Twisted light could make wireless data faster than fiber

As fast as fiber optic lines have become, they're still hamstrung by one key limitation: you still need to transmit that data over wires, which limits where you can transmit and the affordability of the fastest connections. Scientists may have a way...

University of Glasgow makes 3D models with single-pixel sensors, skips the cameras (video)

University of Glasgow creates 3D with singlepixel sensors, skips the cameras video

Most approaches to capturing 3D models of real-world objects involve multiple cameras that are rarely cheap, and are sometimes tricky to calibrate. The University of Glasgow has developed a method that ditches those cameras altogether. Its system has four single-pixel sensors stitching together a 3D image based on the reflected intensity of light patterns cast by a projector. Reducing the pixel count lowers the cost per sensor to just a few dollars, and extends the sensitivity as far as terahertz wavelengths. Real-world products are still a long way off, but the university sees its invention as useful for cancer detection and other noble pursuits. Us? We'd probably just waste it on creating uncanny facsimiles of ourselves.

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Via: New Scientist

Source: University of Glasgow

University of Glasgow scientists print drugs in 3D, pave the way for in-home pharmacies

ImageBreaking Bad in 3D? If recent work by a team of University of Glasgow scientists persists, that could soon be a hard reality -- just without the glasses. Taking what's typically been the province of sanitized laboratories and moving it outside, the group's devised an efficient method that makes use of commercial-grade three-dimensional printers to create "reactionware vessels": custom-designed, polymer gels that house and aide in chemical reactions. The technique, already viable on a larger, albeit slower scale, is not quite ready for primetime, but with future refinements could eventually trickle down into small businesses, or third-world countries where it'd be used for rapid medical treatment. And, in a hypothetical scenario that'll likely provoke scrutiny from the FDA and DEA, consumers might one day be able to save a trip to the drugstore and simply print from home -- a decidedly different spin on designer drugs -- using apps. Of course, this is all just speculation of potential future applications. We trust that humanity and enterprise will put this medication replication to noble use -- until it hits the club, that is.

University of Glasgow scientists print drugs in 3D, pave the way for in-home pharmacies originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 05:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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