Archive for category: Technology

Information and stories about technology news.

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China Boosts Pakistan, Venezuela with Remote Sensing Satellite

China Boosts Pakistan
Recently, nearly 200 scientists, researchers and officials from the space industry participated in the Symposium on Space International Cooperation, promoting the economic and social development of the developing world. The symposium, held in November, in Beijing, was a joint effort put together by the International Academy of Astronautics and the China International Exchange Center for Astronautical Science and Technology.

During the symposium, Hiroki Matsuo, Vice-President of the International Academy of Astronautics confirmed China’s commitment to collaborating with developing countries in the areas of space-based navigation, manned and robotic space flights and data applications—namely with Pakistan and Venezuela. Matsuo declared, “Preparation work for the Venezuela Remote Sensing Satellite II project is proceeding according to schedule.” He also verified that a similar remote sensing satellite, to be used by Pakistan, would be finished in 2018.

Remote sensing satellites are dedicated to accumulating data about the earth’s surface and can help survey resources on land, monitor nearby oceans and forecast weather — something essential to crop planning and resiliency in the aftermath of natural disasters.

Both the Venezuelan and Pakistani remote sensing satellites are being developed by the China Academy of Space Technology. The company is also dedicated to expanding its services to other countries in the developing world, especially to countries in the Middle East that are new to the space market. To date, 11 satellites, developed in China, have been completed and exported to nine different countries, including Laos, Nigeria and Bolivia. The successes of the China Academy of Space Technology in working with the developing world can be attributed to their commitment to providing more than just the design and manufacturing of remote sensing satellites. They also incorporated launch, operations and training services into their business model.

Hu Zhongmin, the Director of the International Cooperation Department at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the parent company of the China Academy of Space Technology, is excited about further collaborations between China and other countries. Zhongmin and his company understand that multi-national exchanges of space technology can greatly benefit the developing world.

When it comes to manufacturing and launching satellites, China has had a long-running relationship with Venezuela. In fact, the Venezuelan Remote Sensing Satellite II, to be completed later this year, is the third collaborative effort between the two countries. The first was a communication satellite, launched in 2008 and the second was the Venezuelan Remote Sensing Satellite I, which was launched in 2012.

Pakistan is also a veteran to the world of space technology, establishing the Space Sciences Research Wing to the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission in 1961. The original project from the program, Rehbar-I, was launched in 1962 and became only the tenth of its kind in the world. Data from this original Pakistan Space Sciences Research project helped officials study weather, cyclones and cloud formations above the Arabian Sea.

– Ashley Henyan

Photo: Flickr

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Mamaope Jackets Bring Hope

Mamaope Jackets
A new innovation from Uganda aims to reduce the often fatal misdiagnosis of pneumonia by providing jackets that identify symptoms unique to the disease.

A Ugandan man named Brian Turyabagye designed the biomedical smart jacket to identify such symptoms of pneumonia as breathing rate, temperature and sound of the lungs and to make a diagnosis three or four times faster than a doctor. The jackets are called “Mamaope,” meaning Mother’s hope, as they aim to provide hope to mothers in Sub-Saharan Africa where pneumonia killed 490,000 children under the age of five last year.

According to Turyabagye, many of these deaths are due to misdiagnosis. He explains that pneumonia is often misdiagnosed as malaria in regions where the latter is prevalent. Since the symptoms of pneumonia and malaria are very similar, Mamaope Jackets will focus on identifying symptoms that can differentiate them and lead to a more accurate diagnosis.

When Turyabagye was an undergraduate student in Uganda he accompanied a friend’s grandmother to the hospital after she became seriously ill. Doctors initially diagnosed and treated her for malaria, only realizing that she was dying of pneumonia when it was too late. This inspired Turyabagye to create a more effective and simple way to diagnose pneumonia.

