Treeduck

MIT's prototype retinal implant consists of a flexible substrate, power and data receiving coils, an electrode array, and a stimulator microchip.
(Credit: Shawn Kelly/MIT
Electronic retinal implants that can help certain visually impaired people see better are getting closer to reality with a new MIT prototype (PDF).
Engineered eyes a la Blade Runner remain a long way off. But by replacing the function of retinal cells, the implants could help provide a degree of basic vision to those afflicted with retinitis pigmentosa or age-related macular degeneration, major causes of blindness.
Users would wear special glasses fitted with a small camera that relays image data to a titanium-encased chip mounted on the outside surface of the eyeball. The chip would then fire an electrode array under the retina to stimulate the optic nerve. The glasses would also wirelessly transmit power to coils surrounding the eyeball.

In this illustration, the glasses transmit data and power to the prosthesis.
(Credit: Boston Retinal Implant Project
MIT has been working on retinal implants for 20 years as part of the Boston Retinal Implant Project. About 10 years ago, researchers tested the electrodes on six blind patients, who reported seeing cloud-like images when stimulated.
MIT scientists led by John Wyatt, an electrical engineering professor, want to test their new prototype on patients within three years.
The implants have been successfully placed in pigs for as long as 10 months without damage to the electronics, according to MIT.
About 20 teams worldwide are working to realize the dream of eye implants that could work as well as cochlear implants for the hearing-impaired. But the delicate structures of the eye, as well as engineering challenges, have made for slow progress.
"To create a bionic eye is equivalent to trying to create a television as compared with a radio," Nigel Lovell, a professor at the University of New South Wales collaborating with Australian groups to create a bionic eye, says in this video. "It's orders of magnitude more complex."
One issue researchers must tackle is where to place the electrodes. The Australian group would place them on top of the retina, while MIT's approach is to place them beneath the retina. MIT says that reduces the risk of retinal tearing and requires less invasive surgery.

What might early bionic vision look like? Very low-res. Check out this simulation from a research group at the Tokyo Institute of Technology that wants to use cultured neurons on an electrode array to simulate vision in patients where the optic nerve is not intact.
Since retinal devices aim to replace the millions of photoreceptor cells in the eye, a high-resolution retinal prosthesis firing thousands of pixels at video speed will likely be required for near-natural vision. But that could be decades away.
As of mid-July, though, 30 patients worldwide had been implanted with the Argus II retinal implant developed by California-based Second Sight. It features a 60-electrode grid fixed to the retina and has shown limited but promising results so far, as seen in this BBC interview with a blind man who is now able to perceive a white line on the floor and distinguish white socks from black ones.
A new Argus model with a higher electrode count is currently under development.

My Health Info includes personal page customization, personal health devices, and access to multiple family member profiles.

(Credit: MSN
MSN this week released its beta version of a new online health information management service, including widgets to upload and organize data stored in HealthVault accounts.
MSN describes My Health Info (requires Silverlight) as a feature designed for busy parents, adults managing aging parents, and anyone managing chronic conditions and multiple medications.
That's a wide net to cast, and I say it's about time that those storing data in Microsoft's HealthVault have online access to their own, well, vaults. For years people have been able to access e-mail, financial, and other accounts online, and even aggregate that data into single management centers; health data and management has been notoriously far behind.
My Health Info comes with some pretty handy tools, including personal page customization (i.e. allergy and blood pressure trackers, a lab results bank, BMI calculators, etc.); personal health devices (heart-rate monitors, pedometers, etc.); and access to multiple family member profiles.
"People care deeply about credible, timely, and comprehensive information about health topics," said Scott Moore, U.S. executive producer at MSN (who bounced back to Microsoft after a stint at Yahoo). "We are committed to delighting our customers with information, services, and tools that keep them informed and simplify their lives."
As CNET's Ina Fried reported two years ago, Microsoft launched HailStorm to manage consumers' information online. The project eventually buckled under the weight of concerns over data security and privacy, not to mention difficulty in finding partnerships. HealthVault is off to a better start, with partners like the Social Security Administration already lined up. But competitors such as Google and the open-source Dossia will presumably keep MSN on its toes.
In conjunction with My Health Info, MSN also launched a swine flu info center on its Health & Fitness home page this week, where it has joined with Harvard Medical School and the Mayo Clinic, among others, to track the latest news, assess risk factors, and search for nearby vaccination centers and availabilities.

If the new swine flu vaccine doesn't give you the right dose of inner peace, there's another layer of protection at your disposal. It comes from Japan, which means it looks good, too.

