This Mask for Firefighters Has Thermal Imaging and Other Science Tech

Welcome to another week of science and technology news at Q3 Technologies! Let’s start off our science mashup for this week.

This Mask for Firefighters Has Thermal Imaging

Firefighters risk their lives and put themselves in dangerous situations for the benefit of others. And, it is dangerous business, nonetheless. However, one company has incorporated thermal imaging technology into a firefighter’s mask, allowing for better vision and decision-making during emergencies.

Called Scott Sight, the thermal imaging mask revealed at the FDIC International Convention in Indianapolis features a real-time thermal imaging camera that generates 150 x 120 resolution images at 9 fps. According to the makers, it was no easy feat to achieve.

"Making thermal imaging accessible was a first step. One of the key challenges we faced was to create an adjustable, sleek design that wouldn't interfere with the firefighter's personal protection equipment, field of view or scene hazards. Scott Sight addresses those challenges, while creating a platform that will expand to offer additional capabilities in the future," says Kim Henry, Director of Growth Initiatives for Scott Safety.

Getting Closer to Batteries That Last Forever

In their quest to make batteries more efficient, researchers at the University of California have stumbled upon a technology that could change the way we charge batteries. Chemist Reginald Penner and PhD researcher Mya le Thai have found a new way to make batteries that might last forever.

They achieved this by coating gold nanowire in a manganese dioxide solution and adding a gel-like electrolyte to it, resulting in a battery that decreases by only 5% after 200,000 recharge cycles. To put this in perspective, most lithium-ion-based smartphone batteries today have 500 charge cycles. Thus, to reduce the number of cycles by 5%, a user would have to charge it daily for 550 years straight!

A Step Closer to Treating Tumors

Cancer research is a hot topic nowadays, and as the world progresses, we might soon see a successful case of a tumor being cured with science and technology.

In another breakthrough, a medical research team from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore has devised a method for targeted delivery of anti-cancer drugs to tumor-infected areas through the use of micro gas bubbles coated with the drug and iron oxide nanoparticles.

“We are looking at developing novel drug carriers – essentially better ways of delivering drugs with minimum side effects. Using the theory of microbubbles and how their surface vibrates under ultrasound, we were able to come up with our solution that addresses these three challenges,” says Professor Claus-Dieter Ohl of the team.

Read more at www.bit.ly/q3newsblog. Q3 Technologies is a large diversified technology company which develops custom software products for the healthcare industry including cloud applications, enterprise applications across all platforms and Rich Internet Applications (RIA).