Trends & Innovations - Thursday
Reading relief for the small screen
New software for cell phones can analyze documents and extract key phrases. Viewing documents on a cell phone’s small screen can be difficult, but software created by Fuji Xerox Palo Alto Lab enlarges images and section headers to make documents more legible. When a user taps on a paragraph, the text is enlarged. If embedded photos appear too small, the software automatically zooms in on them.
Will fuel-saving planes take off?
Companies and foundations are throwing resources at creating hybrid or all-electric airplanes, touting the aircraft as a way for commuters to soar over traffic jams and use less fuel. A Boeing research group is working on a hybrid that will let pilots fly without special training, thanks to a computerized instructor. A nonprofit that promotes personal air travel is planning a contest for the development of a plane that can travel 100 miles on 1 gallon of fuel. Plus, the Experimental Aircraft Association has asked the FAA to allow these new planes to be marketed to consumers.
Alabama’s legislature is debating legislation that would give the state power to quickly lower speed limits when fuel prices are high. Advocates of lower speed limits say it can lead to a 2%-3% dip in overall gasoline usage, which could help lower prices. Conn. lawmakers considered a similar bill last year, but it died in committee.
IUDs can reduce risk of cancer of the uterus called endometrial cancer by 40%, researchers reported. Intrauterine devices, known as IUDs, are used for contraceptives. Hormonal IUDs release small amounts of the hormone progestin, and the hormones also help prevent endometrial cancer, which forms in the tissue lining the uterus.
A computerized sound system will soon help ships avoid hitting whales. Scientists of Cornell Lab Ornithology monitor whales’ “chatting” sound via 13 underwater microphones attached to buoys off the coast of New England. Computers on the buoys collect data and transmit the information to the lab. When the system is complete, the lab will send radio alerts to vessels and advise them to slow to 10 knots in whale areas.
