Jet suit for paramedic in lake district
A jet suit has been developed by the company Gravity Industries and GNAAS to develop a functioning jet technology which can help paramedics move faster up through mountainous terrain. The jetpack works close to the ground and can reach speeds of up to 32mph. This tech is currently being developed to be used for paramedics who will be needed quickly for people who need assistance in hard to access rural areas. The suit can make it up a mountainside in around 90 seconds whereas a regular team could take 30 minutes to an hour.
This is still new, and the jet pack is only in beta testing, but has so far proven to be efficient. The pilot, Richard Browning, said ‘We are just scratching the surface in terms of what is possible to achieve with our technology.’
The suit is powered by an engine on the back while 2 small engines are on the arms. The suit also has small pouches on each limb which would contain painkillers, a defibrillator and other first response equipment. Training programs will be launched and will focus on safety for the pilot. The suit has been compared to the famous Hollywood Iron man suit, and the story started trending on twitter under the ironman hashtag.
While this new technological development will allow paramedics to deliver treatment quicker there is the question on whether this kind of equipment is reliable and if people are willing to put their life in the hands of a machine. As with all technology the chances of the suit having some disadvantages are still possible.
Cancer killing nanobots
Technology has also recently developed micro robots that will be able to detect and destroy cancer cells. The robots have the ability to cut off the blood supply to tumors in the body. The ASU Biodesign Institute’s director Hao Yan believes ‘this technology is a strategy that can be used for many types of cancer, since all solid tumor-feeding blood vessels are essentially the same.’ The robots walk on 4 legs and are so small 10 of them can fit in a full stop. It takes less than a week to create a swarm of a million of these bots. The micro bots are just another example of how technology is becoming more active in our medical care.
Editing DNA
This year also saw 2 women win the Nobel Prize award for chemistry for their work in editing DNA. Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna are the first women to share the award. It was awarded for their research and discovery, known as Crispr-Cas9 ‘genetic scissors’ which has a way of changing the genetic information in living cells. The discovery will be used to treat inherited illness and contribute to designer babies. Being able to change DNA means that people can change the genetics of their children, but it is unclear whether this will be passed on through future generations. However, this new development is being celebrated throughout the scientific world and both women have taken a share of the prize money which is 10 million krona (£861,200).
It is predicted that the developments which have started to come through will help treat people who may have thought that a cure would never come. However, some people will still not like the fact that technology is infiltrating medicine and we are seemingly becoming more and more reliant on AI to support our healthcare.