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Smart Beer Mat Orders Refills Link OK, perhaps this is a little bit of a novelty on the surface and thereby something that we wouldn't normally feature here in News From the Future, but squint your eyes and look past the superficial at some very interesting future applications. A beer mat that knows when a glass is nearly empty and automatically asks for a refill has been created by thirsty researchers in Germany.  Andreas Butz at the University of Munich and Michael Schmitz from Saarland University came up with the idea while out drinking with their students. The disc-shaped mat can be attached to a normal beer mat so that it still soaks up spilt liquid and displays an advertisement but it also contains a pressure sensor and radio transmitter to alert bar staff of the need for a refill. The developers go on to say that "The mat could also be used for interactive TV events, as it contains an accelerometer capable of sensing when it is being waved in the air." Butz told New Scientist of his discussions with a friend who is an 'expert pub goer', "He mentioned that the pay-TV companies who broadcast soccer games are desperately looking for ways to make TV an interactive experience. Betting on actual sports events with the mat could add such interactivity." [ permanent link to this entry ]
Viral Batteries Link The field of biomimicry is an amazing technology launch pad that will have significant application to material science, engineering and the like. In an age of mobile devices, batteries, presently the most viable source of 'unwired' energy available to us, are an imperative. But don't you hate it when they run out! Scientists at MIT think they have a solution, using processes originally invented by Mother Nature. The project, led by Dr. Angela Belcher focuses upon understanding and using the process by which Nature makes materials in order to design novel hybrid organic-inorganic electronic and magnetic materials. Copying how red abalone build their shells, Dr. Belcher and her team are developing a way to actually "grow" rechargeable batteries with the help of viruses - tiny microbes that multiply by infecting living cells. Their technique would take a matter of weeks, rather than the 15 years the red abalone needs to assemble a full-sized shell. An interesting video of the work can be seen here. [ permanent link to this entry ]
Virtual Plague Link Apparently, a plague has been unleashed; intended to impact a small area and a narrowly targeted group of players, it has vectored out and spread throughout the lands. It's odd that even in a virtual world, epidemics are harder to wipe out than their creators expect. A possible future that should not be discounted is the degree to which these virtual 'incidents' will impact upon our real worlds. [ permanent link to this entry ]
Dermal Nanotech Display Link  His book, Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic Capabilities, is the first technical design study of nanotechnology in medicine and medical nanorobotics. You can watch Gina Miller's animation of the dermal display concept here. [Quicktime video - 8.6Mb] [ permanent link to this entry ]
Robotic Nano Worms Link Researchers at Dartmouth College and MIT have developed a tiny steerable robot that's about the size of a piece of dust. The nanobot moves like an inchworm, with a steering arm that pulls it along. Presently, the robot can move only on a special surface. But it might prove to be the prototype of a nanobot for a host of applications, as well as a component of "smart dust." [ permanent link to this entry ]
Wireless Heart Monitoring Link San Diego-based Triage Wireless has created, and hopes to bring to the market in the near future, a patch applied to the skin that continuously monitors a person's blood pressure, heart rate and other vital signs, and then forwards that information to their doctor's computer via wireless links.  Called the AdvancedBPM system, with the system, physicians conceivably will get a more complete view of a person's vital signs during different parts of the day, including while they sleep, and over an extended period of time. The system, ideally, would also help curb spiraling medical costs by reducing the number of hospital and office visits. I know that a number of futurists (us included) have generated scenarios portraying this type of future and so it's somewhat encouraging to see an application that realizes the concept. [ permanent link to this entry ]
Nanotech In Moving Pictures Link That the audio is in German is not a problem, since those of us who are language-challenged can simply enjoy the video portion. If you're curious, though, you can read the transcript in English, which is not a bad read. [ permanent link to this entry ]
Caffeine and Computing = The Media Cup Link  The electronics in the cup sense how the cup is used (e.g. if some one drinks out of the cup) and the temperature of the contents. This information can then be communicated to other computerized objects in the room (e.g. a coffee machine, personal digital assistant or a Web server). Programs running on these objects use this data to support the human using these systems. The MediaCup could therefore notify you (perhaps via your watch which could beep upon receiving the command), when the coffee was too hot or when using a MediaCup your coffee machine can automatically brew new coffee when it nears empty. [ permanent link to this entry ]
Train Ticket Tracks Kids Link Three railway companies in the Kansai region of Japan are about to test a service that uses their RFID-enabled train ticket gates for tracking kids. When a kid passes through RFID-enabled train ticket gates using an PiTaPa train pass, which is an RFID card, an SMS message is automaticaly sent to their parents. Details from RFID in Japan. [ permanent link to this entry ]
Using UVs to Clean Water Link Record oil prices are making headlines for weeks. But water is even more precious, because it is essential for our lives - at least when it's drinkable. This means it has to be disinfected and purified. And traditional methods, such as the use of chlorine, are showing up their limits. But, according to IsraCast, an Israeli start-up company, Atlantium, has developed a new laser-based water disinfecting system. Unlike chlorine, which can kill bacteria but can produce carcinogenic by-products, this technology "uses ultra violet (UV) light to disinfect water and is 10,000 more effective then existing techniques." In fact, this system doesn't kill bacteria and viruses, but invalidates their DNA, preventing them to reproduce. This has another beneficial effect because the presence of these infertile bacteria can boost the human immune system. [ permanent link to this entry ]
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