The Birmingham Look Book – a go-to resource for journalists designed to raise the profile of Birmingham, the Black Country and Solihull with national and international media

Top local amateur boxer Adrian Roach paid a visit to Francis Patton Primary School to deliver an inspirational talk to students last Friday [May 17]. The 22-year-old said he spoke about his journey in the sport and the positive impact it has had on his life. He also demonstrated some of his skills on a […]

KING Davidson is a man on a mission — to act as a role model for kids doing it tough.

From NYC to ATL, everyone heard The Message.

Watch Dwyane Wade, Don Cheadle and more accept the honor.

The Bermudian Queens Rock Academy will host an event aimed at fostering self-awareness and building self-esteem among young girls from October 21 to 25 at the Women’s Resource Centre. With the theme, “A Journey of Resilience, Creativity, and Culture,” the [Her] Story Girls Club event is for girls aged 11 to 15 and hopes to […]

A Bermuda-inspired oceanfront property in Palm Beach, Florida has been listed for sale at a cost of $59 million. The Palm Beach Daily News report said, “A new $59 million listing for an oceanfront house facing Midtown Beach is a spot-on example of how pricing has evolved in Palm Beach in the years since the […]

[Written by Stephen Wright] Local bodybuilder Ross Caesar hopes his recent impressive achievements on the international stage have inspired others to chase their goals. Caesar followed up his superb third-place finish in the men’s classic physique at the prestigious IFBB Pro League Masters Olympia in Cluj, Romania, last weekend with a second place in the […]

[Written by Stephen Wright] Sancho Jackson has reflected on his “inspiring experience” strutting down the catwalk at the recent New York Fashion Week Festival. The 22-year-old was selected to participate in The Model Experience, a coveted programme that offers aspiring models the chance to walk the runway, collaborate with brands and designers, share the stage […]

I’m running to Marshalls right now. READ MORE...

We’ve all been there – the frustration of searching high and low for that elusive piece of furniture to turn our home decorating vision into reality. For Sabrina, her search was for the ideal console table. “Unfortunately, I could not find the perfect console, so my husband had to believe in it again and build one himself!” she shared on her Instagram post. After realizing that the perfect entryway console was nowhere to be found, the couple decided to take […]

The post Failed Furniture Hunt Inspires Couple’s Fabulous Entryway Console Hack appeared first on IKEA Hackers.

It is undeniable that TV has a huge impact on us. It also has a huge impact on how we live! For a long time, TV shows have started interior design movements or made them popular. These TV shows are the reason these interior designs were so famous! Downton Abbey- British Edwardian There is something ... Read more

The post Interior Design Trends – And The Shows That Inspired Them appeared first on Star Two.

Teachers can assess young students’ literacy skills and knowledge by encouraging them to produce books based on animal facts.

An out-of-body experience is the inspiration behind Benzly Hype's latest album Star Its The 7th Year. Released on November 7, the entertainer said the project was done to bring back joy in music and will leave its listeners in an upbeat mood....

A North Carolina man's age turned out to be a lucky number when it inspired him to buy a scratch-off lottery ticket worth $200,000.

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 7, 2024 — Alexander Hoover, an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Cleveland State University, has always been fascinated by marine organisms—the way […]

The post OSC Advances Marine Movement Research with Computational Tools for Bio-Inspired Robotics appeared first on HPCwire.

Megan Leftwich, an engineering professor at George Washington University, is building a robotic flipper based on her observations of sea lions

See how geometric designs are inspiring new ways to make stretchy materials. (Video by Ahmad Rafsanjani and Damiano Pasini/McGill University)

The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was the only unit comprised entirely of Black women to have been deployed overseas during World War II, and it had served a critical function: clearing the backlog of mail that marked the only line of communication between American soldiers in Europe and their loved ones back home. In this episode, we speak with retired Army Colonel Edna Cummings, who made it her business to get the 6888 their belated recognition, and with Smithsonian magazine senior writer Jennie Rothenberg Gritz, who wrote about Col. Cummings' quest (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-all-black-female-WWII-unit-saved-morale-battlefield-180981540/) for the March 2023 issue of Smithsonian. NOTE: In the interval since we recorded our interview with Col. Cummings, another veteran from the 6888 has died. With the passing of Crescencia J. Garcia last month at the age of 103, there are now five women who served in the 6888 during World War II who remain alive. Learn more about the women of the 6888th Central Postal Battalion at the Women of the 6888th site (https://www.womenofthe6888th.org/) . Find prior episodes of our show here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/podcast/) . There’s More to That is a production of Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is Chris Klimek, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly. From PRX, our team is Jessica Miller, Adriana Rosas Rivera, Genevieve Sponsler, Terence Bernardo, and Edwin Ochoa. The Executive Producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales. Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz. Music by APM Music.

