Electronic Devices That Melt in Your Brain

Welcome to another future technology news mashup! We talk about the latest science and future technology developments all around the world.

Electronic Devices That Melt in Your Brain

To perform tests and analyze data deep within the human body, healthcare professionals generally resort to external devices that have to be removed from the body after the tests are complete. But what about a device that is completely absorbable by the body?

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have made molybdenum and silicon-based sensors that monitor (and interact with) the brain and dissolves shortly after. Testing on anaesthetized lab rats, the sensors measured physiological characteristics of the brain (brain waves) and induced epileptic spikes in live tissue.

“Bioresorbable silicon electronics technology offers unprecedented opportunities to deploy advanced implantable monitoring systems that eliminate risks, cost and discomfort associated with surgical extraction,” says Brian Litt, Professor of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Bioengineering at UPenn.

Litt believes this would be greatly beneficial in detecting nervous system disorders. “These measurements are critically important for mapping and monitoring brain function during and in preparation for neurosurgery, for assisting in device placement, such as for Parkinson’s disease, and for guiding surgical procedures on complex, interconnected nerve structures,” he adds.

This Wheel Gives Electric Power to Your Bike

Have a minute to spare? This might be really useful if you’re used to heavy traffic jams in your car, or experience fatigue while cycling. Former employees of SpaceX, Ford and Peace Corps have made a device that replaces a bicycle’s wheels and converts it to electric power in under a minute.

“The Patent Pending GeoOrbital wheel is an evolution of the orbital wheel (the wheels on the TRON Motorcycles). The GeoOrbital wheel replaces a standard bicycle front wheel to turn your bike into a powerful electric bike in under 60 seconds,” states the Kickstarter page. The device is expected to have a retail price of $950.

The wheel fits over 95% bicycles, features a thumb-activated throttle, and is completely electric - its 500W Brushless DC motor allows a bike to reach a speed of 32km/hr in under 6 seconds. A 36V removable lithium-ion battery with pedal assist delivers a range of around 100km per battery.

Germany Runs on 95% Renewable Energy for a Day

On May 8 (2016), Germany broke their previous record of running on renewable energy, taking the number to 95% - an increase from 70-80% last year. For those who are unaware, Germany vowed to lower dependence on nuclear power and switch to renewable sources of energy through a program called Energiewende (literally meaning ‘energy transition’).

Read more at www.bit.ly/q3newsblog. Q3 Technologies is a large diversified technology company which develops custom software products for the healthcare industry including cloud applications, enterprise applications across all platforms and Rich Internet Applications (RIA).