CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.: A privately owned asteroid
mining firm, backed in part by Google Inc's founders, launched a
crowd-funding project on Wednesday to gauge public interest in a small space telescope that could serve as a backdrop for personal photographs, officials said.
Planetary Resources, based in Bellevue, Washington, plans to build and
operate telescopes to hunt for asteroids orbiting near Earth and robotic
spacecraft to mine them for precious metals, water and other materials.
It also plans an educational and outreach program to let students,
museums, armchair astronomers and virtual travelers share use of a
telescope through an initiative on Kickstarter, a website used to raise
funds for creative projects.
Planetary Resources aims to raise
$1 million by June 30 to assess public appetite for participating in a
space project. It expects to launch its first telescope in 2015.
For a pledge of $25, participants can make use of a "space photo booth"
by sending a picture to be displayed like a billboard on the side of
the telescope with Earth in the background. Its image would then be
snapped by a remote camera and transmitted back.
Starting at $200, participants can use the telescope to look at an astronomical object.
The Kickstarter campaign complements the company's ongoing efforts to
design and build its first telescope, called ARKYD. Investors include
Google Chief Executive Larry Page and Chairman Eric Schmidt, as well as Ross Perot Jr., chairman of the real estate development firm Hillwood and The Perot Group.
"All we are asking is for the public to tell us that they want
something," company co-founder Eric Anderson told reporters during a
webcast press conference on Wednesday.
"We're not going to spend
our time and resources to do something if people don't want it and
really the only way to prove that it's something people want is to ask
them for money," he said.
Planetary Resources is not the first
space startup to turn to crowd-funding. Colorado-based Golden Spike,
which plans commercial human expeditions to the moon, has launched two
initiatives on Indiegogo, another Internet-based funding platform.
Golden Spike exceeded a $75,000 goal to start a sister firm, called
Uwingu, designed to funnel profits into space projects, but fell far
short of a $240,000 target for spacesuits for Golden Spike's first moon
run.
Hyper-V Technologies of Virginia turned to Kickstarter to
raise nearly $73,000 to help develop a plasma jet electric thruster.
STAR Systems in Phoenix, Arizona, raised $20,000 for work on a hybrid
rocket motor for its suborbital Hermes spaceplane.
Last year,
Washington-based LiftPort ended an $8,000 Kickstarter campaign with more
than $100,000 to demonstrate how robots could climb a 1.2-mile (2 km)
long tether held aloft by a large helium balloon.
The company is
working on an alternative space transportation system called a "space
elevator" that uses tethers or cables instead of rockets.
"I
think crowd-funding is a new kind of bike and people are trying and
willing to ride it, some successfully, some not as successfully, but I
think it's here to stay," said Golden Spike founder and planetary
scientist Alan Stern.
"These companies like Kickstarter and
Indiegogo and RocketHub, they seem to be some kind of marketing
distribution system that lets people with an idea put it out there.
Previously people didn't know how to do that except run an ad in a
newspaper. It's a capability we just didn't have five years ago," Stern
said.
This formula can turn cement into metal-MODERN DAY ALCHEMIST
WASHINGTON:
Scientists have discovered the formula for turning liquid cement into
liquid metal that makes cement a semi-conductor and opens up the
possibility of its use in the consumer electronics marketplace for thin
films, protective coatings, and computer chips.
"This
new material has lots of applications, including as thin-film resistors
used in liquid-crystal displays, basically the flat panel computer
monitor that you are probably reading this from at the moment," said
Chris Benmore, a physicist from the US department of energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory
who worked with a team of scientists from Japan, Finland and Germany.
Benmore and Shinji Kohara from Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research
Institute/SPring-8 led the research effort.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"This
new material has lots of applications, including as thin-film resistors
used in liquid-crystal displays, basically the flat panel computer
monitor that you are probably reading this from at the moment," said
Chris Benmore, a physicist from the US department of energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory
who worked with a team of scientists from Japan, Finland and Germany.
Benmore and Shinji Kohara from Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research
Institute/SPring-8 led the research effort.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alchemist
are people who study a medieval chemical science, and speculative philosophy aiming to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold and silver.
He’s using this as a metaphor to say that he can turn something unimportant, or unimpressive, into the opposite… something important, or something impressive.
are people who study a medieval chemical science, and speculative philosophy aiming to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold and silver.
He’s using this as a metaphor to say that he can turn something unimportant, or unimpressive, into the opposite… something important, or something impressive.
Chewing tobacco riskier than smoking: Study
Chewing tobacco poses a bigger threat than smoking, according to a study conducted by a group of city oncologists. Ahead of the No Tobacco Day on May 31, data compiled by the experts suggest that more than half of the city's tobacco-induced cancer patients are gutkha consumers, rather than smokers. Perhaps even more alarmingly, the average age of patients suffering from head-and-neck cancer - generally triggered by continuous tobacco use - has gone down to 25 years.
