Imagine if you could swallow a robot which would come to life once in your stomach and perform basic medical procedures, fixing you from the inside out? It sounds like something from any one of hundreds of sci-fi books or movies, but now researchers at MIT, the University of Sheffield, and the Tokyo Institute of Technology have come together and built a robot that can do just that.

 Miniature Robots

Named the ‘origami robot’ because of the way it unfolds inside patients, this new piece of technology could revolutionize the future of medical care around the world. Encased in an ice capsule, the robot can be swallowed and will spring to life once the ice melts away, performing any duties inside the patients, before being passed through the digestive system.

The first challenge the researchers faced was making a robot that was actually swallowable. The robot needed to be designed in such a way that it could be adequately compressed to fit inside a pill, but with enough force to allow it to spring out and fully unfold to perform its duties.

The researchers settled on a rectangular robot with accordion folds and pinched corners which could act as points of traction as it moves through the human body.

Materials

Continuing the challenge of making a robot that could be safely swallowed, the scientists had to decide which material to use to build it. It had to be biocompatible, as patients would essentially be eating it, as well as being degradable, without being dissolved by the stomach’s acid. Continue reading →

Have you been curious about the lines on your palms? Today we will be sharing in on the study of palmistry. According to Psychic Library, “palmistry reveals individual personality and character traits through the study of the shape, size and lines of the hands and fingers”. Today we will zooming into what the shape of our hands reveal about us!

The History of Palmistry

The practice of palmistry started in India, where it is still a common practice to this day. It is studied in the Vedic spiritual texts. From there, the practice spread to other areas like China, Egypt, Greece and Europe. Prehistoric caves from France and Spain have drawings on their walls of hands with lines drawn in as well.

The idea is that expressions of our thought-patterns and beliefs can appear on our hands. Cleopatra’s beloved Julius Caesar decided on the characters of the men working for him through reading their palms. Fate, however, is not set in stone. According to Gary Markwick, internationally renowned palmist, the lines on our palms and the shapes of our hands can change in just two months!  Continue reading →

Have you ever found yourself turning around at the next intersection to check that the iron was genuinely switched off? Have you found yourself rearranging your office desk simply because it “bothered you”? Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can excessively disrupt your life and no matter how hard you try to shake the impulsive urges, you find yourself falling back into a pattern of wiping down every counter and stopping to rearrange the flowers in your vase.

OCD is typically described as a form of anxiety which is commonly characterized by unwanted thoughts which seem uncontrollable, repetitive behaviors which seem to become ritualized. If you are an OCD sufferer, you may agree that your intentions are irrational at times. Quite often, OCD creates a mode we get stuck in, like a record on repeat, we find the need to check things over and over again and some even experience other side effects like the urge to scrub your hands until they are raw.

Obsessions – In order for one to understand the root of these obsessions, one needs to realize that they are impulses which reoccur in your mind. The repetitive actions are our way of “attempting” to make the urges go away. very much like a heroine user needing his next fix to silence the voices.

Compulsions – The action which makes the obsession go away. The fear of contamination would be a great example of how we deal with our obsessions. I have scrubbed my bathroom from head to toe, only for two little kids to come home from school and trash it.

To others, this may seem normal, but to an OCD sufferer, this is an immense struggle of willpower. This causes huge anxiety, effectively demanding all of my time when I really should just walk away and meditate. 

This sadly is the face of OCD. Continue reading →

 The debate about the legalization of marijuana has been prevalent in North American culture for over 50 years. The decision by the state of Colorado in October 2014 to legalize marijuana for recreational use was seen as revolutionary by those on both sides of the divide.

 Since that decision was made nearly four years ago, the state of Colorado has seen an increase year on year in tax revenue gained from cannabis sales. In the most recent financial year, ending in June 2016, the state made nearly $70 million. Revenue gained through taxation was one of the key arguments for legalizing weed. Now that this argument has been clearly validated many taxpayers have been wondering what the state will do with the additional money. 

The answer in one city is almost as revolutionary as the passing of the law itself. Aurora, the third largest city in Colorado, will be using over a third of the $4.5 million gained through the ‘weed tax’ to support local not-for-profit homeless organizations. 

Over the course of the next three years, a total of over $3 million will be given to a series of groups across the city, all of which work tirelessly to provide hostels and food for the homeless community. The money will be paid out over the next three years, with $1.5 million promised before the end of the current financial year, which ends in June 2017.

The decision, which was approved in May 2016, has been lauded the world over as an example of how the legalization of marijuana can benefit, rather than damage, the local community. City Councilman Bob Roth believes it shows the people of Aurora the influence that local government can have. ‘We wanted to be able to show citizens that we are having a positive impact on the community and point to specific projects or initiatives to where that money is going to.’  Continue reading →

The old saying goes “an elephant never forgets.” But elephants not only have incredible memories; new research has now revealed a surprising depth to the elephant psyche. Proving they are closer to humans psychologically than we ever previously thought.

Originally, the well-known phrase came about as people had observed elephants following the same trails year after year, visiting the same locations for food and water, and even re-visiting the sites where members of their herd had died. Their memories appeared very strong.

Additionally, elephants have been known to celebrate births, mourn deaths, and have even been seen aiding weaker or injured animals. Much of this behavior isn’t found elsewhere in the animal kingdom (other than in humans), so elephants are clearly very special creatures. All of this has led to a lot more research being carried out into elephants and elephant psychology.

Latest Research into Elephant Psyches 

New research conducted by researchers Joshua Plotnik and Frans de Waal has now revealed that elephants are capable of experiencing and expressing empathy for one another, and surprisingly they do this in ways that almost mirror human behavior.  Continue reading →