1. One that helps
Even in this day and age, access to clean drinking water is still a life or death issue for many people. Many water sources contain contaminants which are impossible to detect without sophisticated equipment. Northwestern University synthetic biologists have developed a simple tool to tell if the water in front of you is safe to drink.
Seeing the need for fast and cheap water quality monitors, Northwestern University synthetic biologists came up with ROSALIND, short for “RNA output sensors activated by ligand induction”. Catchy right? It’s a handheld device with eight tubes that analyse water samples for contaminants.
They’ve figured out how bacteria naturally “tastes” things in water, using “molecular taste buds” that detect contaminants in the water. The cool thing they’ve done is figure out how to freeze dry these molecular taste buds, and put them in a test tube so they can analyse whatever drop of water is added to them.
So far, the device can detect levels of zinc, antibiotics, lead and industrial metabolite present in water. Rather than just a simple positive/negative result, it can show levels of concentration which will empower people to make decisions that could affect their family’s health on a daily basis.
2. One to be wary of
Google Maps and Apple Maps. among others, have become so highly used, and so smart, that they are changing traffic flow around the world. On my trip home from school drop-off they often tell me to divert to a tiny local road to avoid the congestion on the main route. These route changes are not just annoying people on previously quiet streets, they are actually making your trip home more dangerous.
A study has concluded that route-planning apps are definitely saving us time, however the time they save comes at a cost. Faster routes raise the probability of us having a crash by 23%! During the study, Soheil Sohrabi and his associates gathered various road and traffic characteristics such as number of lanes, average daily traffic, weather conditions and historical crash data. They found out that when navigation apps choose the fastest route, the probability of getting into a crash increases.
Of course navigation apps aren’t going anywhere – they are too useful. The researchers from this study are currently developing navigation systems that promote safety over speed. In the future you will be able to make an informed decision on your route, based not just on time saved, but also which route is the safest.
3. One to amaze
Obviously nothing is more amazing than a robotic goat right? Wrong! What about a robotic goat that can convert into a scooter! Boston Dynamics’ robot dog, Spot, is the most popular robotic animal around – but that’s all about to change as we meet Kawasaki’s Bex, the robotic goat. You know how we’ve been talking about electric transport with blazing fast speeds? This isn’t one of those things. The above video has to be one of the greatest things ever filmed – even if just for the crazy soundtrack.
Revealed at the 2022 International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo, Bex is every steampunk cowboy’s dream. It is designed to carry passengers or cargo as long as it doesn’t exceed 100 kilos. You can steer it using handlebars much like a motorbike. Unlike a motorbike though, the Bex can transform to suit the terrain. Being a quadruped allows it to traverse uneven terrain. Once you reach paved roads though, it can kneel to transform itself into a scooter for additional speed – seriously!
If you think that a robot goat isn’t your thing (firstly what is wrong with you – how can a robot goat NOT be your thing), you can swap the upper portion of Bex into anything you like as it is actually modular. Or if you want to increase cargo capacity, you can just take the upper portion off. Pretty soon, we may see cowboys riding unicorns on the roads. You’ve GOAT to be KIDDING me!