As Scientific American contributor Rachel Nuwer explains in our December issue, 40 percent of 40-year-olds in the U.S. wear reading glasses. It’s unclear what percentage of that population would be interested in a smartphone or tablet screen that corrects for the flaws in their vision but we predict that the number is high. As it turns out, Gordon Wetzstein of Stanford University and colleagues have developed just such a screen. In this video they explain how it works. See Nuwer’s piece in this year’s World Changing Ideas package for more.


 
 

TIGHT SQUEEZE: Massachusetts Institute of Technology chemical engineer Armon Sharei and colleagues have developed a method of squeezing cells in order to temporarily break the cell membrane so as to insert material and alter cell behavior. As a cell moves through a narrowing channel—one of several thousand on a microchip—the action compresses the cell and tiny holes form in the membrane. The device can process a half million cells per second.

Credit: Emily Jackson and Armon Sharei
 

CLEAR VIEW: Weary from countless hours of slicing and imaging mouse brains, biologist Viviana Gradinaru of California Institute of Technology developed a method for turning opaque lab-animal tissues transparent. The technique has already helped Gradinaru and her colleagues map the spread of viruses, and soon it will help in the hunt for cancerous cells.

A 3-D visualization of fluorescently-labeled brain cells within an intact brain tissue. Through the use of this novel whole-body clearing and staining method, researchers can make an organism’s tissues transparent—allowing them to look through the tissues of an organism for specific cells that have been labeled or stained. Credit: Bin Yang and Viviana Gradinaru


 

A 3-D visualization of fluorescently-labeled intestine cells within an intact intestine tissue. Through the use of this novel whole-body clearing and staining method, researchers can make an organism’s tissues transparent—allowing them to look through the tissues of an organism for specific cells that have been labeled or stained. (Yang et al, 2014) Credit: Cell, Bin Yang, and Viviana Gradinaru

 

 

SPIT-FIRED FUEL: Muhammad Mustafa Hussain, professor of electrical engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, developed this microbial fuel cell to run on an unusual fuel—saliva. The cell generates a tiny amount of power (a microwatt) but it is enough to do useful work—for example, to run lab-on-a-chip systems capable of diagnosing diseases in the field.

Photo Credit: Dania Sadih, The KAUST Schools