Tech Universe: Wednesday 4 May

The QTvan is the world's smallest caravan, and you can tow it with a mobility scooter. Photo / Supplid

PAVEMENT PARK: The QTvan is the world's smallest caravan, and you can tow it with a mobility scooter. It's 2 metres long by 0.75 of a metre wide and holds a full-sized single bed, cooking facilities and TV. Optional solar panels, satellite dish and external luggage rack are also available. Get together with friends and ride in convoy. More at ETA and video on YouTube.

EYE BEAM: Engineers from the University of Michigan are developing a tiny solar powered sensor to be implanted inside the eye. It will monitor pressure to warn of glaucoma and wirelessly send data once a day to an external receiver. Before long the glint in an eye may be a health monitor. Not so romantic, after all. More at IEEE.

A NOSE FOR CANCER: The earlier we can detect cancer the better our chances of dealing with it. A team at the Israel Institute of Technology have built a Nanoscale Artificial NOSE to detect molecules in breath that can mean a person has head, neck or lung cancer. 5 gold nanoparticle sensors detect molecules then software analyses them for distinctive patterns. Accuracy has been good in testing so far. This'll be ripe for the home testing market. More at DiscoveryNews.

MOUSE STUDIES: Love it or hate it, or both, the mouse transformed how we work with computers. The first trackball was enormous, including an actual bowling ball. But that was all a military secret. In the meantime designs have changed a lot, now even reading gestures and thought patterns. Wireless good, thought-driven better. More at DVice.

NEVER ON THE SABBATH: A new cellphone from an Israeli company has no camera, no text messages, Internet access, Facebook or email. Calls made on the Sabbath are charged at a higher rate than on other days. Ringtones are drawn from Hassidic folk music. The phone is intended for ultra-Orthodox Jews whose religious beliefs are incompatible with more ordinary cellphones. A phone is a phone is a phone. More at StraitsTimes.

- Miraz Jordan knowit.co.nz