The new anti-H1N1 suit doesn't just make you look dapper, it supposedly also helps keep you disease-free.
(Credit: Haruyama Trading
According to the U.K. Telegraph, Japanese menswear company Haruyama Trading has developed a suit that it claims can protect wearers from the H1N1 virus.
The suit is coated with titanium dioxide--a chemical commonly used in toothpaste and cosmetics--that breaks down when reacting with light and supposedly kills the virus upon contact. (If you read Japanese, here is the company's press release.)
Despite the new layer of protection, the suit seems pretty much like other suits commonly worn by Japanese white-collar workers. Each suit costs about $580, about how much a decent suit at Men's Wearhouse costs. The suits go on sale Thursday and in four colors and styles, including medium gray, charcoal, navy, and a gray pinstripe. The company says the suit will retain its protective capability even after being washed multiple times.
Japan, like many other places in Asia, has been gripped by the swine flu since its outbreak a year ago. According to the World Health Organization, more than 340,000 people have been infected with H1N1 worldwide; the disease is responsible for 4,100 deaths.
Generally, most of the new cases were reported to take place in urban areas, where population density increases the risk of transmission. It's unclear if there will be a female version of the suit; it's also unknown when or if the suit will be on sale in the U.S.

SAN MATEO, Calif.--How does Dow Chemical, the world's second-largest chemical producer, turn itself into a sustainable business?
"It's where green meets green," Neil Hawkins, vice president of sustainability at the company, said here Tuesday at the opening of the two-day Dow Jones Environmental Ventures conference.

Hawkins, who was interviewed in a morning keynote address, was referring to the 110-year-old company's efforts to make money by being more energy-efficient, investing in new clean-tech technologies, and working with manufacturers on new green chemistry.
For example, from 1994 to 2005, Dow spent roughly $1 billion on refining its energy efficiency practices. That investment has paid off fivefold for Dow, Hawkins said. Since 1990, Dow has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent, surpassing guidelines set by the Kyoto Protocol. And going forward, Dow has set sustainability goals by 2015 for chemistry, climate change, and product safety.
The idea can seem discombobulating, considering that Dow is known for producing the chemical weapon napalm during the Vietnam War, as well as toxic pesticides that have caused sterility in men. Hawkins acknowledged that the company isn't green yet, but he said there are pockets of green throughout the 47,000-employee conglomerate.
"The Dow of today is focused on delivering solutions to the world's problems...in clean drinking (water), alternative energy, alternative feedstock, and public health," said Hawkins, who has been with Dow for 20 years.
The company, for example, has a unit called Dow Building Solutions, in which it is examining new technologies that can help business owners reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. The company produces a Styrofoam insulation that has received an Energy Star recommendation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for example.
He said the most exciting area Dow is looking at in building tech is photovoltaic technology for roofing and siding. The company is working on bringing costs down for the technology to those of comparable levels of the grid. "In the short term, the single most important thing we can do is improve CO2 (emissions) in buildings...where people are doing a lot more insulating."
Dow also has its own venture fund, with $500 million invested in public health, clean technology, and water products, according to Hawkins. He said the company is looking for the right partnerships.
For example, the company has invested in WaterHealth International, a San Francisco Bay Area for-profit that has developed a water system that has provided drinking water to 10 million people in India, according to Hawkins. He said that in addition to an investment, Dow has provided loan guarantees of $30 million to help the company's growth.
It has also teamed with the nongovernmental organization International Aid, which has developed a plastic filter for drinking water. With that technology, nearly 2 million people in the Sudan and Cambodia will get access to potable water, he said.
Dow is also involved in U.S. Climate Action Partnerships (USCAP), a collaboration of environmental groups and companies aimed at shifting U.S. policy on climate change.
"The existence of USCAP has really moved this administration and Congress to have us participate in a more friendly policy," he said.
The company is also trying to help customers with sustainability efforts. For example, he said, Dow is thinking of new battery technology for Toyota's future initiatives.
"This trend of sustainability is very real. It will impact our profit for the next 20 years," he said. "I'm hoping to lead a culture change."

(Credit: Prepara
It's hard to ignore the incessant messages to buy local, plant a garden, check for organic labels, and lead a sustainable lifestyle, yet most of us dismiss these suggestions as practices that require too much money, time, and effort.
And it's true--they really do.
Last summer I went through a green phase, heading to the plant store to purchase soil, seeds, shovels, pots, and everything else that Martha Stewart suggests I buy. Well, $120 and two weeks later, I had forgotten I'd even planted a garden and deemed my project a failure.
Thankfully, there is hope for busy and forgetful people like me. The Prepara Power Plant doesn't require any soil, planting, or high maintenance. Herbs, small vegetables, fruits, and salad greens grow quickly, as the container provides the seeds with the right amount of nutrients and water.
It's not completely care-free, though--you must water the container and place it in sunlight (such as a window sill). But unlike outdoor gardens, the Power Plant Mini is always visible, so don't bother with excuses for neglecting your innocent plant.
Fresh food without bugs, dirt, digging, and worrying sounds like the perfect package. (Plus I can tell all my friends how green and sustainable I am.) Prepara lists the product for $39.99, but it can be purchased on Amazon for $29.99.