According to UNICEF, pneumonia kills nearly 1 million children under five each year globally which is more than HIV/AIDS, diarrhea, and malaria combined. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for half of the pneumonia deaths of children worldwide, and the region lacks critical funding for prevention and treatment.

If mass-produced, the jackets will be distributed to health centers and hospitals where it will be used to more accurately diagnose pneumonia. Mamaope Jackets will focus on symptoms unique to pneumonia, which usually occurs on the sides of the body rather than just the chest or the back. Turyabagye believes that being able to distinguish between what is healthy and what is not is a significant step to preventing misdiagnosis.

If Turyabagya secures funding for mass production, there is hope that the jackets will create awareness and increase funding for pneumonia treatment and care. The jackets have the potential to make waves in the global health community and thus securing funding for the fight against pneumonia globally.

The jacket is currently a prototype, but it is expected to undergo a medical examination this month. If this is successful, the jacket will be certified for medical use this spring. Mamaope Jackets are on the shortlist for this year’s Africa prize for engineering innovation, and if they win Turyabagye hopes to use the £25,000 prize money to begin mass production and distribution.

– Eva Kennedy

Photo: Flickr

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Rumie: Providing Education Through Technology

Rumie: Providing Education Through Technology
A Toronto-based startup called Rumie is helping expand children’s access to education by providing them with tablets that are preloaded with educational materials.

In a global economy that is largely knowledge-based, insufficient access to education means that over a billion children worldwide are left behind. Providing education through technology is, therefore, more important than ever.

Rumie aims to combat this by providing low-cost, energy-efficient tablets to children in impoverished areas. These tablets come preloaded with a combination of educational materials and games that children can unlock by studying. These tablets are especially useful in areas where access to books, libraries or other educational materials are rare.

The tablets use LearnCloud to organize and distribute free educational materials to children who often lack access to the internet. All the materials on LearnCloud are free and available to anyone, and they can be uploaded by anyone. Once resources are uploaded, Rumie’s partners in each country organize them and upload them to children’s tablets.

The tablets cost $50 each, and the company raises money for them through a campaign on Indiegogo. They contain a “learn” section with educational materials and a “play” section which contains games that can be unlocked by a teacher or by doing educational exercises.

The tablets contain software that allows users to organize materials in a similar way to the organization on LearnCloud. This means that materials on the tablet are easy for students to access and work with. The tablets’ technology also allows Rumie to collect data and monitor the devices for feedback, therefore allowing them to improve as necessary.

Rumie provides tablets to children in North America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Their latest project, the LearnSyria initiative, aims to provide educational materials to children in refugee camps in three ways. People all over the world can choose to either upload topics and materials to the LearnCloud, they can donate money to help provide tablets to children or they can spread the word about Rumie’s mission.

Rumie tablets were shipped to Liberia with the intent to be used for rehabilitating child soldiers in 2014. Instead, these tablets became a source of entertainment and hope for children during the isolation and fear of the Ebola epidemic. Children were able to stay busy and continue learning even while confined to their homes, and the Huffington Post describes children holding their Rumie tablets with “a faint glimmer of hope and self-empowerment in what is otherwise an overwhelmingly dire situation in Liberia today.”

Rumie is taking bold steps by providing education through technology to empower children globally and create change for the future.

– Eva Kennedy

Photo: Flickr

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Virtual Reality Can Affect Global Poverty

Virtual Reality Can Affect Global Poverty
Although the technology of virtual reality (VR) is still in its infancy, it is steadily growing more advanced and more easily available to the public. VR is opening up all kinds of new opportunities and experiences, and they’re not just limited to video games – people around the world are finding that virtual reality can affect global poverty.

VR has made a strong impact in such fields as healthcare, manufacturing and even insurance. Many around the world see no reason why these advances shouldn’t also address humanitarian needs.

Researchers have found that virtual reality is incredibly powerful at building the feeling of empathy in users, which gives it obvious appeal to those in the non-profit world. With its ability to connect users to other people, the technology can make unprecedented strides in shining a light on the plight of millions.

