Industries
Doctor, Doctor, my nurse is a robot!
The NHS is a permanent topic in the news, from strikes and concerns of A&E staff numbers, to care home neglect and the dangers of superbugs and healthcare associated infections (HCAI). To aid this, there have been some developments in robotics to alleviate the strain on healthcare professionals. Electronic Specifier’s Daisy Stapley-Bunten gets up close and personal with the new face of healthcare.
The fourth weapon in the battle against cancer
It’s a sad truth that there are few people who haven’t been impacted by cancer in its various forms. However, a pioneering therapy that has been developed by oncology company Novocure, has tipped the scales in the fight against brain tumours. Electronic Specifier Editor Joe Bush finds out more and talks to a cancer survivor who has benefited from Tumor Treating Fields, or TTFields therapy.
Inferring urban travel patterns from cellphone data
In making decisions about infrastructure development and resource allocation, city planners rely on models of how people move through their cities, on foot, in cars, and on public transportation. Those models are largely based on surveys of residents’ travel habits. But conducting surveys and analysing their results is costly and time consuming: A city might go more than a decade between surveys.
FluxPort brings wireless charging to Starbucks
Starbucks in Germany has selected the Berlin-based start-up FluxPort as a wireless charging partner. Guests in three Munich Starbucks Coffee Houses can now wirelessly charge their smartphone while enjoying their coffee. The charging pads, called FluxPorts, are smoothly integrated into tables and charge mobile devices via induction. This is the first step in the nationwide roll-out of the FluxPort wireless charging infrastructure.
How machine learning can help with voice disorders
There’s no human instinct more basic than speech, and yet, for many people, talking can be taxing. One in 14 working-age Americans suffer from voice disorders that are often associated with abnormal vocal behaviours — some of which can cause damage to vocal cord tissue and lead to the formation of nodules or polyps that interfere with normal speech production.
Jeff Williams racks up new time-in-space record
On Wednesday, 24th August, NASA astronaut and Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams surpassed 520 days living in space, breaking Scott Kelly’s previous record for most cumulative time spent in space by a US astronaut, set during Kelly’s year-long mission. By the time Williams returns home on 6th September, he’ll leave us with a new total of 534 days.
Train windows that combine mobile reception and thermal insulation
Researchers from EPFL have developed a type of glass that offers excellent energy efficiency and lets mobile telephone signals through. And by teaming up with Swiss manufacturers, they have produced innovative windows. Railway company BLS is about to install them on some of its trains in order to improve energy efficiency.
NASA holds final sample return robot competition
After five years of competition by more than 40 different teams from around the globe, NASA’s Sample Return Robot Challenge has reached its final stage. The top seven teams will compete for the $1.36m prize purse on the campus of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Massachusetts, 4th-6th September.
NASA simulation of return from low-earth orbit mission
Hoisted about 30ft. in the air, a mockup of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft awaits its encounter with a pad full of dirt. “Three, two, one” projects over the loud speaker just before the spacecraft is released and makes a loud thud when meeting the dirt. Six attached airbags absorb much of the landing impact and stabilise the spacecraft.
Drug delivery system could improve cancer treatment
Researchers have created a drug delivery system that could improve the effectiveness of an emerging concept in cancer treatment - to dramatically slow and control tumors on a long-term, sustained basis, not necessarily aiming for their complete elimination. The approach, called a "metronomic dosage regimen," uses significantly lower doses of chemotherapeutic drugs but at more frequent time intervals.