Science Category Archive

Has Geo-engineering Moved On?

1 Reply Jonny Hankins

Last year I wrote a series on this blog about the environment entitled ‘Can We Improve the Health of the Planet?’ Read all of the posts and report on the series here through the Bassetti Foundation website. The posts received a lot of comments, and one of the most commented was a post about geo engineering called ‘Engineering a Solution to Global Warming’.

To summarize the argument we are talking about ways of cooling the planet using technological intervention.

One of the modes put forward and that I addressed in the post is to remove carbon from the atmosphere in an attempt to minimize the problem of global warming due to heat retention.

This week in Nature magazine a short article appeared that described an experiment that according to the researchers that conducted it seems to be the first time large amounts of carbon have been removed from the atmosphere and stored.

In the case in question scientists have used iron sulphate and the ocean. The iron is dropped into the water which causes a chain if events that pulls the carbon from the atmosphere, hopefully for good.

Ocean Fertilization Technique

The iron in powder form stimulates the growth of algae that lives for about 3 to 4 weeks. Their growth relies on carbon from the air, drawn through photosynthesis. When the algae dies or is eaten and excreted it sinks to the bottom taking all of the carbon with it.

One of the scientists involved in the experiments states that a single atom of iron draws 13000 atoms of carbon from the air, a large proportion of which finds its way to the ocean floor.

Many scientists are skeptical however. The amount of carbon removed is quite literally a drop in the ocean compared to that produced, and critics argue that this insignificant result could open the gates for other geo-engineering experiments, some of which (as my previous post outlined) seem rather unwise.

High Technology Sign Language Gloves

3 Replies Jonny Hankins

The winners have just been announced of the Microsoft Imagine Cup and they have created a very interesting product, worthy of a look I feel and also of the $25000 prize money. The Quad Squad team is a group of students based in Ukraine, and they have designed a pair of gloves that are able to convert sign language into sounded speech.

The gloves are fitted with sensors that can read letters as displayed in sign language. Software then interprets the signs and produces the spoken sound through mobile phone technology.

A pair of sign language conversion gloves.

The designers hope that their product will enable communication between someone speaking using sign language and someone who cannot read sign. Incidentally they have small solar panels fitted so they can recharge themselves while in use.

Comments on the Gizmag blog point to limitations, the gloves can only presently recognize letters and not symbols for words, but all agree that the product is definitely a step in the right direction.

If your sign language is not up to scratch you might like to try a pair of Accelagloves. These gloves use a mixture of sensors, software and a video camera attached to your computer to teach the signing of letters. They cost $300 (including software) and are already available from the Institute for Disabilities Research and Training who worked on their development. The Endgadget website offers a demonstration and the author’s verdict on their efficiency in video format.

The gloves are not only designed as a learning tool however, but also as an input for your computer as communication between gloves and computer is two way. Not only do they teach the symbols but they allow the user to input data through sign language, another important use in cases where visual or audio contact is not possible or the input device cannot be easily held (in emergency situations for example).

If your signing is already good you might like to try a pair of Glow Gloves. A simple idea that enables sign language in the dark, they do exactly what it says on the box.

I worked in a school in Italy where sign was taught as a curriculum subject, and now my youngest son is learning it at pre-school, but from my own point of view it remains an underused resource. Maybe this technology could help to spread its use to a larger group of people.

An Incubator from Car Parts

12 Replies Jonny Hankins

One of the most serious issues with using medical equipment in the developing world is breakage. Some statistics state that the average life of a large piece of machinery is about 5 years, and hospitals typically have stockpiles of broken machinery that they cannot use.

The problem is availability of spare parts. In some cases machines are taken out of service for minor problems, even fuse replacement, because the distribution network required to get the part does not service that area.

Here in Cambridge Massachusetts, a design company has produced as prototype of a baby incubator for use in such situations. The machine has all of the necessary functions of the most expensive incubators, but is built using car parts.

An easily repairable machine

Why car parts you might ask? Cars are found everywhere, and in many cases they are the only things that get regularly repaired. As a result parts are also available practically everywhere, both formal and informal networks serving even the most remote areas, and the designer believes that this makes the prototype product serviceable and repairable wherever it is found.

A simple idea that could have great knock on effects, I hazard to say. The incubator is heated using a pair of car headlights placed under the mattress, the temperature gauge is a car standard, as is the wiring loom and the air intake and filters. The alarm is a door bell and the emergency lights are direction turning indicators. If power is lost a motorbike battery takes over and it can even be run from jump leads.

The Massachusetts General Hospital has one of the prototypes on display in its museum, but unfortunately it looks as if the designers are still looking for a backer in order to put the project into mass production.

Given that millions of babies are born each year and many die on their first day of life, let us hope that somebody offers them some funds.