Latest Inventions

posted by admin on Dec 24

The University of Western Ontario has received a $200,000 grant to find out!

There has long been the idea that sensors in contact lenses could help to identify certain medical conditions including diabetes.  In the latter it could be of use if it kept changing color when sugar levels rise or fall in the body and other conditions could be monitored in a similar way.

There is much debate over whether this is of real use to everyday adults with the condition - and many people have commented that they don’t want other people to know they have an illness by using the color change lenses.  However, there is overwhelming support for it’s use in less able individuals who need home support or other forms of care - as a much better alternative to test needles.

And, it is just in contact lenses at the moment - so a normal sighted individual would have to start wearing plain lenses.  But, as technology advances, this could be moved to other areas of the body which are easy to monitor (it’s tricky to see your own eyes) and easier to apply (have you ever tried to get lenses out of your eyes when you aren’t a lens wearer?).

The Big Idea:
Put simply, the fluid secreted from your tear ducts to moisten your eyes can be analyzed for sugar levels and therefore be used to indicate your blood sugar level.

More technically, the use of extremely small nano-particles embedded into the material of the lens will allow for a chemical reaction with the blood sugars secreted by the body allowing for a color change to occur across the whole surface of the lens.

Therefore, the sufferer does not have to repeatedly test their blood sugar levels with a needle testing kit to make sure they are not about to become gravely ill - they just look in a mirror! 

Obviously, diabetes is just one of many conditions that this technology could benefit, but it is one of the world biggest health issue affecting around 220 million people worldwide according to WHO so this technology could save many lives - as around 500 people a day die of the condition.

Imagine if just a quick glance at your friend could save their life! 

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posted by admin on Nov 16

Right, here we go with a fun-packed Latest Inventions Autumn Blog Carnival;

John Laugherton starts us off with a short article in the Top 50 Web Design Resource Blogs for those of your in the industry, and Katy Unitek takes us to another industry - the renewable energy industry with her post: Moving Away from Oil-Powered Energy - Boots on the Roof

Next we have an interview with an inventor: so Surbhi Bhatia offers us An Interview with Dr. Iqbal Ahmed, Creator of World’s Smallest Steam Engine.

Squeezed in next is the obligatory iTunes link, this month from Linda Jones: 100 Awesome iTunes Feeds for Every Kind of Teacher

Next we have a few posts that may or may not be of interest to everyone, but they offer up some ideas that others might no have thought of, so please give them a look:  First we have some speculative but interesting science from Mike with his Brain-Computer Interface and the Wireless Neurosociety article.

Then, Carolyn Friedman gives those starting out a college a very impressive list of 75 + Useful Web Tools for Your First Year of College, followed by some ebook dilemmas from Marco Gustafsson who offers us both: Know More about EBooks and E-Book Readers and E-Ink: their Past, Present and Future.

And tagged on at the end is a very thorough article detailing the pros and cons of the new Hero Sprint technology by Adam Pittaway: HTC Hero (Sprint).

See you in December!

posted by admin on Aug 6

Want to save ink without having to shrink the font size?

Well, now you can reduce the amount of ink you use when printing normal-size fonts by using a special ‘perforated’ lettering technique.

This new Ecofont has been designed by a Dutch marketing firm to save ink without shrinking your advertising to the size of a thimble!

How Does It Work?
Basically at small sizes - such as a normal 10-font size - the printing just looks a bit paler than any other normal text, such as Tahoma. However, the secret of this potentially massive money-saving ink-reducing eco-advance can only be seen when you blow up the font size to larger sizes like 32.

Then you see that it is full of holes!

Basically someone has gone through all the letters, numbers and symbols with a tiny cookie cutter and the resulting ‘holey’ print can save a fifth of the usual ink needed for basic home printing needs.

I can’t believe nobody thought of this sooner!

Scaled up- Spranq - the company involved in this eco-invention - reckon that a company with 5000 employers could save around $125,000 per year! That is a lot of savings - and not a lot of ink cartridges to replace!

Scaled down - it would certainly be suitable for printing general stuff off the Internet like road directions or receipts and product details. Work emails can be printed off without the added costs that bosses normally moan about and kids can print out their homework without their parents giving them grief about the money!

It Has Limitations, Of Course…
…but this Ecofont isn’t designed for massive posters and street-side adverts.

