Some of you may not see anything wrong with the idea behind this automated stabber. Well then let’s look at how it works: the Bloodbot is able to select a suitable vein – one that is close to the surface of the skin – from which to draw blood from by pressing a probe onto a patient’s arm. Using mathemagics, the robot is able to detect the unlucky blood vessel and then inserts the needle under what the EMPIRE Imperial College London calls – I shit you not – “force control”.

Really though it’s just a fancy way of saying that the Bloodbot can sense the force that a patient’s skin is exerting on the needle. As the graph above shows – and as common sense dictates – our skin resists the needle somewhat at first, but since the Bloodbot is hellbent on stabbing you it will keep on piercing the skin. As soon as the robot’s needle pierces our skin, the force that our relatively tough skin exerts on the needle is gone, replaced by the weaker force from our blood. The robot (hopefully) detects this drop in force and stops inserting the needle so as not to run you straight through. The temptation is still there though. Now consider this: at any given moment there are millions of people who are eating and/or drinking. That’s a massive enough scale right? Do you think we need Foodbots and Drinkbots? They’ll surely save us a lot of time and energy.

[via gearfuse]

As you can see, Jones’ tooth serves as as a support for the lens that was created out of a patch of his skin. What’s even more amazing (for me at least) is that the procedure, developed by surgeon Christopher Liu, has actually been performed about 50 times! So Jones isn’t the only guy with the Sauron-like eye. Check out Daily Mail’s report for more details.

[via gizmo watch]

Apparently the cells on the stumps of a salamander “only” need to revert to a “less mature” state instead of a day 1 embryonic state to differentiate and turn into the cells that will make up the new limb. Dr. Elly Tanaka, one of the biologists behind the study, said that this bodes well for us, because it means that tissue regeneration is much more probable than previously thought. But this is future-future tech, and further studies are needed before any human tests will be performed. I recommend that Dr. Tanaka and her colleagues read this document, published in 1963, so that we may avoid having to deal with the likes of this:

*shivers* Dr. Tanaka, please conduct research on radioactive spiders as well. It’ll be fun I promise.

[via Wired via Neatorama]

The experiment was conducted by dermatologist Emi Nishimura in 2004. She exposed mice (their hair also grays with age) to genotoxic stressors – things that can damage our DNA – such as  chemotherapy drugs and x-rays. The hair of the mice turned gray, and as Nishimura said, “the stressed mice’s gray hairs and the cell populations in their follicles were indistinguishable from those of elderly mice, suggesting that genotoxic stress might drive natural graying as well.”

So what does all of this mean? Oncologist David Fisher says that while it’s very strong evidence that the things we encounter everyday – radiation from the sun, household chemicals, perhaps even the medicine we take – can all damage us at a genetic level, the experiment doesn’t prove that emotional stress can damage our DNA or induce premature maturation of our cells.

More importantly, the experiment shows that to some extent our body is capable of protecting itself from DNA-damaged cells by accelerating their aging. Fisher thinks that the experiment is a good starting point to find ways for our body to do the same to cancer cells – which are also DNA-damaged cells.

[via Science]

Kodak has filed this patent application for RFID tagged capsules that could be swallowed to track activity in a patient’s digestive system. The capsules would contain a tiny tracking chip which could be used to monitor a patient’s medication history, or to transmit other medical information to a nearby RF data collector. The pills would be designed to break down over time without harming the recipient.

While the idea might seem a little odd, it actually has potential to reduce the need for invasive medical procedures, as well as to ensure that patients take the proper dosage of their medicines.

[via New Scientist]

It’s also quite good for sucking all the metal fillings out of their heads. I’m pretty sure that Phil Ken Sebben got his start this way. (Adult Swim reference.)

[via Modern Mechanix via Boing Boing]