Medical Breakthrough: Smart pill reports back from inside the body.
Soon Big Brother may be watching from the inside out. Like a Mars Orbiter beaming data back to Earth, a power-packed pill will soon be broadcasting from a stomach near you, transmitting both medical measurements and the device’s position as it travels through the body.
The 26-by-13-millimeter device, about the size of a multivitamin capsule, is designed to diagnose gastroparesis, or, in layman's terms, slow stomach emptying.
This condition, in which food stays in the stomach for more than four hours, is especially common in diabetics whose high blood sugar can destroy the stomach's vital vagus nerve, preventing stomach muscles from contracting. People who have gastroparesis can have such symptoms as a lack of appetite, vomiting, stomach spasms, bloating, and weight loss.
Better than ...
Currently, says David Barthel, president and CEO of the SmartPill Corporation, the company that makes the, err, smart pill, gastroparesis patients must endure a gauntlet of invasive, expensive, and often inconclusive tests.
"They would go anywhere from an endoscope [in which a tube is passed through the mouth to the stomach], to a barium test [in which a thick liquid that shows up on X-rays is swallowed and tracked], to a gastric emptying centrifugy test," Barthel explains. "These patients will often run through all these procedures [and others] and it could take anywhere from six months to two years to accurately diagnose a motility patient."
The company's bionic pill is designed to replace this hodgepodge of tests, helping doctors diagnose the condition within days.
As the plastic-sheathed pill passes through the stomach, intestines, and bowel, it transmits critical diagnostic information—such as pH, temperature, and the amount of pressure in the stomach and intestines—to a receiver that a physician later connects to a computer. Included in the digital signal is the pill's position in the body, giving doctors a clear picture of how effectively the stomach and other GI-tract components are pushing food toward the final destination.
Just passing through
The disposable $500 pill—which enters and exits the body through preexisting orifices—transmits data to a receiver that a patient wears either on a lanyard or attached to a belt.
But the transmitter's broadcast range is 300 feet, the length of a football field, so a patient can remove the receiver to sleep or shower. Two tiny batteries power all of the pill's components, which are etched onto a single, custom-made chip, for at least five days.
The SmartPill Corporation, which began developing the device in 2003, has completed clinical trials in the United States, the FDA-controlled process in which human volunteers in hospital settings serve as subjects for new medical technologies or medicines. Based on these promising results, Barthel says, the Boston-based company has applied for FDA approval to sell smart pills in the United States and is in the process of applying for approval in European markets as well.
The big Ooops.. I forgot my $37 billion dollars!
(First of all, it must be nice to even be able to forget that much money..)
Story:(CBS) Warren Buffet's decision to make a mega-donation to charity was followed by a mega-gaffe, though one that was quickly remedied.
The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and the world's second-richest man, is giving almost all his fortune to charity, with the bulk of that, some $30 billion, earmarked for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Buffett's overall philanthropic gesture is thought to be the largest ever.
He and the Gateses sat down for an interview Monday with Buffett's close friend, PBS talk show host Charlie Rose.
And Rose says the most excitement came when the session ended.
"We were all walking down. I was gonna say goodbye to them at the sidewalk," he told The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm Monday. "And Warren turns to me and says, 'I forget the documents!' I said, 'Where are they?' And he said, 'I left them in the studio.' So, I ran back to the studio and brought back the documents and Bill said, 'Check and make sure I (Rose) didn't change the beneficiary!'
The Charlie Rose Foundation, with assets of $30 billion, suddenly came into existence, Rose joked.
He described the personal relationship between Buffett and Gates, the head of Microsoft and world's wealthiest man, as "incredible. It's one of the great friendships. Somebody said in the paper today that Warren needed somebody as smart as Bill to talk to and Bill needed somebody as smart as Warren to talk to.
"They vacation together. I've been with them when they were playing bridge, and that's interesting to watch. I've been with them when they were playing poker together. It's not father-son at all. Bill has a father, Warren has children. It's just two men who have grown to like each other, admire each other, and now they have this unique opportunity because Bill does well, what Warren didn't want to do, and now Warren has a legacy that will affect millions of people."
Full Article, -CBS news
July 3, 1/2 mile long asteroid rapidly approaching earth, comes as close as the moon! But we are not in danger.
An asteroid possibly as large as a half-mile or more in diameter is rapidly approaching the Earth. There is no need for concern, for no collision is in the offing, but the space rock will make an exceptionally close approach to our planet early on Monday, July 3, passing just beyond the Moon's average distance from Earth.
Astronomers will attempt to get a more accurate assessment of the asteroid's size by “pinging” it with radar.
And skywatchers with good telescopes and some experience just might be able to get a glimpse of this cosmic rock as it streaks rapidly past our planet in the wee hours Monday. The closest approach occurs late Sunday for U.S. West Coast skywatchers.
The asteroid, designated 2004 XP14, was discovered on Dec. 10, 2004 by the Lincoln Laboratory Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR), a continuing camera survey to keep watch for asteroids that may pass uncomfortably close to Earth.
Although initially there were concerns that this asteroid might possibly impact Earth later this century and thus merit special monitoring, further analysis of its orbit has since ruled out any such collision, at least in the foreseeable future.
Size not known
Asteroid 2004 XP14 is a member of a class of asteroids known as Apollo, which have Earth-crossing orbits. The name comes from 1862 Apollo, the first asteroid of this group to be discovered. There are now 1,989 known Apollos.
The size of 2004 XP 14 is not precisely known. But based on its brightness, the diameter is believed to be somewhere in the range of 1,345 to 3,018-feet (410 to 920 meters). That's between a quarter mile and just over a half-mile wide.
Due to the proximity of its orbit to Earth [Map] and its estimated size, this object has been classified as a “Potentially Hazardous Asteroid” (PNA) by the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. There are currently 783 PNAs.
The latest calculations show that 2004 XP14 will pass closest to Earth at 04:25 UT on July 3 (12:25 a.m. EDT or 9:25 p.m. PDT on July 2). The asteroid's distance from Earth at that moment will be 268,624-miles (432,308 km), or just 1.1 times the Moon's average distance from Earth.
Spotting 2004 XP14 will be a challenge, best accomplished by seasoned observers with moderate-sized telescopes.
On April 13, 2029, observers in Asia and North Africa will have a chance to see another asteroid, but without needing a telescope. Asteroid 99942 Apophis, about 1,000 feet (300 meters) wide, is expected to be visible to the naked eye as it passes within 20,000 miles (32,000 km). Astronomers say an asteroid that large comes that close about once every 1,500 years.
Observing plans
As 2004 XP14 makes its closest approach to Earth, astronomers will attempt to gauge its size and shape by analysis of very high frequency radio waves reflected from its surface.
Such radar measurements of the exact distance and velocity of the asteroid will allow for precise information on its orbit. From this scientists can also discern details of the asteroid's mass, as well as a measurement of its density, which is a very important indicator of its overall composition and internal structure.
Astronomers plan to utilize NASA's 70-meter (230-foot) diameter Goldstone radar, the largest and most sensitive antenna in its Deep Space Network. Located in California's Mojave Desert, the Goldstone antenna has been used to bounce radio signals off other Near-Earth asteroids many times before, and it is now being readied to “ping” 2004 XP14 on July 3, 4 and 5.
Augmenting the Goldstone observations will be radar observations scheduled at Evpatoria in the Ukraine, commencing several hours prior to the July 3 observations at Goldstone.
Editor's Note: A SPACE.com viewer's guide for 2004 XP14 will be presented in Joe Rao's weekly Night Sky column on Friday, June 30.
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