(editor's note: Smart doorknobs, life-size 3D holograms, and an end to aging? Say it aint' so Boo! I have a feeling that in the months to come, articles from my "Stretching Science" segment will be even more fantastic as higher technologies continue to be released to us from our Star Family.
In my daily treks through the news files of the world I'm amazed at the depth and scope of emerging science technologies! In the bigger picture of our changing world, we understand that these are stepping stones towards joining our Galactic community of scientists.
~All my Love, Boo)
'Smart Doorknobs' and Gesture-Controlled Smartphones: Revolutionary Technology Enables Objects to Know Your Touch
A doorknob that knows whether to lock or unlock based on how it is grasped, a smartphone that silences itself if the user holds a finger to her lips and a chair that adjusts room lighting based on recognizing if a user is reclining or leaning forward are among the many possible applications of Touché, a new sensing technique developed by a team at Disney Research, Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University.
By monitoring a range of signal frequencies, however, Touché can derive much more information. Different body tissues have different capacitive properties, so monitoring a range of frequencies can detect a number of different paths that the electrical charge takes through the body.
Life-Size 3-D Hologram-Like Telepods May Revolutionize Videoconferencing in the Future
A Queen's University researcher has created a Star Trek-like human-scale 3D videoconferencing pod that allows people in different locations to video conference as if they are standing in front of each other.
The technology Dr. Vertegaal and researchers at the Queen's Human Media Lab have developed is called TeleHuman and looks like something from the Star Trek holodeck. Two people simply stand infront of their own life-size cylindrical pods and talks to a 3D hologram-like images of each other. Cameras capture and track 3D video and convert into the life-size image.
Aged Hematopoietic Stem Cells Rejuvenated to Be Functionally Younger
Researchers have rejuvenated aged hematopoietic stem cells to be functionally younger, offering intriguing clues into how medicine might one day fend off some ailments of old age.
Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) originate in the bone marrow and generate all of the body's red and white blood cells and platelets. They are an essential support mechanism of blood cells and the immune system. As humans and other species age, HSCs become more numerous but less effective at regenerating blood cells and immune cells. This makes older people more susceptible to infections and disease, including leukemia.
