Worldwide wrap

This week's wrap features two rather sweaty stories. Unicef Sweden is conducting research to harvest sweat and transform it into clean, drinkable water, and a team of researchers from University of California-San Diego have fitted sensors to a temporary tattoo that is able to monitor the wearer's athletic performance. Get the details on these stories and more below.

Aside from reducing your waistline, all that time spent sweating it out in the gym may have other benefits. Unicef has found a way to turn sweat into clean, drinkable water. The charity has created the Sweat Machine, a device that squeezes the sweat from people's clothes and then purifies the liquid to create drinking water. The machine was built as part of a campaign by Unicef Sweden to raise awareness about the lack of clean water in many parts of the world.

According to Unicef, one sweaty football shirt produced 10 millilitres of drinkable water. "We wanted to raise this subject in a new, playful and engaging way," said Per Westberg of Unicef Sweden. "Our Sweat Machine is a reminder that we all share the same water. We all drink and sweat in the same way, regardless of how we look or what language we speak."
Via: Daily Mail

Scientists at the University of Maryland are running tests using just a sliver of wood in batteries, potentially creating a long-lasting, efficient and environmentally friendly battery. By utilising sodium instead of lithium, as is done with many rechargeable batteries, the scientists were able to make the battery environmentally friendly.

According to Liangbing Hu, an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and a member of the University of Maryland Energy Research Centre, trees were the inspiration for the project. "Wood fibres that make up a tree once held mineral-rich water, and so are ideal for storing liquid electrolytes, making them not only the base but an active part of the battery." But Sodium doesn't store energy as efficiently as lithium, so you won't be seeing this technology in your smartphone any time soon.
Via: Daily Fusion

The days of cash and credit cards may be numbered, thanks to a Finnish company that is working on facial recognition payment technology. Uniqul's technologically advanced payment tech utilises a point-of-sale camera that snaps your face while you ring up your groceries, and accesses your cloud-based wallet to deduct the cost of the purchase. All the user is required to do is hit a button confirming the purchase. Uniqul claims the facial recognition payment method will reduce the average transaction time down from 30 seconds to just five seconds.

The system connects to existing POS software, processing the user's payment information the same way a card terminal does. But the futuristic service isn't free of charge; users pay a monthly subscription, selecting a location that they are most likely to use for their shopping.
Via: CNET

Croatian scientists are using the help of colonies of bees to assist in the clearing of landmines. Led by Professor Nikola Kezic, the team is training the insects to sniff out the deadly devices, by feeding them sugar scented with the smell of TNT explosives.

"Bees are suitable because they're stored in a beehive, in a single place, they're widely distributed and can be found in every country," said Kezic. The bees are trained for just a few days before being released into minefields, detecting TNT particles in the air and gathering directly above the landmines. The bees are tracked by a small airship, filming them with conventional and thermal vision cameras. The footage is then analysed to determine if the minefields cleared by conventional methods contains any leftover explosive materials. The method is still in the research and development stage.
Via: Reuters

A temporary tattoo developed by a team at the University of California-San Diego is fitted with sensors to monitor the wearer's sweat. Featured in the journal Analytical Chemistry, the researchers claim the thin strips of adhesive fitted with specialised trackers can track an athlete's chemical balance, thus allowing them to gauge his or her physical activity.

The tattoo tracks lactate, a compound generated by working muscles. The more lactate the body produces, the more sweat it releases. According to the team, the tattoos are the perfect non-invasive way for training athletes to keep track of their metabolic health. The concept has expanded into an independent commercial company called Electrozyme, which means the tattoo technology could soon be used by the general public.
Via: Mashable

A new app turns the user's Android phone into a security device. The Shake For Help app, created by BrilliSoft, uses patent-pending technology to reach emergency contacts with very little effort.

Once installed and properly configured, the users need simply to shake their phones when they are in trouble.

The application is designed to periodically contact emergency contacts and let them know that the user may be in trouble, also informing these contacts of the person's location. "I feel comfortable knowing that my kids have the app installed on their phones and can simply shake it if they feel threatened, on the playground, when out with their friends, or walking home from school," said Nikolas Kairinos, CEO of BrilliSoft. "It makes perfect sense for mobile devices to be used as security devices, as they are location-aware and with us 24/7."
Via: BrilliSoft