Putting sensors into brains is a difficult and dangerous process, in some cases requiring tethers to keep track of them or invasive surgery (with infection risk) to remove them, hence the development of this small dissolvable device to relay data then disappear when it is done.

The transient sensors can measure pressure, temperature, pH, motion, flow, and specific biomolecules, transmitting their results wirelessly back to doctors. Proposed and tested (so far in rats) by Rory Murphy of Washington University School of Medicine and John Rogers’ group at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the system employs a biodegradable, silicon-based material that can be coated with materials that break down at different rates, allowing variable lifespans for sensors.

Currently, the devices can last for days in various biofluids, then dissolve harmlessly when the coatings wear through. Dissolvable molybdenum wires are used to make wireless transmission possible. Next steps include: optimization, further testing and ultimately clinical trials – the creators hope to have these in non-test humans within the next few years.

The post Dissolving Electronics to Monitor Brain Then Melt Away first appeared on Gajitz.

Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, is an affliction that causes depression during the time of year when the days are shorter and there is less sunlight. But office workers who sit in little cubicles with no natural light all day are prone to developing similar sun-starved attention to matter the time of year.

A system called Light Bandit is on the cusp of revolutionizing our daily sunlight consumption. Developed by product development company ThinkTekk, the Light Bandit looks simple but uses some really clever technology to transport actual sunlight to the far inner reaches of a building.

To use the Light Bandit, you place a box about the size of a window fan in your window. Mirrors collect sunlight all day. Sciencey things happen inside, and then the sunlight is carried via optical fibers to anywhere in the building (as long as it’s within 30 feet of the window – a limitation we hope will be overcome with future development). You just plug one end of the tube into the box and lead the other end to any place you need a little sunshine.

The end of the fiber can be plugged into a special light fixture – one that resembles a fluorescent light or one that resembles a bulb – to illuminate it with the power of the sun. The light fixtures never get hot like regular bulbs so they are completely safe. Absolutely no electricity is used at any point in the Light Bandit system.

A room illuminated with the Light Bandit looks just like it’s lit with natural light from a window. The reason for that is simply because it is real, actual sunlight that’s been carried to a new location. Internal filters remove the heat-generating infrared waves and harmful UV waves so there’s no danger in using Light Bandit fixtures.

One of the drawbacks of the Light Bandit is that it can’t keep the light shining after the sun has gone down – but you wouldn’t get that sitting near an actual window, anyway. The gadget gives you a daily dose of sunlight that you might not otherwise have access to, maybe staving off SAD or at least the driving desire to go sunbathe near the office windows when you should be working. The company is currently looking for funding on Kickstarter for their first large production run.

The post Here Comes the Sun: Transmit Sunlight to Windowless Rooms first appeared on Gajitz.

When you see someone with their finger in their ear, you tend to think they look dumb. But they could be using conceptual technology that allows them to listen to audio through their finger. A researcher for Disney has developed a whimsical way to transmit sound.

Ivan Poupyrev’s idea is called Ishin-Den-Shin (Japanese for “what the mind thinks, the heart transmits.”) It uses the human body to transmit sound from a handheld microphone. The mic immediately begins recording when the user speaks, converting the audio into a high-voltage but low-current signal. When the person touches someone’s ear, the recorded audio is heard.

Poupyrev was inspired by two previous projects: a functional touchscreen that you can feel and a device that allows you to feel texture on ordinary objects. It’s not surprising that the idea of transforming normal objects into interactive sound devices comes from Disney.

The post Want to Hear a Secret Message? Put a Finger in Your Ear first appeared on Gajitz.