Hasta La Gadget!

Children and all those out there who have a sweet tooth will definitely be more than happy with news that there is a new kind of candy that has been invented, one which will not cause any cavity in your teeth after you are done eating it. This was made possible thanks to a team of scientists who hail from Berlin, where they ply their trade over at a biotech lab that is known as ORGANOBALANCE. Deep within their lab, they managed to figure out a way to create candy that does not end up with you getting cavities, since it will make sure that the Mutans streptococci bacteria that causes cavities will no longer be there. This was made possible through coating their candy with a different bacteria known as Lactobacillus paracasei.

Basically, the latter bacteria would prevent Mutans streptococci from causing any damage to your enamel, which would in turn save your mouth from any of the damaging acid. Of course, this does not mean you should no longer brush your teeth, but rather, at least it eliminates one of the causes of cavity. Will such a sweet be still palatable and as addictive as regular candy? Only time will be able to tell.

Cavity-Free Candy Invented original content from Ubergizmo.

In this day and age we all know that consuming too much alcohol is bad for your health. One of the greatest drinkers in all of cinema is James Bond. If you have ever watched a Bond film, you know he prefers his martini shaken, not stirred. Doctors have examined Bond’s alcohol intake in Fleming’s […]

Scientists over at the University of Wollongong, Australia, have managed to come up with the BioPen, a handheld 3D printer which, should it be successful, be able to replace traditional surgery by making it a more artistic work, so to speak. With the BioPen handheld 3D printer, it is capable of printing bone directly onto patients in the operating theater itself, now how about that? Does this mean that budding doctors and surgeons will now have to take up at least a module in art in medical school from now on? I don’t think so, but having a penchant for Paint by Numbers might be an added advantage, especially if I am on the receiving end of the BioPen.

Just how does the BioPen work? It will rely on a stem cell ink that can be set to differentiate between muscle, bone, and nerve cells. The use of a special seaweed-based growth culture would help encourage the cells to thrive in an environment that is initially foreign to them, while the inclusion of a second polymer that has been previously cured by a UV light, would be able to deliver the necessary level of protection in the form of a shell throughout the healing process. Needless to say, this is a work in progress, but imagine the possibilities if it was approved for general use! [Press Release]

BioPen Handheld 3D Printer original content from Ubergizmo.

The world is getting fatter on average, that is for sure. The thing is, what is being done in the fight against obesity? A wise man once told me, anything that can be measured, can be improved, and here we are with this bunch of hi-tech sensors which are said to be capable of measuring the amount of food intake as well as activity level, so that one is able to figure out just what kind of obesity risks are attached to the associated lifestyle. This particular project is funded by the European Union, and the project is known as Splendid, targeting to persuade younger folk to adopt healthier lifestyles as well as to be more aware of their eating and exercise habits.

As of now, obesity can be said to be the cause of approximately 2.8 million deaths among adults annually, and the Splendid system will first be tested on around 200 secondary school students in Sweden, with a different set of children receiving the very same test in the Netherlands. I would suppose that ordinary folk like you and I would be able to make do with such metrics, but high performing athletes, too, might be able to benefit from such technology as they attempt to max out every bit of possible performance from their bodies when crunch time strikes.

Hi-tech Sensors Might Help In The Fight Against Obesity original content from Ubergizmo.

We have seen our fair share of prosthetic hands in the past, where they do offer a glimmer of hope to those who are missing a limb or two to live a somewhat more empowered life. The thing is, prosthetic hands will more often than not lack the sense of touch, which I am quite sure is not what Anakin Skywalker’s prosthetic hand is lacking in the Star Wars movies. The lack of touch would then make it nigh impossible to tell whether one should apply more or less force when holding or manipulating an object. Take the humble egg for instance – squeezing it hard enough would crack the shell, while not holding it hard enough, and it will slip right out of the prosthetic hand. Researchers at the Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University has come up with a new prosthetic hand tht has 20 embedded sensors which will be hooked up straight to the nerve bundles that are located in the user’s arm.

This method would then enable the user to pick up a sense of feeling, which comes in handy when it comes to handling items and everyday objects. This model is diffeent to other electrical stimulus methods of the past which will indirectly trigger the nerve impulses, as it approaches the matter by directly stimulating the same nerve endings which would be called into action back when everything was normal. It does seem to deliver a permanent effect without losing any form of effectiveness after a short while.

Artificial Hand Lets You “Feel” original content from Ubergizmo.