Handheld detects date-rape drugs

In this edition of the Worldwide wrap, a tiny handheld device that detects if a drink has been drugged is seeking crowdfunding to address a global crisis that often goes unreported and unacknowledged and researchers have come up with a new method for making a "biological pacemaker" that might one day serve as an alternative to electronic ones. Get the details on these stories and more below.

A tiny handheld device that detects if a drink has been drugged is seeking crowdfunding to address "a global crisis that often goes unreported and unacknowledged".

The Pd.id uses technology already in use by America's Drug Enforcement Agency to detect the presence of "date-rape drugs" including alcohol in drinks. Immersing the lighter-sized sensor in a drink will perform a series of tests, including electrical conductivity, temperature measurements and spectroscopic analysis - determining the molecular makeup of the liquid in its reservoir. If it detects anything unexpected, a red LED will light up on top of the device. If linked to the user's smartphone, the screen will show what is found in the drink.

The device will be pre-loaded with a library of the spectrographs of common drugs, including alcohol, zolpidem, Rohypnol and other benzodiazepines or benzo-like drugs.
Via: Wired

Experimenting with pigs, researchers have come up with a new method for making a "biological pacemaker" that might one day serve as an alternative to electronic ones.

Making this pacemaker involves injecting a gene into heart muscle cells, which transforms these normal heart cells into special cells that can initiate a heartbeat.

According to researchers, this method could be useful for certain patients, such as those who develop infections from electronic pacemakers and need to have the devices temporarily removed, or foetuses with life-threatening heart disorders who cannot have an electronic pacemaker implanted.
Via: Live Science

A Swiss masters student has developed a drone system that detects the signals given off by mobile phones and homes in on their location, potentially giving rescue workers a clue about where to search.

Jonathan Cheseaux, along with colleagues Stefano Rosati, Karol Kruzelecki and Bixio Rimoldi from Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne, developed the technology as part of a project at the university's Mobile Communications Lab.

By placing two WiFi antennae on the drone, Cheseaux says they were able to locate mobile phones on campus to within 10 metres "in the best tests we have performed". The drone uses the MAC address of a phone to differentiate which device it is detecting and uses several readings to attempt to calculate its location.
Via: Wired

It is the most exclusive app Facebook has ever released - and only celebrities will be able to use it.

Called Mentions, the app is designed to allow 'actors, athletes, musicians and other influencers' to chat with their fans.

It allows them to reply to messages, take part in live chats and post updates - without seeing newsfeeds, quizzes and ads. Mentions is currently only available for people with verified pages in the US, Facebook says.
Via: Daily Mail

A French judge has ruled against a blogger because her scathing restaurant review was too prominent in Google search results.

The judge ordered that the post's title "the place to avoid in Cap-Ferret: Il Giardino" be amended and told the blogger Caroline Doudet to pay damages.

According to court documents, the review appeared fourth in the results of a Google search for the restaurant. The judge decided that the blog's title should be changed, so that the phrase: "the place to avoid" was less prominent in the results.
Via: BBC

Three students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology have hacked together a 3D printer that can produce edible Mr Whippy-style ice cream in any shape.

Kyle Hounsell, Kristine Bunker and David Donghyun Kim developed the contraption - a modified version of an existing 3D printer connected to a "soft serve" ice-cream machine - as part of a graduate project in MIT's additive manufacturing department.

The students built a cooling system using liquid nitrogen to fix the ice cream in place as it was squirted out of the 3D printer's nozzle into the desired shape. The instant cooling allowed the printer to build up the ice cream layers just as a traditional extrusion-based 3D printer squirts down layers of plastic.
Via: The Guardian