A weekly round-up of innovation, social impact, and design news from around the web.
1. Google Fiber Expanding
Google has announced that they are exploring the idea of expanding Fiber to nine more metropolitan areas around the country, bringing the new total of cities with Fiber to 34. Some of these new cities include Portland, Raleigh-Durham, Nashville, San Antonio, and Salt Lake City.
2. A New App for Firefighters
Firefighter and app designer Patrick Jackson has created a new app that can be used to help fight fires. Some of its features include displaying incoming emergency dispatches and maps of where incidents are, fire hydrant tracking, and copies of building plans.
3. Screens for Plane Windows
The new Spike S-512 Supersonic Jet will be a little different than most other private jets of its caliber. Instead of windows, it will feature huge screens that project images of the sky around them using micro-cameras attached to the outside of the plane.
4. Waterproof MP3 Players by Sony
Sony has released a new line of MP3 players that are reported to be waterproof. How can that be proven without them breaking? They are being sold in water bottles.
5. Bone Regeneration
What if we could regrow bones? In this TED Talk, Molly Stevens discusses a new method of bone regeneration that involves stem cells and the natural function of bone itself.
6. 3D Heart Imaging
Doctors may now be able to get 3D renderings of vital organs, specifically the heart. A team at Georgia Tech designed this tiny chip that can be placed at the end of a catheter wire and be used to take images and record noises.
7. Fitness-tracking Earbuds
Apple has just patented a new kind of earbud. They go in and around your ear and can be used not only for music, but also to track your heartbeat and improve your fitness.
8. Seeing Inside Cells
This new quantum microscope may have the ability to see inside living cells. Using laser technology, the microscope would be able to prove cells at nanometer scales.
9. The First Stretchy, Bendy Light Circuit
Researchers in Belgium have now developed the first ever stretchable light circuit. It will be able to carry light signals no matter how bent it is.
