GOOD NEWS #26 - #30 -- Personal Helicopter, SkyBike, 3-D TV, Growing New Teeth, Wasps as Teachers
Hello again! The good news ideas keep coming our way. This time I've included new ideas in transportation, highlighted how 3D TV is changing communications, advances in growing new teeth, and how nature continues to serve as a great teacher. Again, if this is your first time visiting my GOOD NEWS Blog, you may want to read my first two posts, An Epiphany and Joel Barker's New Ideas to Consider. They will introduce you to what you'll find here when you visit. Remember: We have reversed the order of the posts so the newest post will be first. Scroll down to see my good news ideas #26 through #30... Joel Barker
-- Joel
futurist, filmmaker, author
www.innovationattheverge.com
TRANSPORTATION
#26 - Personal Helicopter
I remember when I was a kid and everyone talked about flying cars. Well, we are a lot closer today. And every time I have discussions with youngsters, someone asks me about flying cars. Popular Science in November has a delightful article about a tilt rotor vehicle that lands like a helicopter but flies like a plane by tilting the propellers. It is also powered by a hybrid system so it is very fuel efficient.
It only exists right now in the designer's computer. But it would be fun to look at and talk to your children about the good things of being able to have a flying car and the bad things about having a flying car. This is an especially good topic to get your children to start thinking about long term implications instead of just short term ones.
No matter, what, if I could get one that was safe, environmentally friendly, and quiet, I sure would consider it.
Google: personal tilt rotor
Pop Science November, pp70-71
http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-amp-space/article/2008-10/personal-tilt-rotor
http://www.impactlab.com/2008/10/23/the-personal-tilt-rotor/
#27 - The SkyBike
Here is another really cool looking vehicle that can fly and also be driven on the road. Go the website with your children so they can see the great graphics. The simple idea is wings that telescope in and out, so that when you are driving, you can't even see the wings. But when you intend to fly, they extend and off you go. And, it is really a great looking vehicle, besides. (This is also a verge innovation.)
The company is serious about producing them. No matter what, it is a hoot!
Google: skybike
http://www.kitplanes.com/news/news/8385-1.phtml
COMMUNICATIONS
#28 - 3D TV
Here is another "Gee Whiz" idea coming to fruition--3D TV. In January 3D TV was tested with on network TV show, The Office. haven't heard how it was received, but it marks the beginning of the next wave for television. Now, there is always a catch to this stuff: you need a "3D capable" TV (special models are already on the market) and you need to wear polarizing glasses to make it work, but those who have seen it say it is impressive. 3alty Digital is the name of the company leading the development effort.
So, what kinds of programs work well with 3D, besides scary, reach-out-and-grab-you movies? Those who have watched football games in 3D say it is an incredible experience. Movie theaters may very well take the lead in this because their electronic projectors are 3D capable. And it is a great way to bring people back to the theaters where the big screen coupled with 3D sporting events makes sense. A ticket is really buying you something you can't get at home.
What is clear is that TV manufacturers are racing to add 3D capability to their systems, so we will have it in our homes in the next three years.
Google: 3D TV
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=6611238&page=1
MEDICINE
#29 - Growing New Teeth
When you lose an adult tooth these days, you get an artificial one to replace it. Not for much longer if expert Dr. Jie Chen and his associate Dr. Ying Tsui from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Alberta have anything to say about it. They have discovered that low intensity ultrasound (that is sound that is way above our ability to hear) can stimulate the growth of new teeth.
They have developed a miniaturized device that can be applied for 20 minutes a day sending pulses of ultrasound into biological matter, such as gums, muscles or bones to increase healing or stimulate growth of new tissue--a new tooth! It takes four months to regrow a tooth, but that's a whole lot better than losing your tooth forever.(This is also a Verge Innovation.)
If the testing goes as planned, the device will be on the market in two years.
Google: ultrasound tooth regrowth
http://medgadget.com/archives/2006/06/ultrasound_base.html
http://health.howstuffworks.com/ultrasound-teeth-news.htm
#30 - Wasps as TEACHERS
Wasp Tail Teaches Surgeons How Bore Better Holes
Biomimicry is defined as copying the way Mother Nature does something. Researchers at the Imperial College in London have taken the boring process of the female wood wasp
and adapted it to bore holes in the brain. The technique allows the "drill" to be flexible and to change directions while doing minimum damage to the brain tissue. (All biomimicry is
verge innovation.)
Google: wasp drill
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=2103
JOEL BARKER RESOURCES...
Visit the Joel Barker COLLECTION at the Global Dialogue Center
Joel Barker's Good News Blog
and Joel Barker's Innovation at the Verge Blog
at the Global Dialogue Center
That is some crazy futuristic stuff! I love it!
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