In this trendwatching podcast, Cathi Bond highlights the trend towards monitoring your health online and sharing peer-based information about chronic health concerns, such as at sites like CureTogether

Is this a sign of collaborative, non-hierarchical information-sharing, or a troubling reliance on people who don’t actually know anything about medicine? (via BetterHumans)

Meanwhile, in pressing gecko news, Nora Young talks about new research into how geckos are able to stick so well to walls, and then release.  Researchers think they’ve found a way to mimic it. Great example of biomimetic design, and also of the potential for adhesives that you can remove and replace. Nora’s very excited….Cathi, not so much! (via Technology Review)

 

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In this trendwatching podcast, Cathi Bond talks about a plan to introduce Memory Clinics in communities throughout the UK, making in a low stress, de-stigmatized way for people with Alzheimer’s, memory loss, or dementia, to get early diagnosis. (via BBC)

Meanwhile Nora Young talks about The Cooling Glove, a device to cool down the body from the inside out. (via BBC). It’s designed for soldiers in very hot climates, or high performance athletes, but why not apply the same principle to cool down on a hot summer day?

 

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In this trendwatching podcast, Nora Young mentions this New Scientist article about the brain.  It seems that while daydreaming, the brain is actually intensely active.  What is it doing, and what are we doing if we don’t allow ourselves space to daydream.  New Scientist also has this sidebar which may answer Cathi’s query: is this the part of the brain that’s being stilled during meditation.

Cathi Bond has a great solution for all of us who slump over computers all day: the iPosture. Give yourself a little zap every time you slouch!

Also, Nora points to this warning up at The Guardian that Monday, November 24th is going to be a big day for worms and viruses.

 

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In this trendwatching podcast, while Cathi and Nora are still in the netherworld of downtown Toronto mall hell, Nora Young talks about New Scientist’s report on this intriguing Microsoft Research project: using infrared sensors on portable devices so that you can enter commands/interact with the device without having to touch it (Nora’s particularly happy because she has big fingers!)

Meanwhile, Cathi Bond has a cool little device for reminding women when to do their monthly breast exams.  Why does it remind Nora of an old-timey thermostat? (via Medgadget)

 

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