

Researchers at Harvard and Children's Hospital Boston have teamed up to create a microfluidic device that harvests and cultures circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood samples.

Such cells are shed by primary tumors and circulate in the bloodstream. They sometimes cause metastases, or new recurrences of cancer distant from the original tumor. As such, these cells can shed important light on how far a given cancer has progressed, how that particular patient might respond to drugs and other treatments, and more.

Reporting in the journal Lab on a Chip, the team describes its approach as combining microfluidics and micromagnetics … Read more

Samsung thinks up mind-reading brain implant

Samsung has applied for a patent on an implantable medical device that can communicate physiological/pathological information with an "external device."

At last, an app to tell us when we're stressed, drunk, or asleep (states that typically occur in that order, at least for me).

Samsung envisions much more than just a pacemaker you connect to. The application includes a number of possible scenarios with sci-fi implications such as a brain implant to keep track of brainwaves (but certainly not embed subliminal messages about the superior quality of Samsung devices) and fingertip implants for motion detection. … Read more

iPavement adds apps to the ground beneath your feet

A Spanish company is hoping to put the word on the street inside the pavement under your feet, starting this summer. Via Inteligente plans to introduce intelligent "iPavement" at this year's International Building & Construction Show in Dubai.

The paving stones sport Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, their own operating system, apps, and sensors -- all with the goal of connecting with locals and passersby to push information ranging from local weather conditions and emergency alerts to maps and coupons for nearby businesses.

Via Inteligente's mission is to turn city streets into information platforms, and it has even gone so far as to develop its own Viacities OS (perhaps one day Viacities and iOS will go head-to-head, literally) to run its initial suite of apps, which it described for the first time in a release:… Read more

Text messages prompting people to get their flu shot

Only about half of kids ages 6 months to 17 years received the flu shot in the 2010-2011 season, which may be one reason influenza remains one of the most common causes of hospitalization among kids today, according to a study in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

So researchers from Columbia University and beyond tested an intervention program on a randomized control trial of more than 9,000 kids of that same age range at four community-based clinics in the United States, where more than 7,500 kids had not received the vaccine … Read more