In a new biopic starring Kate Winslet, Miller's many lives—as an artist, model, muse, cook and war correspondent—need little embellishment

In the early 1990s, historians and the public alike questioned how Disney's America would accurately and sensitively document the nation's thorny past

A Romare Bearden print served as a starting point for the American playwright's 1987 drama, which follows a Black family's struggle to decide the fate of an ancestral heirloom

With SolidWorks Enterprise PDM Software, DECOLAV Accelerates and Coordinates Global Design of Luxury Bathrooms

A decade after teaching middle school, this college dean has seen 11 of her former students pursuing degrees in education at her graduate school.

Education Week has teamed up with Roadtrip Nation to send a group of teachers across the country in a green RV. Here's what you need to know.

Ahead of the film's release, Vikrant made a surprise visit to Godhra railway station on Monday, the site where the Sabarmati incident happened

The unique bag is green in colour and has very real-looking leaves and branches.

On view from October 1-29, 2021 Wilmington, Del. (September 27, 2021) – The Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery is pleased to present visual artist Theresa Angela Taylor’s debut exhibition, Art Imitates My Life and Inspires Young Artists, October 1-29, 2021. Taylor was named a 2021 Emerging Artist Fellow in Folk Art: Visual Arts […]

Light can be directed and steered around bends using a method similar to the way clouds scatter photons, which could lead to advances in medical imaging, cooling systems and even nuclear reactors

Light can be directed and steered around bends using a method similar to the way clouds scatter photons, which could lead to advances in medical imaging, cooling systems and even nuclear reactors

It was the 20-year anniversary of Halo 2 at the weekend, which saw the shooter's modern counterparts celebrating with classic multiplayer maps and long-lost levels. But also emerging from the dust of time are insights to the sequel's development back in 2004. Rolling Stone interviewed two key designers of the game and made a fun discovery. The Flood (the sickly pale alien infestation that briefly turns Halo into sci-fi horror) was partly inspired by a colourful and innocent children's book about a nice elephant.

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This article is part of our exclusive IEEE Journal Watch series in partnership with IEEE Xplore.

Sea turtles are remarkable creatures for a number of reasons, including the way they hear underwater—not through openings in the form of ears, but by detecting vibrations directly through the skin covering their auditory system. Inspired by this ability to detect sound through skin, researchers in China have created a heart-monitoring system, which initial tests in humans suggest may be a viable for monitoring heartbeats.

A key way in which doctors monitor heart health involves “listening” to the heartbeat, either using a stethoscope or more sophisticated technology, like echocardiograms. However, these approaches require a visit to a specialist, and so researchers have been keen to develop alternative, lower cost solutions that people can use at home, which could also allow for more frequent testing and monitoring.

Junbin Zang, a lecturer at the North University of China, and his colleagues specialize in creating heart-monitoring technologies. Their interest was piqued when they learned about the inner workings of the sea turtle’s auditory system, which is able to detect low-frequency signals, especially in the 300- to 400-hertz range.

“Heart sounds are also low-frequency signals, so the low-frequency characteristics of the sea turtle’s ear have provided us with great inspiration,” explains Zang.

At a glance, it looks like turtles don’t have ears. Their auditory system instead lies under a layer of skin and fat, through which it picks up vibrations. As with humans, a small bone in the ear vibrates as sounds hit it, and as it oscillates, those pulses are converted to electrical signals that are sent to the brain for processing and interpretation.

iStock

But sea turtles have a unique, slender T-shaped conduit that encapsulates their ear bones, restricting the movement of the similarly T-shaped ear bones to only vibrate in a perpendicular manner. This design provides their auditory system with high sensitivity to vibrations.

Zang and his colleagues set out to create a heart monitoring system with similar features. They created a T-shaped heart-sound sensor that imitates the ear bones of sea turtles using a tiny MEMS cantilever beam sensor. As sound hits the sensor, the vibrations cause deformations in its beam, and the fluctuations in the voltage resistance are then translated into electrical signals.

The researchers first tested the sensor’s ability to detect sound in lab tests, and then tested the sensor’s ability to monitor heartbeats in two human volunteers in their early 20s. The results, described in a study published 1 April in IEEE Sensors Journal, show that the sensor can effectively detect the two phases of a heartbeat.

“The sensor exhibits excellent vibration characteristics,” Zang says, noting that it has a higher vibration sensitivity compared to other accelerometers on the market.

However, the sensor currently picks up a significant amount of background noise, which Zang says his team plans to address in future work. Ultimately, they are interested in integrating this novel bioinspired sensor into devices they have previously created—including portable handheld and wearable versions, and a relatively larger version for use in hospitals—for the simultaneous detection of electrocardiogram and phonocardiogram signals.

This article appears in the July 2024 print issue as “Sea Turtles Inspire Heart-Monitor Design.”