Conducted by Bengal Oncology, the study reveals that the share of head-and-neck cancer could drop to less than 20% from the present 45% of all cancer-affected people in Bengal if chewing tobacco could be prohibited. Even though gutkhas have been banned in the state, sale hasn't stopped. The figures also show that the number of tobacco-chewers is rising in the city faster than the number of smokers
Probiotic yogurt may change brain function
They found that, compared with women who didn't consume the probiotic yogurt, those who did showed a decrease in activity in both the insula - which processes and integrates internal body sensations, like those from the gut - and the somatosensory cortex during the emotional reactivity task.
Further, in response to the task, these women had a decrease in the engagement of a widespread network in the brain that includes emotion-, cognition- and sensory-related areas. The women in the other two groups showed a stable or increased activity in this network.
During the resting brain scan, the women consuming probiotics showed greater connectivity between a key brainstem region known as the periaqueductal grey and
cognition-associated areas of the prefrontal cortex.
The women who ate no product at all, on the other hand, showed greater connectivity of the periaqueductal grey to emotion- and sensation-related regions, while the group consuming the non-probiotic dairy product showed results in between.
The robot butler that can tend to your every need - even predicting when you want a beer AND pouring it for you
- The robot, developed at Cornell University, uses Kinect sensors, 3D cameras and a database of videos to work out what its owner wants
- In tests, the robot correctly anticipated its owner's needs 82% of the time
Stem cell trial offers stroke breakthrough hope
LONDON: Stroke patients who suffer partial paralysis, become handicapped and lose the ability to carry out simple day-to-day activities such as taking a shower or changing clothes can now hope to be cured with their own stem cells.
Researchers have reported encouraging interim data from the world's first clinical trial examining the safety of neural stem cell treatment in stroke patients, ahead of an application for Phase II trials.
The trial saw brains of stroke patients injected with neural stem cells to test the safety and tolerability of the treatment.
Results presented to the 22nd European Stroke Conference in London on Monday found that most of the five patients injected with stem cells had experienced sustained modest reductions in neurological impairment compared with their pre-treatment baseline performance, accompanied by improvement in abilities to undertake day-to-day tasks.
Professor Keith Muir of the University of Glasgow, who is heading the trial at the Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, reported that data from the first nine patients treated had shown no cell-related or immunological adverse affects. A further two patients have been treated since the data were collated and the trial is now drawing to a close, with full results due to be published next year.
Meanwhile, plans are proceeding for a Phase II trial that will examine the efficacy of stem-cell treatment in stroke patients and an application is expected to be submitted to the UK regulatory authorities in July. If approved, the Phase II trial is scheduled to commence later this year. The Phase II trial will be a multi-centre one involving about 20 patients initially, all of whom will have suffered a stroke within a few weeks.
"The evidence of functional improvement requires further investigation in a suitably designed Phase II efficacy study and we look forward to being a principal clinical site in that study when it commences," said Professor Muir.
This breakthrough has the potential to drastically change the way stroke patients are treated in India, where stroke is a major cause for loss of life, limbs and speech. The Indian Council of Medical Research estimates that in 2004 there were 9.3 lakh cases of stroke and 6.4 lakh deaths due to stroke in the country, most of the people being less than 45 years old.
Dr Kameshwar Prasad from AIIMS said the number of deaths and persons disabled due to stroke was rising in India. Increasing life expectancy at birth, rising urbanisation, changing lifestyles and rising stresslevels are bound to increase stroke cases. Those with high blood pressure, diabetes and high blood fat (cholesterol) are especially at risk. The most important of these risk factors is high BP. In India, more than 16% of people above 20 years of age suffer from high BP.
A small-scale study conducted by Delhi's AIIMS had found that about 60% of 12 patients, in whose cases stem cells taken from the bone marrow were injected back into the antecubital vein (in the forearms, near the elbow), were able to carry out activities such as walking, using the toilet, taking a bath, dressing and eating independently within six months. This increased to 70% within a year. None of these patients had been able to carry out such activities at the beginning of the study. But the same was not true for the three equally serious stroke patients who did not receive stem cells during their treatment. While 33% were able to carry out these activities at the start of the study, the figure increased to only 50% in a year.
"Around 50% in the stem cell group became free of deficits like weakness of one limb and inability to walk as against 30% in the control arm," Dr Prasad said. "The stem cells had excellent safety profile. After carrying out PET scans and MRIs thrice in a year on patients who received stem cells, we found no side-effects. This study shows that stem cells are a safe and feasible therapy in acute stroke. This holds promise and needs to be confirmed in a bigger study."
Researchers have reported encouraging interim data from the world's first clinical trial examining the safety of neural stem cell treatment in stroke patients, ahead of an application for Phase II trials.
The trial saw brains of stroke patients injected with neural stem cells to test the safety and tolerability of the treatment.
Results presented to the 22nd European Stroke Conference in London on Monday found that most of the five patients injected with stem cells had experienced sustained modest reductions in neurological impairment compared with their pre-treatment baseline performance, accompanied by improvement in abilities to undertake day-to-day tasks.
Professor Keith Muir of the University of Glasgow, who is heading the trial at the Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, reported that data from the first nine patients treated had shown no cell-related or immunological adverse affects. A further two patients have been treated since the data were collated and the trial is now drawing to a close, with full results due to be published next year.
