Hasta La Gadget!

Surgical procedures could soon be aided by tiny, rotating robots, according to BBC News. The report said that while the miniaturization of motors hasn’t kept up with other electronics like LCD displays and memory chips, new research reported in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering has detailed a motor about twice the size of a human hair.

Up until now, there has been no way to power such a small device, meaning that it couldn’t get around inside the human body. “Conventional electric motors do not perform as well as they are scaled down in size; as they approach millimeter dimensions, they barely have the power to overcome the resistance in their bearings,” the report said.

With the rise of so-called piezoelectric materials—crystals that expand and contract when a voltage is applied—tiny linear motors became easier to manufacture, according to the report. Now research indicates that these tiny motors could be “coupled to a structure with a helix-shaped cut in it,” allowing the motors to rotate when pushed at one end—similar to how the tail-like flagella on bacteria work. Next stop: testing the new motors in fluids, as opposed to inside a pristine lab environment. Cool stuff, as long as you don’t think about it too hard; then it gets gross. (Check out the short, non-gross video for an animation of how they work.)

A group of MIT researchers believe they have discovered the source of the moon’s magnetism, a puzzler that has baffled scientists since the 1970s when Apollo astronauts first brought moon rocks to Earth, Space.com reports.

“Earth’s rotating, iron core produces the planet’s magnetic field. But the moon does not have such a setup,” the report said. Instead, MIT scientists now believe that the Moon did in fact have a liquid core with a dynamo about 4.2 billion years ago. Most moon rocks lose their traces of magnetism when subjected to major shocks from impacts. But the scientists found their smoking gun by examining the oldest moon rock brought to Earth—by Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, the only geologist ever to walk on the moon, during the last lunar landing mission, Apollo 17, in 1972.

“Many people think that it’s the most interesting lunar rock,” said MIT’s Ben Weiss in the article; his team found traces of the original magnetic field using a commercial rock magnetometer equipped with a robotic system geared toward detecting faint traces of magnetism. The report said that the findings fit in with the prevailing theory that the moon was born when a Mars-sized body crashed into the Earth and blasted much of its crust into space, where it clumped together to form the moon.

The technology has long been there, all it takes is the development needed for it to become consumer-friendly in regard to the price. And that’s exactly what happened. Twenty years back, Elizabeth Goldring from MIT visited her optometrist, completely blind. During her session, the doctor used scanning laser opthalmoscope (SLO) to project images into her unseeing eye to test her retina. Recognizing the possibilities of such a technology, the “seeing machine” started development. [The camera is “a ‘seeing machine’ that can allow some people who are blind or visually challenged to access the Internet, view the face of a friend and much more.”–Ed.]

The original SLO diagnostic device costs $100,000 and is obviously beyond the reach of ordinary consumers. Prior to the current version, a desktop model was developed costing $4,000, which is still a bit pricier than Goldring would have wanted. Numerous changes were made to the original SLO machine, perhaps the most important of which is replacing the laser with LEDs – a much cheaper alternative. With the advent of smaller LCDs and other components for the device, the “seeing machine” evolved into something portable and affordable.

The current prototype is a five-inch square gadget attached onto a digital camera that provides the visual feed projected onto a visually-impaired person’s eyes through a single point of light. “This is not magnification,” said Quinn Smithwick from the MIT Media Lab. “What makes this work is focusing the data into a tiny spot of light.” Goldring says the machine could be made for $500 each, hence the possibility of mass production.

Johnson Controls, an automotive parts supplier direct to automakers, has unveiled its own green concept car at the Detroit Auto Show in an effort to showcase some of their latest parts, AutoblogGreen reports. The re3 features a plug-in hybrid powertrain, a lithium ion battery pack, and eco-friendly renewable interior materials.

The report said that Johnson Controls has a joint venture with Saft to manufacture car battery packs. The r3’s own battery pack can provide EV-only power in city environments; it sits in between the seats underneath the center console. The car also features what the company calls an “extended cluster,” which includes a traditional gauge cluster along with a 7-inch touchscreen and another 4.3-inch display, plus built-in Ecospace storage technology (whatever that is).

The center console system also includes the Johnson Controls Mobile Device Gateway with E-Bin, and Mobile Commerce with Card Reader. The Mobile Device Gateway adds convenience by linking mobile phones, navigation devices or MP3 players, complete with a compartment to store, connect, and power them all in. Mobile Commerce lets customers pay for fuel, parking, meals, and such while traveling, using their linked credit card or mobile phone while inside the car. (More pics after the break.)

Though the last Gearlog entry to feature Polaroid concerned its bankruptcy filing, rumors of Polaroid’s death are premature. That’s especially true after today’s announcement that instant print cameras are now digital! Kudos to our Mariella Moon who sniffed this one out in August.

The Polaroid PoGo is 4.7-inches wide by 3-inches tall and weighs only 10 ounces. It is indistinguishable from a bevy of other digital cameras except it prints! Sixty seconds after snapping the shutter your photo comes out fully developed. The photos are a bit on the tiny side and I suspect thinner than typical photo prints. At least that’s the implication from, “2×3-inch sticky-backed photos.”