According to Jeremy Bailenson of Stanford University, “Virtual reality transforms relationships that tend to be abstract to become visceral. Our research has shown that making this cause and effect relationship perceptual, as opposed to theoretical, changes consumer and other behaviors more than other interventions.”

Some non-profit organizations are now taking advantage of the fact that virtual reality can affect global poverty. HOPE International has found success by reaching out to potential donors with the technology by showing them exactly what problems their donations will be addressing. Boosted levels of empathy generate more contributions, helping to make a significant dent in global need.

Another organization, Trickle Up, combats poverty in some of the world’s poorest countries also by using virtual reality. By introducing VR experiences to donors at a fundraising gala, the organization was able to connect supporters to a local shop owner in Guatemala whose business would benefit from their donations. Trickle Up’s Communications Officer, Tyler McClelland, noted that having VR at the event increased interest and made guests more excited about the cause.

Some have taken the involvement of virtual reality in the humanitarian world to an even more interesting level. Chris Milk of UNICEF partnered with Samsung in 2015 to create Clouds Over Sidra, a virtual reality film that follows a 12-year old girl, Sidra, through her day-to-day life in the Syrian refugee camp of Za’atari in Jordan. Winner of the 2015 Doc/Fest Award, the film breaks barriers in the documentary world, making the VR viewer an interactive participant.

While there is much time and research yet to spend on the technology, early success strongly indicates that virtual reality can affect global poverty. It has the power to break down walls and, as the creator of Clouds Over Sidra said, it “connects humans to other humans in a profound way I’ve never before seen in any other form of media, and it can change people’s perception of each other. That is why I think virtual reality has the potential to actually change the world.”

– Emily Marshall

Photo: Flickr

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Five Space Inventions Helping the Developing World

Five Space Inventions Helping the Developing World
From non-stick frying pans to squirt guns to keeping our homes warm, innovations that originated as space inventions are used each and every day right here on earth. But, some space inventions have become even more useful than ever imagined, and are now helping fight poverty in the developing world. Here is a look at five space inventions and some of the ways each helps to alleviate human suffering.

Baby Blankets

From NASA’s efforts in the 1980s to create a material that could both insulate and cool astronauts facing extreme temperatures during spacewalks came phase-change materials, or PCM’s. Although this material never made it into astronaut’s gloves, the space invention that emerged proved effective for insulating. In 2013, Jen Chen created a company called Embrace Innovations, which makes swaddles and blankets using PCM technology. The Embrace business model is simple: buy a blanket or swaddle for your baby and one is donated to a baby in need in the developing world. To date, 200,000 babies have been reached across 10 countries.

Solar Energy

When NASA began studying Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) to develop uninhabited aircraft that could sustain long-duration flights without interruption, the need for new innovative solar power sources became paramount. Among the space inventions that resulted: single-crystal silicon solar cells that significantly reduced the cost of solar power. With billions still living without electricity worldwide, solar power has proved effective in helping get clean water, mobile charging, and general illumination to the developing world.

Freeze-dried Food

Through an alliance with Nestle, in the pre-Apollo era, NASA developed a technique for freeze-drying food which made the transportation of numerous orbital delight feasible. Today, freeze-dried food is used to prevent spoilage while providing life-saving nutrient-rich substance to people suffering from hunger in the developing world. For example, Stop Hunger Now, a non-profit based out of Raleigh, North Carolina, operates meal-packing programs in 20 cities worldwide. They ship dehydrated rice and soy meals that are fortified with 23 nutrients and vitamins to not only help solve the problem of hunger in the world but also help provide essential nutrients to those living with a vitamin or mineral deficiency.