Meanwhile, plans are proceeding for a Phase II trial that will examine the efficacy of stem-cell treatment in stroke patients and an application is expected to be submitted to the UK regulatory authorities in July. If approved, the Phase II trial is scheduled to commence later this year. The Phase II trial will be a multi-centre one involving about 20 patients initially, all of whom will have suffered a stroke within a few weeks.
"The evidence of functional improvement requires further investigation in a suitably designed Phase II efficacy study and we look forward to being a principal clinical site in that study when it commences," said Professor Muir.
This breakthrough has the potential to drastically change the way stroke patients are treated in India, where stroke is a major cause for loss of life, limbs and speech. The Indian Council of Medical Research estimates that in 2004 there were 9.3 lakh cases of stroke and 6.4 lakh deaths due to stroke in the country, most of the people being less than 45 years old.
Dr Kameshwar Prasad from AIIMS said the number of deaths and persons disabled due to stroke was rising in India. Increasing life expectancy at birth, rising urbanisation, changing lifestyles and rising stresslevels are bound to increase stroke cases. Those with high blood pressure, diabetes and high blood fat (cholesterol) are especially at risk. The most important of these risk factors is high BP. In India, more than 16% of people above 20 years of age suffer from high BP.
A small-scale study conducted by Delhi's AIIMS had found that about 60% of 12 patients, in whose cases stem cells taken from the bone marrow were injected back into the antecubital vein (in the forearms, near the elbow), were able to carry out activities such as walking, using the toilet, taking a bath, dressing and eating independently within six months. This increased to 70% within a year. None of these patients had been able to carry out such activities at the beginning of the study. But the same was not true for the three equally serious stroke patients who did not receive stem cells during their treatment. While 33% were able to carry out these activities at the start of the study, the figure increased to only 50% in a year.
"Around 50% in the stem cell group became free of deficits like weakness of one limb and inability to walk as against 30% in the control arm," Dr Prasad said. "The stem cells had excellent safety profile. After carrying out PET scans and MRIs thrice in a year on patients who received stem cells, we found no side-effects. This study shows that stem cells are a safe and feasible therapy in acute stroke. This holds promise and needs to be confirmed in a bigger study."
Eye mouse’ for the physically challenged
Shruthi Shettigar, Prasad Nayak, Vanishri and Sandhya Shet of the Srinivas Institute of Technology (SIT) developed the device under the guidance of associate professor Sathish Kumar K and Bheema Shastry, head of the department of electronics and communication engineering, SIT.
Sathish told TOI the students developed an application and installed it on a webcam-connected computer. The computer is connected to a light-dependent resistor circuit that is fixed to a chair. Once a physically challenged person sits on the chair, the computer turns on and the webcam captures the person's eyeball movements, says Sathish. The recorded video is automatically uploaded to the application developed by the students.
"After this, a physically challenged person can start using the computer without using a mouse," says Sathish. "The user has to just stare closely at the folder or icon, and within few seconds the folder opens."
Through eyeball movements, the cursor can be moved on to any folder.
The students, who spent Rs 5,000 on the innovation, are trying to get a patent for it. "After getting a patent, we will launch this product in the market to help the handicapped," says Sathish.
Woman dies, delivers baby, returns to life
| |||||
READ MORE
heart
Erica
Nigrelli, a teacher at Elkins High School in Missouri City, was
teaching English when she felt faint, placed her hands on a table to
steady herself and then passed out.
RELATED
HOUSTON: In a miracle, a 36-week pregnant American woman, who was technically dead as her heart had stopped, has delivered a 'normal' baby.
In February, Erica Nigrelli, a teacher at Elkins High School in Missouri City, was teaching English when she felt faint, placed her hands on a table to steady herself and then passed out.
Her colleagues immediately grabbed her. They kept her alive until paramedics arrived and rushed her to a hospital.
Nigrelli's husband, Nathan, also a teacher at the school, was just two doors down. He rushed into the room.
"I opened the door and walked in. Erica was lying on the floor, she was foaming and making gurgling sounds and just staring up," he was quoted as saying by CNN affiliate KPRC.
"My wife is pregnant," he said. "She's having a seizure! The baby's due in three weeks!"
By the time 32-year-old Erica was rushed to the hospital, doctors could not find a pulse. Her heart had stopped.
Doctors delivered the baby by emergency cesarean section. Technically, it was a postmortem delivery because Erica's heart was not beating, the report said.
But then something remarkable happened. The doctors turned to Erica and soon her heart started beating again.
Now three months later, doctors said her baby - named Elayna - is getting healthier.
"She's just a baby," said Erica. "A normal baby."
It's a miracle considering how Elayna came into this world, doctors said, adding Nigrelli technically died, gave birth, and was brought back to life.
"Nine times out of ten most people die from the initial collapse," said Erica. "It was literally a ticking time bomb, it just happened when I was 36 weeks pregnant."
Now, the mother and the baby are both home and doing great, the report said.
In February, Erica Nigrelli, a teacher at Elkins High School in Missouri City, was teaching English when she felt faint, placed her hands on a table to steady herself and then passed out.
Her colleagues immediately grabbed her. They kept her alive until paramedics arrived and rushed her to a hospital.
Nigrelli's husband, Nathan, also a teacher at the school, was just two doors down. He rushed into the room.
