How Transparent Wood Looks Like and Other Future Tech

Well, we’ve had an exciting week in the tech industry of late. With so much going on, let’s get straight to our first whacky article.

How Transparent Wood Looks Like

Wood is a major reason why humans were able to survive the harsh cold winters of this planet. But, have you ever heard about transparent wood? Probably not. At the University of Maryland, researchers have created that is see-through, is more biodegradable than plastic, and is stronger than glass.

“Advanced functional structures have been made by taking advantage of the unique microstructure in wood. Wood–polymer hybrids, wood–mineral hybrids (such as magnetic wood), and bioinspired structures have been demonstrated. Wood can be made transparent through chemical bleaching fol-lowed by polymer inclusion,” the study states.

As for the applications for the see-through wood, researchers are very optimistic. “Transparent wood could be used for a wide range of applications from everyday uses such as wood furniture to more advanced applications such as structural materials in automobiles and optoelectronics.”

Portable Cardio-Health Monitor That Sends Real-Time Data

LifeWatch AG, a company that offers health monitoring solutions, has come up with a device that can send data in real-time to the company’s data center and doctors, if needed. The best part? It is unobtrusive as it is worn as a pendant.

“With its high-performance 3-channel ECG capability, the Mobile Cardiac Telemetry service offers broad functionality in one easy-to-use system. Offering up to 30-days of real-time arrhythmia monitoring, the LifeWatch MCT monitor is the only 3-channel Mobile Cardiac Telemetry device on the market, which provides additional views of the heart,” the website reads.

IBM Achieves Memory Storage 50 Times Faster than Flash

In a remarkable achievement, scientists and researchers at IBM Research have managed to store 3 bits of data per cell in a type of memory known as phase-change memory (PCM). PCM was used in CDs and DVDs but, due to its capacity of storing only 1 bit per cell, was discarded as having further potential of advancement as DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) took the world by storm.

"Phase change memory is the first instantiation of a universal memory with properties of both DRAM and flash, thus answering one of the grand challenges of our industry," said Dr. Haris Pozidis, an author of the paper and Manager of Non-Volatile Memory Research at IBM Research, Zurich. "Reaching 3 bits per cell is a significant milestone because at this density the cost of PCM will be significantly less than DRAM and closer to flash."

PCM storage can clock upto 10 million write cycles, whereas traditional USB flash storage clocks only about 3 million write cycles.

Read more at www.bit.ly/q3newsblog. Q3 Technologies is focused on custom offshore software product development in Gurgaon, including technology consulting, application migration and modernization, end-to-end support & maintenance services.