Baby Formula

In an effort to alleviate some of the challenges of eating in space while also reducing waste, NASA, with the contracted help of Marietta Laboratories, worked with micro-algae to develop a special three-in-one food source. The invention didn’t work out as space-food; however, Marietta’s research provided the technology used to place nutritional supplements into infant formula and baby food. One in four children around the world suffers from chronic malnutrition that stunts their growth. And, due to poverty and poor nutrition, an estimated 200 million children under age five suffer from under-developed cognition. With nutrient-enriched baby food, organizations helping to fight poverty and malnutrition in the developing world have a better chance to reach children during the most critical stages of development — conception to two years.

Satellites

Some space inventions have not only changed the world but also changed the way we look at it. While the link between satellites, NASA and space are obvious, their ability to help feed those living in the developing world is a bit more complex. Satellites can generate images of vegetation that, in turn, can measure “greenness” and provide real-time rainfall data and imagery. Thus, this space invention helps officials and policy-makers monitor for potential crop failures throughout the developing world. With better prediction capabilities comes better awareness, and with better awareness comes the ability to prevent food shortages. NASA has even teamed up with the USAID through a new environmental monitoring program in West Africa called SERVIR-West Africa. The program plans to enhance the use of data collected from satellite imagery to help fight hunger by helping officials better manage climate issues that affect crop harvesting and nutritional planning.

– Ashley Henyan

Photo: Flickr

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Global Education in 2016

Global Education in 2016
Global education in 2016 has seen many successes and many challenges. Advances in technology have increased many children’s access to education and educational materials, but the ongoing refugee crisis has created an education crisis for children in much of the world. Above all, two landmark pieces of legislation, the Education for All Act and the Protecting Girls’ Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act have aimed to expand and protect access to education for those all over the world.

While many parts of the world suffering from poverty have limited access to resources such as textbooks and other school supplies, technology has been making strides to replace these things in countries all around the world. E-readers, smartphones and online libraries have been used in places like Sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti, and these advances aim to make education more accessible to children in impoverished regions.

This year has been notable for the refugee crisis, with 2.1 million Syrian children among the many global refugees. School enrollment rates for Syrian children remain lower than those in Sub-Saharan Africa, and refugee children remain five times more likely to be out of school than non-refugee children. This has been a serious challenge to global education in 2016, and it will likely continue well into 2017 and beyond.

Male students globally remain more likely to receive an education than their female counterparts, and this problem is what the Education for All Act hopes to solve. This bill is a bipartisan effort to advance and encourage basic education for all while prioritizing groups who have been marginalized or denied an education due to conflict.

Another effort to improve girls’ access to education worldwide is the Protecting Girls’ Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act. This legislation hopes to protect girls who are in danger from conflict or who are refugees by improving their access to education. When they are not enrolled in school, refugee girls are especially vulnerable to dangerous situations such as trafficking, child marriage and underage labor.

Global education has seen both improvements and increased challenges in 2016. While the refugee crisis has seen an uptick in children who are not enrolled in school, the Education for All Act and the Protecting Girls’ Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act aim to combat this problem and improve access to education for the most vulnerable and stigmatized.

– Eva Kennedy

Photo: Flickr

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Robin Food App Cuts Down on Food Waste and Helps the Poor

Robin Food App Cuts Down on Food Waste and Helps the Poor
Teens in Malaysia won the first Sime Darby’s Young Innovator’s Challenge with the Robin Food App, which connects businesses ready to donate surplus food to local food banks.

The Robin Food App is innovative because it presents a simple solution to two problems Malaysia and many other countries face: hunger and food waste.

Each day Malaysians produce 3,000 metric tons of avoidable food waste—enough food to feed 2.2 million people. About four percent of Malaysians live below the poverty line.

Cutting down on the amount of food wasted worldwide is an essential step to stopping climate change. Agriculture produces more greenhouse gasses than emissions from all cars, trains and airplanes combined.

Grocery stores, hotels, restaurants and other businesses can post on the Robin Food app when they have surplus food. Food banks are then notified of the surplus food in real time, pick up the food and distribute the food to those in need. The app also automatically generates statistics so that users can gain a sense of the impact their donations make.

