Health tech

Using off-the-shelf 3D printing tools, silver nanoparticles, and cell culture, scientists at Princeton University have created a functional bionic ear that can detect radio frequencies far beyond the normal human range.

Living, 3D-printed tissue has been in the news a fair bit recently, but this is the first attempt at creating a fully functional organ with embedded electronics.

"In general, there are mechanical and thermal challenges with interfacing electronic materials with biological materials," said Michael McAlpine, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton and the lead researcher on the project. "Previously, researchers have suggested some strategies to tailor the electronics so that this merger is less awkward. That typically happens between a 2D sheet of electronics and a surface of the tissue. However, our work suggests a new approach -- to build and grow the biology up with the electronics synergistically and in a 3D interwoven format." … Read more

Robotic prostheses may have a way to go before they work exactly like human limbs, but researchers are making great strides. A team out of Georgia Tech is working on new technology that could give these robotic limbs something akin to a sense of touch.

Thanks to tactile-sensing material that covers the entire prosthesis and software that integrates the gathered data, this robotic arm can maneuver through clutter and distinguish between hard and soft objects as it grips, pushes, and pulls more intuitively.

"Up until now, the dominant strategies for robot manipulation have discouraged contact between the robot's … Read more

There are many ways you can attempt to fight fat. You can exercise and revamp your diet or you can try slipping into some super-slinky French undies. Not just any French undies will do. A new line of Top Model shapewear from French lingerie designer Simone Perele comes with lacy trim and some interesting cellulite-fighting claims.

We've already seen Wrangler jeans with infused moisturizers and underwear made with copper, so I guess it should come as no surprise that we can now buy shapewear infused with caffeine, vitamin E, Retinol, ceramides, fatty acids, and aloe vera. Those extras, encapsulated in the microfiber fabric, rub off on your skin as you wear it.… Read more

To my fellow geeks who've long dreamed of having a lab-quality digital microscope that mounts to your phone, the time has come.

Oregon-based optics manufacturer Bodelin will begin shipping its brand-new ProScope Micro Mobile on May 1. One version fits the iPhone 4, 4s, 5, and iPod Touch; another the iPad; and another the iPad Mini. Whatever size, it will set you back $149.… Read more

Some people drive high.

They shouldn't, but they're high, so they don't really know what's good for them and what isn't.

Should they get stopped by police, the long nose of the law can sometimes sniff the presence of marijuana in their car.

Should they happen to have nosed their way into some cocaine, there might be traces of white powder around their nostrils.

As yet, though, there hasn't been a machine that can detect the presence of such drugs on one's breath, as there is for alcohol.

Scientists in Sweden, however, believe they have made some progress in creating such a device.… Read more

Using what they are calling "mechanical agitation," researchers out of the Georgia Institute of Technology say they've developed arrays that can sense touch with the same level of sensitivity as the human fingertip, which could result in better bots and prosthetics.

The transparent and flexible arrays use about 8,000 taxels, which are touch-sensitive transistors that can generate piezoelectric signals independently -- meaning they emit electricity when mechanically agitated. As the researchers report this week in the journal Science, each of those thousands of transistors comprises a bundle of some 1,500 zinc oxide nanowires, which connect … Read more

An interaction designer who makes sci-fi short films has spent the past three years developing what he says is the world's first Braille-enabled smartphone. He said that if testing goes well, the phones could hit stores by the end of this year.

Thanks in part to award money from Rolex, India-based designer Sumit Dagar has been collaborating with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and L V Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad to develop a prototype. The smartphone employs a haptic touch screen that elevates and depresses the content it receives, thereby transforming the data into touchable patterns.

Yes, this phone is essentially a shapeshifter.… Read more

The victims of the Boston Marathon bombing may have to live with the physical and emotional scars from the April 15 attack for the rest of their lives. For some of the injured, that includes learning how to live without one or more limbs.

More than 180 people were injured in the attack last week, with at least 13 people losing a limb or part of one. Right now, doctors are focused on recovery and making sure the victims are medically stable. But once the wounds heal, many of the patients will begin the process of being fit with a prosthetic device.

"This is not just about learning how to walk," Steve Fletcher, CPO, director of clinical resources at the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics and Pedorthics, told CBSNews.com. "It's a significant emotional, psychological, and physical recovery."

… Read more

Continuing my series of life with four different activity trackers, it's time to talk about the Fitbit One.

In what will likely disappoint several of my Fitbit-loving friends, it's my least favorite of the tracking devices I'm using because I do so many "non-step" activities. But the Fitbit does have a lot to offer, and I have high hopes for the forthcoming Fitbit Flex wristband.

For now...my life with the One.

Fitbit currently sells two trackers. The basic Fitbit Zip ($60) tracks steps taken, calories burned, and distance traveled. The Fitbit One that I've been using ($100) adds tracking of stairs climbed, hours of sleep, and sleep quality. A wristband version, the Fitbit Flex, will be out in the coming weeks. I'll be looking at that in the near future.… Read more