Borg cyborg prosthetics by mharrsch

The EE Times reported interesting findings from last week’s annual international conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, held in Lyon, France. With a market projected to be $2.8 billion, a bioengineering revolution is underway to build sophisticated brain-computer interfaces allowing for real-time mechanical action and diagnosis.

Advances in electronics, electrodes and algorithms are allowing for the creation of worn and implantable sensors that can translate brain signals into mechanical action. For instance, one group was able to capture the signals of 30 motor neurons in the M1 area of the motor cortex using scalp-worn EEG sensors to flex a single prosthetic finger with 99% accuracy.

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Why do people choose to become entrepreneurs?

Some become entrepreneurs because of the independence and freedom it brings. Others are looking for a way to be creative. Some people seek out leadership. Others are in it for the money. People have long debated whether entrepreneurs are made or are born. I am firmly of the opinion that entrepreneurs are born and not made.

I have a bizarre theory (not tested or proven) that you can tell what type of entrepreneur someone is by what he or she did in high school.

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This blog from GeigerBevolo is a fantastic review of what has happened to Innovation since becoming the big thing in business over the past couple of years — both the word and the concept. There are many companies who have failed entirely to adopt the concept and yet have endorsed the word profoundly — at least as an advertising slogan. Have a read.

Another one I came across is The Patient Advocate, with insightful comments about innovation (primarily in healthcare), not to mention some great ideas.

By the way, be careful how you use the word — it is a US registered trademark for Mystic Tan, Inc. There are over 1,100 other trademarks with the term “innovation” as well.

The UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) recently released a report measuring the success of so-called ethical consumption campaigns. The report, Ethical consumption: consumer driven or political phenomenon?, notes that “a great deal of the consumption people do they don’t do as ‘consumers’ exercising ‘choice.’” Accordingly, the most successful ethical consumption campaigns, such as Fairtrade, address people in their roles as members of a larger community rather than as individual consumers. The ESRC concludes that ethical consumption can be interpreted as “a political phenomenon rather than simply a market response to consumer demand.” In other words, the reign of the consumer might be over.

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Microscopic image art from Nikon

MaRS is pleased to present a collection of images from The Nikon International Small World Competition — on display to the public starting this week on the fourth floor. Now in its 33rd year, this competition recognizes the outstanding photography created by exploring our world through the lens of a microscope.

Images exhibited reflect the work of photomicrographers from around the globe, including some very talented Canadian researchers. They illustrate a breathtaking visual representation of the microscopic world that these scientists (and artists) encounter through their work.

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An interesting take on innovation: in this interview, historian David Edgerton maintains that we will not fully understand innovation unless we rethink the history of technology and its uses.

“Even as new technologies revolutionize everything from health care to media to warfare, it’s important to remember that our world runs primarily on products and technologies long in use — everything from aspirin to the internal combustion engine. In his new book, The Shock of the Old: Technology and Global History since 1900, David Edgerton, the Hans Rausing Professor of Science, Technology, and Medicine at Imperial College London, argues for a new view of the history of technology that focuses not only on “Big Bang” innovations — Sony’s Walkman or a future spaceship that could carry humans to Mars — but also on incremental change and how societies use the technologies they invent or, just as important, borrow. As Edgerton writes, we must shift our focus “from the new to the old, the big to the small, the spectacular to the mundane, the masculine to the feminine, the rich to the poor.”

For more, see: “Technology and Its Discontents”, by Edward Baker

There was also a good review of Edgerton’s book (“What Else Is New? How uses, not innovations, drive human technology.” By Steven Shapin) in the special innovation-themed issue of the New Yorker earlier this summer.

Adipocytes (fat cells) derived from stem cells
Photo by: David Gregory&Debbie Marshall, Wellcome Images

In the global war against obesity, as the numbers of obese adults and even children become epidemic, another culprit has been identified as causing obesity: the common virus.

Apart from diet, exercise and genetics, researchers have now identified the common respiratory virus, adenovirus-36, as contributing to obesity. Presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society, researchers from Lousiana State University in Baton Rouge reported that the adenovirus-36 and two other related viruses, Ad-37 and Ad-5, can trigger obesity by transforming adult stem cells under the skin into fat cells, both in number and size.

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Problems are like buried treasure.
Photo, Courtesy of DogFromSPACE

I was reading a very politically-correct article the other day in which the author suggested, “let’s focus on solutions, not problems.” It suddenly struck me that this is part of the reason for our country’s lack of achievement in innovation. We are afraid to focus on problems. In our culture, the word “problem” conjures up emotions of fear, anxiety, and panic. For myself, on the other hand, there is nothing more exciting than facing a difficult problem. Why? Problems point us in the direction of hidden opportunities. They are the “X” that marks the spot where the hidden “treasures” of your business are buried. If you choose to ignore them, you spend a lot of time (and money) “digging” for treasures that you’ll never find.

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Technology Review has recently released its annual TR35 list. The 7th edition of TR35, found in the August/September 2007 issue, identifies 35 “outstanding innovators under 35,” selected from an initial list of more than 300 nominees. This year’s list is headed by:

• David Berry, honored as “Innovator of the Year” for his work in genetically engineering microbes to produce biofuels
• Tapan Parikh, honored as “Humanitarian of the Year” for his development of simple, mobile tools to empower small business people in the developing world

For more details and to see the full TR35, see: 2007 Young Innovators Under 35

Pharma’s pushing pills. Photo by Day_C

The Toronto Star ran an article yesterday about a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine that has added further details in the debate about Direct to Consumer advertising of prescription drugs, showing unsurprisingly that it has increased dramatically (spending has increased by 330%) over the past decade. The study is timely with the pending reauthorize the Prescription Drug User Fee Act.

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