THE TECH-LICIOUS

"ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE" will likely match human intelligence in the next 30 years ,says robot expert

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img alt="AI will likely match human intelligence in the next 30 years, says robot expert" height="359" src="http://cdn4.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/other/Robot_human_stare-578-80.jpg" width="640" /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Will Smith's recurring nightmares about iRobot's Sonny may finally have subsided, but there's a good chance he'll be alive to come face to face with the real thing - according to one expert in the field of AI.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Murray Shanahan, professor of cognitive robots at Imperial College London, is working on deep learning in AI and believes there's a good chance that we'll see AI match human intelligence in the next 30 years.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"I would say the chances of it happening in my lifetime are better than fifty-fifty," he told TechRadar. "So within the next 30 years I would say better than fifty-fity that we'll achieve human-level AI."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">But while Siri and Google Now might be getting smarter by the day, Shanahan reckons there's a missing piece to the puzzle that we're yet to stumble upon. Once we've got it, things will develop a lot more quickly.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"The amazing thing about humans, and other animals as well, is that we're so adaptive. So that kind of general intelligence - we're a way off understanding how to achieve that artificial general intelligence, and I don't think anybody really knows what the missing pieces are," he said. "I think there's a trick that nature has discovered, that evolution has discovered, that we're not making the most of yet."</span></div>
<h3 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; letter-spacing: -0.5px; line-height: 1em; margin: 20px 0px 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"'More human than human' is our motto"</span></h3>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Shanahan said he's keeping a particularly close eye on what Google's up to, ever since it snapped up British artificial intelligence company DeepMind. And Google's certainly not the only one - companies like Facebook and Yahoo have also been scooping up AI experts.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"In AI there have been these cycles of hype and disappointment, and we're in a big of a hype phase at the moment with all these events such as DeepMind being purchased by Google for 400 million pounds. And a lot of people are working on the same technology that they're working on."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"Maybe this one will not be followed by disappointment. Maybe there's something in this, especially as we're seeing a lot of major corporations putting serious money into some of this stuff."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">One area that Shanahan feels has rapidly picked up recently is speech recognition. "It was really pretty crap for years and years. And then suddenly with statistical machine learning and a lot of cheap computation available, able to process huge amount of data, suddenly that has become very successful."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"I think speech recognition is pretty much there," he added. "But one of the reasons it's got better is because of the use of predictive technology. And that's because of the availability of huge amounts of data that it can learn from, so that's helped. Which is no doubt the way we work as well."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">SOURCE-<a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/ai-will-likely-match-human-intelligence-in-the-next-30-years-says-robot-expert-1256532" target="_blank">TECH RADAR</a></span></div>
</div>

"ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE" will likely match human intelligence in the next 30 years ,says robot expert

Will Smith's recurring nightmares about iRobot's Sonny may finally have subsided, but there's a good chance he'll be a...

This may be Samsung's VR headset

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img alt="This may be Samsung's VR headset" height="359" src="http://cdn0.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/games_consoles/Samsung%20Gear%20VR/Samsung%20VR%20headset%20SamMobile-578-80.jpg" width="640" /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We've heard it rumored before, but now Samsung's VR headset is showing its face. Maybe.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">SamMobile scored details and a render of the virtual reality peeper, called Gear VR, a name Samsung applied to trademark in June. The Samsung-centric site revealed the headset will be announced at IFA 2014.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Side note: The Galaxy Note 4 is also due during the German show, according to SamMobile.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Samsung apparently decided not make Gear VR a standalone virtual reality viewer, like the Oculus Rift, and instead developed a modular peripheral that needs a Galaxy handset (docked via USB 3.0) to function. The phone will also act as the headset's screen.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The effect of virtual reality is achieved through head tracking. Using the docked phone's accelerometer, gyroscope and processor and not its own sensors, the headset will give the sensation of VR.</span></div>
<h3 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; letter-spacing: -0.5px; line-height: 1em; margin: 20px 0px 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">More Gear VR details</span></h3>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">According to SamMobile, which doesn't state how it received the intel or render of Gear VR, the headset will feature an elastic strap and soft padded cushions.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">There's a "see-through button" on the right side of the headset that will reputedly use the docked phone's rear-facing camera to stream in video of the outside world. The idea, it seems, is to cut back on taking the headset on and off.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">A touchpad along the bottom of Gear VR is said to sit directly below the transparent button, and it will be used to maneuver through the phone's UI.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Many of these details were first reported by Engadget in May, and SamMobile is confirming them up as well as providing the image you see above. A new Engadget report has the site's sources saying the render is similar to though not quite the same as the Gear VR units they've seen.</span></div>
<h3 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; letter-spacing: -0.5px; line-height: 1em; margin: 20px 0px 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">A side of Oculus, and others</span></h3>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">According to SamMobile, a section of the Samsung Apps will be devoted to Gear VR, similar to its treatment of Gear smartwatch software. Apps such as Theatre, 360 Player and Gallery will be available for the headset, but Samsung will reportedly open an SDK for third-party developers soon after the initial Gear VR announcement.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">As was previously reported, Oculus is apparently lending a hand with Samsung Gear VR. While the hardware is all Samsung, the Rift maker is reportedly helping in the software development department.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">How similar the experience and content between the two virtual reality headsets are will be something to keep an eye on. It may not be too hard to compare since IFA falls just days before Oculus' first developer conference.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Gear VR's set-up - a plugged-in phone that acts as the brain of the headset - is similar to Google Cardboard, a DIY VR headset the company announced during IO 2014. Though of course, users won't be building their own Gear VR.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; width: 480px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">SOURCE-<a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/this-may-be-samsung-s-vr-headset-1256488" target="_blank">TECH RADAR</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>

