New Atlas

Science Audio available

Animal-adhered data patch gets smaller and better

Ben Coxworth April 22, 2019

It was just last year that we heard about the Marine Skin patch, a flexible data-tracking device that can be temporarily adhered to marine creatures. Well, its designers have now come out with a version that's smaller, more sensitive, and capable of going much deeper.

The new version of Marine Skin can be glued directly to the animal's skin, or it ...

Science

IDAct tech uses stickers to smarten up dumb objects

Ben Coxworth April 10, 2019

Essentially cheap, battery-less, sticker-type devices, RFID tags transmit a signal when temporarily powered up by the electromagnetic signal from a reader device. Now, thanks to experimental new technology, they could be used to bring "smart" functionality to plain ol' analog objects.

In a test of the system, ceiling-mounted RFID readers gather data from RFID tags placed throughout ...

Medical Audio available

Electronic capsule tracks oral drug doses

Ben Coxworth March 28, 2019

If someone is taking medication for something as important as preventing HIV, it goes without saying that they shouldn't be lackadaisical about doing so. A new electronically-augmented swallowable capsule is designed to help, by letting patients and physicians know if doses are missed.

A couple of the ID-Capsules, with ID-Tags inside

Pets

HoofStep keeps tabs on wandering horses' habits

Ben Coxworth March 1, 2019

Horses aren't like dogs. Whereas the one is always around the house, the other spends much of its time off in a pasture. So, how is a horse-owner supposed to keep track of what their animal is doing? Well, a group of Swedish entrepreneurs believe that their HoofStep system is the answer.

The HoofStep head unit communicates with an app on the user's phone

Wearables

Samsung takes aim at blood pressure monitoring with the Galaxy Watch Active

Nick Lavars February 24, 2019

Samsung has launched a new smartwatch that might just take the health and wellness capabilities of the common wearable into new territory. In addition to standard features like sleep and heart rate tracking, the company claims its new Galaxy Watch Active will be able to keep tabs on blood pressure.

Samsung's new Galaxy Watch Active will be available from March 8

Outdoors

Fishing rod sensor keeps tabs on your catches

Ben Coxworth January 3, 2019

As any recreational angler will know, fish can be a finicky bunch – so when you DO catch one, it's good to keep a record of the location and conditions which allowed that to happen. Cyberfishing's new Smart Rod Sensor is designed to help you do that.

The Smart Rod Sensor has an LED display, and also transfers fishing data via Bluetooth to ...

Pets Review Audio available

Review: Findster Duo Plus offers fee-free GPS pet-tracking

Ben Coxworth December 28, 2018

If your dog has ever taken off on you, then you'll know the frustration of trying to figure out where they've gone. And while there are already pet-tracking devices, they definitely have some shortcomings. The Findster Duo+ system takes a unique approach to getting around those limitations.

The Findster Duo+ system consists of an iOS/Android app along with a Pet module (left) and ...

Wearables Audio available

Smart ear tag may save ranchers time and money

Ben Coxworth November 20, 2018

Australian cattle stations (aka ranches) can be huge, so checking on all the cows is a big task. With that in mind, the CSIRO national science agency has teamed up with agtech startup Ceres Tag to develop an ear tag that not only tracks the animals' whereabouts, but also detects unusual activity.

Plans call for the Ceres Tag to be made smaller and lighter, and to also incorporate ...

Smartwatches Audio available

Fossil Sport boasts Qualcomm's newest wearable chip and plenty of sensors

David Nield November 8, 2018

The Fossil Sport is the latest smartwatch from Fossil, and as well as carrying an impressive number of onboard sensors, it also has the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 chip inside – the processor that is set to power the next generation of wearables running Google's Wear OS.

The Fossil Sport comes with a choice of six colors and 28 straps

Good Thinking Review

Review: Three weeks with the KeySmart Pro taught me it's OK for my keys to be dumb

Nick Lavars November 6, 2018

Billed as the "world’s smartest key holder," the KeySmart Pro integrates tracking technology along with a few extra bells and whistles. But is it worth the extra baggage?