Robin Food is available both as a web and smartphone app. The mobile app can even be accessed offline in areas that do not have internet access.

The Sime Darby Young Innovator’s Challenge is a new contest that challenges children aged 13-16 to think of a problem and come up with a solution that makes the world a better place. Applicants have the opportunity to participate in regional and national innovation workshops to gain the skills to develop their ideas further. The theme for this year’s contest was tackling poverty.

Sime Darby is a Malaysia-based multinational business conglomeration that has sectors in the plantation, industrial, property, motor and logistics sectors. The corporation is dedicated to bettering society while minimizing the impact on the environment and delivering sustainable development to all stakeholders.

Sime Darby will continue to challenge teens to generate innovative solutions to tackle major issues the world faces with creative solutions. The 2017 Young Innovators Challenge will begin in January. As the Robin Food app saves surplus food and feeds hungry Malaysians, many are excited to see which problems Malaysian teens will solve next.

– Cassie Lipp

Photo: Flickr

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Mapping Roads in Tanzania Improves Healthcare

Mapping Roads in Tanzania Improves Healthcare and other Developments
Mapping roads in Tanzania will fuel economic growth and development as well as improve healthcare and response to natural disasters.

Like many developing countries, roads and cities in Tanzania were previously off the grid from GPS devices and Google services such as Street View. With no map data, it is difficult to deliver aid and supplies to communities in need. Lack of map data affects virtually all transit in a country, from farmers transporting food to markets to residents of cities finding routes that avoid traffic on their commute.

However, recent efforts from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank have begun to put Tanzanian roads on the grid.

In an effort to improve how health supplies are delivered, USAID began mapping roads in Tanzania that connect more than 5,600 health centers. So far, more than 30,000 kilometers of roads have been mapped across the nation.

Previously, transporting medical supplies between these health centers and the communities that needed them was difficult because nearly half of Tanzania roads were not mapped online. This meant that if drivers did not know their delivery route, they had to rely on directions from locals. Drivers also did not know the road conditions or how long routes would take.

To map large amounts of roads quickly, USAID installed tracking devices on trucks from Tanzania’s medical stores department (MSD). USAID and MSD were able to determine the quickest routes possible to distribute medical supplies based on the data. The organizations also released the data to the public so all those looking to travel in Tanzania have access to the information.

The Ramani Huria community mapping group in the city of Dar es Salaam helped upload this data. The group has also begun mapping the streets of Dar es Salaam, where map data will become crucial to help the city better prepare and respond to natural disasters.

To map the city’s streets, local volunteers attach camera rigs to their vehicles and take pictures as they travel the streets. They can also use the Swedish app Mapillary to take photos as they walk or hitch rides around the city.

So far volunteers have helped map 300 miles of the project’s 2,000-mile goal. Images captured with Mapillary become 3D digital maps that show real-time data of Dar es Salaam.

Aside from the maps providing data about traffic and travel times, they can also be used to help locate areas that are in danger of flooding, develop plans to prepare for heavy floods and assess which routes can be taken to deliver aid in case of flooding.

Rising sea levels and heavy rainfall from March to May leave Tanzania prone to floods. Each year floods leave hundreds to thousands of Tanzanians homeless and cause many deaths. While the poverty rate is 28 percent, mapping roads in Tanzania will help combat some of the issues that lead to poverty.

– Cassie Lipp

Photo: Flickr

MyPo: New Innovation in 3D Printed Prosthetics in Paraguay

MyPo
The Paraguayan nonprofit organization Po in collaboration with Thalmic Labs are using 3D technology to provide MyPo, an advanced type of prosthetic, to low-income people in the country.

According to the co-founder of Po, Eric Dijkhunis, there is a high percentage of limb amputations in the country because of unsafe work conditions and frequent motorcycle accidents. Unfortunately, less than one percent of people who have limb amputations are able to afford a prosthetic. Po claims it can make more than 100 3D printed prosthetics at the cost of one traditional model.

