Clean Water, New Industry

The world’s 2 billion people without access to clean, safe water may have a simple solution soon at hand: a ceramic filtration device made using local clay and sawdust.

The PureMadi filters (madi is the Tshivenda South African word for water) are coated with silver nanoparticles that can filter out 99.9% of waterborne pathogens, including E. coli.

The filters were developed by the University of Virginia in partnership with University of Venda in Thohoyandou, South Africa, and the nonprofit FilterPure Inc. The project’s first goal is to establish a dozen factories in South Africa to produce 100,000 filters a year, with profits returned to local communities.

Source: University of Virginia, www.virginia.edu.

Tapping the Power of Rap

The acoustic waves from rap music may help power miniature medical sensors implanted in the body.

A device developed by researchers at Purdue University’s Birck Nanotechnology Center harnesses the frequency of music to cause a cantilever to vibrate and generate electricity. Rap’s strong bass component is particularly useful because of its low frequency; also, the frequency changes continually, allowing the sensor to switch between storing electrical charge and transmitting data.

The rap-powered sensor could aid the treatment of individuals with aneurisms or incontinence due to paralysis.

Source: Purdue University, www.purdue.edu.

Robotic "Pack Mule" Offers Military Support

The modern warrior may need 100 pounds or more of gear—a load that can cause fatigue and impair performance. To lighten the load, DARPA is developing a pack-mule-like robot that would be integrated with a squad of Marines or Army soldiers.

The Legged Squad Support System (LS3) will be able to carry 400 pounds on a 20-mile hike without refueling. Sensing technology will enable the LS3 to hear, see, and respond to commands. And it will be nimble enough to follow the squad through rugged terrain and will serve as a mobile auxiliary power source.

Source: DARPA (the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), www.darpa.mil.

Arctic Plants at Risk

Genetic variations within species will determine which plants fare well in warming Arctic habitats and which may struggle.

Species that are able to disperse their seeds via birds or the wind are less likely to lose their genetic diversity when their habitats are altered by climate change, according to a study by the University Centre in Svalbard, Norway. Trees and taller shrubs will likely fare better than species that have little opportunity for gene flow between populations.

The study may affect how species are identified for protections, since loss of habitat may not necessarily threaten a particular species, the researchers conclude.

Source: The University Centre in Svalbard, www.unis.no.

WordBuzz: Coveillance

Anyone who’s stepped out in the city has a good idea of how much officially sanctioned surveillance we’re exposed to daily. Increasingly, individuals are also surveilling themselves (aka lifelogging, terabyting, sousveilling) by using cameras and other devices to record all the data of their lives.

Coveillance is a term made popular in a 2003 paper for Surveillance & Society by sociologist Barry Wellman and co-authors to describe the phenomenon of networked individuals observing and recording each other’s lives. The idea is that we are transparent and accountable to one another. Would we behave better knowing someone nearby may post our foibles on YouTube and then tweet it to the world?

Coveillance could also reduce the need for government surveillance and offer us more protection as we move between communities, the authors suggest.

Barry Wellman is co-author, with Lee Rainie, of the new book Networked: The New Social Operating System (MIT Press, May 2012).