A round-up of the latest technology news from around the globe.
SHAPE SHIFTER: Buying clothes online is always a problem: size M could refer to midget or mammoth or even medium. Fits.me from Estonia have solved the problem with a shape-shifting mannequin. Fits.me replicates 2,000 male body shapes while it tries on all the clothes from manufacturers who sign up. As it does so it creates a photo database. When a buyer enters their measurements Fits.me calls up a photo that shows how each size would look on that shape. Get your tape measures ready. More at FastCoDesign and video on YouTube.
RAINBOWED: A Raman spectroscope measures the intensity and wavelength of light scattered from molecules. Shine a laser onto the skin and the spectrum could reveal disease. This could be a useful non-invasive diagnostic tool, with results available in minutes. A stage on the path to a medical tricorder perhaps? More at the BBC.
WORM ATTACK: The recently discovered Stuxnet computer worm is the first that's able to take control of critical industrial systems such as pumps, motors, alarms and valves. Such systems don't use the software common in desktop computers. The worm could disrupt sewage plants or power stations, with dire effects. That's supervillain stuff. More at NewScientist.
MUSIC IN MINIATURE: The Micronium from the University of Twente is a microscopic musical instrument that plays sounds we can hear if they are amplified. Several springs only a tenth of the thickness of a
human hair, and between 0.5 and 1 mm long, are weighted with masses of a few dozen micrograms. Miniature combs pluck the strings to produce sound. There shouldn't be any trouble fitting that instrument in
checked luggage. More at Utwente and video on YouTube.
ZOOMING SOUND: Norwegian physicists have created a way to zoom in on sounds, much in the way we zoom in on images. They've combined directional microphones with software that identifies the source of a sound, then isolates a speaker's voice. It can track a speaker who moves, or even identify and zoom in on other speakers from across a
room. I can just see next season's CSI scripts already, zooming in from blocks away on what the bad guys are saying. More at ScienceDaily.
- Miraz Jordan knowit.co.nz
