Gurus at Purdue University have conjured up a prototype device which, when injected into a tumor, can actually track the "precise dose of radiation received and locate the exact position [of the tumor] during treatment." Currently, the needle-sized device is held within a hermetically sealed glass capillary, contains a miniature radiation dosimeter, operates without batteries and instead relies on "electrical coils placed next to the patient" for activation. As small as the RFID-enabled unit is, engineers are still hoping to create a version that is around the size of a grain of rice, and hopes are to have it in clinical trials in 2010.

[Via Physorg]

Yeah, this idea has definitely been around the block a time or two, but Eureka Aerospace is doing a whole lot more than just envisioning yet another concept. Its 200-pound, 5-foot long prototype has recently undergone testing, and reportedly, it's been able to completely and utterly incapacitate any vehicle that dared roll in its path. The device has been used to shut down four whips thus far, each from a distance of 10 to 50-feet, and all it took was a microwave pulse lasting some 50-nanoseconds to do it. According to James Tatoian, the outfit's CEO, a version that weighs just 50-pounds and can disable rebel rides from 600-feet away is only a couple of years from reality, but it's highly doubtful that these will be available to the general public. Depressing, we know.

[Via Slashgear]

As the ongoing battle between the naysayers and the paranoid continues, Neil Bullock is making sure that those situated squarely in the latter camp have a way to "protect" their unborn child(ren). MummyWrap is a "sleeveless, loose-fitting garment for pregnant women made from a light-weight copper-based cotton fabric known as Swiss Shield," and according to its creator, it can "minimize the risk of electro-magnetic radiation (EMR)" warping your kid's brain before he or she ever sees the world. 'Course, we're not going to step in and suggest that you do / don't need this, but for those who'd rather be safe than sorry, you can order one now for $69.95. As an added bonus, it should go great with your Isabodywear underwear.

[Via Textually]

Sure, you may have already been suckered into buying one of those cutesy USB air purifiers before, but Pure Air is hoping to fill up yet another one of your connectors as its DESK EOS fends off evil electromagnetic waves. Of course, this is bound to spark up another one of those "dangerous / not dangerous" debates, but this looks to be the device for you if you're not keen on taking chances. The debatably stylish unit can be had in red, silver, or blue color schemes (shown after the break), and the blue LEDs that glow once plugged in are an admittedly nice touch. Still, you'd probably be better off just holding onto that ₩60,900 ($65) and donning a tin foil cap instead.

[Via AVing]

If you thought donning tin foil caps was excessive, Isabodywear is out to make those contraptions looks mighty mild. While the debate about just how dangerous (or not) cellphone radiation is still rages on, there's certainly a paranoid sect that will snap up anything that claims to "protect them," and this Swiss garb maker is latching onto said opportunity. The briefs are purportedly constructed with threads made of silver, which the company claims will fend off harmful cellphone radiation; moreover, in an effort to really prove just how effective these undergarments are, it suggests that phone calls originated within the confines of your new underwear simply won't connect. Reportedly, 4,000 pairs have been created so far, and for folks willing to give these a try and fill out a survey, the first 500 of you to email in and request one will seemingly have one sent out gratis. There's no word on when you can expect the Slipways to hit the market, but they should sell for CHF29.90 ($24) apiece when retailers start stocking.

[Via Textually]

Just in case fixed sensors all across the country, bomb-sniffing bees, and Bay Area nuke detectors weren't enough to make you rest easy, Homeland Security is cookin' up another safeguard at the expense of privacy. Reportedly, the Department is looking into the idea of "outfitting cellphones with tiny, sensitive detectors that would alert the government and emergency responders to the presence of radiological isotopes, toxic chemicals, and deadly biological agents." Essentially, future mobiles could come pre-loaded with such a device that continuously monitors said chemicals and sends off alerts via GPS if anything goes awry. Of course, officials are expecting "quite a few hurdles" along the way, one of which will be battling the privacy advocates who don't understand that their handset probably already contains the technology for Big Brother to see everywhere they go. No word on when these plans could take effect, nor whether older phones will be retrofitted with the toxic sensors, but we can already envision quite a few false alarms care of the cellphone-totin' chemists in the crowd.

[Via Textually]

The UK paper The Independent on Sunday has been thinking of the children recently with a headline article today proclaiming that children are at risk from WiFi signals, or what it sensationally calls "electronic smog." Their motivation for putting WiFi into an almost satanic light are calls by the UK Health Protection Agency to hold an investigation into the safety of WiFi signals. That's fair enough: even if most of the mania surrounding the safety (or lack thereof) of wireless networks is unjustified, an inquiry should put the record straight, right? Still, when another of the bodies that is calling for the inquiry -- the Department of Education and Skills -- calls wireless area networks "magical," it gives the increasing panic over WiFi a rather depressing perspective. Why exactly children are being used to justify an inquiry is a question that needs to be answered too, since the number of homes and workplaces equipped with WiFi must surely outnumber primary and secondary schools. That's before you factor in the prevalence of cordless phones and an array of other wireless kit in the home, which operate on the same 2.4GHz frequency that the majority of routers do. Unfortunately, our expectation is that an inquiry will lead to the same kind of back and forth arguments about the safety of mobile phones and their masts, and not any kind of clarity over this almost manufactured controversy. It certainly doesn't help for WiFi to be branded a "radiation threat" before an inquiry has even been agreed upon.