Nor would it be appropriate for job applications and legal documents - but it is certainly and great idea for the home, school and small businesses - and could still be part of the recession-proofing of many larger companies who would rather cut back on ink than staff!

Download yours now for free at ecofont.eu and pass on the word!

posted by admin on Jul 16

Hello and welcome to another great Latest Inventions Carnival.

This month we have quite a selection of everything really - with a few odd ones in amongst them.

So to start, Margaret Garcia offers some tips for space lovers with her best 100 Amazing Online Tools to Learn About Outer Space!

Then we hop to an interview with an inventor! 00FF00 takes us off for an Interview with Tom Lawton, inventor of the Firewinder! Maybe some great tips there for budding newbies.

Rod Presnell next with his take on the Best Fishing Net Born Of Frustration - another great inventor?

A light-hearted look here at some weird takes on the standard keyboard. I’ve seen a few ‘different’ versions but switch2life goes into more detail with some great images of Strange Keyboard Designs.

GrrlScientist to follow with some amazing advances in science with an interview with a scientist - TEDTalks: Robert Full Tells Us What He Learned from the Gecko’s Tail.

Ishan @ ILoveFreeSoftware makes it all sound so easy with simple directions on How to Setup Virtual Fax Machine for Free

followed by the final entry this month from Steve Faber. He tells us all about a new remote control with his article Crestron Set to Release New Remote - the TPMC-3X

Happy reading! And see you next time.

posted by admin on Jul 6

It sounds rather odd to me - but scientists think this could be the way forward!

Bearing in mind that world food shortages are expected - and meat-eaters are getting the blame - this could be a great invention!

Although, would you be so convinced to eat it?  But could it be any worse than what they put in sausages already?

Who Is Inventing This Anyway?
There is a race of sorts - so there are players from all over the world.  Jason Matheny is a University of Maryland doctoral student who co-authored a paper on in vitro meat techniques expaining it - and recent books have shown an acceptance of other man-made meat-substitutes in the vegetarian market.   So, the race was on!

This area of medical science is normally focused on growing tissue to use in human heart surgery - but they are hoping to scale it up! Professor Post is a specialist in tissue engineering and angiogenesis - the growth of new blood vessels - and is part of project aiming to produce muscle tissue outside of an animal in Europe.

However the ultimate aim is to produce meat for commercial purposes on a huge scale without the whole farming part!  No more cute cows in fields - or lambs in spring!

How Are They Doing It?
Using biotechnology already available for growing cultures of mammal muscle cells, the team are trying to generate greater growth and better cellular bonding.  At the moment the ‘meat’ is more like soggy muscle tissue and has the appearance of a sort of pink jello!

They will need to apply an electrical current to the tissues to get them to grow - as they need to be exercised just like on the body.  Basically mammal muscles need to be flexed and used over and over to produce more muscle - just like pumping iron at the gym increases your own muscle size.

However, this is where the progress is halted - it just doesn’t seem to be so easy to get them to work-out!  But they are not giving up - the red meat market was quoted by Mintel as being worth over $61 billion last year in the US alone! So it’s worth sticking with!

Why Are They Doing It?
Well, apart from the above financial gains - it will allow countries to use their land to grow other crops - like corn for the growing bio-fuel industry.

There is also a growing world food deficit.  Writers are saying that there is simply not enough fertile land available to grow enough food for our ever-growing population.  With all the land saved for livestock being released for grains and oil crops - that balance could change.

It could also remove the risks involved with the health of the animals involved, and any pathogens that they might pass on to humans in the process.  It could also reduce the need for communities in developing countries from trapping ‘bush-meat’ and risking not only their health but also their environment.

Other Environmental & Ethical Benefits:
Cows release a lot of methane - and we all know that this a greenhouse gas that could increase global warming and speed up the effects of climate change.

Getting rid of the cows will lessen their impact.

Getting rid of the cows would also reduce the numbers of farmed animals that are trapped in our meat-industry.  And in-fact an animal rights company were behind a recent campaign to carry out this exact research - hoping to reduce animal suffering in intensive processing farms and abattoirs!

Conclusion:
Whatever the reasons, I don’t think it will be long before some form of this tissue will make it’s way into the food chain - whether as a processed protein ingredient in pet foods or livestock feed.

To get into the human food chain, there will need to a lot more tests and advances - and they are aiming at the non-meat looking foods - sausage, dipper and nugget!  I think it will be some while before you eat a test-tube steak!