this curious life
14
Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. - Dr. Seuss
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Bright ideas: Vaccinations without the needlework

Bright ideas: Vaccinations without the needlework | this curious life | Scoop.it

An Australian researcher has invented a revolutionary non-invasive way to inoculate against life-threatening diseases.

 

'A biomedical engineer, Kendall looks set to revolutionise the delivery of vaccines with the Nanopatch, a much less-invasive technology than the traditional hypodermic needle and syringe “jabs” that have been extending the human lifespan for nearly 160 years.

 

The Nanopatch is a 1cm square silicon wafer with 20,000 invisible, vaccine-coated micro-projections that can painlessly push through the skin’s outer layer to epidermis and dermis layers rich with immune cells. Studies in animal models show it’s a more effective delivery method than the needle-and-syringe method, which delivers mostly to muscle tissues with comparatively few immune cells.

 

Nanopatch needs just 1/100th of the amount of vaccine used in a typical needle-administered dose, which means the new delivery style would be much cheaper, as well as make the experience less stressful for the needle-phobic. It travels well, too. Nanopatch’s dry-coated vaccines are thermo-stable, requiring no refrigeration. Plus, because the Nanopatch process does not draw blood, the risk of infection is considerably reduced.'

 

 

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What are the future megatrends all Australians need to know about?

What are the future megatrends all Australians need to know about? | this curious life | Scoop.it

If hindsight is such a wonderful thing, surely foresight would be better.  CSIRO identifies 6 future megatrends:

 

The megatrends are:

 

“More from Less” – the decline in resource availability while demand is increasing;

“Going going gone” which addresses the risk of biodiversity loss due to human activity;

“The silk highway” meaning the world’s economic centre is shifting to Asia;

“Forever young” where the ageing population is both an asset and a challenge;

“Virtually here”; the impact of increased digital connectivity; and

“Great expectations”, reflecting the human desire for more intense personal experiences.

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