THE TECH-LICIOUS

Electronic cuff in neck could keep blood pressure in check

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<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/electronic-blood-pressure-cuff/32048/pictures" id="hero_link" style="background-image: none; color: #1e8dd7; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="The prototype blood pressure-moderating cuff " height="297" src="http://images.gizmag.com/hero/bpc.jpg" style="border: none; clear: both; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" title="The prototype blood pressure-moderating cuff " width="530" /></span></a><div class="pic_caption" style="background-color: #444444; border-top-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: #eeeeee; height: auto !important; margin: 0px; min-height: 30px; padding: 5px 5px 10px; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The prototype blood pressure-moderating cuff</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">High blood pressure can be a very serious condition, and is usually controlled via medication along with lifestyle changes. For approximately 35 percent of patients, however, that medication doesn't work in the long run. That's why a team of researchers from Germany's University of Freiburg are developing an implantable electronic cuff, that may one day control peoples' blood pressure via electrical pulses within the neck.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In tests on rats, the cuff has been implanted in the vagus nerve. In both rats and humans, the vagus nerve extends from the brain stem into the thorax and abdomen, running through the neck along the way. It relays signals that control unconscious body procedures such as heart rate, digestion and breathing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Using a technique known as BaroLoopTM, the cuff is able to determine which of its 24 electrodes is closest to the nerve fibers responsible for transmitting the blood pressure signal from the brain to the heart. It then activates that electrode, to selectively stimulate only those fibers. As a result, it is able to "overwrite" the brain's faulty signal, lowering the blood pressure to a safe level.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Because no other nerve fibers are stimulated, no other bodily functions are affected. In the rat trials, the animals' mean blood pressure was decreased by 30 percent, while their heart rate and respiratory rate remained largely unchanged.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The current prototype uses leads that extend out of the body, but the scientists are now working on producing a completely implantable device. Because of the stringent safety standards that such implants must meet, however, the finished product isn't expected to be available for at least 10 years.</span></div>
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Electronic cuff in neck could keep blood pressure in check

The prototype blood pressure-moderating cuff High blood pressure can be a very serious condition, and is usually controlled via medication along with lifestyle changes. For approximately 35 percent o…

14 May 2014

FDA gives approval for DEKA prosthetic arm controlled by muscle impulses

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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The FDA has given approval for commercial marketing of the DEKA Arm</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><a href="http://www.gizmag.com/deka-arm-fda-approval/32011/pictures" id="gallery_link" style="background-color: transparent; color: #f36031; text-decoration: none;">Image Gallery</a> (3 images)</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Prosthetics have come a long way in recent years, with many artificial limbs incorporating advanced robotic and cybernetic systems that include everything up to and including <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/braingate-clinical-trials/22586/" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">mind control</a>. Unfortunately, for all these advances, the lack of prosthetics capable of complex motor control means that most users see them as tools rather than replacement limbs. However, that may be changing as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced approval for marketing of the DEKA Arm system, the first prosthetic arm set to hit the market that translates signals from a patient’s muscles to carry out complex tasks.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Manufactured by DEKA Integrated Solutions in Manchester, New Hampshire, the DEKA Arm was developed under DARPA’s Revolutionizing Prosthetics program that aims to develop arm prostheses with near-natural control. DARPA sees the DEKA Arm as a way of expanding the options for amputees, especially those using the split-hook hand developed in 1912. It says a lot about how far prosthetics have to go that something developed over a century ago is still so widely used.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The DEKA Arm is aimed at aiding those who are using muscle-powered prosthetics; providing them with an arm that is not only less exhausting to use, but also one with finer and more complicated control. Designed for those with limb loss occurring at the shoulder joint, mid-upper arm, or mid-lower arm, the DEKA Arm uses electrical signals from the muscles picked up by electromyogram (EMG) electrodes to control the arm. This isn't new. The Boston Arm had similar capabilities over forty years ago.</b></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/deka-arm-fda-approval/32011/pictures#3" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><img alt="The DEKA Arm was developed as part of a DARPA program" src="http://images.gizmag.com/inline/deka-arm-fda-2.jpg" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="529" /></b></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>What’s different is that the battery-powered DEKA Arm allows simultaneous control of multiple joints with ten powered movements using a variety of input devices, including wireless signals from sensors attached the the user’s feet. In addition, the hand has six user-selectable grips. That’s not bad for an arm that’s the size and weight of a natural adult arm.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>DARPA says that creating the arm required eight years of work on miniaturization of motors, computer controls and sensors, as well as developing new lightweight materials that were up to the job. All of this had to be put together into a rugged package that could handle day-to-day punishment.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The FDA says that for approval of the DEKA Arm it used its de novo classification process intended for novel low- to moderate-risk medical devices that are first-of-a-kind. Based on clinical studies of 36 DEKA Arm study participants, the FDA concluded that 90 percent could use the arm for everyday tasks that previous arms couldn't deal with, such as using locks and keys, preparing food, eating, using zippers, and brushing and combing hair. The agency also examined the arm’s software and electrical systems, and tested it for impacts and durability under exposure to common environmental factors such as dust and light rain.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The approval opens the way for DEKA to pursue a commercial release of the arm.</b></span></div>
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FDA gives approval for DEKA prosthetic arm controlled by muscle impulses

