Tag: media-center

Fluorescent dressing glows to detect infections

Add / Remove There’s a huge demand for engineering materials that detect dangerous substances invisible to the naked eye, such as these gloves that change color in the presence of hazardous substances. Similarly, researchers at the University of Bath have been developing a material to detect potentially deadly bacteria on open wounds. Using a hydrogel containing fluorescent dye, the prototype wound-dressing glows in the presence of bacterial ‘biofilms’ — a state bacteria exist in that’s difficult for drugs to penetrate. Treating open wounds can be complicated by the presence of certain bacteria, which can lead to infections, prolonging treatment and making the situation potentially fatal. These infections can currently only be detected after they’ve taken hold, so standard medical practice requires removing and replacing the dressing, leading to patient distress. This new solution is capable of detecting a number of infectious bacterial species, and organisms normally present on human skin don’t trigger the color change. Whilst a long way from the clinical trial stage, the wound dressing shows that early detection of invisible infections is possible. Could the glowing appearance of this solution be a hit with children? Website: www.pubs.acs.org Contact: a.t.a.jenkins@bath.ac.uk The post Fluorescent dressing glows to detect infections appeared first on Springwise .

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Fluorescent dressing glows to detect infections

New smartphone battery lasts 10h with 5 minutes charging

Add / Remove With the growing ubiquity of smart tech, the fear of a dying battery will soon be a thing of the past. Prieto’s redesign of the traditional rechargeable lithium ion batteries used in smartphones and laptops is promising revolutionary battery power. Traditional lithium batteries are one-directional, with current flowing from the negative cathode to the positive anode, requiring them to be placed in the correct orientation. The method is inefficient and the bulk of batteries restricts the shape of the tech they’re powering, as well as causing environmental damage due to the toxic acids used to coat the anode. Prieto’s battery is three dimensional so that current can flow with multi-directionality, producing 10 hours of battery life with five minutes charging. It can be moulded into any shape, so that for the first time, batteries can be designed to fit the product, rather than the other way around. Prieto’s patent-pending design doesn’t require the use of toxic acids — the anode is instead coated with a electrolyte polymer capable of self-healing — and they claim it will be cheap and scalable. Prieto are currently seeking investors for their batteries, having already secured a partnership with Intel for computing devices. What products can be created using this new battery design? Website: www.prietobattery.com Contact: inquiries@PrietoBattery.com The post New smartphone battery lasts 10h with 5 minutes charging appeared first on Springwise .

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New smartphone battery lasts 10h with 5 minutes charging

An unmanned restaurant where guests cook for themselves

Add / Remove Pushing the idea of the ‘restaurant’ to its absolute limit, Foodsy is a new DIY Amsterdam eatery that does away with staff altogether. Instead, patrons cook, serve and even pay themselves using the food, equipment and instructions provided. Foodsy was created by chef Edwin Sander, and will open in a temporary location this week. Guests will be provided with a menu of recipe cards that they can use to cook for themselves easily in under 20 minutes — diners simply use the raw ingredients, or in some cases pre-prepared soups or stews. There are also instructions for how to tap a beer and the best setting to make their own coffee. Once they have eaten, guests simply pay for their meal using an iPad app. Because there is no staff, most of the meals are significantly cheaper than they would be elsewhere. Of course the unmanned restaurant experience is very unlikely to replace the pleasure of being waited on, but the concept could definitely thrive in busy areas where the trade of casual lunches are prevalent. We have already seen a pop-up restaurant that serves only food cooked by individuals in their homes. How else could eating out be adapted to suit different locations? Website: www.foodsy.amsterdam Contact: info@foodsy.amsterdam The post An unmanned restaurant where guests cook for themselves appeared first on Springwise .