This may be Samsung's VR headset

We've heard it rumored before, but now Samsung's VR headset is showing its face. Maybe. SamMobile scored details and a rende...

3D-printing gives Normal earphones a tailored fit

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img alt="The earform cap of the Normal earphones are 3D-printed to provide a snug fit" height="359" src="http://images.gizmag.com/hero/normal-3d-print-earphones.jpg" width="640" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">If you enjoy music on the move, there's a very good chance that you've been troubled by earphones popping out of your ears just as you're getting into the groove. There are high-end earphones or professional in-ear monitors available that require the buyer to pop along to an audiologist and go through an uncomfortable custom fit process to ensure the buds won't keep falling out as you run through the park or jump around the stage. Or you could look into having a custom set of earphones made. This is precisely what Normal founder Nikki Kaufman did, but the significant cost and long shipping delay she encountered prompted her to find another way. She came up with a way to tailor each pair of earphones to the wearer using a free mobile app and a 3D printer.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The process by which one obtains a pair of tailor-made premium earphones appears pretty straightforward. Using the Normal iOS/Android app, buyers line up each ear for a photo using a smartphone's camera. A coin (a US quarter) is placed near the ear so that the Normal software can determine scale. Then it's time for personalization of the earphones themselves.</span></div>
<div class="article_img" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; height: 297px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px auto 5px; padding: 0px; width: 529px;">
<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/normal-tailored-3d-printed-earphones/32890/pictures#1" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img alt="Using a free app, buyers snap a photo of each ear, customize the earphones and then purcha..." src="http://images.gizmag.com/inline/normal-3d-print-earphones-0.jpg" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="529" /></span></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The company reckons that there are over a thousand possible configurations, including a choice of colors for the earform caps. Once an order is placed and sent over an internet connection to Normal's "ear magicians," the company prints out the custom caps, adds a soft-touch coating, assembles the components and ships out the personalized units in as little as 48 hours.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The ABS/PC alloy driver housing is designed to face the concha, while the 3D-printed earform cap hooks under the antihelix, in a similar way to theBose StayHear tips. Normal says that a "personalized fit means the earphones stay comfortably in place, guaranteed." It's backing that up by offering to produce another set free of charge or refund payment if a customer is not completely satisfied with the fit or audio quality.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Normal says that users can look forward to top notch sound quality, though we'd have to hear them for ourselves to comment further. What we can tell you is that the earphones feature 14 mm neodymium dynamic drivers, have a frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz, 109 dB per mW sensitivity, a total harmonic distortion of less than 1 percent, and 32 Ohm impedance.</span></div>
<div class="article_img" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; height: 298px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px auto 5px; padding: 0px; width: 530px;">
<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/normal-tailored-3d-printed-earphones/32890/pictures#2" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img alt="Normal founder Nikki Kaufman with a pair of 'one-of-a-kind' tailored earphones" src="http://images.gizmag.com/inline/normal-3d-print-earphones-2.jpg" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="530" /></span></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The 1.13 m (3.7 ft) or 1.6 m (5.25 ft) cable includes a three-button device controller that's said to work with any smartphone (to play, pause, adjust volume or answer a call), and there's a gold plated 3.5 mm jack to plug into your audio player of choice.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The Normal earphones are priced at US$199 a pair, and come supplied with a laser-etched carry case. They're available in the US only for the moment, but international shipping is being considered.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">You can watch the somewhat creepy promo video below.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Source: <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/normal-tailored-3d-printed-earphones/32890/" target="_blank">gizmag</a></span></div>
<div class="article_video" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="298" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8tmhdOfIEqU" width="530"></iframe></span></div>
</div>

3D-printing gives Normal earphones a tailored fit

If you enjoy music on the move, there's a very good chance that you've been troubled by earphones popping out of your ears just...

