Author: Daily Upsider

Ford is envisioning a future where sci-fi-inspired holographic technology could bring digital representations of police officers, guard dogs, and even polar bears to life around its vehicles as a means to deter criminals. A recent patent filing from the automaker details a system of Integrated Holographic Camera Modules (IHCMs) that could create “moveable and interactive holograms” both inside and outside of a car. While it’s uncertain if Ford will ultimately pursue this hologram tech, the filing outlines various potential uses, such as warding off unwanted visitors or projecting a virtual drive-thru menu inside the car for easier ordering.

Holograms for Security
The patent explores projecting holograms on a vehicle’s exterior and interior, with one illustration showing a digital police officer standing beside a parked car. The system would use multiple IHCMs, which combine cameras, projectors, and computing components to create projections without noticeable distortion. Drivers could activate these holograms by simply looking at the car and giving a “thumbs up” gesture. The patent, filed in February 2023 and published recently, was first spotted by Ford Authority.

Ford envisions a scenario where if someone touches or walks through a holographic police officer guarding the vehicle, the driver would be alerted. The patent also describes a selection of holographic images stored in the car’s system, including a guard dog, intended to patrol the vehicle’s perimeter like a digital watchdog.

How Holograms Work
Holograms are created using lasers and light waves to project three-dimensional images that appear real to the naked eye without any special viewing equipment. A common version of this is on currency and credit cards. However, this is not the same type of hologram suggested in Ford’s Patent. The patent doesn’t delve deeply into the specific technology behind their system but focuses on the “system and method” of projecting these holograms via a vehicle.

Practical and Creative Uses
According to Ford, holograms of police officers or guard dogs could serve as a deterrent, alerting the vehicle owner if someone interacts with them. Inside the car, holograms could display drive-thru menus, movie listings, or even assist with navigation and parking by projecting guidance lines. Smaller holograms might appear on surfaces within the car, such as screens or mirrors, enhancing infotainment, video calls, or other interactive features.

The patent also imagines merging exterior and interior holograms into one large, bizarre projection—such as a giant holographic polar bear sitting in the driver’s seat, with its head protruding through the sunroof because it’s too big to fit inside. Personally, I think that internal drive-thru menus and parking guidance lines are where the strength of this tech could truly lie.

A team of international researchers has discovered why batteries lose capacity over time, a finding that could help electric vehicles travel farther on a single charge and extend battery lifespan.

It’s widely known that older devices, like mobile phones, lose power more quickly, but until now, the cause of this degradation wasn’t fully understood. Led by an engineer from the University of Colorado-Boulder, the team’s breakthrough may lead to improved batteries and energy storage technologies, accelerating the shift to clean energy. “We are advancing lithium-ion batteries by uncovering the molecular processes behind their degradation,” said Professor Michael Toney, the study’s lead.

For years, engineers have tried to design lithium-ion batteries without relying on cobalt, a rare and expensive mineral tied to environmental and labor concerns. Alternative materials like nickel and magnesium have been tested, but these led to higher rates of “self-discharge,” where internal chemical reactions reduce stored energy. This issue limits most EV batteries to a lifespan of 7-10 years. Toney’s team investigated self-discharge and found that hydrogen molecules from the battery’s electrolyte move to the cathode, occupying spots that lithium ions typically bind to. With fewer binding spots, the battery’s capacity and electric current weaken.

Toney noted that while some low-cobalt batteries could offer longer driving ranges, it’s important to ensure they remain durable. The team’s findings could guide future developments, such as coating the cathode to block hydrogen or using different electrolytes. “Improving battery performance is crucial for transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy,” Toney concluded.

Even activities that are good for you can become counterproductive if you overload your schedule, leading to burnout. ABC News AU’s Emily McGrorey shared her experience of discussing a new meditation habit with her psychologist. Instead of encouraging her, the psychologist suggested she scrap the plan—along with several other routines she had already built. The reason? It was simply too much. The psychologist recommended a ‘to-don’t’ list.