"I opened the door and walked in. Erica was lying on the floor, she was foaming and making gurgling sounds and just staring up," he was quoted as saying by CNN affiliate KPRC.
"My wife is pregnant," he said. "She's having a seizure! The baby's due in three weeks!"
By the time 32-year-old Erica was rushed to the hospital, doctors could not find a pulse. Her heart had stopped.
Doctors delivered the baby by emergency cesarean section. Technically, it was a postmortem delivery because Erica's heart was not beating, the report said.
But then something remarkable happened. The doctors turned to Erica and soon her heart started beating again.
Now three months later, doctors said her baby - named Elayna - is getting healthier.
"She's just a baby," said Erica. "A normal baby."
It's a miracle considering how Elayna came into this world, doctors said, adding Nigrelli technically died, gave birth, and was brought back to life.
"Nine times out of ten most people die from the initial collapse," said Erica. "It was literally a ticking time bomb, it just happened when I was 36 weeks pregnant."
Now, the mother and the baby are both home and doing great, the report said.
This device can sniff out a bomb from 20m away
READ MORE
atomic
The
EU-funded OPTIX (Optical Technologies for the Identification of
Explosives' team used advanced optical technologies that can be mounted
on a compact remote vehicle and then used to detect quantities of less
than 1 mg of explosives.
RELATED
The EU-funded OPTIX (Optical Technologies for the Identification of Explosives' team used advanced optical technologies that can be mounted on a compact remote vehicle and then used to detect quantities of less than 1 mg of explosives.
According to reports, no other research organization or company has managed to achieve this degree of sensitivity.
Armed with to lasers that can precisely identify the atomic and molecular structure of explosives, the OPTIX device can rapidly and remotely scan all objects in its field of vision such as a vehicle, piece of luggage or any opaque container, and pick up trace residue.
Lead researcher Alberto Calvo from Spain said, "Detecting traces of explosives at a distance of up to 20 metres can help to boost security across a wide range of scenarios. Not only would security be enhanced, but the inconvenience for citizens would be reduced significantly through the use of a non-invasive and non-hazardous explosive detection system."
To make the system portable, the team plans to integrate it into a wheeled platform, which could eventually resemble a bulked-up Mars Rover. The platform will move along a car park or a street, for example, scanning surfaces for traces of explosives.
A law-enforcement officer will control the roving vehicle remotely and monitor the data collected in real time.
Around 60% of all terrorist bombing around the world used Improvised Explosive Devices.
The OPTIX consortium received 2.4 million euros in EU-funding to improve the safety and quality of life of European citizens.
The OPTIX prototype has already been successfully tested in laboratory and outdoor environments, simulating real-life situations and in various weather conditions. The team plans to increase the sensitivity, precision and robustness of the system before making it available to European police and security forces.
younger generation is somehow inherently more adept at using technology
Are children naturally better at computers?
RELATED
We're often astounded by the ability of children to pick up, use and master the latest technological innovations.
You frequently hear stories from parents of how they left a tablet
computer lying around and after a couple of hours they came back to find
their toddler using it to play games, look at kittens on the internet
or open an offshore bank account.
The idea that the younger generation is somehow inherently more adept at using technology is slowly taking hold. In a recent survey by John Lewis, the department store chain, 71 per cent of parents admitted that they consult their children for technological advice, whether that's help online (setting up social-media profiles ) or around the home (operating the remote). In other words, while adults are busy putting food on the table, children are becoming our technological overlords.
But how and why is this happening and why do some parents seem resigned to it? After all, modern user interfaces are getting simpler and, at least in theory, are designed for us all to operate.
"It's certainly an illusion to assume that kids can do these things intuitively," says Nigel Houghton, managing director of Simplicity Computers . "It's more the case that they're not fearful of looking around, and so they eventually work things out." Dr Mark Brosnan, senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Bath and author of the book Technophobia , says that children's apparent expertise has little to do with youth.
"It becomes about inclination ," says Matt Leeser, head of buying for telecoms and technology at John Lewis. "Whether you're talking about Windows 8 or a smart TV, it's a question of whether one can be bothered to learn how to use it." But it's also to do with the learning process itself. "When kids get a device, they talk to their mates, they go through a process of swapping information ," says Houghton, whose company specialises in producing simpler, more straightforward computing interfaces. "But when older people see younger people using devices so easily, it provides a sort of deterrent: 'Oh god,' they think, 'I can't do that, I must be stupid.'"
It's a conveniently lazy mindset to develop, but it's one that's easily conquerable. Says Brosnan, "Some of the most confident, happy, least anxious users are silver surfers over the age of 65 — largely due to the fact that they're retired, they have some time to spare, and there's no pressure — no-one is watching them and evaluating how they're using it."
In other words, a solid relationship with technology seems to be a function of leisure time, something that parents can be woefully short of. --THE INDEPENDENT
The idea that the younger generation is somehow inherently more adept at using technology is slowly taking hold. In a recent survey by John Lewis, the department store chain, 71 per cent of parents admitted that they consult their children for technological advice, whether that's help online (setting up social-media profiles ) or around the home (operating the remote). In other words, while adults are busy putting food on the table, children are becoming our technological overlords.
