Video Games With Living Cells

I remember reading an article recently where a Stanford physicist and his team created a series of video games that used actual living cells.  According to the article, they "developed the first video games in which a player's actions influence the behavior of living microorganisms in real time -- while the game is being played."  The team created 3 video games: PAC-mecium,  a Pacman clone where a paramecium is controlled with a mild electric field; PolymerRace, where users bet on which PCR reaction will finish first; and a game where users have to identify the type of yeast in a colony based on the smell.  The idea of the project was to get kids interested in biology, but I think just about anyone would find these games fun and engaging.  How cool would it be to see real-time video of a paramecium moving and know that you're the one controlling it with a joystick.  Although probably not practical on a large scale, I could definitely see exhibits like this popping up in science centers and museums.


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110114100955.htm

Sharing Medical Data Between Doctors

There was an interesting article on Science Daily a few weeks ago about how doctors store and share patient data, such as MRI images and CT scans.  Apparently, there is a standard called Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) that outlines how files should be stored and transferred.  The problem is that many doctors don't follow this standard, which causes delays that could potentially be detrimental to patients.  Most medical data today is transferred on CDs and DVDs.  I think a simple open source application that takes a range of medical files of different types and compiles them according to the DICOM standard could really help doctors get the information they need quickly and efficiently.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110104064028.htm