In today’s update of technology news: Tiny electronic devices you swallow could use stomach acid for power; giant race drones are being developed; and iPhone users beware: 76 apps can leak data and pose risks from hackers.
Miniature edible electronic devices, once the stuff of scifi, are under development by a number of researchers, but they can be hard to power. M.I.T. found one answer cheaper and safer than others: use stomach acid.
The tiny devices can target drugs, release them slowly, or monitor the heart and breathing from inside the body, among other uses. But batteries die and contain unwanted chemicals.
Since most batteries run on acid, the M.I.T. researchers thought, why not use stomach acid. Tests of their ingestible device in pigs were successful and wireless transmitted health data.
Here’s the research paper published in Nature and Biomedical Engineering
Giant race drones on the way
Australian drone maker Freedom Drone Sports is developing a 66-pound quadcopter drone nearly two-feet across that so far managed a top speed of 99mph. It’s impressive…and loud.
View its zippy test flight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1tV6gdXEQE
Many iPhone apps vulnerable to attack
The blog Uconnect Access reports that 33 named apps can leak data such as user names and passwords and some may even allow a hacker to collect location data and keystrokes.
Another unnamed set of 76 apps were cited as medium or high-risk for attacks that could reveal medial or financial data.
Users of iPhones should read the full blog postVulnerable iPhone apps.
https://medium.com/@chronic_9612/76-popular-apps-confirmed-vulnerable-to-silent-interception-of-tls-protected-data-2c9a2409dd1#.nd39u3t2k
