Soft memory device opens door to new biocompatible electronics

A memory device with the physical properties of Jell-O that functions well in wet environments (credit: Michael Dickey, North Carolina State University)

North Carolina State University researchers have developed a soft memory device design that functions well in wet environments and has memristor-like characteristics, opening the door to new types of smart biocompatible electronic devices.
A memristor (“memory resistor”) is an electronic device that changes its resistive state depending on the current or voltage history through the device.
The ability to function in wet environments and the biocompatibility of the gels mean that this technology holds promise for interfacing electronics with biological systems and medical monitoring,  such as cells, enzymes or tissue.

(Credit: Michael Dickey, North Carolina State University)

The device is made using a liquid alloy of gallium and indium metals set into water-based gels. When the alloy electrode is exposed to a positive charge, it creates an oxidized skin that makes it resistive to electricity (a “0″ state).
When the electrode is exposed to a negative charge, the oxidized skin disappears, and it becomes conductive to electricity (a “1″ state).
Ref.: Orlin D. Velev, et al., Towards All-Soft Matter Circuits: Prototypes of Quasi-Liquid Devices with Memristor Characteristics, Advanced Materials, 2011; [DOI: 10.1002/adma.201101257]






Original Article by the Editor of Kurzweilai.net

New TRANSHUMAN documentary - Do you want to live forever?

TRANSHUMAN is a short documentary film by director Titus Nachbauer. It is about radical life extension and future technology that might change the human condition.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brain-Machine-Interfacing/185448968175960?sk=wall

Grow a new eye

“I am attempting to recreate my eye with the help of a miniature camera implant in my prosthetic artificial eye. The intraocular installation of an eye-cam will substitute for the field of vision of my left eye that I lost in 2005 from a car accident.”
So says Tanya Marie Vlach, who lost her left eye in a car accident. After she received “hundreds of international engineering proposals, support from my  one-eyed community, and thousands of media inquiries.I’ve been plotting new strategies to tell my story, both my personal one and the one of my sci-fi alter ego, into a transmedia platform, which will include: a graphic novel, an experimental documentary, a web series, a game, and a live performance.”
And she wants to build a “bionic camera eye” as a Kickstarter project,  described here. (Also see Grow a new eye by Tanya Vlach.)
Specifications:

• SD at least, 720p HD at best
• MPEG-4 / H.264 Recording
• Built in Wireless Transmitter
• Bluetooth Wireless Method
• Remote Trigger
• Mini A/V out
• Firewire / USB / Mini HDMI
• Optical 3X
• Inductors: (Power Source)

Wish List:

• Wireless
• Sensors that respond to blinking enabling camera to take still photos, zoom, focus, and turn on and off.
• Dilating pupil with change of light.
• Infrared / Ultraviolet
• Geo-tagging
• Facial Recognition
• Water Tight
• Verisimilitude

Sounds like a great project. Thanks to Ehren Wells for the tip!


Grow a new eye from Tanya Vlach on Vimeo.


Original article  by July 11, 2011 by Amara D. Angelica