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Issue no. 6, 2008 Published: Feb 08, 2008
Breakthrough helps 3D holograms come to life
Rich-poor 'digital divide' still broad, says UNCTAD
Scientists to launch paper planes from space
'Swarm' intelligence enhances digital images
Tattoos may help deliver vaccine
Invention: Heartbeat radar
Knee dynamo taps 'people power'
Inventors unveil robot to fill car gas tank

Breakthrough helps 3D holograms come to life
A team of scientists from the University of Arizona announced a technique for changing and updating three-dimensional holographic images, an innovation that could one day lead to virtual surgery and other useful applications. With regular holograms scientists shine a series of lasers on a photopolymer, chemically altering the substance to make light bounce off the material in different ways depending on the angle observed, producing the 3D effect. But such images, once created, are static. The new device uses a different method, with the key ingredient being a special film, called a photorefractive polymer, sandwiched between two pieces of glass covered with transparent electrodes. This polymer contains a dye that responds to light and rotates in response to an external electric field. The result is a display that looks like a regular hologram but can be updated in the same manner one can write over data on a computer disk. The technology could be used for everything from military field simulations, keyhole surgery, advertising billboards or immersive 3D entertainment.
CBC News / Nature Feb 06, 2008	back to top

Rich-poor 'digital divide' still broad, says UNCTAD
The digital divide between rich and poor countries is narrowing as mobile phones and internet use become more available, but the developing world still lags far behind, according to a United Nations report. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said mobile phone subscribers have almost tripled in developing countries over the last five years, and now make up some 58% of mobile subscribers worldwide. The report said mobile phones were the main communication tool for small businesses in developing countries, reducing costs and increasing the speed of transactions. Internet use and penetration continue to increase worldwide but developed countries still account for the majority of internet users and have the highest penetration. Developed countries also continue to lead internet subscriptions worldwide, and the gap in terms of internet broadband penetration has widened since 2002, it said. UNCTAD said the revolution in information and communication technology was spreading to the developing world but said more had to be done to make sure poorer countries reaped its opportunities in growth and development. Among its recommendations were that countries invest more in human capital and infrastructure and better regulation of cyber laws.
Reuters Feb 06, 2008	back to top

Scientists to launch paper planes from space
A spacecraft made of folded paper zooming through the skies may sound far-fetched, but Japanese scientists plan to launch paper planes from the International Space Station to see if they make it back to Earth. On Wednesday the University of Tokyo researchers tested small, origami planes made of special paper for 30 seconds in 250 degrees Celsius heat and wind at seven times the speed of sound. The planes survived the wind tunnel test intact. The theory is that paper craft, being much lighter than space shuttles, may escape the worst of the friction and heat that much heavier space shuttles face on re-entry to the atmosphere. The team has asked a Japanese astronaut to release the 20-cm planes, made from paper chemically treated to resist heat and water, from the space station. It will take several months for the craft to reach Earth, and there is no way to predict their landing spot if they make it.
MSNBC Feb 06, 2008	back to top

'Swarm' intelligence enhances digital images
The cleaning and enhancing of digital images has been improved thanks to work into 'swarm intelligence' being carried out by researchers at the Al-Balqa Applied University, Jordan, and De Montfort University, UK. The research uses a Particle Swarm Optimisation (PSO) algorithm to intelligently boost contrast and detail without distorting the underlying features. The root of the PSO algorithm lies in a 'swarm intelligence paradigm' inspired by models of living systems, such as flocks of birds or schools of fish. PSO relies on simple mathematics and does not need powerful computers to run. It treats each version of an image as an individual member of the swarm and makes a single small adjustment to contrast levels, edge sharpness and other image parameters. The algorithm then determines whether the new members of the swarm are better or worse than the original according to an 'objective fitness criterion'. The objective of the algorithm is to maximise the total number of pixels in the edges, thus being able to visualise more details in the images.
VNUnet UK / International Journal of Innovative Computing and Applications Feb 04, 2008	back to top

Tattoos may help deliver vaccine
Scientists in Germany say that tattoos could be a useful way of delivering therapeutic vaccines in humans, including for some cancers. Such vaccines have often failed to produce the expected immune response when delivered using an injection. The researchers say that the rapidly vibrating tattoo needle could be a useful way of delivering vaccines under the skin instead of insoluble ink. In studies with mice, tattooing a vaccine produced 16 times more antibodies than a simple injection into muscle tissue. The level of antibodies indicates the strength of the immune system's response. The researchers say that the greater damage to the body caused by the tattoo needle may explain the better immune response. However, the tattoo needles would never be suitable for preventative vaccines, such as measles, in children as the pain would be too great. But there may well be a role for the technique in the routine vaccination of animals.
BBC News Feb 07, 2008	back to top

Invention: Heartbeat radar
The tiniest chest movements, caused by breathing and even the beating of the heart, can be monitored using Doppler radar. Just like road-speed radar systems, this works by bouncing a radio wave off the chest and measuring any change in frequency caused by chest movement. In theory, the technique could be very useful since it allows a patient to be monitored from a distance without fitting them with ECG leads. It can even record a heartrate through a person's clothing. But the signals can be easily swamped by noise caused by small movements of the patient or of other people around them, for example in a busy hospital ward. Now researchers at the University of Hawaii have developed a radar device with several transmitters and receiving antennas that produce multiple signals that can be picked up and processed in a way that removes any random noise from other sources of movement. The resulting signals are analysed by a computer to tease apart the various movements of a patient, including their heart beat and breathing pattern.
New Scientist Feb 04, 2008	back to top

Knee dynamo taps 'people power'
US and Canadian scientists have built a novel device that effortlessly harvests energy from human movements. The adapted knee brace can generate enough energy to power a mobile phone for 30 minutes from one minute of walking. The first people to benefit could be amputees who are being fitted with increasingly sophisticated prosthetics. The new device generates power by a process known as 'generative braking', analogous to the braking systems found in hybrid-electric cars. Such cars take advantage of stop-and-go driving using so-called 'regenerative braking' where the energy normally dissipated as heat is used to drive a generator. Using a series of gears, the knee brace assists the hamstring in slowing the body just before the foot hits the ground, whilst simultaneously generating electricity. Sensors on the device switch the generator off for the remainder of each step. In this way, the device puts less strain on the wearer than if it was constantly producing energy.
BBC News / Science Feb 07, 2008	back to top

Inventors unveil robot to fill car gas tank
Motorists nostalgic for the time they could sit tight while attendants braved the elements to fill their tanks may yet see those days return - thanks to a Dutch robot. Inventors unveiled on Monday a car-fuelling robot they say is the first of its kind, working by registering the car on arrival at the filling station and matching it to a database of fuel cap designs and fuel types. A robotic arm fitted with multiple sensors extends from a regular gas pump, carefully opens the car's flap, unscrews the cap, picks up the fuel nozzle and directs it towards the tank opening, much as a human arm would, and as efficiently. The inventors hope to introduce the 'Tankpitstop' robot in a handful of Dutch stations by the end of the year. It works for any car whose tank can be opened without a key, and whose contours and dimensions have been recorded to avoid scratching.
MSNBC / Reuters Feb 04, 2008	back to top