While we won’t understand the attraction of last night’s debate (really, what’s new at this point?) or why our TV’s showed a replay of Monday’s Red Sox game on Tuesday night (…oh, you mean that actually was a different game?), life must go on.
Luckily, we’ve recovered enough from the fall version of Groundhog Day to find another batch of science news for this week’s Beaker Hill. No repeats, we promise!
We start with the research of BU computer engineer Thomas Little, who is currently working on transmitting wireless internet through room lighting. Using LED’s from a flashlight and a router, Little has already developed a prototype of his system, which has received interest from several communications firms, and may be available for purchase in a year or two.
You may ask what advantages this has over the ubiquitous wireless routers we already have. For starters, the current setup slows down drastically the more computers are using the router—a constant source of annoyance for this particular Bostonist—but the light-based system does not suffer from the same problem. Also, since one has to physically be able to see the light in order to have Internet access, it greatly improves security (though note that this also may be a drawback in going from room-to-room and having your connection die until you hit the light switch). Now if only we could find an apartment that had an LED router in every room and wireless power (another Boston-based technology in the pipeline), we could eliminate those ugly cables once and for all.
And now for something completely different! While addressing the issues of biking in Boston may be too much to take on right now (though not for us), MIT’s SENSEable City Laboratory went across the pond to introduce a new SmartBiking initiative in Copenhagen last week. The project has a variety of interesting associated technologies, but we’ll start with the “hybrid bike” that, in much the same way as a hybrid car, stores the energy used when braking and releases it to help the bike along when it’s moving. (It’s like a bike for lazy people!) The hybrid motor is designed to fit on a specially-built rear wheel, which can replace the rear wheel of the old rusty bike you got for $10 on Craigslist.
SmartBiking also incorporates something like an RFID system for its cyclists, allowing them to keep track of the miles ridden (and perhaps earn some rewards by doing so) and a somewhat stalkerish Facebook application which allows people to link up with bikers they crossed paths with during the day. (We imagine the stalkee can use the same tracking system to figure out who’s following her and call the appropriate authorities.)
Perhaps one day the MIT group will bring some of this back over to their own hometown, but in the meantime, we always have the Bike Film Fest. (Take that, Copenhagen!)
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