UniversityOfUtah
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Tiny thermoacoustic engines pave the way for screaming gadgets
Looks like all that heat generated by your laptop may finally be useful for something other than frying eggs -- a group of grad students led by professor Orest Symko at the University of Utah has unveiled an array of "thermoacoustic" engines that turn heat into sound, which can be directed at a piezoelectric mechanism to produce electricity. The US Army-funded research seems promising but is obviously still in its infancy -- one of the designs the researchers demonstrated is half the size of a penny but pumps out 120dB of noise (about the same as a siren), while another bumped out over 135dB, (which is roughly equivalent to a jackhammer). The team expects that future, smaller designs will work at ultrasonic frequencies outside the range of human hearing. Although we're not expecting hybrid-siren-powered laptops to hit anytime soon, you Utes out there may want to invest in some earplugs -- Professor Symko says they'll be testing these designs at the University's water-heating facility in the next year.[Via InformationWeek]
Prototype device helps untrained bystanders save lives
We'll be the first to admit, if we were a featured character in a prime-time soap surrounding cataclysmic events, we'd be killed off early in the first season -- we're just no good to anybody in emergency situations. Now we've got a chance to make it all the way to a sophomore slump, with this new "Just-In-Time Support" (JITS) device which provides audio and video instructions to untrained bystanders (besting that audio-only version from Philips), allowing them to administer CPR and diagnose the victim. The JITS, which is being developed by some University of Utah researchers, is currently a prototype, but in test runs on dummy victims, untrained users managed to match American Heart Association guidelines while using the device. The kit includes defibrillator pads and an anesthesia mask, along with a video screen that gives live feedback in regards to what actions to take -- sounds like a good time with or without an emergency to attend to.[Via medGadget]
