Daily Innovation News

December 4^th 2024

💻 Technology

🇭🇰 Hong Kong engineers develop VR lollipop to simulate taste, advancing immersive digital experiences

Researchers have designed a lollipop-shaped device that simulates taste in virtual reality, combining agar-agar gel and adjustable electrical voltages to recreate flavors. The prototype delivers nine distinct tastes, including cherry, salt, and durian, with the potential to mix new combinations. Though limited to about an hour of use per device, this innovation could enhance entertainment, revolutionize online product sampling, and assist in medical and educational applications. The findings, published in PNAS, mark a major step in bringing taste to VR, complementing existing visual and auditory technologies.

🦾 Robotics

🇦🇺 Australian researchers develop animal brain-inspired system for energy-efficient robot navigation

Scientists in Australia have created a robotic navigation system modeled on animal brains, utilizing Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) to process environmental information with remarkable efficiency. This system improves place recognition accuracy by 41% using image sequences, adapting to varying conditions like weather and lighting changes. Tested on low-powered robots, it offers energy-efficient applications for use in challenging environments such as disaster zones and space exploration. This innovation, published in IEEE Transactions on Robotics, combines biological inspiration with neuromorphic hardware to significantly enhance robot capabilities.

💊 Healthcare

🇨🇭 Swiss researchers use deep brain stimulation to restore walking in partially paralyzed patients

Swiss scientists have achieved a world-first breakthrough by using deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the lateral hypothalamus to help paralyzed patients regain walking ability. The treatment reactivates dormant nerve pathways, enabling both immediate and long-lasting improvements in motor function. In a clinical trial, participants showed significant recovery in lower limb mobility, with some able to walk unassisted for the first time in years. This innovative use of DBS offers hope for spinal cord injury recovery, leveraging a previously underexplored brain region. The research was published in Nature Medicine.

🇺🇸 US researchers create inflatable stomach balloon to curb overeating and aid long-term weight management

MIT engineers have developed a silicone gastric balloon that can inflate before meals to create a feeling of fullness and deflate afterward, addressing obesity more dynamically than traditional gastric balloons. Animal studies showed a 60% reduction in food intake with this device, which is controlled externally and inserted via a minimally invasive procedure. Unlike conventional options that lose effectiveness over time, this innovation aims to maintain long-term weight management by adapting to meal schedules. If successful in human trials, it could provide a non-surgical alternative for patients unresponsive to medications. The research was published in Device.

🇨🇦 Canadian researchers create contact lens delivering medication directly to eyes, enhancing treatment precision

Scientists in Canada have developed a groundbreaking contact lens that delivers medication directly to the eye using a 3D-printed silicone hydrogel. This innovation provides controlled, continuous drug release, eliminating the need for frequent eye drops and improving treatment accuracy and patient adherence. Tested with the antibiotic amoxicillin, the hydrogel system demonstrated stability over weeks, even after a month of storage. This technology, published in Applied Bio Materials, could revolutionize how eye conditions are treated, offering a more effective and user-friendly alternative to traditional methods.

🇺🇸 US middle-schoolers help discover cancer-fighting compound in goose droppings

Middle school students in Chicago, collaborating with scientists, identified a bacterium from goose droppings that produces a compound, orfamide N, capable of inhibiting melanoma and ovarian cancer cells in lab tests. This discovery, published in ACS Omega, was part of a STEM program addressing educational inequities by immersing underrepresented students in real scientific research. The bacterium, Pseudomonas idahoensis, was isolated using robotic bioassays, showcasing the potential of community-driven science to inspire young learners and advance biomedical breakthroughs.

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