The teachings of Mahatma Gandhi were arguably India’s greatest contribution to the 20th century. Raghunath Anant Mashelkar has borrowed some of that wisdom to devise a frugal new form of innovation he calls “Gandhian engineering.” Coming from humble beginnings, Mashelkar is driven to ensure that the benefits of science and technology are shared more equally. He sums up his philosophy with the epigram “more from less for more.” This engineer has led India’s preeminent R&D organization, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and he has advised successive governments.

What was the inspiration for Gandhian engineering?

Raghunath Anant Mashelkar: There are two quotes of Gandhi’s that were influential. The first was, “The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.” He was saying that when resources are exhaustible, you should get more from less. He also said the benefits of science must reach all, even the poor. If you put them together, it becomes “more from less for more.”

My own life experience inspired me, too. I was born to a very poor family, and my father died when I was six. My mother was illiterate and brought me to Mumbai in search of a job. Two meals a day was a challenge, and I walked barefoot until I was 12 and studied under streetlights. So it also came from my personal experience of suffering because of a lack of resources.

How does Gandhian engineering differ from existing models of innovation?

Mashelkar: Conventional engineering is market or curiosity driven, but Gandhian engineering is application and impact driven. We look at the end user and what we want to achieve for the betterment of humanity.

Most engineering is about getting more from more. Take an iPhone: They keep creating better models and charging higher prices. For the poor it is less from less: Conventional engineering looks at removing features as the only way to reduce costs.

In Gandhian engineering, the idea is not to create affordable [second-rate] products, but to make high technology work for the poor. So we reinvent the product from the ground up. While the standard approach aims for premium price and high margins, Gandhian engineering will always look at affordable price, but high volumes.

The Jaipur foot is a light, durable, and affordable prosthetic.Gurinder Osan/AP

What is your favorite example of Gandhian engineering?

Mashelkar: My favorite is the Jaipur foot. Normally, a sophisticated prosthetic foot costs a few thousand dollars, but the Jaipur foot does it for [US] $20. And it’s very good technology; there is a video of a person wearing a Jaipur foot climbing a tree, and you can see the flexibility is like a normal foot. Then he runs one kilometer in 4 minutes, 30 seconds.

What is required for Gandhian engineering to become more widespread?

Mashelkar: In our young people, we see innovation and we see passion, but compassion is the key. We also need more soft funding [grants or zero-interest loans], because venture capital companies often turn out to be “vulture capital” in a way, because they want immediate returns.

We need a shift in the mindset of businesses—they can make money not just from premium products for those at the top of the pyramid, but also products with affordable excellence designed for large numbers of people.

This article appears in the November 2024 print issue as “The Gandhi Inspired Inventor.”

Feb 22, 2024

Authors Narayanamurti and Tsao propose a new architecture for how technoscientific knowledge advances, which maps to the actual operational practice of research and development nurtured at the iconic Bell Labs.

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Buy a new Clayton home and receive gift cards from Lowe�s* to build your dream backyard.

When Christen Press puts her game face on, she makes sure she helps protect it with Coppertone� Sport. Use and reapply as directed.

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The World of Autism

Light can be directed and steered around bends using a method similar to the way clouds scatter photons, which could lead to advances in medical imaging, cooling systems and even nuclear reactors

Carmelo Anthony inspired New York Knicks to a comfortable 102-87 win over Detroit Pistons at a sold-out O2 Arena.

citizenM - the pioneer of affordable luxury hotels - has launched a new opening campaign for its third property in Miami, providing guests the opportunity to embrace their sunny side. Located steps away from the buzzing retail and restaurants of Lincoln Road, citizenM Miami South Beach is where the positive effects of sun meet the positive effects of citizenM’s sleep experience.

Gamification and social hooks have become cornerstones across every category of consumer apps these days, and today one that’s using these to build out a new e-commerce platform in Europe is announcing a seed round to give its growth a boost. Blidz — a social shopping app that offers big discounts (many items in categories […]

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For years, Android phone makers like Xiaomi and OnePlus have been known to borrow design elements from Apple's iOS. Now, it seems Google itself might be dipping its toes into those waters. A New Look for Incoming Calls An APK teardown

WhatsApp, the ubiquitous messaging app owned by Meta, is taking a page out of Instagram's playbook with a series of new features designed to make its Status feature more engaging. These updates aim to spark more interaction and connection within the

Diwali celebrations equal spreading joy, devotion, and looking your ethnic best. The right makeup look adds elegance and glow. 'Bae' of Bollywood Ananya Panday is quite famous for her understated yet chic style, and her subtle makeup avatar is ideal for

Shah Rukh Khan, well-known for his elegant yet approachable style, makes a statement with each presentation by fusing traditional elegance with contemporary elements. The Bollywood king's penchant for timeless appeal with a contemporary twist characterizes his ageless sense of style. He