Edible' robots and batteries could help cure cancer.

A depressing statistics, but figures suggest that as many as half of the population will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in our lifetime. Doctors and roboticists are looking at ways to significantly reduce this number and the answer may lie in batteries and bots you can swallow, according to new research from Carnegie Mellon University. Researchers from the university have created non-toxic 'edible' batteries with melanin pigments naturally found in the skin, hair and eyes. These ingestible batteries could be used to power devices that can be swallowed, while tiny robots could travel through the bloodstream to accurately target cancerous tumors. This ingestible and degradable non-toxic battery could make drug delivery devices in the form of pills possible, with minimal risk and discomfort for patients. The researchers were inspired to make the battery after examining the role of melanins, which absorb ultraviolet light to quench free radicals and protect us from damage, as well as binding and unbinding metallic ions. The team experimented with battery designs that use melanin pigments at either the positive or negative terminals; various electrode materials such as manganese oxide and sodium titanium phosphate; and cations such as copper and iron that the body uses for normal functioning.Although the capacity of a melanin battery is low relative to lithium-ion, it would be high enough to power an ingestible drug-delivery or sensing device, used to diagnose disease.courtesy wired.co.uk

Lagos and entrepreneurship.

The Lagos state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has approved N15.5million as seed funding and grants for final year students enrolled in the state’s graduate employment and entrepreneurs scheme. Gov. Ambode had in May established the graduate employment and entrepreneurs scheme tagged “Ready.Set.Work”, which would enable successful students get internship placements in high ranking corporate organisations. The students in the entrepreneurship track can also benefit from experience in a structured, supervised work setting, where they can learn the rudiments of running a business effectively. Ambode’s Special Adviser on Education, Mr Obafela Bank-Olemoh, said in a statement that the initiative is aimed at providing final year students of the state’s tertiary institutions with the tools and knowledge to become effective employees or job creators. Bank-Olemoh said that 500 final year students from the state’s tertiary institutions had been enrolled in a curriculum, either in the employability track or the entrepreneurship track, since its commencement in June. He said that at the end of the programme, over 90 top performing students in the employability track would be placed on six-month internship training with high ranking organisations. The special adviser said that 80 students in the entrepreneurship track would also take part in three to six months entrepreneur apprenticeships. Bank-Olemoh said that with this, they could learn the tricks of the trade, understand and develop processes for various businesses and build a network of vendors, industry peers, and mentors. “We already secured 90 internship slots for students in the employability track of the program. more

How a designer uses LEGO to build prosthetics for children injured by landmines.

Dario, 11, is from Bogota in Colombia. Born with a congenital disease that left him without a right forearm, he is one of thousands of limbless children in Colombia, where landmines laid in the war between the government and Farc guerrillas have blown away the limbs of thousands of Colombians, many of them children. Carlos Arturo Torres is the designer, and he wanted to help his compatriots hence he made the IKO Creative Prosthetic System; a bionic arm that's LEGO-compatible. "My ambition is for every kid in the world to learn about robotics and forget about disability," says the 33-year-old. "When you introduce the IKO, the word 'disability' suddenly takes a different colour." The 3D printed prosthetic, which is currently in testing, has a module that lets children attach the bionic hand and LEGO parts with a simple “push and lock” movement. At night, the battery-powered device goes on a charger.more

Asthma and innovative diagnostic technology in Dehli..

Mohan Lal an asthma patient whose, regular visits to Delhi’s hospitals were a nightmare of waiting in endless queues in sweltering corridors that swarm with mosquitoes ,until a spotless and air-conditioned clinic boasting innovative diagnostic technology and sharply-dressed doctors opened in Mr Lal’s neighborhood. Mr Lal, who needs regular treatment for his asthma, the sparkling free clinic and 100 others developed by the Delhi government of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in mostly low-income neighborhoods are a revelation. The crowning glory of Mr Lal’s neighborhood clinic is a newly invented device that conducts 50 common medical tests from a single blood sample, including sugar levels and cholesterol. In a city where diabetes, dengue, hepatitis, typhoid and other illnesses are common, the small, rectangular device provides swift diagnosis — thereby allowing for early treatment. Results of most of the tests are known within two minutes and are uploaded onto an IT cloud for access by patients and their doctors on their smart phones and the clinic’s tablets. The device was developed by biomedical engineer Kanav Kahol, who developed the device that he hopes will soon be installed in all of the other new clinics.It was originally aimed at easing India’s overburdened public health system, whose basic medical services are provided free of charge. Mr Kahol is surprised other countries have also expressed interest in the machine, which costs about $1,000 to buy.continue

National egg production scheme.