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An unmanned restaurant where guests cook for themselves

Invisible 3D barcodes prevent counterfeiting

Add / Remove Counterfeiting is believed to cost companies trillions in annual profit and is a source of public health concern. We’ve covered an edible barcode to combat counterfeiting in the pharmaceutical industry, and now researchers at the University of Bradford have developed an undetectable 3D barcode designed to mould into a variety of products. Developed with Sofmat and SME UK , the barcodes use a series of pins to create 3D patterns moulded onto a small plastic surface. By varying the heights and spaces between pins, millions of unique configurations can be produced. The barcodes are virtually invisible to human eyes and touch, ensuring that products can only be verified by a laser scanner and preventing copycatting. Barcodes can be built into or stamped on to products, making successful tampering very near impossible. Phil Harrison, Sofmat Director, explains: “For the first time the same technology and coding can be used on bulk packaging, individual packaging and on the actual product, making it much harder to create and ship fake products.” In industries such as pharmaceuticals and electronics where counterfeiting is a major safety concern, making hard-to-fake materials protects people as well as profits. Can the technology be used in other counterfeit prone consumer goods? Website: www.sofmat.com Contact: phil@sofmat.co.uk The post Invisible 3D barcodes prevent counterfeiting appeared first on Springwise .

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Invisible 3D barcodes prevent counterfeiting

Physical button can be programmed to request anything

Add / Remove Last year, we wrote about the Bttn button, which was a physical, internet-connected button that can be configured for uses such as turning devices off for nighttime or sending a quick message to loved ones. We then saw the Amazon Dash Button enable consumers to make repeated purchases of households goods without even visiting the digital store. Inspired by this, on-demand service app ALICE has partnered with Bttn to enable hotel guests to call for room service at a push of a physical button. The ALICE app contains any hotel service a guest would want — many users already log into the app when visiting partnering hotels, as it will notify specific staff of their requests. Hotel management can also monitor guest requests and employee responses from the app to improve their services. With new partner Bttn, ALICE’s service is further simplified, allowing frequently requested services to be made available at the push of a physical button. Bttn can also create branded buttons, programmable to execute specific tasks without the use of smartphones. For example, guests can request for housekeeping, or call a cab, and front desk will be notified. ALICE’s hospitality management app is already streamlining the industry’s services, and now guests won’t even need to use their phones to make simple requests. Where else would physical, connected buttons be useful? Website: www.aliceapp.com Contact: lola.feiger@aliceapp.com The post Physical button can be programmed to request anything appeared first on Springwise .

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Physical button can be programmed to request anything

Porous concrete helps prevent flooding

Add / Remove Concrete can be a burden during heavy rainfall. Runoff from the normally impervious material puts pressure on drainage systems, leading to flooding and ice hazards as well as environmental concerns. UK-based Lafarge Tarmac has developed a porous concrete that aims to solve these issues. Concrete runoff is a major source of localized flooding in urban areas, and pooling water in low temperatures increases the risk of ice patches. Topmix Permeable, however, allows rain water to drain straight through to the underlying water table, easing the burden on existing water drainage systems. This is due to an increased amount of void space in the material — up to 35 percent more than standard concrete, which allows up to 1000ml of water to run through a square meter per minute. The porous concrete also has environmental benefits — the material filters out pollutants that normally runoff into water systems and delivers more water into soil layers, preventing drying out of natural areas. Whilst unsuitable for heavy traffic areas, Topmix Permeable has already provided effective drainage surfaces for pedestrian access areas such as carparks. Other areas of potential utilization include cycle paths, sports pitch borders and paving around new housing development. If large scale adoption occurs, porous concrete may even be a source of city cooling, as evaporation from stored underground water lowers surrounding temperatures. As urban growth leads to increased surface impermeability, adopting porous concrete can help reduce flooding risks and even help maintain the natural environment around cities. In what other ways could porous materials be used? Website: www.tarmac.com Contact: enquiries@tarmac.com The post Porous concrete helps prevent flooding appeared first on Springwise .