But how and why is this happening and why do some parents seem resigned to it? After all, modern user interfaces are getting simpler and, at least in theory, are designed for us all to operate.
"It's certainly an illusion to assume that kids can do these things intuitively," says Nigel Houghton, managing director of Simplicity Computers . "It's more the case that they're not fearful of looking around, and so they eventually work things out." Dr Mark Brosnan, senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Bath and author of the book Technophobia , says that children's apparent expertise has little to do with youth.
"It becomes about inclination ," says Matt Leeser, head of buying for telecoms and technology at John Lewis. "Whether you're talking about Windows 8 or a smart TV, it's a question of whether one can be bothered to learn how to use it." But it's also to do with the learning process itself. "When kids get a device, they talk to their mates, they go through a process of swapping information ," says Houghton, whose company specialises in producing simpler, more straightforward computing interfaces. "But when older people see younger people using devices so easily, it provides a sort of deterrent: 'Oh god,' they think, 'I can't do that, I must be stupid.'"
It's a conveniently lazy mindset to develop, but it's one that's easily conquerable. Says Brosnan, "Some of the most confident, happy, least anxious users are silver surfers over the age of 65 — largely due to the fact that they're retired, they have some time to spare, and there's no pressure — no-one is watching them and evaluating how they're using it."
In other words, a solid relationship with technology seems to be a function of leisure time, something that parents can be woefully short of. --THE INDEPENDENT
SIT students develop automated prosthetic leg, drawing robot
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android
RELATED
MANGALORE: Students and the teaching faculty of Srinivas Institute of
Technology (SIT) have developed two innovative electronic devices -
automated prosthetic leg and drawing robot.
To help physically challenged persons, final year mechanical engineering students - Abins Michael, Bonskey Samuel, Anoop Raj Rao and Clifford Aranha ---- under the guidance of project coordinators Neelakantha V Londhe and Sharathchandra Prabhu have developed the automated prosthetic leg.
This device is helpful for those who find it difficult to move their legs. The device reduces the effort required for walking by physically challenged persons.
Explaining how this device functions, students said the energy required for the movement of prosthetic leg is supplied by a compact 12 volt battery, which is fixed on the back of the waist belt of a physically challenged person. A small motor generates the movement of prosthetic leg, which is made of wood and aluminum, they said.
Each cycle of prosthetic leg movement involves three steps - first is to lift the thigh along with lower limb, then stretching of the lower limb and finally pushing back the entire leg forward or backward as required by the user.
Performance of the device can be enhanced using microcontroller. After charging the battery, this device can be used continuously for four hours.
Sharathchandra Prabhu told TOI: "Since we did research before designing this device, the cost to develop it was Rs 14,000. But the estimated manufacturing cost would be around Rs 6,000." To design this device for needy people, students have started approaching hospitals in this region, said Sharathchandra.
Drawing robot
Four final year computer engineering students - Janeeval P James, Jithu Sebastian, Margrette Thomas and Mobin KB -- under the guidance of computer science professors Janardhan Bhat K and GS Shivkumar have designed a drawing robot, a device which draws complicated civil engineering and machineries drawings.
Drawing robot will draw any type of pictures and shapes which is entered in android enabled mobile phone. This robot with a pencil holder is made of steel and fibre. The user of this device has to just connect robot with an android mobile phone through Bluetooth. Then user has to enter size and shape of the picture and the picture will be transferred from mobile to Arduino UNO - a microcontroller attached to the robot. With the help of microcontroller, robot will draw image specified by the users.
GS Shivkumar, who is also the head of department of computer science engineering, said this robot is useful to engineers as it draws complicated pictures of machineries with accuracy. "We spent around Rs 10,000 to design this robot," he added.
To help physically challenged persons, final year mechanical engineering students - Abins Michael, Bonskey Samuel, Anoop Raj Rao and Clifford Aranha ---- under the guidance of project coordinators Neelakantha V Londhe and Sharathchandra Prabhu have developed the automated prosthetic leg.
This device is helpful for those who find it difficult to move their legs. The device reduces the effort required for walking by physically challenged persons.
Explaining how this device functions, students said the energy required for the movement of prosthetic leg is supplied by a compact 12 volt battery, which is fixed on the back of the waist belt of a physically challenged person. A small motor generates the movement of prosthetic leg, which is made of wood and aluminum, they said.
Each cycle of prosthetic leg movement involves three steps - first is to lift the thigh along with lower limb, then stretching of the lower limb and finally pushing back the entire leg forward or backward as required by the user.
Performance of the device can be enhanced using microcontroller. After charging the battery, this device can be used continuously for four hours.
Sharathchandra Prabhu told TOI: "Since we did research before designing this device, the cost to develop it was Rs 14,000. But the estimated manufacturing cost would be around Rs 6,000." To design this device for needy people, students have started approaching hospitals in this region, said Sharathchandra.
Drawing robot
Four final year computer engineering students - Janeeval P James, Jithu Sebastian, Margrette Thomas and Mobin KB -- under the guidance of computer science professors Janardhan Bhat K and GS Shivkumar have designed a drawing robot, a device which draws complicated civil engineering and machineries drawings.
