This is one of those emerging technologies that has the potential to be a game changer – the ability to print three-dimensional objects. A recent news story brought to my attention how far this technology has come so far. Belgium surgeons have recently (this past June, although they just announced it) implanted an artificial jaw into an 83 year old woman. The jaw is made from titanium and was created with a 3-D printing process.

The process of creating the jaw involved “printing” thin 2-D layers and then combining them:

“It used a laser beam to melt successive thin layers of titanium powder together to build the part.

“This was repeated with each cross section melted to the previous layer. It took 33 layers to build 1mm of height, so you can imagine there were many thousand layers necessary to build this jawbone.”

There are multiple advantages to this technology over other forms of crafting 3-D objects. Digital design is nothing new, but of course this process benefits from the ability to design a part with software, make it perfect, and then craft it. For surgically implantable parts this also allows for the use of CT scan or MRI scans to precisely design parts of the exactly correct size and shape. Using the layering process also allows for complex internal structure, like grooves and holes, that some methods cannot create.

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I love the X-Prize concept, and I love the concept of a Star Trek style tricorder – so both in one is awesome squared.

At the Consumer Electronics show in Vega, Qualcomm announced their tricorder X-prize – $10 million dollars for the first group to produce a device that weighs less than 5 pounds and is capable of non-invasively sensing a variety of health metrics (like temperature and blood pressure) and diagnosing 15 diseases.

The details are not available yet, and the specific rules for this contest have not been formalized. I am particularly interested in what the requirements will be, for the sensors to be either remote, allow direct contact to the subject, or will it also allow any invasive techniques, like drawing blood or other fluid.

It seems that one key feature will be that all of the diagnostic modalities have to be contained in one small (5 pound limit) device, but that device can have as many components as necessary.

A few thoughts come to mind:

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I fly a few times a year, mostly to conferences. There is a certain amount of tedious routine to flying now – at check-in you have to bring your own bag over to the security scanner, then you have to make your way through the gauntlet of security and hope that you are not randomly selected for further screening, or that you forgot about that tube of toothpaste in your carry-on. Once you make your way to the gate you have to listen for your zone, and once on the plane there is the struggle to find good overhead space to stow your stuff. If traveling in a group there is often the game of musical chairs to see who will sit next to whom, and if traveling alone there is the minor anxiety about the personal characteristics of the people sitting next to you. Add a couple of children to the experience and the complexity of the whole operation increases significantly.

Once I settle into my seat all I want to do is lose myself in some activity, inevitably involving a personal electronic device, and let the hours of airline captivity pass as quickly as possible. I read books on an e-reader, play games, listen to podcasts or music, or watch movies on my iPad or iPod, or even my Android cell phone. Occasionally (depending on how long the flight is) I might even whip out my laptop, expanding my electronic options further.

It is therefore highly annoying and inconvenient when the flight attendant makes their rounds prior to liftoff to tell me to turn off all electronic devices – all the way off. Airline mode is not sufficient. My annoyance is increased by the fact that I seriously doubt this is truly necessary. Sure – it’s only 5-10 minutes on takeoff, and the last 10-15 prior to landing, but it is an unwelcome interruption to my electronic distractions. I can only flip through Sky Mall so many times as an alternate.

So a recent Scientific American article on the topic caught my interest. They outline what we know and don’t know about the use of personal electronic devices (PED) on airplanes. I did some digging and found the same information everywhere I looked. It seems everyone is getting their information from the FAA. Here is a summary of what I found:

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The BBC reports on a field trial of LED light (light emitting diodes) that is, pardon the pun, glowing. I agree with many of the points made, but there is a distinct lack of pointing out the current downsides to LEDs.

LEDs have many advantages. The bulbs can now be made to produce white light. The study reports that generally the reaction to the kind of light put out by the LED fixtures was positive – more like daylight. I don’t think this is a function of LED technology, however. Incandescent bulbs come in several varieties, such as soft light or harsher light, and you can generally find one that you like. Compact fluorescent bulbs do not have as much variety in the color or softness of the light they produce, and some people find them a bit harsh.

It seems that the LED fixtures that were put into place were brighter than the bulbs they replaced, so people could have been responding to the increase in brightness rather than the color of the light. I purchased a few LED bulbs to see what they were like. I find the color of the white light to be acceptable, certainly not a barrier to use.

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From Emil Håkansson, a listener of my podcast, the SGU, comes this e-mail, with a translation of a story in Swedish:

“Electric allergy could render Mora without mobile- and tv-signal
Masts could be re-angled

A zone without mobile- and tv-coverage could become a reality in Mora.
The enviromental office want to force the mobile- and tv-operators to re-angle the masts, in consideration of Dan Bengtsson, 62 – who claims to be allergic to electricity.
- I get dizzy, nauseated and headaches, he says to Aftonbladet.

The joint enviromental office of Mora and Orsa counties want to take to drastic measures. Mobile operators and radio- and TV-distributor Teracom (owned by state, translators note) is according to the suggestion forced to re-angle the position of their masts to create a radiation free zone.

Protective suit in silver

According to Dan Bengtsson himself the headaches, back-problems and heart tinglings is due to his allergy against electricity and that the mobile net has been expanded. Against the radiation he wears a protective suit, in a special silver fabric, from time to time.
- It looks a bit like a space suit and is sown in protective fabric. It cushions somewhat, but not completely.
[...]”