The FDA has given approval for commercial marketing of the DEKA Arm Image Gallery (3 images) Prosthetics have come a long way in recent years, with many artificial limbs incorporating advanced roboti…

13 May 2014

THE NEW MOTO E AT JUST RS-6999(117$)

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<img src="http://cnet4.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2014/05/13/0dd9f1a5-2c3d-4f17-84ff-8c31418cf452/resize/770x578/a55268f88562405291c9121246012bea/moto-e-india.jpg" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Motorola has barged into the sub-Rs 10,000 segment with the new Moto E smartphone. Just like its two recently launched smartphones Moto G and X, the economical model Moto E will be exclusively available via online retailer Flipkart in the Indian market. The new smartphone is priced at Rs 6,999(117$) and it will be up for sale starting May 14.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Moto E has a 4.3-inch display with 960x540p resolution, making it the only smartphone offering a high quality display at this price point. The dual sim phone runs on the latest Android 4.4 (KitKat) OS, and Motorola has promised that it will upgrade the smartphone to the next major version of Android. The smartphone packs a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon 200 processor, with 1GB RAM and 4GB internal storage. Unlike Moto X and G, this phone supports microSD cards for storage expansion.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The budget offering of Motorola sports a 5MP camera on the back, but does not have rear LED flash and front camera. It can access the internet over 2G, 3G and Wi-Fi networks, while data can be transferred via microUSB 2.0 and Bluetooth 4.0. The smartphone has a decent 1,980mAh battery and Motorola claims it can last a whole day once fully charged. Motorola has used a nano-coating that will make the smartphone resistant to splashes, so that it does not get damaged in rain.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Moto E will come in black and white colours and Motorola is offering swappable back covers and grip shells.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Motorola is eyeing the large number of mobile phone users who are switching from feature phones to budget smartphones with Moto E. At this rate and with these specifications, Moto E is likely to be a hot seller and take the market by a storm. This game changer handset can be expected to give several domestic players a run for their money in this bracket.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px;">              </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f3f3f; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u> A COMPARISON OF MOTO E WITH MOTO G</u></b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>A HAND ON VIDEO OF MOTO E</u></b></span></div>
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THE NEW MOTO E AT JUST RS-6999(117$)

Motorola has barged into the sub-Rs 10,000 segment with the new Moto E smartphone. Just like its two recently launched smartphones Moto G and X, the economical model Moto E will be exclusively availa…

13 May 2014

Engineered bacterium is first living organism to use artificial DNA "letters"