When you've got folks dreaming up such things as a $2.5 trillion "space sunshade," we reckon a Star Trek-style deflector shield isn't too far-fetched. Apparently, a team of British scientists are looking into the possibility of crafting such a device in order to " protect astronauts from radiation" when they venture beyond the Earth's protective magnetic envelope, or "magnetosphere." Reportedly, the team is hoping to "to mimic the magnetic field which protects the Earth" and deploy the shields "around spacecraft and on the surfaces of planets to deflect harmful energetic particles." As nation's begin to revive plans of space exploration, the homegrown shield should look mighty attractive at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting, but details concerning a proposed launch date, and moreover, the presumably lofty pricetag, have yet to emerge.

[Via Slashdot]

Apparently, we should all feel incredibly guilty for simply using our cellphones, as not only are we encouraging the growth of ear tumors within our bodies, but now we're hearing that radiation flying out from our mobiles are demolishing the world's supply of crops. All jesting aside, a controversial report is now claiming that "radiation from mobile phones are interfering with bees' navigation systems, preventing the famously homeloving (and pollinating) species from finding their way back to their hives." The comically-named Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is reportedly being seen on a much larger scale in the US and Europe, and elusive "evidence" is purportedly backing these dodgy claims up. Backers of the shocking data are even going so far as to suggest that in the future, our refusal to set aside the cellphone could cause "massive food shortages as the world's harvests fail." Man, this sounds worse than Y2K, for sure.

[Via Slashdot]

Sure, we've heard of cellphones causing all sorts of medical troubles when not conjuring cancer in your ear, but the latest report of everyday consumer electronics wreaking havoc on humans comes from where else but the UK. Curiously, this isn't the first time England has been the site of allergic reactions to electromagnetic fields (EMF), and Manchester's Debbie Bird has been forced to make outlandish alterations to her home (and way of life) in order to avoid intense headaches, painful skin rashes, and bizarre eyelid swelling. Among the items she can't use are microwaves, BMWs (saywha?), and cellphones, and she has also coated her walls in pricey black carbon paint, covered her windows in "protective film," and weirdest of all, sleeps under a "silver-plated mosquito net" in order to curb her reactions. Now, what type of hidden superpowers are in her arsenal to counter such strange deficiencies?

The folks at e-Fotografija have had enough of SDHC speed tests, and wanted to take things to the next level. After some extreme temperature tests (ranging from -30°C to +85°C) which seemed to do little to knock the cards out of commission -- though Kodak card did have to return to room temperature before restarting, while the industrial-grade ATP card kept right on humming -- the cards were blasted with Gamma radiation to really get the measure of the things. Sadly, no strange half-man, half-SD card creatures were created in the process, and in fact, high doses of radiation did absolutely nothing to impact the cards, meaning the relatively weak level of airport X-ray radiation should do nothing to your stash of pictures stored on these sturdy memory cards. Tune in next weak, when we'll find out if SD cards can pass through the core of the earth unscathed.

[Via PhotographyBLOG]

We're always wanting that skin to glow around the virtual office here, but never would we suspect that "Artificial Electromagnetic Waves" could be hurting us. While the merits of studies that show radiation from wireless handsets harm or don't harm humans are far from final, it's pleasing to know that anti-cellphone skin care is close at hand. In addition to those cheaply made "anti-radiation" stickers that go for about 10 cents these days, the new Expertise 3P skin care product from Clarins will -- get this -- protect you from "Artificial Electromagnetic Waves." We're not sure how one determines if certain RF emissions are "artificial" or not, but nonetheless this new skin care product features a "Magnetic Defence Complex" that protects skin from the effects of "Artificial Electromagnetic Waves" and also has an "Anti-Pollution Complex" that contains White Tea and Succory Dock-Cress. Just spritz this spray right on yourself and watch those invisible cellphone rays bounce off your skin like stones across a pond.

[Via textually.org]

We're all about giving golf claps where they're due, and a healthy round is certainly in order for Mr. Brian Schulkin. The doctoral student in physics developed a breakthrough terahertz imaging device, dubbed a T-ray, that has already demonstrated its ability to "detect cracks in space shuttle foam, image tumors in breast tissue, and spot counterfeit watermarks on paper currency." The Mini-Z marks the first time such a powerful device has become portable in nature, weighing just five pounds and taking up about as much space as your average laptop. Taking home the first Lemelson-Rensselaer Student Prize ($30,000), Schulkin explained that this device didn't pose the same health risks as typical X-rays, and unlike ultrasound, terahertz waves can provide images and spectroscopic information without contacting an object. As expected, the patent-pending technology is already up for licensing, and has already received quite a bit of fanfare and commercial interest from larger companies. So while you may never personally encounter Brian's earth-shattering invention, we're fairly sure this young lad's working days are already drawing nigh if he so chooses.

[Via Physorg]

Handheld radiation detectors sound well and good, and are designed to detect the threat of dirty bombs or other radiation, which seems like a just cause, but they also appear to be picking up a good many false positives from recent subjects of radiation treatment. After being injected or implanted with radioisotopes, the patient can be "hot" for up to three months, and with 60,000 people a day undergoing such treatment or tests in the US, and 12,000 handheld radiation detectors out there to sniff these people out, it's understandable that there are more than a few people getting flagged and searched -- sometimes quite intimately -- at security checkpoints. Doctors are encouraged to warn their patients of such inconveniences, and some doctors even write notes or hand out a card that allows security personnel to confirm the treatment. There's no word on beefing up the sensors themselves, but there are usually tests available at such sites that can ascertain the type of radiation -- not a perfect system, but we don't recommend making a run for it all the same.

[Via Boing Boing]