The Wireless SmartPill pH.p Capsule

Will scientific wonders ever cease? The FDA has approved the sale of the SmartPill pH.p Capsule. It’s a small blue electronic device shaped like a pill that is meant to be swallowed. Because of it’s wireless capablilites it can transmit data [via a reciever worn by the patient] as it is passing through the gastrointestinal tract. The receiver is then returned to the doctor while the pill can be disposed. This provides medicial professionals an alternative to treating Gastroparesis. (Source: Technology Review) –Leah Cheng

Cingular Brings Really Fast Food to the Ball park

Stats and instant replay delivered to your cell phone are great, but how about not standing in the beer line for half an hour and missing the big play? Cingular has teamed up with the NBA Atlanta Hawks and National Hockey League Thrashers to test out NFC (near-field communication), which will provide season ticket-holders at Phillips Arena with a way to beat the lines. Right now, the technology is limited (you need a specific Nokia phone and a Chase Visa account), but it is being tested, and the idea is ingenious: Point your phone at a vending booth, order your food, and pay for it with your phone; then all you have to do is pick it up–instead of wasting time standing in line or fiddling with your wallet or purse. Perhaps, it’s not as easy as walking to your fridge and grabbing a cold one, but it’s a start—-and your fridge isn’t in the tenth row or mid court, is it? - Kevin Geter

Biological USB Drives of a Sort

The great thing about the 21st century is that with the help of computers,
we have access to technology at our fingertips. But what if we had access to
technology that was actually Inside of our fingertips? Researchers at the
University of Tokushima’s Department of Optical Science have managed to encode
data on to the human fingernail. A femtosecond laser is used to encode the data
which in turn creates microscopic sections that emit fluorescence levels that
can be read by observational technology, such as blue-laser diode illumination,
CCD sensors, or imaging lenses. Ok, yes it is all very technical and
scientific… Anyway, an average of 5mb of data can be encoded and unfortunately
the data will only last about six months, or the amount of time that it takes a
fingernail to grow out completely. Next on the agenda will be an attempt at
repeating this process with skin, teeth and other biological parts.