Drawing robot will draw any type of pictures and shapes which is entered in android enabled mobile phone. This robot with a pencil holder is made of steel and fibre. The user of this device has to just connect robot with an android mobile phone through Bluetooth. Then user has to enter size and shape of the picture and the picture will be transferred from mobile to Arduino UNO - a microcontroller attached to the robot. With the help of microcontroller, robot will draw image specified by the users.
GS Shivkumar, who is also the head of department of computer science engineering, said this robot is useful to engineers as it draws complicated pictures of machineries with accuracy. "We spent around Rs 10,000 to design this robot," he added.
An oxygen chamber that mends wounds
RELATED
CHENNAI: Open wounds and sores are often a diabetic's Achilles' heel as they take a long time to heal and often lead to complications.
A city hospital seems to have found a way to circumvent this by placing patients in a specialised chamber that pumps oxygen under increased atmospheric pressure. The pure oxygen, doctors say, will catalyse the process of healing areas where blood supply is limited.
The Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) was launched at M V Hospital for Diabetes in Royapuram on Friday.
"Certain diabetic wounds take long to heal when oxygen supply to the wound is poor and blood supply is limited. By making patients breathe 100% oxygen, the chamber stimulates growth of new blood vessels and blood flow to the wound improves. The blood carries large amounts of oxygen to organs, tissues and wounds. This heals wounds easily," said Dr Vijay Viswanathan, chief diabetologist, M V hospital for diabetes.
Patients with non-healing wounds like acute thermal burns, traumatic brain injury, radiation damage to tissues, crush injury and sudden hearing loss will benefit, said the doctor. It can also be used to treat various forms of gangrene and carbon monoxide poisoning.
The treatment, dating to the 1660s, was popular across Europe in the 19th century but saw a downslide after medicine became more evidence-based. In the late 20th century, it gained popularity and was used to treat divers and tunnel workers.
"Its use declined due to high cost. In the last decade or two, there has been a renewed interest in this procedure. In India, it was primarily used by the Navy for divers, but hospitals are now using it for other issues," said Dr Viswanathan.
Patients will require a one-hour session for 14 days. "We have a controlled mechanism which regulates the oxygen supplied according to medical protocol," said Dr Viswanathan.
Patients will experience a feeling akin to what one feels when a flight takes off. Each session will cost 1,500, while one government hospital patient a day will be treated for free.
Doctors say hyperbaric oxygen can help stimulate cell growth and regeneration. "It can also act as an anti-viral and anti-bacterial agent as most of them can't tolerate oxygen. It can displace toxins and other impurities to assist detoxification of the system," said Dr M Rajkumar, professor at the vascular department, Madras Medical College.
Others say the machine should be handled carefully as an oxygen overdose can be fatal. "Care should be taken to ensure it is done in a controlled condition or it could lead to complications like seizures," said Dr George M Varghese of CMC, Vellore. He said it does not "heal" wounds but "catalyses the healing."
"It is expensive and is beneficial to only 5% of patients with these conditions and few can afford it," he said.
US patent for Hyderabad scientists
HYDERABAD: A faculty from the University of Hyderabad and an IITian
from the city received United States patent for creating beams of light
which can control the movement and subsequent arrangement of matter.
Dr Nirmal Vishwanthan, teaching at the School of Physics at UoH along with Kavita Vemuri from IIT-Hyderabad, received the patent for their work on 'System and Method for generating an Optical Vector Vortex Beam having two Lobes', a media communique said.
"Currently, we are doing a detailed study on these beams which can control particulate movement. We are also trying to understand the fundamentals on how these beams of light operate, following which the applications of the beams will become clearer," Vishawanathan said.
"We believe that the use of such optical manipulators could be far reaching especially in chemistry and biology related fields of science," he added.
The two research scientists have been working on this project for the past five years.
Vishwanathan, a former student of UoH and now the head of the Beam Optics and Applications Lab, is the ninth person from the university to be awarded a patent from 20-odd patents filed till date from across all streams of UoH.
Dr Nirmal Vishwanthan, teaching at the School of Physics at UoH along with Kavita Vemuri from IIT-Hyderabad, received the patent for their work on 'System and Method for generating an Optical Vector Vortex Beam having two Lobes', a media communique said.
"Currently, we are doing a detailed study on these beams which can control particulate movement. We are also trying to understand the fundamentals on how these beams of light operate, following which the applications of the beams will become clearer," Vishawanathan said.
"We believe that the use of such optical manipulators could be far reaching especially in chemistry and biology related fields of science," he added.
The two research scientists have been working on this project for the past five years.
Vishwanathan, a former student of UoH and now the head of the Beam Optics and Applications Lab, is the ninth person from the university to be awarded a patent from 20-odd patents filed till date from across all streams of UoH.
The War on 3D Printing Begins
Infowars.com
May 11, 2013
May 11, 2013 (LocalOrg) – It was inevitable. A technology like 3D printing that essentially puts cheap labor, manufacturing, and retail all in the same place – upon one’s desktop – spells the absolute, utter and permanent end to the monopolies and unwarranted power and influence of the corporate-financier elite who have lorded over humanity since human civilization began – a permanent end the elite will fight against with the total summation of their ill-gotten power and influence.
