Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
LifeReader Senses The Enemy Through Walls
LifeReader, a wireless, heart-sensing radar technology developed by Kai Sensor, has been given a first phase contract worth $850,000 by the U.S. Army. The intent is to develop military applications for the device, which can effectively see through walls to find people inside.
(LifeReader by Kai Sensors)
LifeReader is able to accurately detect and monitor heart and respiration activity of multiple subjects wirelessly, with no contact to the subjects. It uses MIMO Doppler radar technology in combination with computer analysis.
This device should be more accurate, and more specific, than the Radar Scope created by DARPA for troops in Iraq. The Radar Scope can also sense respiration, but cannot count heart rhythms or distinguish individuals.
LifeReader was developed at the University of Hawaii's electrical engineering department.
Science fiction readers are long familiar with the idea, if not the particular technology used to implement it. In his 1958 story Cease Fire, Frank Herbert introduced the idea of a "life detector:"
The antennae of the Life Detector atop the OP swept back and forth in a rhythmic halfcircle like so many frozen sticks brittle with rime ice...One operator - drugged to shivering wakefulness - stood watch in the OP. The space around him was barely six feet in diameter, crammed with equipment, gridded screens glowing a pale green with spots that indicated living flesh: a covey of ptermigan, a possible Artic fox...
(Read more about Frank Herbert's life detector)
Army strategists should take note: Herbert also imagined that, if there was a life detector, there might also be a life detector shield.
Planetary science engineers have also been busy in this area (perhaps mindful of the utility of having a sensor capable of detecting "life readings," ala classic 1960's Star Trek.)
- Life Detector Robot To Find Life On Distant Worlds
A robotic rover called Zoe is the first robot to remotely detect the presence of life. - Urey Life Detector
The Urey: Mars Organic Oxidant Detector has been designed by NASA-funded researchers to look for life on Mars.
Via Star Bulletin; thanks to Mark Thompson for writing in with the story tip.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 10/17/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 4 )
Related News Stories - (" Medical ")
MIT Computerized Bionic Leg Is Part Of The User
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain, through the mediation of the electronic brain in the leg.' - Charles Recour, 1949.
Bone-Building Drug Evenity Approved
'Compounds devised by the biochemists for the rapid building of bone...' - Edmond Hamilton, 1932.
BrainBridge Concept Transplant Of Human Head Proposed
'Briquet’s head seemed to think that to find and attach a new body to her head was as easy as to fit and sew a new dress.' - Alexander Belaev (1925)
Natural Gait With Prosthetic Connected To Nervous System
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain...' - Charles Recour, 1949.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Project Silica Offers 'Long-Term' Digital Storage
'... folios and tapes and playable discs of platinum alloy.'
Can 'Tactical Umbrellas' Shield One From Drones
'... another corner of his mind began to think about the shields.'
Crystalline Structures In Space, You Say?
A massive space borne lifeform from ST:TNG.
Garçon! A Menu For Artemis II, S'il Vous Plaît
'Michel Ardan, as a Frenchman, was declared chief cook, an important function, which raised no rival.'
Amazing Photonic Crystal Light Sail
'That sail will be twenty thousand miles at the wide part.'
Blue Collar AI Goes To Work To Mine Its Own Crypto
Blue collar bot.
Rogue AI Replicated Itself
'Sapiro’s computer just kept dialing at random, hanging up on humans, until it got a fellow computer of the same type as itself.'
HandelBot Helps Two-Handed Robots Learn Piano
'I request that you feed the correlation between those dots and the levers of the panel into my memory banks.'
Woven Fiber Electronic Skin For Robots
'... all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
When AI Takes Its First Breath
Any suggestions?
Chinese Aircar Light And Airy, Not For Blade Runners
Daytime version.
The Morphing Wheel And The Smartwheel
'If you surf over a bump, the spokes contract to roll over it.'
Transporting Antimatter
'...drawing plans for the magnetic tongs and bed plates and relays.'
Polish Turns Your Nail Into A Stylus
'He wrote on it, using the pointed fingernail of his right forefinger...'
I Wish This Plaudit Pin Was More Like A Wristpad
'Frank was cursing into his wristpad, switching between Arabic and English.'
World's Largest Teleoperated Arm
'...a pair so huge that Stevens could not conceive a use for it..'
