Helmet patch measures blasts

Researchers are developing a cheap, lightweight plastic strip that can be worn on a soldier's helmet to help diagnose brain injury, reports Technology Review.

The strip of plastic will be taped to a soldier's helmet to measure his or her exposure to explosions and will cost less than a dollar per strip.

It's made of a flexible plastic substrate that will contain printed electronics, analogue memory, and sensors. It will record seven days' worth of information, which will then be transferred to a soldier's medical record. The disposable tape will be replaced.

General Electric has invented something that could make floor lamps, bedside lamps, wall sconces and nearly every other household lamp obsolete - a machine that prints lights, says Yahoo.

The size of a semitrailer, the OLED printer coats an 8-inch wide plastic film with chemicals, then seals them with a layer of metal foil. Appling electric current to the resulting sheet causes it to light up with a blue-white glow.

The sheet can be tacked to a wall, wrapped round a pillar, and the translucent version taped to a window. Unlike other light sources, the sheets don't need a conventional fixture, though they need to be plugged into an outlet.

DA Corporation is offering its patented Voice Dial over Tones technology for sale at The OceanTomo Fall 2008 Live IP Auction in Chicago, reports Market Watch.

The patent's broad use targets a wide array of potential companies including providers of telecommunications infrastructure, set-top boxes, VOIP Internet appliances, consumer telephones and next generation multimedia appliances for the home.

The US Patent 5 483 579 incorporates algorithms for waveform processing required to hear voice on analogue telephone lines and VOIP ATAs during the dial-tone period.