Brain-Computer Interface

 

Brain-computer interfaces(BCIs) plays a significant role in spinal cord injury,stroke or brain disease.It also helps to restore senses like sight or hearing or even memory.

BCIs implemented in brain's motor areas can record electrical signals thats represents particular movements. A computer decodes the signals and uses them to control a computer cursor or prosthetic limb.

The device would replace part of the brain's hippocampus, where short-term memory is converted to long-term memory. So far researchers has had success in rats and monkeys, and now they are  currently testing the device in humans.

Nanolasers on Silicon for Data Transmission

 

For quick transmission of data we rely on fiber optic cable.To ensure for more speed and seamless data flow researcher continue to new combinations of electronic and optical devices.

One of the promising research is growing lasers on silicon,the base layer of choice for electronic devices.

The lasers, called nanoneedles, are just one-tenth the width of a human hair and were developed by researchers working at the University of California, Berkeley. By growing lasers on silicon wafers, the researchers are expanding the ability of electronics to transmit data at capacities required by next-generation consumer devices and systems. 

Optical approaches such as lasers reduce power consumption and noise between components and increase speed.

To combine the strengths of silicon and optical laser materials, the Berkeley researchers overcame two longstanding challenges that have vexed researchers: 1) the mismatch between the crystalline structures of silicon and III-V semiconductor material, an essential solid-state laser material, and 2) growth temperatures that are incompatible with current integrated circuit fabrication. 

 

During the 10- to 15-minute crystal growth process, which occurs at temperatures between 400° and 450° C, nanoneedles in the shape of hexagonal pyramids emerge from a silicon base. These high-quality crystals can reach several hundred nanometers and can be layered, doped (i.e., other materials can be added to the crystal during the growth process, resulting in a crystal that has additional properties) or etched to create laser structures for device applications. The nanoneedle geometry provides a natural laser cavity that traps light by circulating it up and down the inside of the nanoneedle in a helical fashion. 

Linux System Monitoring Tools

1.Genome System Monitor-It is a Process Viewer which is responsible for tree view process dependencies,icons for processes,hide processes that you  don't want to see,graphical time histories of CPU/memory/swap usage.

2.KDE System Guard-It is also known as KSysguard.It is a KDE task manager and performance monitor.It can monitor both local and  remote hosts.

3.Cacti-Cacti is a complete frontend to RRDTool, it stores all of the necessary information to create graphs and populate them with data in a MySQL database. The frontend is completely PHP driven.Cacti also handles the data gathering.

4.Nagios-It is an open source system monitoring,network monitoring and infrastructure monitoring software application.It alerts users when something is going wrong and also alerts when the things resolves.

5. ./proc-It displays various system hardware configuration and also displays LInux kernel information. 

6.Strace-It helps in debugging webserver and other server issues.

7.Iptraf-ncurses-based IP LAN monitor.

8.Pmap-Reports memory map of a process thereby helping to find out the causes of memory bottlenecks

Li-Fi

 

Instead of radio waves, use light to get online. Unlike wi-fi, or wireless fidelity, so-called “li-fi” transmits data through variations in light intensity.

Recent research in China  showed that, using a one-watt LED bulb, li-fi could connect four computers to the Internet at data transfer rates up to 150 megabits per second.

Earlier this year, German scientists sent data at three Gigabits per second using LED lamps, in controlled conditions in their lab. They later demonstrated 500 megabits per second speeds in a real-world setting. Most wi-fi connections don’t even come close to 100 megabits per second.

Li-fi has drawbacks. The technology works only when the LED’s light can reach the gadget. Stray from the LED, and you lose your connection. On the plus side, the visible light spectrum can handle way more traffic than wi-fi’s already crowded radio spectrum. And any LED bulb can be a network connection.

BioLite CampStove

 

Stove with lots of technology in it.It runs on fuel you can pick up off the ground – twigs, bark or pinecones – providing you with a free, low-smoke fire.Its just take 5 minutes to boil a kettle.

But that’s not all – the BioLite also has a USB port and generates free electricity, which you can use to charge your phone, MP3 player or speakers.

Scanadu Scout

 

 

There are plenty of gadgets that monitor your fitness. Whether they track your heart rate, blood pressure or the number of steps you’ve taken, they all give you a pretty basic view of your activity. But what about your general health?

Designed by a collective of engineers, doctors and designers, the Scanadu Scout wants to be your personal electronic GP. By pressing it to your temple, the Scout will give you an accurate reading of pulse transit time, heart rate, electrical heart activity, temperature and blood oxygenation. This info in itself isn’t particularly useful, unless you’ve been nose-deep in some medical text books for the last year, so the Scout then analyses the data and tells you if you ought to head to the nearest hospital, or not.

There’ll be an add-on too, which will check your saliva for nasty bugs like streptococcus A, influenza B and adenovirus. They’re even working on an add-on to spot pregnancy complications.

All of the above is technically possible, and the collective data gathered from everyone using a Scanadu could reveal interesting trends in the state of the public’s health. But as with any mode of self-diagnosis, you should apply common sense. Either way, doctors might have to get used to hearing patients say: “I need an appointment. Scanadu says it’s serious”.

 

Digital Paper System

 

Sony launch their new Digital Paper System which helps you to liberate your office from its dependence on dead trees with an E-ink tablet.This device once charged can last three weeks.

With this digital paper system you can edit ,create and annotate documents.

The thickness is just 6.6 inch which is much thinner than average notepad.

When you’re done working you can upload your files to the cloud via Wi-Fi or save them to an SD card.