Rocketskates let you walk or "motor"

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img alt="Rocketskates are worn over regular shoes " height="358" src="http://images.gizmag.com/hero/rocketskates-3.jpg" title="Rocketskates are worn over regular shoes " width="640" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Back in 2010, we first heard about inventor Peter Treadway's concept for powered wheeled footwear
 that also allowed the user to walk under their own power when desired. 
Two years later, the concept was the subject of a Kickstarter campaign, 
in the form of spnKiX
 motorized skates. Now, Treadway has returned to Kickstarter with an 
improved take on the original idea, known as Acton R Rocketskates.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Like spnKiX, Rocketskates are designed to be strapped on over regular
 footwear. When you want to let each skate's two hub motors do the work,
 you just tip your feet back so that only the rubber wheels make contact
 with the ground. Should you need to do something like climbing stairs, 
however, you tip forward and walk on the balls of your feet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Unlike spnKiX, however, Rocketskates aren't controlled via a remote 
control unit. Instead users start by picking a "lead" foot (the one that
 goes in front), turning both skates on, then waiting for them to 
wirelessly sync up with one another. Once they're synced, the user 
accelerates by tilting the lead skate forward, and decelerates by 
putting their heel down. The motors of the non-lead skate simply copy 
whatever those in the lead one are doing.</span><br />
<div class="article_img" style="height: 452px; width: 530px;">
<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/rocketskates-let-you-walk-or-motor/32879/pictures#2" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img alt="The user accelerates by tilting the lead skate forward, and decelerates by putting their h..." src="http://images.gizmag.com/inline/rocketskates.jpg" width="530" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Their maximum speed is 12 mph (19 km/h), and the range depends on the
 model chosen. The R6 will get you around 6 miles (9.7 km) or 45 minutes
 of use, the R8 is rated for 8 miles (12.9 km)/70 minutes, and the R10 
is reportedly good for 10 miles (16 km) or 90 minutes. For all models, a
 full charge of the lithium-ion batteries takes 1.5 hours.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Users can also do things like monitoring battery life, tracking routes and checking total mileage via an accompanying app.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">If they seem like your cup of tea, a pledge of US$249 will get a pair
 of R6s, with the R8s going for $499 and the R10s for $599 – when and if
 they reach production. Treadway's Acton company, incidentally, also 
brought us the collapsible electric M Scooter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The Rocketskates can be seen in action, in the pitch video below.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Source: <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/rocketskates-let-you-walk-or-motor/32879/" target="_blank">gizmag</a></span><br />
<br />
<div id="sharethis_container" style="margin: 20px 0;">
<span class="st_twitter_large" displaytext="Tweet" st_processed="yes" st_via="gizmag"><span class="stButton" style="cursor: pointer; display: inline-block;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span class="stLarge" style="background-image: url("http://w.sharethis.com/images/twitter_32.png");"></span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="article_video">
<iframe frameborder="0" height="398" scrolling="no" src="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/petertreadway/acton-r-rocketskates-worlds-first-smart-wearable-m/widget/video.html" width="530"> </iframe>
 </div>
</div>

Rocketskates let you walk or "motor"

Back in 2010, we first heard about inventor Peter Treadway's concept for powered wheeled footwear that also allowed the user to walk...

The future of birth control and drug delivery: Remote controlled implants that last for 16 years

