Lifeboat Foundation

Way cool! Your stitches monitors and reports your progress to your doctor/s.

BTW — In 1999, I told a guy from Diamond Intl. that the thread in our clothing would be able to do this in the next 15 to 20 years. He laughed at me; never say never.

For the first time, researchers led by Tufts University engineers have integrated nano-scale sensors, electronics and microfluidics into threads — ranging from simple cotton to sophisticated synthetics — that can be sutured through multiple layers of tissue to gather diagnostic data wirelessly in real time, according to a paper published online July 18 in Microsystems & Nanoengineering. The research suggests that the thread-based diagnostic platform could be an effective substrate for a new generation of implantable diagnostic devices and smart wearable systems.

Continue reading “‘Smart’ thread collects diagnostic data when sutured into tissue” »

Personally, I wouldn’t state that tech got the whole wearables wrong; its more been operated in a mode of experimentation with the public in an order to perfect the technology. I believe we’re now on a track to broaden this technology to accommodate more consumers on multiple levels such as business travelers may wish to have suits and bus attire that self cleans and can (when your wearing and biosensor is activated) be leveraged to store your id information or when you’re processed through airports instead of having to juggle for your license/ passport.

The key to unlocking the $150 billion wearables market is textiles not silicon.

Better tactile capabilities, not just vision, will let robots grasp any object.

Perfect; I actually was thinking about robots as personal trainers and sparring partners for boxers. I love boxing as a workout and had thought about having a robot as a sparring partner as well as my weight/ strength training.

BTW — another concept is to build into the weight training machines AI technology to assist users. Think about if the machine sensors that the users’ muscle is about to strain that the machine takes the weight off or lightens the weight on the user of the equipment. And, if the machine senses that the person is about to have an heart attack, etc. that the equipment contacts 911, etc.

Trials of a prototype robot for sports therapy have just begun in Singapore, to create a high quality and repeatable treatment routine to improve sports recovery, reducing reliance on trained therapists.

Continue reading “Robot therapist hits the spot with athletes” »

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have combined tissues from a sea slug with flexible 3D printed components to build “biohybrid” robots that crawl like sea turtles on the beach.

A muscle from the slug’s mouth provides the movement, which is currently controlled by an external electrical field. However, future iterations of the device will include ganglia, bundles of neurons and nerves that normally conduct signals to the muscle as the slug feeds, as an organic controller.

The researchers also manipulated collagen from the slug’s skin to build an organic scaffold to be tested in new versions of the robot.

Continue reading “Crawling robot built from sea slug parts and a 3D printed body” »

Few of us really understand the weird world of quantum physics – but our bodies might take advantage of quantum properties.

A team of researchers has overcome a key challenge — how to build a quantum computer that is capable of functioning at room temperature.

Niels Bohr Institute researchers develop optical magnetic field sensor that detects signals from nervous system at room and body temperature.

The warning from QuintessenceLabs’ CTO John Leisoboer is stark. “When sufficiently powerful quantum computers become generally available,” he says, “it’s guaranteed to break all existing cryptographic systems that we know of.”

In other words, he adds, “Everything that we’re doing today will be broken.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by Google’s Chrome security software engineer Matt Braithwaite who wrote in a blog post earlier this month that “a hypothetical, future quantum computer would be able to retrospectively decrypt any internet communication that was recorded today”.

Continue reading “Can we find a quantum-resistant algorithm before it’s too late?” »