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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>US researchers have engineered a bacterium whose genetic material includes DNA or bases not found in nature (Image: <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=134698571&src=id" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Shutterstock</a>)</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in California have produced a living bacterium that has a strand of artificial DNA made with chemical “letters” not found in nature or any other organism.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the famous double helix discovered by Watson and Crick in the 1950s and commonly known as the carrier of the “genetic code” of life. It’s found in all living things on Earth, from the smallest cells to the largest redwood trees, and in each and every one of these organisms the basic DNA structure is exactly the same.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Though the models of DNA that are on display in museums seem impossibly complex, it is actually a very simple molecule. It’s twisty double backbone of phosphates and sugars carries branches that link the two spirals together like steps in a ladder. These steps consist of a surprisingly simple pairing of four nucleic acid bases: guanine (G), adenine (A), thymine (T), and cytosine (C). These bases pair up to one another like lock and key with guanine pairing with cytosine and adenine pairing with thymine.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>This simple, predictable pairing allows life to happen. It provides a way to encode the genetic instructions needed to build and maintain cells. Under the influence of various enzymes, the DNA molecules unfasten and come apart like zippers, which provide the pattern for creating new strands of DNA.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>This sort of base pairing is universal in all known life. If it has DNA, then it uses G-C and A-T pairs. The question is, is this pairing universal because of all life on Earth having a common ancestor, is it because of some fundamental law of chemistry, or both?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The result of years of research going back to the late 1990s, the TSRI team’s project aimed to find molecules that would pair like those in DNA and would form stably on the helix backbone of the DNA molecule. They would also need to unzip like the known bases and transcribe onto the RNA molecules to create new DNA strands. In addition, they had to be able to survive the DNA repair mechanisms in the cell that might see the new bases as faulty strands and remove them.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>In 2008, the team was able to create semi-artificial strands of DNA that would replicate in a test tube in the presence of the right enzymes and would transcribe onto RNA, but, according to the team, the big leap was to get the strands to work in a living cell. They did this by creating a plasmid, which is a circular strand of DNA, that was a mixture of natural and artificial DNA elements made of molecules known as d5SICS and dNaM, and then inserting it into escherichia coli bacteria.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Obviously, the result isn't artificial life, but it is, by any definition, a novelty. The bacteria carried in their nuclei DNA with bases not found in any other living organism. The pairs are able to duplicate so long as the chemical materials are available, and the duplication occurs with reasonable speed and accuracy, the repair mechanism didn't interfere, and the growth of the cells was not impaired.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>However, the new bacteria are also no Frankenstein’s micro-monsters waiting to break out of the lab on an unsuspecting world. Since 5SICS and dNaM are not found in nature, the scientists have to supply them for the DNA strands to form and they need what are called triphosphate transporter molecules produced by a species of microalgae to move the molecules into the cells. What all that adds up to is that the artificial DNA won’t work outside of the laboratory.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>"When we stopped the flow of the unnatural triphosphate building blocks into the cells, the replacement of d5SICS–dNaM with natural base pairs was very nicely correlated with the cell replication itself – there didn’t seem to be other factors excising the unnatural base pairs from the DNA,” says team member Denis A. Malyshev. "An important thing to note is that these two breakthroughs also provide control over the system. Our new bases can only get into the cell if we turn on the ‘base transporter’ protein. Without this transporter or when new bases are not provided, the cell will revert back to A, T, G, C, and the d5SICS and dNaM will disappear from the genome."</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>According to team leader Floyd E. Romesberg, the next goal will be see if the new bases can be used to create proteins. “In principle, we could encode new proteins made from new, unnatural amino acids — which would give us greater power than ever to tailor protein therapeutics and diagnostics and laboratory reagents to have desired functions. Other applications, such as nanomaterials, are also possible.”</b></span></div>
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Engineered bacterium is first living organism to use artificial DNA "letters"

US researchers have engineered a bacterium whose genetic material includes DNA or bases not found in nature (Image: Shutterstock) Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in California hav…

