Five of the world’s tiniest robots
Allow me to take you on a trip down my memory lane. As a young lad, a film I saw captured my imagination: Fantastic Voyage, a 1966 release about people shrunk to microscopic size and sent into the body of an injured scientist to repair his brain. The...
Engineer scoops major award for his life saving breathing device
This years Commonwealth Innovation Awards has been awarded to Nitesh Kumar Jangir, an Indian engineer, who created a breathing device which prevents the deaths of newborn babies. The 2019 Commonwealth Secretary-General's Innovation for Sustainable Development Award celebrates the most outstanding innovators and innovations from any of the...
AI learns to detect tumours in microscopy images
A team Japanese researchers have been able to spot different cancer within microsoptic images using deep-learning AI techniques. The new technique could lead to better cancer treatments. The technique used 'phase-contrast microscopy images' - a technique that reveals cellular structures that are not visible with a simple microscope....
Engineers create reusable EpiPen
A team of Engineers from South African have developed a new EpiPen that works using replaceable cartridges. While the 'ZiBiPen' costs £60; the cartridges cost only £12. This is a huge reduction in cost vs the traditional one-shot EpiPen. Giancarlo Beukes and Gokul Nair, the pair behind the...
MIT spinout PlenOptika aims to make vision care more accessible in developing world
Getting a glasses prescription is often difficult in developing countries. However, engineers at PlenOptika - an MIT spinout - aim to help with a new device that can create an estimated prescriptions in 10 seconds Often taken for granted, vision impairment is a major global issue; with more...
DARPA Announces Funding For a High-Resolution, Implantable Neural Interface
The United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has just announced contracts to fund five research groups and one company contracts as jump start its Neural Engineering System Design program. Dr. Phillip Alvelda, Program Manager in DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office (BTO), discusses the potential of next-generation...