The pretext being used to begin this war, is a 3D printed gun built and demonstrated by Defense Distributed in Austin, Texas. After designing, printing out, and firing the 3D printed gun, the US State Department demanded that the designs, distributed for free on the Internet, be taken down – claiming tenuously that by posting the designs on the Internet, arms export bans may have been violated – this the same government that is on record, openly shipping arms, cash, and military equipment to its own listed terrorist organizations from the Mujahedeen e-Khalq (MEK or MKO) in Iraq and Iran, to the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) in Libya, to Al Qaeda’s Syrian franchise,Jabhat al-Nusra.
In the Independent’s article, “US government orders Cody Wilson and Defense Distributed to remove blueprint for 3D-printed handgun from the web,” it’s reported that:
The US government has demanded the removal of online files which allow users to 3D-print their own unregistered gun at home.3D Printing: The Sum of All Corporate-Fascist Fears
The blueprint has so far been downloaded more than 100,000 times since Defense Distributed – which spent a year designing the “Liberator” handgun – made it available online.
Last week Defense Distributed built the gun from plastic on an industrial 3D printer bought on eBay for $8,000 (£5,140), and fired it.
The Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance wrote to the company’s founder Cody Wilson demanding the designs be “removed from public access” until he could prove he had not broken laws governing shipping weapons overseas.
For several years now, buzz has been growing about 3D printing. Small companies have begun opening up around the world, selling 3D printers, or using 3D printers for small run production, filling niches, or shifting markets from large corporations and their globalized supply chains, to local, decentralized business models. While governments like those in China have embraced the technology and wholly encourage a grassroots, bottom-up industrial revolution, others, like the US have only feigned enthusiasm.
US President Barack Obama, in his 2013 State of the Union address, according to CNET’s “Here’s the 3D-printing institute in Obama’s State of the Union,” referred specifically to 3D printing, claiming:
After shedding jobs for more than 10 years, our manufacturers have added about 500,000 jobs over the past three. Caterpillar is bringing jobs back from Japan. Ford is bringing jobs back from Mexico. After locating plants in other countries like China, Intel is opening its most advanced plant right here at home. And this year, Apple will start making Macs in America again.Caterpillar, Ford, Intel, and Apple are large globalized monopolies – the personal manufacturing revolution would not see “state-of-the art labs” open up in towns across America to help augment the bottom lines of these Fortune 500 corporations, but would see decentralized alternatives to these corporations cut into and utterly gut their bottom lines – a reality US President Barack Obama and the corporate-financier interests that dictate his agenda must surely be aware of.
There are things we can do, right now, to accelerate this trend. Last year, we created our first manufacturing innovation institute in Youngstown, Ohio. A once-shuttered warehouse is now a state-of-the art lab where new workers are mastering the 3D printing that has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything. There’s no reason this can’t happen in other towns.
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In the case of Ford and other big-auto giants, who by right should be
shuttered and out of business already had it not been for their
unwarranted influence and power buying them immense bailouts from
America’s taxpayers, there are already alternative business models
undermining their monopolies. In America itself, there is Local Motors who
recently gave a short tour of their manufacturing facility they called a
“microfactory.” These microfactorires represent the next step in
industrialization where small companies will cater to smaller, local
markets and niches, entirely replacing the centralized Fortune 500
corporations of Detroit, barely clinging to life and their
unsustainable, antiquated business model as it is.Video: Inside Local Motors’ Rally Fighter and open-source collaborative microfactory production.
The only conceivable means by which big-auto monopolies could hope to survive is by having the same bought-and-paid for politicians it used to bail its collapsed business model out with, impose sweeping regulations to make it illegal for “microfactories” to operate. We can already imagine, by extrapolating from the US State Department’s move against Defense Distributed, the arguments that will be made. These will be centered around “safety,” “taxation,” and perhaps even claims as bold as threatening “jobs” of autoworkers at Fortune 500 monopolies.
Similar ploys are currently working their way through a legislative and sociopolitical gauntlet in regards to the organic food movement.
In reality, whatever excuse the US government has made to take down the first fully 3D printed gun’s CAD files from the Internet, it is fear of lost hegemony that drives this burgeoning war on personal manufacturing. James Ball of the Guardian, in an article titled, “US government attempts to stifle 3D-printer gun designs will ultimately fail,” predicts that:
This is a ban that’s going to be virtually impossible to enforce: as almost any music company will testify, stopping online filesharing by banning particular sites or devices is roughly akin to stopping a tsunami with a bucket.Indeed – as a 3D printer is essentially nothing more than circuit boards, stepper motors, and heating elements to melt and extrude layers of plastic – it would be as impossible as it would be ridiculous to try to stem the tide of 3D printing by regulating printers, as it will be to attempt to regulate and ban any and all “prints” that threaten the current establishment’s monopolies and hold on power.
Another approach might be to attempt to ban or regulate 3D printers themselves. To do so is to stifle a potentially revolutionary technology in order to address a hypothetical risk – and that’s even before the practical problems of defining a 3D printer for the legislation. It would have to be defined broadly enough for a law to be effective, but narrowly enough so that enforcing the law doesn’t take out half of the equipment used in every day manufacturing. It is likely a futile ambition.