(Credit: Suzuki)
Suzuki is an automaker that we don't hear too much from in the U.S. However, when we do hear from it--such as with the two SX4s we've tested--we generally like what it has to say. So when we got word that a plug-in hybrid version of one of the smallest Suzukis, the Swift, would be on display at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, our interest was piqued.
The Suzuki Swift plug-in hybrid can be classified as a series gas-electric hybrid or an extended-range electric vehicle, depending on who you ask. The front wheels are turned by a 54 kW (72.4 horsepower) electric motor, which gets its supply of electrons from an array of lithium ion batteries. The battery pack is mounted in the center tunnel with rather novel window cut into the center console, displaying one of the cells.

The Swift PHEV's center tunnel mounted battery, visible through a cutout.
(Credit: Suzuki

Like any good concept, the Swift PHEV has cool looking seats made of odd materials.
(Credit: Suzuki
When the batteries run low, a small 600cc gasoline generator kicks in (a la Chevy Volt) to power the electric motor and keep the batteries topped off.
Range and fuel economy data has not yet been supplied, but stay tuned to our continuing coverage of the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show for more details as they emerge.

Spoiler alert: We gave the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid our Editors' Choice award. Although to be fair, after seeing its doppelganger, the 2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid, win the award previously, you had to have known the less expensive Fusion was something of a shoo-in.
However, our experience with the Fusion Hybrid wasn't an exact repeat of our time with the Milan. For starters, our tester was not equipped with the hard drive-based navigation system, which let us get a taste of the Sync flavor without the cheat sheet touch screen.
How did the screenless Sync experience stack up? Check the full review of the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid to find out.
Originally posted at The Car Tech blog

Credit: Stefan Radev)
Step aside, Greenbird. Here comes a version with all the luxe trimmings. Cooked up by industrial designer Stefan Radev, the Blue Dynamics land yacht is a concept wind-powered pleasure vehicle that steers with the help of a huge sail in the rear. Entry to the cockpit is via the elevated wind screen, while the rigid sail adjusts according to wind direction either automatically or through the on-board sail control unit.
The name Blue Dynamics is a symbolic connection of the wind and BMW's "efficient dynamics," greener-emissions program, which helped inspire the designer. BMW is not affiliated with the project, however.
Like all toys for the rich, this is one selfish contraption that'll take just one person on-board. But hey, if you've got the chump change to afford this swanky three-wheeled ride should it ever hit the deserts or beaches, you'll definitely not want to share it as you zip past envious landlubbers and green-eyed sedan drivers.

Turn 10 celebrates Forza 3 going gold with this fan-made "Gone Gold Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro"
(Credit: Turn 10)
Digital drivers waiting with baited breath for release of Forza Motorsport 3 for Xbox 360 will have to keep waiting for the October 27th release date. But despair not. Turn 10 will be making a Forza 3 demo available for download on Xbox Live on September 24th to get you through this last month of waiting.
The demo features only one fantasy track, a Spanish mountain course inspired by the Montserrat region just outside of Barcelona, and five playable cars with full cockpits and damage modeling with rollover:
2007 Porsche #80 Flying Lizard 911 GT3-RSR
2010 Audi R8 5.2 FSI quattro
2009 Ferrari California
2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X GSR
2009 Mini John Cooper Works

The Forza Motorsports demo also jumpstarts the Forza online leaderboard, so you can get an early start establishing dominance. If you're really overzealous hardcore, you can blow a few MS Points on Avatar accessories to show the world how much you love Forza.
Originally posted at The Car Tech blog

Ford Chairman and CEO Alan Mulally will be the featured speaker on the opening day of the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show, the Consumer Electronics Association announced Monday.
His keynote address will open the show the morning of Thursday, January 7. Although it's not Mulally's first time at the Las Vegas event--he also spoke last year--it will be his debut as the main keynote speaker. Recent opening keynotes have been given by Sony's Sir Howard Stringer and Comcast's Brian Roberts.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will speak the night before, as he did last year, taking over the slot traditionally given to Bill Gates.
Although he's not a technology executive, per se, Ford has made it a point to come to CES with lots of gadgets in the past. This year looks to be no different, as Mulally is scheduled talk up in-car tech like GPS navigation, location-based services, and video, according to the CEA.
Corrected on 9/22/09: This post initially had the day of the week on which Mulally will be speaking wrong. January 7 falls on a Thursday, not Friday.
Originally posted at Business Tech