National Egg Production (NEGPRO) scheme is an initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria designed to create jobs for Nigerians, remove hunger and alleviate poverty. To achieve its goal, NEGPRO will provide eligible Nigerians the opportunity to participate in profitable poultry businesses where continuous production of table egg takes place all year round. Eggs produced from NEGPRO will service the following:1) The National School Feeding Program.2)Structured open market. 3) Egg powder processors across the nation. The NEGPRO scheme, accredited layer farmers produce eggs with input supplied by entrepreneurs/stakeholder in the state. The entrepreneur/stakeholder will, in turn, off-take the eggs that are produced. In general, the scheme workflow involves the following:1) Accredited farmers set up structure and cage for layer birds. 2)Entrepreneurs/Stakeholders in feeds and day old chicks (DOC) approved for the NEGPRO scheme take up the provision of basic inputs to participating farmers. 3)Following the approval of individual farmers and verification and certification of their layer farm pen/structures for stocking by NEGPRO officials of the state, NEGPRO farmers become eligible to collect DOCs, feeds and some stipend to run the farm from Entrepreneur/Stakeholder as a loan and with the input, the farmers commence poultry farming. 4)Farmers return on weekly basis such that eggs produced from their individual farms are taken up by the approved entrepreneur/stakeholders.5) Entrepreneurs shall balance the account of individual farmers and share profit accordingly. How to participate;1) Prospective entrepreneurs must be based in a state where he/she is to cover and have verifiable business and reputation to support clusters of farmers. 2) Be willing to provide credit facility to cover cost of day old chicks, feed, vaccines and medications to farmers in his/her cluster. Application form

Purdue's Veterinary Medicine treats wallaby's dislocated hip.

Using a device called a Tightrope™, a small animal surgery team at Purdue's College of Veterinary Medicine recently treated the dislocated hip of a female wallaby from Lafayette's Columbian Park Zoo. Wallabies are small or mid-sized marsupials, or pouched, mammals that belong to the kangaroo family and are found primarily in Australia and on nearby islands, according to National Geographic. They are usually smaller than kangaroos. Mark Rochat, clinical professor and chief of small animal surgery in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at the college, said the key to surgery on the wallaby was using the Tightrope™ to "create a new round ligament." "We basically treated it like a dog with a hip dislocation," Rochat said. "The hip is a ball-and-socket joint and the round ligament is one of the major anatomic structures that holds the ball in the socket. The Tightrope™ is incredibly strong and its job is to take the place of the torn round ligament and hold everything in place, until scar tissue can build up and other structures damaged by the dislocation can heal." There are some distinctions, of course, between a dog and a wallaby, Rochat said. "The anatomy of the wallaby hip is different from the dog, which makes sense given their very different way of locomotion," he said. "It was a very interesting surgery." "The wallaby seems to be doing fine, and radiographs made about a month after surgery showed the Tightrope™ in place and doing its job," Rochat said. Credit;.purdueexponent

Eradicating poverty with agriculture.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says agriculture is capable of eradicating poverty. When he visited the Adamawa state government house in Yola, the former president said the sector could bring industrialisation to the state. “Your emphasis on agriculture gave me pleasure and if agriculture is taken serious in this state, it will eradicate poverty,” he said. He promised to encourage investors interested in agricbusiness to visit Adamawa. “If you can provide a conducive atmosphere, people will want to come and invest in agribusiness.“We will encourage those who are interested to invest in agribusiness to come to Adamawa and invest. “Agriculture will not only be useful as a security too but as part of the industrialisation of the state, and as such will make the economy of this state more viable.” He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for showing understanding about the situation in the north-east. “To us, the issue of the north-east is special even when Mr President and I are discussing, it always form the centre of our discussion,” he said. “I must commend the unique leadership vision of the governor especially as he did not only focus on Adamawa but extent his vision to the entire north-east geopolitical region.” Jibrilla Bindow, governor of the state, had sought the assistance of the former president in addressing the challenges in Adamawa. He said the state had faced the challenge of insecurity in the past, which had ravaged the socioeconomic fortunes of the state. He commended Buhari for giving special focus on security, which had made the state to be peaceful now. Bindow said his administration had completed 47 road projects in the face of all the challenges. He said the team work adopted by his administration had yielded the positive result, adding that his administration would emulate the work supervision strategy of Obasanjo. continue