This waterless toilet, aptly named LooWatt, is a closed-loop management system that will recycle human waste and eventually turn it into energy.

Here’s how it works. After defecating, you turn the crank on the toilet which, instead of flushing, magically pushes the waste down into a receptacle that is lined with a carbon-rish biodegradable film. Once this prototype sealed container is full, it is removed and the compressed waste is taken to an anaerobic digester which, in turn, will produce cooking gas from the methane.

It sounds a little gross but makes a whole lot of sense…

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A new study, funded by the Flight Attendent Medical Institute, finds that casino workers face higher risks of heart disease and lung disease because a smoke filled work environment.

In the study, the air quality in three Pennsylvania casinos was tested for levels of two indicators of tobacco smoke - cancer-causing chemicals and particles small enough to inhale. 

At the same time, eight volunteers, each of whom spent four hours in the casinos, provided urine samples which were measured for levels of a tobacco smoke byproduct.

Measuring the air quality revealed that the tobacco smoke indicators inside the casino was four to six times higher than outside.

And testing the volunteer’s urine samples showed a 10 fold increase in tobacco smoke byproduct levels in the urine.

All in all, a fairly clear indication that the air that you breathe in casinos is full of smoke.

Seems to me it might be time for casinos to follow the lead of restaurants and bars and ban smoking altogether.

It works pretty good here in New Zealand. And there doesn’t seem to be any evidence it’s reduced the number of people visiting the casino. If anything, it might have actually increased the number of visitors.

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Take for example this pilot study by the University of Florida, the Medical School of Georgia, and a couple of other universities.

They are using a ‘mixed reality human’ consisting of a life size computer avatar on a flat screen TV and a mannequin with a prosthetic breast.

Her name is Amanda Jones and her job is to help teach students how to perform breast exams, an intimate procedure that once could only be learned ‘on the job’. But now, thanks to Amanda, students can not only learn the correct examination procedure in a laboratory setting. But it’s not all about the physical.

Amanda talks - via a voice simulation system - and will maintain a conversation with the examiner, providing students with an opportunity to develop good doctor-patient communication skills.

The conversation is all unscripted. The student must draw Amanda’s medical history from her, asking questions and listening to her responses and concerns. And just like a real exam, this conversation takes place while the physical examination is being done.

And Amanda will know if the breast examination is not being done correctly. Sensors within the prosthetic breast provide pressure information depicted by colors on the virtual computer breast. The colors will change depending on whether or not the correct position is being palpated or not.

Amanda is also programmed to exhibit abnormal breast changes which the student should be able to discover through correct palpating and question asking techniques.

Definitely a win-win learning model for both medical students and their future patients.

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Researchers in Australia are finding that they are at a higher risk of tooth erosion.

Of course, tooth erosion can happen to anyone, but those who are constantly tasting wine are much more susceptible due wines acidic nature.

Acid dissolves the calcium and phosphate from teeth’s enamel surfaces, a process that is irreversible.

Researchers aren’t advocating that professional wine assessors give up their job but they are suggesting that they look at ways of protecting their teeth.

Ways they can do this include drinking plenty of water to increase saliva production which helps flush way and dilute the acids.

Another, more extreme idea, is for them not to brush their teeth on the mornings of a wine tasting session. Sounds gross, but the idea is that by not brushing, the plaque on the teeth will protect the enamel.

But what, you have to wonder,  will that do to the taste of the wine?

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Here’s my latest find - the Yamaha Bodibeat

It’s an amazing music player that will synchronize your tunes to your heart beat.

Strap it to your arm and then get stuck in to your exercise routine. As you get moving and warming up, the Bodibeat will start shuffling the play list according to your heart rate.

During warm up, it will play some mellow and quiet music. But soon, as you hit your stride, so too will the Bodibeat, matching your playlist’s beats per minute to your heart rate.

It’s loaded with a couple thousand tunes - predominantly ‘90 techno - but if that doesn’t suit, you can upload your own workout music.

Sounds cool. I want one. Guess I’d better add it to the ever growing Christmas list.

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Seems a new study that compared the numerous mass transits modes available in NYC has found that subways, with noise levels ranging between 80 and 102 decibels, were the loudest means of transport around.

That’s not good.

The EPA and WHO both recommend that in order to protect your hearing your daily average level of noise exposure should be no more than 70 decibels. To give you an idea of the level that is, normal conversation is between 60 and 70 decibels.

The study’s results indicates that the estimated 33 million Americans who use the subways daily are consistently over exposing themselves to potentially deafening levels of noise.

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Sounds a little strange given that coffee, which has a dehydrating effect in the mouth, can make someone’s breath smell, to honest, not so good.

But new research from Israel has turned up a coffee extract that can inhibit the bacteria that lead to bad breath.

This surprised even the researchers. Expecting to find that coffee did indeed cause bad breath, they found instead some components in coffee that actually inhibit bad breath.

Prof. Mel Rosenberg, the lead researcher, now aims to isolate the bacterial-inhibiting molecule in coffee. If he’s successful, it could result in a whole new class of mouthwashes, breath mints, and chewing gum. 

Imagine the possibilities…

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Of course, the mainstream media was in hyper action.

It was like the rest of the world suddenly ceased to exist. The problem in Iran, the President’s health care and climate care reforms, even the death of another well known Hollywood actress Farrah Fawcett was pushed aside to make way for the death of Michael Jackson.

Yes, it was very sad. Yes, the world lost a great musician. But all the media coverage and constant innuendos about the cause of death is just too much. Let the man rest in peace.

Let his fans, friends, and family mourn his passing. Let us just enjoy and celebrate his music.

On that note, I offer you one of my favorite, but lesser known,  Michael Jackson songs…

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Dr. Matsumoto, who has made a career out of focusing not on what people say but what the face itself says, works with police and experts around the world to find the truth by reading faces.

 It’s a fascinating topic that’s become even more interesting since the arrival of the television show Lie to Me, based on the work of Paul Ekman, which is turning all of us into amateur face readers.

And let’s face it, there’s plenty of scope of practice, especially with all the television interviews featuring politicians and celebrities.

After all, even famous people aren’t aware of the micro-expressions they are conveying.

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Now a new Italian study highlights the fact that  “music induces a continuous, dynamic—and to some extent predictable—change in the cardiovascular system.”

This new study is a follow on from previous studies done by Luciano Bernardi and his team which had found that changes in the respiratory and cardiovascular systems mirrored musical tempos.

To find out more about how the body responds to changing rhythms, they hooked up 24 volunteers - half experienced singers, half with no musical training - to monitors that measure physiological signals. The volunteers were then subjected to five random selections of Bach, Beethoven, Puccini, and other classical artists as well as a two-minute segment of silence.

The results: When volunteers listened to musical selections with a series of crescendos, the monitors recorded a proportional constriction of blood vessels and increases in blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration. The opposition happened happened during decrescendos and the silent periods.

Most interestingly, during periods of ‘rich’ music phrases, such as the famous arias of Verdi, the volunteers heart rates synchronized with the music.

While the study sampled only a small number of participants, it indicates that further research and studies are warranted to explore ways to utilize music in new therapies targeting strokes and other heart conditions.

For further reading on this, check out Scientific American’s article Heart Beat: Music May Help Keep Your Cardiovascular System in Tune.

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