It is a long part about his daily problems, same problems that you always hear about this kind of thing, amongst other things he states that he thinks he caught it from working as an electrical engineer at an electric company in 1992. But it continues with this:

”
In 2006 he sent in a citizen suggestion to the county, to achieve a radiation-free zone in Venjan (the village where he lives, translators comment).

“Red in the face”
The suggestion was well received. The county refers to the Enviromental Code.
- We work according to the precautionary principle and sees this as a good suggestion, says enviromental board director Hans Nalbom (S) (the (S) stands for his political party, social democrats, translators comment.)

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It’s just a matter of time. The cyborg revolution is coming (although I won’t dare to make specific predictions about the timeline).

All the necessary basic principles have been demonstrated. We can train animals and people to operate either a robotic or virtual actuator with their thoughts alone. We can trick the brain into occupying a virtual body or “owning” an artificial limb. And now we can even provide specific sensory feedback directly to the brain – so called Brain-Machine-Brain-Interface (BMBI – I wonder if the researchers are calling it “Bambi”).

Just published in Nature Magazine is research involving rhesus monkeys that were taught to control a virtual arm with their thoughts alone. This much has been done before – various research teams are working on this technology, either involving implantable electrodes or surface electrodes. The new research, however, adds a new dimension – providing sensory feedback to the monkeys.

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A cool study has been published in Science detailing the development of an electronic second skin. Zhenqiang Ma details the technological problems and potential solutions to developing electronics that are thin and flexible, like human skin, and in fact can be placed on the skin for medical purposes.

We have seen this type of technology coming for some years – the promise of flexible electronics. Silicon chips are fine, but when you can bend a transistor that opens up a lot of potential uses.

Ma details the properties that are needed for second-skin electronics. Flexible electronics having many possible uses, such as artificial skin for robots. But if you want to attach flexible electronics to human skin for medical monitoring you need additional features:
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You’re driving down the road when the car in front of you suddenly slams on the breaks. You see their break lights go on followed by the car rapidly getting closer to you and filling your visual field. Your brain registers what is happening and immediately plans a motor response in reaction – take your foot off the gas and apply pressure to the brake. Your car then screeches to a halt – but will it stop quickly enough to avoid colliding with the car in front of you?

A recent study looks at the ability to predict when a driver is about to brake in an emergency breaking situation. They used a driving simulator and monitored the gas pedal, the brake, the muscle activity in the subjects’ legs (EMG), the speed of the car, the distance to the car in front, and the EEG activity (electrical brain activity) of the driver. What they found is not surprising, but quantifies the time intervals involved.

The EEG reveals that the visual stimulus is recognized first, followed by the intention to perform a motor action (240 ms – miliseconds). Then the motor action begins (335 ms), resulting in stopping the gas (430 ms) and then applying pressure to the brake (595 ms). There is actually a range of figures for each event, based upon the accuracy of prediction. The longer you wait, and the more data you gather, the higher the accuracy. Predictive accuracy of >95% was generally achievable using information from EMG and EEG. To boil it all down, the authors estimate that a system using EMG and EEG can predict a driver’s intention to brake in an emergency setting 130 ms prior to when they would actually brake. This potentially could result in a 3.66 meter shorter breaking distance, which can mean the difference between a crash and near miss in many cases.

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I am fascinated by the quirkiness with which science is communicated to the public, and specifically the way the media filters and presents science. For example, there are a limited number of hooks used to sell science stories. The formula is as follows: take any scientific discovery and ask, “how will this discovery affect or interest the average person.” Then you find some holy-grail type problem or some iconic futuristic application and make any connection you can to it – no matter how tenuous.

Some of these science-journalism cliches are now familiar to all of us. Every fossil find has to be a “missing link.” If a connection can be made to human evolution, no matter how far removed from our tiny branch, then that connection will be pointed out. Every advance in virology might someday lead to a “cure for the common cold.” Similarly, any biological advance with the slightest possible connection will someday lead to a “cure for cancer.”  There is also the fairly recent addition – any advance in metamaterials will lead to the development of a “Harry Potter-like invisibility cloak.” The goal is to get the phrases in quotations into the headline of the article at all costs.

I believe there is another similar science journalism cliche in the making – relating any computing advance to the development of artificial intelligence or “brain-like” computing. The connection is not always unreasonable, but the catch phrases are key.

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I was recently pointed to this news report from a local Fox affiliate – about an inventor who has developed an engine that can burn water. This is a topic well-covered in skeptical and scientific circles. The inventor, Denny Klein, makes all the typical claims that are made for such systems.

Briefly – you cannot use water as a fuel source. What Klein is doing is using electricity to electrolyze water into hydrogen and oxygen. Then he burns the hydrogen gas back with oxygen, creating a flame and water. The news report begins with his demonstration of his “oxyhydrogen” torch. But then it goes on to claim that Klein can also use his technique to fuel a car. The problem with this approach is that it takes more energy to split the water into hydrogen and oxygen then is recouped by burning the hydrogen back with oxygen. Water is therefore not a source of energy. At best it is a source of hydrogen which can be used to store energy – but you have to put the energy into it in the first place. All Klein’s process adds is an unnecessary step that decreases engine efficiency.

Klein’s device is nothing new, and his crank claims for it only demonstrate his lack of Google skilz. In fact, the oxyhydrogen torch was the first type of welding torch developed. This technology is 200 years old – it was first developed by chemist, Robert Hare.

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