Research is being carried out in my home town to see whether Bluetooth wireless technology is actually good for something more practical than spamming strangers at the pub with crude LOLcat pictures. [image by kalshassan]

In fact, the UK communications watchdog organisation Ofcom predicts Bluetooth and similar wireless technologies could save lives. For example, heart attack patients could be fitted with in-body sensors which would remind them when to take their medications (if it noticed they hadn’t already), or put in a call to a doctor or the ambulance service if it detected the patient had collapsed.

Hardly an unfamiliar idea to science fiction habitués – but it’s interesting to note how real-world experience with these sorts of technologies has shown us the potential flaws that the fiction missed. I mean, if I was relying on wireless technology to keep me alive, I’d want a much more reliable uptime rate from my ISP’s DNS servers.

[Hat tip to Ed Ashby]