emergentfutures:

Scientists Create World’s Tiniest Ear

“Have you ever wondered what a virus sounds like? Or what noise a bacterium makes when it moves between hosts? If the answer is yes, you may soon get your chance to find out, thanks to the development of the world’s tiniest ear. The “nano-ear,” a microscopic particle of gold trapped by a laser beam, can detect sound a million times fainter than the threshold for human hearing. Researchers suggest the work could open up a whole new field of “acoustic microscopy,” in which organisms are studied using the sound they emit.”

Full Story: Sciencemag

futuramb:

Tricorder X Prize competition: develop a handheld medical diagnostic device and win $10 million | KurzweilAI

The X Prize Foundation and Qualcomm Foundation today announced the launch of the $10M Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize, a global competition to revolutionize healthcare.

In this competition, teams will leverage technology innovation in areas such as artificial intelligence and wireless sensing — much like the medical Tricorder of Star Trek fame — to make medical diagnoses independent of a physician or healthcare provider.

The goal of the competition is to drive development of devices that will give consumers access to their state of health in the palm of their hand.

(via emergentfutures)

(Source: memelade, via veganlove)