Do-it-yourself Stress Hormone Test by Your Smartphone

In a recent conference in USA  researchers said that health apps are coming in your smartphone for stress test.Anyone with a smartphone will be able to measure their salivary cortisol level quickly, easily and inexpensively

Parts of the United States and the rest of the world that lack facilities to measure cortisol will now be able to perform this essential diagnostic test.Measuring salivary cortisol with this technology will provide a way for individuals to monitor their personal biometric stress levels easily and inexpensively.

The public to monitor their own cortisol levels whenever they want. So they designed their device to be inexpensive to manufacture, and easy to use on all cell phones, all platforms and all form factors.

It consists of a case, a light pipe, and a lens, it uses no battery power and it’s unbreakable and reusable.

To take the test, a person puts a straw-like saliva collector under the tongue, and capillary action wicks the saliva to an assay strip in a cassette that's inserted into a reader; the reader aligns a lens and light diffuser with a smartphone’s camera and flash. A few minutes later, the smartphone image analysis app quantifies the cortisol value.

 

 

MRAM- Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory

Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (MRAM) is a non-volatile computer memory (NVRAM) technology, which has been in development since the 1990s.

Unlike conventional RAM chip technologies data is not stored as electric charges but by magnetic charges.

In MRAM data can be stored in greater amount and can be accessed faster while consuming less battery power compare to conventional electronic  memory.

Conventional memory chips like RAM stores information as long as power is on,once power is turned off the information is lost unless it is stored in secondary memory.But in MRAM the information still remains in memory even when the power is turned off.

IBM,Motorola,Honeywell,HP,Hitachi,Siemens are working on MRAM.

                                            Electric Cars

 
From the Nissan LEAF to the BMW i3, 2013 started to bring electric cars more to the middle of the road.

As more charging points are rolled out across the country in 2014, expect the interest in these motors to increase.

As well as helping the environment, they keep the cost of driving low with no need for petrol or diesel.

All you do is plug them in overnight and off you go in the morning.
Of course, you have a limited range but they're great for local and short hopper journeys.

HGST Launches External Hard Drives

 

HGST,a Western Digital company,has launched a new line of Touro S external hard drives.The 7200 RPM hard drives runs 23 percent faster than standard 5400 RPM based drives.

Featuring an aluminum enclosure and USB 3.0, the Touro S drive family delivers two levels of data protection—local backup and cloud storage. It comes with Touro S local backup software which automatically backs up photos, music, videos and documents from a computer directly to the drive.

The Touro S family offers 3 GB of Touro Cloud Backup for free. For more cloud storage, users can upgrade to 250 GB for $59 per year.

The drives are available in capacities of 1 TB and 500 GB priced at Rs 6,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively. They carry a 3-year limited warranty.   

3-D printed wrist splints for arthritis 

A Loughborough University lecturer has developed a computer software concept that will enable clinicians with no experience in Computer Aided Design (CAD) to design and make custom-made 3D printed wrist splints for rheumatoid arthritis sufferers. The 3D printed splints are not only more comfortable and attractive but potentially cheaper than the current ones that are 'ugly, bulky, and can make a patients arm sweat'.

The splints, which provide joint protection, rest, and promote pain relief,could be a major boost for sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis.

The splints are made by scanning a patient's arm in the 'appropriate position'. A 3D model splint is then designed based on the scan to generate a computer model.

The 3D printer can then produce as many splints as are needed at the touch of a button. They can be any colour, feature multiple materials, have a lattice design to aid ventilation and any type of fastening the patient requires.

The 3D CAD software prototype was shown to certified splinting practitioners, such as occupational therapists and physiotherapists.

 

 

Musical Gloves for Patients with Spinal Cord Injury

The researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology have created a wireless musical glove that may improve sensation and motor skills for people with paralyzing spinal cord injury (SCI). 

The gadget was successfully used by individuals with limited feeling or movement in their hands due to tetraplegia. These individuals had sustained their injury more than a year before the study, a time frame when most rehab patients see very little improvement for the remainder of their lives. Remarkably, the device was primarily used while the participants were going about their daily routines.

The device is called Mobile Music Touch (MMT). The glove, which looks like a workout glove with a small box on the back, is used with a piano keyboard and vibrates a person’s fingers to indicate which keys to play. While learning to play the instrument, several people with SCI experienced improved sensation in their fingers.

The MMT system works with a computer, MP3 player or smart phone. A song, such as Ode to Joy, is programmed into a device, which is wirelessly linked to the glove. As the musical notes are illuminated on the correct keys on the piano keyboard, the gadget sends vibrations to "tap" the corresponding fingers. The participants play along, gradually memorizing the keys and learning additional songs.

Android L

Android L-the upcoming mobile operating system from Google will come with several new features.

1.New User Interface-The new interface will be based on a design language called Material Design, which adds more animations, shadows and white spaces in apps.The on-screen navigation keys will also get a whole new look with this release; the Home, Back and Multitasking keys are now symbolized by a circle, triangle and square.

2.3D Multitasking-The multitasking menu of Android will get a 3D look with the next update. This is also courtesy Material Design and shows the open apps as overlapping cards. The 3D effect is generated with the help of “shadows and perspectives,” Google says.


3.Enhanced Notification-Users will be able to read, open and dismiss notifications without unlocking their smartphone or tablet.Heads-up Notifications is an element that shows new notifications on top of the screen, irrespective of the app is running at that time. This feature has been implemented by third-party developers in their apps, but will now be used in Google’s own apps as well.

4.64-bit CPU support- Google has ensured that Android supports 64-bit processors from the next version. This means that addressable memory constraints are now lifted and Android devices will be able to make full use of the available RAM.

5.Apps go faster- Google has replaced Dalvik run-time with ART (Android run-time) in Android L release. ART was only an option till KitKat, but will now be the default. With ART implementation, apps will run faster than they do now. However, they will also take up more space on the device.

6.Improved Battery life- Battery life will be more improved in Android L version.

7. More Security features - Android L will include the much-needed kill-switch that enables users to remotely reset their smartphone or tablet in case it is stolen. In Secret mode, the device will not show any notifications on the lock screen.


8.More improved graphics-Google introduced Android Extension Pack at the event. The technology focuses on enhancing graphics on mobile devices, making PC-like gaming possible on Android devices.