SCIENCE AND HEALTH HIGHLIGHTS

March 19, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• A fully transparent solar cell that could make every window and screen a power source (OffGridQuest)
• All new EU cars will need emergency call technology from 2018 (Reuters)

HEALTH

• Smart bandages detect bandages before they are visible to doctors (UC Berkeley)
• Clues To Autism, Schizophrenia Emerge From Cerebellum Research (NPR)
• Premera Blue Cross breached, medical information exposed (Reuters)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click "read more" and scroll down.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

A fully transparent solar cell that could make every window and screen a power source (OffGridQuest)

Researchers at Michigan State University have created a fully transparent solar concentrator, which could turn any window or sheet of glass (like your smartphone’s screen) into a photovoltaic solar cell.

All new EU cars will need emergency call technology from 2018 (Reuters)

All new cars sold in the European Union from March 2018 will have to be equipped with technology to contact emergency services in the case of an accident.

HEALTH

Smart bandages detect bandages before they are visible to doctors (UC Berkeley)

Engineers at UC Berkeley are developing a new type of bandage that does far more than stanch the bleeding from a paper cut or scraped knee. Thanks to advances in flexible electronics, the researchers, in collaboration with colleagues at UC San Francisco, have created a new “smart bandage” that uses electrical currents to detect early tissue damage from pressure ulcers, or bedsores, before they can be seen by human eyes – and while recovery is still possible.

Clues To Autism, Schizophrenia Emerge From Cerebellum Research (NPR)

 ... what scientists are learning about the cerebellum could help people with many other brain disorders, says Schmahmann.  It's intriguing that symptoms like weak abstract thinking and difficulty with social cues can be seen in both people with cerebellum damage and people with autism, he says. And, he says, the evidence is growing that the cerebellum is somehow involved in autism.

Premera Blue Cross breached, medical information exposed (Reuters)

Health insurer Premera Blue Cross said on Tuesday it was a victim of a cyberattack that may have exposed medical data and financial information of 11 million customers, in the latest serious breach disclosed by a healthcare company.