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img alt="Microchips, drug dispensing implant contraceptive thing" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/drug-dispensing-contraceptive-chip-640x353.jpg" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">An MIT spin-off in Massachusetts, backed by the Gates Foundation, has developed a small, remote-controlled drug-dispensing implant that sits just under your skin. To activate the drug dispenser you simply press a button on a wireless remote control — and press it again to turn it off. Such an implant could be used to dispense a whole range of useful drugs — but in this case, one of the first commercial applications will be the contraceptive hormone <span style="color: black;">levonorgestrel, which is already used by a number of female birth control methods. A single implant can apparently provide enough levonorgestrel to be effective for 16 years; currently, no implanted contraceptive works for more than five years.</span></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The implanted device, developed by the rather unimaginatively named Microchips in Lexington, is 20mm (0.8in) square and 7mm thick. Contained within the device is a microchip (thus the company’s amazing name) that contains a series of drug reservoirs. This is where the magic occurs: Each reservoir is gated by a special titanium and platinum seal that temporarily melts when an electric current is applied, allowing the drug to seep out. Apparently the reservoirs are large enough to carry a 16-year supply of the hormonal contraceptive <span style="color: black;">levonorgestrel. </span></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<a href="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/technology_infographic.jpg" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img alt="Microchips implant drug dispensing infographic diagram thing" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-185874" height="504" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/technology_infographic.jpg" style="border-style: none;" width="384" /></span></a></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">If 16 years of continued contraception wasn’t cool enough, the implant can also be activated and deactivated wirelessly. So, the implant would continue to provide birth control — until you press a button on a remote control, in which case it would be turned off, and you could then get pregnant again. Sadly, exact details on how the implant actually works — most notably the wireless connectivity and the magical melting/re-forming seal — are fairly hard to come by. But, considering it’s based on tech that MIT pioneered way back in the late ’90s, and now the involvement of the Gates Foundation, presumably it all works as advertised.</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">So far, the Microchips implant has been successfully used to dispense drugs to osteoporosis patients. Now, with the Gates Foundation getting involved, the new contraceptive version of the implant is being developed. The current plan is to begin testing in 2015 and have it on the market by 2018. (Remember, the Gates Foundation is all about improving the quality of life for people living in developing countries, and reliable contraception is key to such an endeavor. Last year we wrote a fantastic story about the Foundation funding the creation of an impenetrable graphene condom…)</span></div>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_185875" style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; width: 650px;">
<a href="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/microchips-implant.jpg" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img alt="Microchips implant" class="size-large wp-image-185875" height="897" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/microchips-implant-640x897.jpg" style="border-style: none;" width="640" /></span></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; line-height: 15px; padding: 10px 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">An older Microchips implant (I think it measures around 5cm on the longest side.)</span></div>
</div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The obvious advantage of such a drug-dispensing implant is that it removes a large portion of the potential human error. Rather than having to take a pill every day, or visit a doctor for an injection every few months, the implant just sits there, dutifully dispensing drugs for 16 years. If you decide it’s the right time to get pregnant, just push the button. There’s no mention of it on the Microchips website, but presumably a male version could also be developed (though male hormonal contraceptives aren’t quite as developed yet as their female counterparts).</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">As with any medical implant, my mind readily races towards possible flaws and misuses of the Microchips technology. Obviously the wireless remote control is only useful if it remains in the hands of the woman with the implant. You also can’t rule out the possibility of outside actors remotely hacking the implant to turn it off — so the woman might think she’s protected, but isn’t. The possibilities get even scarier when you consider that these implants might eventually be used for other drugs, too. It was almost three years ago that we first discussed the lethal wireless insulin pump hack.</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Imagine a future, where everyone is equipped with a range of drug-dispensing implants that lay dormant until they’re needed. Feeling the onset of ‘flu? Just push a button to dispense some drugs. Got food poisoning? Push the button. Feeling down and need a quick boost of serotonin? Mmm, warm and fuzzy button. Need to kill someone quickly and remotely? Hack one of their drug dispensing implants.</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">SOURCE-<a href="http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/185871-the-future-of-birth-control-and-drug-delivery-remote-controlled-implants-that-last-for-16-years" target="_blank">EXTREAM TECH</a></span></div>
</div>

The future of birth control and drug delivery: Remote controlled implants that last for 16 years

An MIT spin-off in Massachusetts, backed by the Gates Foundation, has developed a small, remote-controlled drug-dispensing implant that...

iPhone 6's 4.7-inch sapphire crystal display tortured on video

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/article/57933-image/iPhone-6s-4.7-inch-sapphire-crystal-display-tortured-on-video.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img alt="iPhone 6's 4.7-inch sapphire crystal display tortured on video" border="0" src="http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/article/57933-image/iPhone-6s-4.7-inch-sapphire-crystal-display-tortured-on-video.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Earlier today, we showed you a video that seemingly confirmed the screen size of Apple’s next-generation iPhone (most likely called iPhone 6):
 4.7 inches. Now, two other videos showed up, this time allowing us to 
see that the alleged 4.7-inch iPhone 6 front panel is very durable, 
being made with sapphire crystal. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />Previously, we heard that Apple would use sapphire crystal only for the 5.5-inch iPhone 6, but it looks like this isn’t true, and the 4.7-inch model will get the same treatment. <br /><br />As
 you’ll see below, the first video comes from MKBHD, and reportedly 
shows an iPhone 6 front panel that's been taken from Apple’s assembly 
line (so it’s not a dummy unit). The panel was tortured with a knife and
 some keys, and no scratches were found after that. The panel has also 
been bent, and it looks like it’s really flexible. The second video was 
posted by well-known Apple insider Sonny Dickson - who, in fact, seems 
to have provided the panel seen in MKBHD’s video, too.<br /> <br />Apple 
will probably announce the new iPhone 6 in September. What do you think,
 can this ultra-durable, flexible sapphire crystal front panel be one of
 its key selling points?<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/5R0_FJ4r73s?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">SOURCE-<a href="http://www.phonearena.com/news/iPhone-6s-4.7-inch-sapphire-crystal-display-tortured-on-video_id57933" target="_blank">PHONE ARENA</a></span></div>

iPhone 6's 4.7-inch sapphire crystal display tortured on video

Earlier today, we showed you a video that seemingly confirmed the screen size of Apple’s next-generation iPhone (most likely called iPhone ...