Medi-tech / H+: Artificial muscles of carbon nanotubes; Hope for muscular dystrophy patients

Carbon nanutubes artificial muscles close-up shot

A team of medical scientists developed a new way to build artificial muscles out of carbon nanotubes. Although the innovatively created artificial muscles have not yet been tested on animal models, they are a very promising development we certainly have to keep our eyes on, especially those suffering from muscular diseases like Fybromyalgia, Polymyositis and Myopathy. Being ultra-light and considerably stronger and more powerful than natural human muscles, 85 times more pound for pound and able to lift over 100,000 times their own weight. Isn't that impressive?!

The strength of these artificially made muscles is hidden in a technique of twisting and coiling of the carbon nanotubes, compressing a whole lot of energy into a small volume. The nanotubemuscles are coated with parafin. When heated, that substance causes the carbon nanotube yarn toexpand, causing more coiling and shortening the strands. Heat can be applied to the parafin using different methods, including shining a light orstimulating it with electrical current. Here�s video of Dr. Ray Baughman, team lead of the project, explaining the workings of the artificial muscles:

Dettol's touch-less soap dispenser

Dettol No-Touch Hand Wash
Soap Dispenser System

Not quite a new kid on the block, but still well-worth of an article is trhe Dettol No-Touch soap dispenser, a sleekly designed product that allows consumers to enjoy touch-less washing of hands in the comfort of their own home. Sensor-equipped automatic soap dispensers are already in use in many public environments such as airports, shopping malls and train stations, but it's the first time that a similar product is actually meant for the home-use market. And it has even been shortlisted for a 2013 Design Effectiveness Award, which recognizes designs and campaigns that make a clear contribution to the commercial success in the global consumer market.

Industrial design group Kinneir Dufort, which created the no-touch for Dettol, stands out among the various brand agencies on the shortlist due to the success of the hand-wash system.

Medi-tech / H+: Bionic eye implants in sight

How does a bionic eye work?

One day in the past, bionic eyes were popularly thought to be the creation of the world of science fiction. Nowadays though many consortia of scientists, eye-specialists and tech-companies are developing bionic eyes for real. Medi-tech (medical technology) experts in Germany have recently developed a nano-chip that helps regain the sight of potentially hundreds of thousands of blind and severely visually impaired people or those with developing degenerative eye diseases such as Retinitis Pigmentosa.

Bionic eye of the future

In Australia, the "cyber-eye" is being developed and in the United Kingdom, a 48-electrode bionic eye has meanwhile been approved for the European market. The US has now as well followed suir with the approval of a 80 electrode bionic eye. As we move ever closer to real satisfactory bionic eye implants, those that allow us to see in great detail (focus vision) as well as spacial vision, bionic eyes become more and more interesting as commercial investments.

This is how someone with
Retinitis Pigmentosa would
typically see the world.
(referred to as "tunnel vision"

For true realistic bionic vision we would be looking at some kind of artificial eye implant with at least some 2056 electrodes which would be used all in once for wide-view mode and at the same time being able to use less electrodes for focal vision. Consider for a moment that a "normal" well-functioning eye has around 128 million photo-receptive cells (120 million rods, 6 million cones and 2 million ganglion cells) that receive light-impulses and redirect those to the brain via 1 to 2 million axons within the optic nerve. Although only some 20% of all this incoming data is translated into the actual vision we consciously experience, it is still a far way out of reach of current technological capabilities. It would mean we are still a few hundred-fold away from where we should be heading.

Retinal implants enable a partial restoration of the vision of some 200,000 people worldwide with RP, and potentially one in ten people over the age of 55 with age-related macular degeneration. The experimental chip has been tested on three men with astonishing results. Watch the YouTube video below for more:

Cars: Honda Micro Commuter EV; transformable for different uses

Electric micro-cars are steadily trending. Smart has the ForTwo Electric Drive, Toyota the iQ EV, and now Honda is coming up with the all-electric Micro Commuter prototype.

Honda Micro Commuter EV

What new about Honda�s micro city car is its platform and size. It iss built on top of their Variable Design Platform, which houses the battery, control unit and a 15 kilo-Watt engine. It�s a �skateboard� design, allowing multiple interior and exterior configurations, with a removable and customize-able body. If you desire a sporty 2-seat targa-top convertible one day and a small pickup the next, the Honda Micro Commuter has your needs covered.

The Micro Commuter has a top speed of about 80 km/h and a 100 km range with a fully charged battery. A full charge takes 3 hours, and drivers can also sync up their smartphone or phablet and use them as a battery meter or navigation system.

How to access Internet through Text message in India

Dear friends! This trick works only in India. Sometimes it happen that you are using very simple mobile set like Nokia 1100, 1200, 1600 and any other similar handsets whish do not support GPRS or any other means to access Internet. Sometimes, you may not have working Internet plan in your phone.

Read more �

Medi-tech: VitaScan LT USB Bladder Scanner

The VitaScan LT USB bladder
scanner; small and easy

Vitacon, a Norway based company in the medi-tech / bio0tech industry, has received clearance for the VitaScan LT USB bladder scanner to be used in the US market. The VitaScan LT is a handheld 3D ultrasound probe that connects to a PC, laptop or tablet. It enables real-time bladder volume measurement in clinics, care-centers and for private use.

The bladder's volume measurement is an almost full-automatic process and can be done within a matter of seconds. One is only required to hold the small scanner on the right place. Both a 3D image and the calculated volume are displayed. Storage of images, records and reports can be found in the PC / tablet or directly on the scanner.

Philips Xenium W832: Dual-SIM Android with Excellent Battery Performance

For a long time it does not heard at competitive mobile market, Philips is now again present the latest Android smartphone.

The device has a full name Philips Xenium W832, as reported by GSMArena, comes with a 4.5-inch qHD screen size, operating system Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, as well as dual-SIM capability with one of them would support for 3G networks.

Performance Philips Xenium W832 will be supported by a dual-core processor chip MTK 1GHz speed. Additionally, the new smartphone was announced 'Philips' it will also come with attractive specifications, including resolution of 8 MP camera, 4GB internal memory, Wi-Fi connectivity, GPS, Bluetooth, and a MicroSD card slot.

Philips claims that the battery used for the new smartphone will have the ability to use up to 11 hours of talk time and 9 hours when used for browsing the internet. The battery capacity of 2400 mAh that will offer up to 683 hours of standby time, although both SIM cards active.

When this smartphone will be released to the market and at what price, unfortunately not known at this time.