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Innovation / Health & Medicine

Baby in Pip & Grow's Smitten box

The Finnish Baby Box Is Becoming Popular Around the World

But does a cardboard bassinet actually reduce infant mortality?

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden think that a helmet called the Strokefinder could quickly diagnose intracranial bleeding.

A Microwave Helmet May Help Diagnose Traumatic Brain Injury

Doctors find that a stroke-detection technology could be useful in screening for intracranial bleeding

Mesh billboards on the Moroccan mountainside will soon be joined by numerous others—a planned 31 in all—to create the world’s largest fog collection facility.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

This Device Collects Water From the Clouds

CloudFisher does exactly as its name implies—drawing water down from the sky

Tools of diabetes treatment almost always include improved diet and regular exercise.

MIT Mathematician Develops an Algorithm to Help Treat Diabetes

The key to managing the disease, which afflicts 29 million people in the U.S., might be in big data

Israeli company Intuition Robotics developed a talking device named ElliQ, now being tested by older adults.

How Will Artificial Intelligence Help the Aging?

The key, researchers say, is finding the right roles for machines

These are actually tadpoles.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Now You Can Measure Male Fertility With a Smartphone App

A new device helps men monitor their sperm count from the comfort of their own home

Could the Tiny Zebrafish Teach Us to Cure Blindness?

By learning how zebrafish regenerate their retinas, researchers could figure out how to help humans do the same

Check out those chompers.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

If We Can Get Past the Ickiness, Hagfish Slime May Actually Be Useful to Us

The gelatinous glop could be the key to everything from bio-inspired kevlar to shark defense for divers

Researchers have found that when our minds wander, our moods tend to suffer.

Why Mind Wandering Can Be So Miserable, According to Happiness Experts

We still don’t know why our minds seem so determined to exit the present moment, but researchers have a few ideas

A solid state radio frequency oven would allow you to cook a whole meal at once.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

This Oven Could Change How We Cook

By using radio frequency technology, it can prepare all the components of a dinner, at the same time, just right

The company fills pills with 15 different supplements, each in amounts from 0 to 100 percent recommended daily allowance.

Smart Startup

What If You Could Take a Vitamin 3D Printed to Meet Your Personal Nutrition Needs?

Fred Parietti, CEO and cofounder of Multiply Labs, wants personalized nutritional supplements to start a whole new movement

Robotic telemedicine can be used to assess patients with stroke.

Doctors Can Use Robotic Telemedicine to Assess Coma Patients

A new study shows that a remote specialist can be just as effective at reporting a comatose patient’s condition than a medical professional in the room

Smart Glasses

The Innovative Spirit fy17

These “Smart Glasses” Adjust To Your Vision Automatically

The glasses’ liquid lenses change shape according to the distance of objects, making reading glasses and bifocals unnecessary

When it comes to reversible ways to prevent pregnancy, men have limited options—for now.

New Research

Contraceptive Gel Called the “IUD For Men” Makes It Through Monkey Trials

Vasalgel aims to make contraception for men as easy and effective as IUDs have for women

Patients wear a NIRS apparatus—typically a neoprene helmet with dozens of optical sensors sticking out of it.

Patients With Locked-in Syndrome May Be Able to Communicate After All

A new use for brain-computer interfaces gives insight to life with ALS

A view into Flint drinking water pipes, showing various types of iron corrosion and rust.

New Research

Scientists Now Know Exactly How Lead Got Into Flint’s Water

New report points blames corrosion and warns that fixing lead poisoning nationwide will require more work than we hoped

Researchers are gathering data on when head impacts happen most often.

How Much Should Youth Football Change to Reduce Concussions?

Drop kickoff returns? Cut the number of players? Shrink the field?

A post office converted into a food share station

How the U.S. Postal Service Could Tackle Food Insecurity

A team of Washington University students has a plan: use postal workers to pick up food, deliver it to food banks and even store it in post offices

A FVRx participant picks out produce at LA's Central Avenue Farmer's Market.

Take Three Zucchinis and Call Me in the Morning: The Power of Produce Prescriptions

Wholesome Wave’s fruit and vegetable prescription program meets mega-retail, as Target joins the cause

Chinese researchers have harnessed the power of deep learning to help doctors identify this rare disease.

New Research

Can Eagle-Eyed Artificial Intelligence Help Prevent Children From Going Blind?

Deep learning pinpoints cataracts more accurately than humans, and could help prevent this form of vision loss in children

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