Artificial electric eel cells could be implanted in the human body to generate power for medical implants and other small devices. That's according to new research by American scientists, which suggests it's possible to build artificial cells replicating the electrical behaviour of electric eel cells.
Not only that, the researchers claim, but the artificial cells could deliver a higher performance than the real ones – by more than 40 per cent.
According to NIST engineer David LaVan and Yale University scientist Jian Xu, small, stacked layers of artificial cells could be capable of producing continuous power output of about 300 microwatts – enough to drive small implant devices.
Touch-sensitive tables
In other news, dining went digital in London this week, with restaurant and bar Inamo launching a new interactive service that projects colourful menus onto touch-senstive tabletops. As well as general browsing, patrons can preview the food, order interactively, change the ambience of their individual table – and even book cabs.
Back to the Future
Talking of futuristic, if you're in the market for a new vehicle, beware. A man who was fined in 2003 for selling "'fraudulent unregistered stock'" on the internet was been spotted selling a "flying saucer" on eBay on Tuesday.
If a flying car is, indeed, what you're after, may we point you towards Terrafugia's Transition instead. Set to go on sale next year, the $194,000 vehicle is more "roadable aircraft" than car.
With four wheels, Formula One–style suspension, and a pair of 10-foot-wide wings (that fold up while it's on land), it's been described as "a single-engine, rear-propeller airplane that just happens to be street-legal".
Gadget therapy
Here's one for everyone at work who went out last night: the iSleep concept. A soft pillow that attaches to your laptop, it fills with warm air when you close the lid, playing soothing music for 10 minutes before sounding a gentle alarm to wake you up. So simple, and yet so effective; catching a few zees under the desk could one day be a thing of the past…
If you do happen to spot a colleague catching said zees (we've all done it…), it might be nice to give them a little nudge with a Mechamo Crab & Halloween Hack. A creepy crab robot with the head of a Cabbage Patch Kid doll, it should do just the trick.
And finally…
Trigger-happy police in Wales have been criticised for tasering a runaway sheep, it was reported earlier this week. Horrified motorists watched in disbelief as a police officer blasted the ram – which was holding up traffic – to clear the dual carriageway.
The sheep was later returned (still alive) to a near-by field. The RSPCA has said it will investigate the incident.