Rachel Botsman, an Oxford University Trust Fellow, is credited with the concept of ‘to-don’t’ lists. Writing down goals or tasks often helps with mental clarity, which is why to-do lists are so popular. The same idea applies to removing non-essential tasks. McGrorey found that listing the unnecessary activities crowding her day revealed how many of them could be cut or postponed. Amantha Imber, an organizational psychologist and podcast host, highlighted that while time is finite, we often keep adding more tasks to our to-do lists, thinking it will help us get ahead. But sometimes, the opposite is true.

Imber noted that while some tasks, like parenting responsibilities, are unavoidable, many draining activities can either be stopped or delegated. This insight led McGrorey to add several familiar items to her ‘to-don’t’ list:

• No meetings between 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.

• Skip ironing casual clothes—use a non-wrinkle tumble dry cycle instead.

• Do laundry and dishes every other day, rather than daily.

Public health advocates and the Nigerian government are working to provide malnourished households in the West African nation with a simple solution to boost their intake of essential vitamins and minerals. Soon, government regulators are launching a new set of standards for fortifying bouillon cubes with iron, zinc, folic acid, and vitamin B12, at minimum levels recommended by experts.

Although these standards are currently voluntary for manufacturers, their adoption could significantly advance efforts to combat diets deficient in vital micronutrients, commonly referred to as “hidden hunger” in nutrition and public health. According to a new report from the Gates Foundation, fortified bouillon cubes could potentially prevent up to 16.6 million cases of anemia and save up to 11,000 lives from neural tube defects in Nigeria.

Many households resort to smaller portions and less nutritious foods, with a recent government survey revealing that 79% of Nigerian households experience food insecurity. Due to numerous factors, this percentage has been increasing in the last couple of years. Bouillon cubes—small blocks of condensed meat or vegetable extracts used to flavor soups and stews—are ubiquitous in African diets, with nearly universal use in countries like Nigeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Cameroon, a study by Helen Keller International found. Because the cubes are widely used across all income levels in Nigeria, this makes them an ideal, cost-effective vehicle for delivering essential vitamins and minerals to millions.

Deficiencies in iron, zinc, folic acid, and vitamin B12 have led to severe public health issues in Nigeria, including high rates of anemia among women of childbearing age, neural tube defects in newborns, and stunted growth in children, says Augustine Okoruwa, a regional program manager at Helen Keller International. The New York-based nonprofit, which addresses blindness and malnutrition, has partnered with the Gates Foundation and various organizations in Africa to promote food fortification.

Nigeria’s recent economic policies, such as the removal of gasoline subsidies, have worsened the cost-of-living crisis, particularly for low-income earners who make up the majority of the country’s workforce, exacerbating food insecurity.

The large-scale production of fortified foods offers a new approach to increasing micronutrient intake in the staples of low-income countries, providing resilience for vulnerable families, according to the Gates Foundation.

Currently, no Nigerian manufacturers include the four key micronutrients at the recommended levels, but there is growing industry interest. Sweet Nutrition, based in Ota near Lagos, began adding iron to some of its products in 2017 as a voluntary effort to support public health. Roop Kumar, the company’s marketing manager, said that they are conducting trials and considering further fortification in response to the new regulatory standards.

Researchers at the University of New South Wales have developed a heart simulator that accurately replicates the movements and functions of a real human heart, particularly focusing on the left ventricle (LV). This soft robotic LV simulator mimics the heart’s natural motions, which could reduce the need for animal models and enable more personalized patient care, according to Thanh Nho Do, a senior lecturer at the university.

The left ventricle is vital for pumping blood through the body, and when it fails, medical interventions are often needed. Current heart simulators struggle to replicate the full range of cardiac motions and pressure changes, limiting their use in testing heart conditions and devices. The new LV simulator addresses these limitations by recreating the left ventricle’s shape and function, using a simplified three-layer model of the heart’s muscle fibers. The outer layer (epicardium) consists of connective tissue and blood vessels, the middle layer (transmural) contains muscle cells responsible for pumping, and the inner layer (endocardium) lines the heart’s chambers and valves.

The simulator uses hydraulic artificial muscle fibers and can be customized by adjusting fiber density, angles, and ventricular shape. This design brings the device closer to mimicking real heart motion, offering improved biomimetic performance. The researchers tested the LV simulator in a mock circulatory loop to simulate blood flow and evaluate its effectiveness.