12 May 2014

Robotic Bees May Secure Our Future

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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>How often do you stop and think about bees? When you get stung by one? When you’re trying to dodge one as it flies through the air? When you’re eating honey? Whether you think about them a lot or not, the fact remains that bees are incredibly important to our survival. If all of the bees one day disappeared, we wouldn’t make it. While that day may seem like an impossibility, there is a very real shortage of bees all around the world. Scientists aren’t too sure why the number of bees seem to be dwindling, but they’re already trying to do all they can to help the problem for the future.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>If a day comes when real bees won’t be around any longer to pollinate things, <a href="http://sploid.gizmodo.com/these-are-the-robotic-bees-of-the-future-1570332550/+caseychan" style="color: #0092dd;" target="_blank">robotic bees may take their place and come to our rescue</a>. While I admit this sounds like a crazy notion, it turns out that some scientists from Harvard have already come up with an alpha version of a bee which can perform artificial pollination among other activities. (Hopefully those “other activities” don’t include stinging people).</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><img alt="Millions of these robotic bees may roam the world in the near future" src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--aVCM33G---/ly9dot5noj1b9b7zlh9x.gif" /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Wow. I never imagined we’d have to figure out a way to create robotic bees of all things.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Could you imagine a world where more insects were robotic than living? While I’m definitely no scientist, I have a hard time imagining that a robotic bee can pollinate just as well as a real-life bee. But, since everything else is getting the technological treatment, why shouldn’t insects as well?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>What do you think of this story? Do you think we’ll ever see the day when robotic bees take over the job from living bees?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><img alt="Millions of these robotic bees may roam the world in the near future" src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--Qa1fkcFB--/704063384061643845.jpg" /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b> Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.</b></span></div>
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Robotic Bees May Secure Our Future

How often do you stop and think about bees? When you get stung by one? When you’re trying to dodge one as it flies through the air? When you’re eating honey? Whether you think about them a lot or not…

12 May 2014

Run, robot, run – here comes the OutRunner

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The OutRunner robot – are six legs better than four wheels?</div>
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So, you already own little remote-control cars, planes, boats and submarines ... what else could there be? Well, how about something that <i>runs</i>? That's just what the OutRunner does. It's being billed as "the world's first RC running robot," and hopefully you'll soon be able to get one for under $250.</div>
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The OutRunner was created by Robotics Unlimited, a spinoff company consisting of robotics, electronics and mechanical designers from the Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition.</div>
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As can be seen in the photos, it's not a bipedal robot, but instead features vertically-mounted spinning "turrets" on either side, with a series of monopod-like legs extending out from them. As the turrets (or whatever they're called) turn, the legs move forward and meet the ground.</div>
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"By having a center of mass lower than the leg axis of rotation, OutRunner robots exploit a buoyancy effect, making them inherently stable and eliminating the need for expensive sensors and complex control algorithms," the company explains on its Kickstarter page. "Energy efficiency is achieved by exploiting the same feature observed in legged animals; using legs as an energy storage system allows for fluctuation and conservation (and not losses) of potential and kinetic energy during running."</div>
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<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/outrunner-running-robot/31999/pictures#3" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="One of the prototypes in action " src="http://images.gizmag.com/inline/outrunner-2.png" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="530" /></a></div>
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And yes, the robots <i>can</i> be steered, by shifting their center of mass to one side or the other. The production versions should also reportedly be able to start running from a standstill, despite what's shown in the pitch video at the bottom of the page.</div>
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Robotics Unlimited plans on releasing two versions of the robot. The OutRunner Core will be the basic model, offering a top speed of 10 mph (16 km/h), battery runtime of one hour, and a universal camera mount. It will be controlled by a standard remote control unit, and will have a total of six legs.</div>
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The OutRunner Performance, on the other hand, will be for people who take their running robots more seriously. It'll have a top speed of 20 mph (32 km/h), go for two hours per charge, and will feature its own 720p onboard video camera that transmits footage in real time via Wi-Fi. It will be controlled by a choice of a remote <i>or</i> a smartphone app, and users will be able to equip it with anywhere from 6 to 12 legs.</div>
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<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/outrunner-running-robot/31999/pictures#2" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="Robotics Unlimited plans on releasing two versions of the robot" src="http://images.gizmag.com/inline/outrunner-1.jpg" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="530" /></a></div>
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So, apart from the novelty value, why bother with a running robot instead of one with wheels? According to the designers, the legs allow the OutRunner to step over obstacles, letting it move over varied terrain. Additionally, each of those legs has a built-in shock absorber, making the robot surprisingly stable.</div>
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If you're interested in getting an OutRunner of your own, a pledge of US$249 will get you a put-it-together-yourself kit for a Core model, when and if they reach production. At the other end of the scale, a fully-assembled Performance model will set you back $799, which is still $200 below the planned retail price.</div>
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Run, robot, run – here comes the OutRunner

The OutRunner robot – are six legs better than four wheels? Image Gallery (3 images) So, you already own little remote-control cars, planes, boats and submarines ... what else could there be? Well, h…

12 May 2014

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