MyPo 3D Printing

3D printed prosthetics have many advantages over traditional ones. 3D printing allows those in need to receive their limb faster and cheaper. Cost is especially challenging for Paraguayans. Just one traditional upper limb prosthetics on average cost between $30,00 to $80,000. Even more problematic is the fact that prosthetics are not a one-time purchase. Prosthetics must be replaced after several years. Also, parents of children with an amputation must buy different prosthetics as the child grows and develops. However, a 3D printed limbs can cost less than $200.

Initially, Po only produced basic 3D printed prosthetics that could be personalized. Patients are encouraged to choose the colors and the design on their model. Recently, Po paired up with the Thalmic Labs to make the MyPo, a 3D printed prosthetics that uses bioelectric technology. The device moves based on bioelectric signals sent from the amputee’s muscles. Additionally, the MyPo can be paired with Thalmic Labs’ Myo armband which allows human movement to control electronic devices. Not only is it functional, but the MyPo is comfortable and easy to use even for those who are not tech savvy. It will be sold at a relatively cheap price and a portion will be subsidized by private donations. They are currently trying to raise $50,000 for their Indiegogo campaign and have already reached $35,000 with 160 donators.

As of November of this year, five people are testing the MyPo. Po-partner organizations are duplicating the MyPo model in Argentina and Brazil. Dijkhunis encourages people in other countries to use this technology, he says “We believe that these technologies applied to social impact are not only disrupting an industry, but are rewriting the rules of the game for the future of prosthetics, and handing the power of innovation to people all around the world.”

Paraguay is not the only country with such a high volume of amputees who cannot afford a prosthetic, but the MyPo model can provide millions around the world an affordable and advanced prosthetic.

– Karla Umanzor

Photo: Flickr

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Drones for Refugees: Saving Lives in the Mediterranean

Drones for Refugees: Saving Lives in the Mediterranean
Since 2014, 10 people have died every day attempting to travel to Mediterranean countries by sea. The Drones for Refugees project wants to make the voyage safer.

The drones livestream areas heavily trafficked by refugees in the Mediterranean Sea and use infrared sensors to allow easy viewing at night. The drones run on solar batteries and use wireless internet connection, requiring little human involvement. Workers in ground stations monitor the footage on a computer or mobile device and collect information such as the number of people on a boat, the coordinates, whether the route is correct and whether there are enough life vests. In the case of an emergency, monitors quickly alert rescue crews. Newer drone prototypes carry an emergency aid package that can be released when needed. This quick response can save many lives.

The prototype was tested in Lesbos between July and August 2016. A more advanced version will debut in Sicily in the spring of 2017. Drones for Refugees is currently self-funded, but with help from investors and donors, the organization hopes to produce larger drones capable of traveling longer distances.

Project director Mehdi Salehi originally co-founded Good Drones, an innovation and design lab focused on using drones to solve social problems. Drones for Refugees is only one of the projects of the Good Drones initiative. Salehi was inspired by news footage of Syrian refugees traveling on worn-down boats in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as his own personal experiences.

In 2001, Salehi was an Afghani refugee. He and a friend traveled to Greece on a small boat. Once he arrived in Greece, Salehi was imprisoned for five months. Eventually, with the help of a Greek lawyer, he was able to receive political asylum. He went on to graduate from the University of Volos and moved to New York to attend Parson School of Design. He says about his experience, “I was very lucky. I got a lot of support from people that met me along the way, especially in Greece. They encouraged me and believed in me. Refugees and migrants, that’s what we need: an opportunity to thrive.”

For refugees, crossing the Mediterranean can be an exhausting and terrifying experience. Drones for Refugees wants to ensure that refugees are given a fighting chance to escape the violence and oppression in their home countries.

– Karla Umanzor

Photo: Flickr