The mammalian nose is a powerful and sensitive organ – just ask your dog. That’s why an Israeli company have decided to mimic the olfactory organ in an ‘electronic nose’ that can be used to detect trace amounts of explosive materials, among other things. Yet another device for the street to find a use for …[Engadget]
Tag Archives: technology
The invisible cyborg hearing aid
Via Bruce Sterling – a high-tech hearing aid that can’t be seen in use, because it’s completely embedded into the user’s skull. That’s one hell of a body-modification … I hope by the time I’ve deafened myself with too many rock concerts they’ll be making a version with a mind-operated volume control.
Welcome to the United Kingdom of Ubiquitous Surveillance
Call me all the rude versions of “paranoid liberal” you want, but I’m getting very distressed at my homeland’s propensity for spying on its own citizens. The silent airborne surveillance drones I mentioned a while ago are now being used to maintain order at music festivals. And while you can argue that there’s a degree of reasonable logic to that, you can’t say the same for the school uniform manufacturer that is seriously considering producing a range of bugged clothing to enable parents to know where their kids are at all times. [Image by RightIndex]
I never realised that freedom was a finite resource; it would appear the failed efforts of our glorious leaders to export it to the Middle East have led to a major deficit at home. But hey, why worry? After all, if I’m doing nothing wrong, I have nothing to fear, right?
Right?
Lo-fi high-tech – scrapheap 3D printer from Russia
3D printing, fabbing, rapid prototyping … call it what you will, it’s a pricey cutting edge technology, right? Well, not necessarily – Bruce Sterling has spotted this Russian-made 3D printer built from lab junk. Looks like a similar idea to the Rep-Rap project.
Microfluidics – chemical electronics?
Wired has a report on the growing field of microfluidics – tiny devices that can sort and manipulate tiny droplets of liquid in ways analogous to electronic logic circuits, which have the potential to accelerate pharmacological research and the development of new medical treatments. [Image ganked from website of RainDance Technologies – please contact for take-down if required.]
Drugs aren’t just used for curing disease, though – one can only imagine the sort of illicit recreational substances that this technology will create once it becomes more common, and it will surely speed us toward the time when sports prowess is as much to do with the chemical augmentation of the participants as any inborn skill.