Everyone is eventually going to have access to this technology and by consequence, the ability to print out on their desktop what Fortune 500 corporations have held monopolies over for generations, including arms manufacturing, automobiles, and electronics. The age of empire, corporatism, and elitism is drawing to a close, but apparently not without one last battle.
How to Win the Battle
While some may be paralyzed in fear over the prospect of their neighbor one day having the ability to print out a fully functional weapon, it must be realized that like all other prolific technologies, the fact that it will be in “everyone’s” hands means that more good people than bad will have access to it, and it will be in their collective interests to create and maintain stability within any emerging technological paradigm. Just like with information technology, where malicious activity certainly exists, more people are interested in the smooth, stable function of this technology in daily life and have created a paradigm where disruptions happen, but life goes on.
People must embrace, not fear 3D printing. Key to its integration into society is to ensure that as many people as possible understand it and have access to it. This must be done as quickly as possible, to outpace inevitable legislation that seeks to strangle this revolution in its cradle.
Education: We must learn as much about this technology as possible. 3D printing incorporates skills in electronics, 3D design, and material science. Developing skill-sets in any of these areas would be beneficial. There are endless resources available online for free that offer information and tutorials on how to develop these skills – just an Internet search away.
Alternatively, for people curious about this technology and seeking to get hands-on experience, they could seek out and visit their local hackerspace (an extensive list of spaces can be found here). Hackerspaces are essentially technological fitness clubs, where one pays dues monthly for access to a space and the equipment within it to work on projects either individually or in a collaborative effort.
Image: Cover of “Hackerspaces @ the_beginning,” which chronicles the creation, challenges and successes of hackerspaces around the world. The original file can be found here, and an online version can be viewed here, on Scribd.
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Hackerspaces generally attract people with the necessary skill-sets
to assemble, use, and troubleshoot 3D printers currently on the market
today. They also possess the skill-sets needed to build 3D printers and
other computer-controlled manufacturing systems from parts that as of
yet have not been “regulated.” Generally, hackerspaces host monthly
workshops that help new people develop basic skills like soldering and
programming, or 3D design and even “builds” where purchased 3D printer
kits are constructed with the guidance of a resident expert. The
proliferation of this knowledge will make the already daunting task of
stripping personal manufacturing technology from the people, all but
impossible.Developing Local Institutions: It is essential to both expand existing hackerspaces and their use of personal manufacturing technology, as well as establish and build up new spaces. Ingraining hackerspaces as essential local institutions in our communities is one of the keys to heading off the coming war on personal manufacturing and other disruptive technologies sure to gain the ire of legislators as corporate-financier monopolies begin to suffer.
A place where people can go learn and use this technology, as well as collaborate in its advancement will turn 3D printing and other disruptive technologies from curiosities, into practical tools communities can use to reinvigorate their local economies, solve local problems, and overall improve their lives themselves, independently and self-sufficiently.
A hackerspace can start with something as simple as a single table with several chairs around it and some shared equipment used during weekend get-togethers with friends, and can develop into something as significant as a full-fledged organization with hundreds of members and global reach.
For more information on existing hackerspaces, and inspiration for those seeking to start their own, please see: “Inspiration for Starting a Hackerspace.”
Ignoring and Circumventing Illegitimate Governments and Their Declarations: As already cited, the US government is currently funding a myriad of its own listed terrorist organizations to horrific effect from Iraq and Iran, to Libya and Syria. To declare a 3D printed gun “outlawed” and its presence on the Internet a “violation” of arms export laws, is as hypocritical as it is illegitimate.
The government, in a free society, works for the people. The people have not asked the government to ban 3D printed guns, just like they have not asked for the myriad of laws the government is currently citing as justification for its unilateral declaration. The government does not dictate to the people what they can and cannot have or what they can and cannot make. As such, we are not obligated to respect their declarations in regards to 3D printing any more than we have demonstrably respected their declarations regarding so-called “intellectual property.”
Just as file sharing continues unabated, while alternative media supplants what is left of the corporate-media’s monopolies, a similar paradigm must be developed and encouraged across the tech community in regards to 3D printing, personal manufacturing, and other emerging disruptive technologies such as synthetic biology.
Conclusion
Already, parallels are being drawn between 3D printing and the shifting paradigms of information technology and file sharing. Whether or not the average person joins in against the war on 3D printing and personal manufacturing, the tech community will almost certainly continue on with their success from the realm of shaping and moving information to the world of shaping and moving atoms. However, for the average person clearly aware that “something” is not quite right about where things in general are going and who are seeking solutions, establishing local institutions that leverage unprecedented technology to solve our problems ourselves, without disingenuous politicians and their endless schemes, seems like a sure choice.
There is already a burgeoning community of talented people working on bringing this technology to its maturity and leveraging it for the benefit of communities and individuals. If we are to ensure this technology stays in the people’s hands and is used in the best interests of the people, then as many of “the people’ as possible must get involved.
Do some additional research into 3D printing, locate your local hackerspace, and/or start a hackerspace of your own. Start looking into buying or building a 3D printer and developing ideas on how to use this technology both for education and for local, tangible development. The future is what we make of it, and if we – with our own two hands – are making nothing, we have no future.
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