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Porous concrete helps prevent flooding

Service bot is an on-demand PA for offices

Add / Remove In the past, when an office needed to order ice cream for their upcoming team meeting, the task fell upon a real-life employee — most likely a PA or lowly intern. But now, treat-seekers can order ice cream, as well as request for help on office admin tasks via a service bot called Large , which is accessible through Slack , the team messaging app for businesses. Large is a team assistant that will take care of tasks such as scheduling an office cleaner, arranging a handyman, organizing team outings or sourcing food. To begin, users invite Large to a designated channel in their Slack network. Then, any team member can make a request by sending a message to @large detailing what they need. The service is powered by a combination of software and people, who research the request and reply to the user with a potential solution. Large is free to use and all costs are detailed to the user before the task is confirmed, with a tip included in the price. Ice cream, for example, costs USD 3.50 per person. All payments are processed via credit card, and receipts and invoices can be integrated into various expensing systems. Large is only available for business use, but luckily Magic — the much hyped on-demand PA service — has people covered during their downtime. What other tasks could be completed by Large? Website: www.hirelarge.com Contact: help@hirelarge.com

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Service bot is an on-demand PA for offices

App lets readers digitize their bookshelf for free

Add / Remove There are many advantages to ebooks — they are accessible instantaneously, very portable and they don’t require any trees to be cut down. But there is something magical about physical books and there are very few consumers who would trade in their entire bookshelf for the digital alternative. Luckily there are platforms such as Shelfie , which enable readers to have their cake and eat it too. Shelfie is an app, created by Bitlit, that lets users obtain free or discounted ebooks of physical volumes they already own. To begin, users download the free app to their smartphone and create a profile. Then they snap a picture of their bookshelf and upload the image. The platform then searches its database and finds out which books are available. Shelfie then provides free copies of eligible books that the user has already purchased, courtesy of various partnerships with publishers. The platform already has over 100,000 ebooks available, which can be downloaded and read on any device. In addition, users can browse each others’ bookshelves to obtain recommendations and inspiration for their next purchase. Could a similar service be offered for music and film lovers? Website: www.shelfie.com Contact: www.twitter.com/getshelfie

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App lets readers digitize their bookshelf for free

Doctors will soon be able to study 3D-rendered organs in VR before operations

Add / Remove Doctors currently rely on flat images from CT and MRI scans for pre-op information about patient’s organs. Now, however, health tech startup EchoPixel is planning to use the information garnered from current medical imaging technology to produce 3D virtual reality organs, which doctors can explore and inspect before beginning surgery. EchoPixel uses the images which are already being gathered during medical imaging processes to create 3D-rendered body parts. These floating masses can then be examined via a VR platform called zSpace. Doctors can rotate and dissect the images of organs, including the brain and the heart, using a stylus. They can even examine a colon via a simulated fly-through. EchoPixel hope their technology will help doctors gain an enhanced understanding of the intricacies of each organ, and enable them to go into surgery well-rehearsed. It can also be used by medical students as a supplementary learning tool. Could this combined technology be used in other industries too — such as mechanics or construction? Website: www.echopixeltech.com Contact: www.echopixeltech.com/contact-us

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Doctors will soon be able to study 3D-rendered organs in VR before operations

Tiny sapphire disk enables eternal, fireproof data preservation

Add / Remove This is part of a series of articles that looks at entrepreneurs hoping to get their ideas off the ground through crowdfunding. At the time of writing, each of these innovations is currently seeking funding. The cloud is certainly an incredible platform for making digital files readily available and enabling remote, collaborative work. But there is an uncertainty about it that makes many consumers uncomfortable, leading them to maintain or return to analogue backups of their data. While an external hard drive is sufficient for many users, those looking for something smaller and more fireproof can now have all their data laser-engraved on a tiny sapphire disk called a Nanoform . Made by French company Fahrenheit2451, Nanoform disks are one, two or four inches, and can store huge amounts of data — up to 10,000 letter pages or 2,700 pictures — at a miniscule size. The files are laser-engraved at a scale of 1/30,000th, onto a shock resistant synthetic sapphire disk, which is the second hardest material after diamond. Farenheit2451 claims that the data on the disks can be preserved for thousands of years. Users can access their pictures and text using a powerful magnifying glass, a digital microscope or a camera with a micro-lens. Fahrenheit2451 are currently running a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to bring the personal Nanoform to market. Customers can pre-order a range of products at early bird prices, starting at USD 130. Are there other ways to make data storage more tangible and secure? Website: www.fahrenheit2451.com Contact: www.twitter.com/Fahrenheit2451

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Tiny sapphire disk enables eternal, fireproof data preservation